18 October 2004	Monday	03 Ramazan 1425

PESHAWAR, Oct 17: Speakers at a seminar have urged students to choose correct courses for study in a foreign university so that they could avoid the problem of finding a suitable job.

"A large number of Pakistani students go abroad every year seeking admission to different courses in UK colleges and universities, but when they reach there they start looking for a job to meet their expenses and after some time they give up studies to do full-time jobs," said S. Kazmi, Director of the International Relations, Zaskin College, London.

He was speaking at a day seminar organized by Adan Consultants here on Sunday to provide guidance to the students who want to study abroad.

According to him, there was no ban on working of college or university, students but he stressed that students should first concentrate on their studies and could do part-time jobs in their spare time.

"Students, however, should make it sure that the institution which they seek admission to, is recognized by the British government. In this way, they could avoid embarrassment at a later stage as well as loss of the hard-earned money of their parents," Mr Kazmi added.

He said the Indian students were extremely committed to their studies and most of them were able to get job permits which allowed them to continue their studies along with earning a sizeable amount. Likewise, students from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had also out performed the Pakistani students as far as academic performance was concerned, he stated.

There was no difficulty in getting information from the British High Commission about the status of any educational institution in the UK, he said.

He also expressed concern over the low number of girl students applying for admission to professional institutions in the UK, while their counterparts from other South Asian countries was much higher.

"It's time for girls to come forward and seek higher education from prestigious universities abroad. This would not only help them earn more amount, the country will also benefit from their experience," he added.

However, he said, some of the deserving students faced hardships in admission because of their lack of knowledge about the prevalent circumstances.

About the selection of courses to be taken up by students in foreign institutions, he said it depended on their market scope. For instance, he said, a few years back most of the students opted for diplomas and degrees in business administration, but now information technology was in fashion because of its demand in the market.

In his speech, Mohammad Tahir of the Adan Consultants asked the students to select good subjects at the intermediate and bachelor's level so that they could get admission to degree programmes in the UK-based institutions without problems.

He said it was the responsibility of teachers to guide their students about selection of subjects which were recommended for the graduate and postgraduate studies.

Another speaker Zafar Iqbal was of the view that sending of students to foreign countries for higher education had become a booming business, which allowed many firms to fleece students with both hands.

He urged the students to obtain complete information about any institution before depositing fees.

He said that the number of Asian students was growing in the UK and they constituted about 10 per cent of the overseas students there.

The Indians, he said, were not only intelligent among their Asian counterparts, their combination of courses at the intermediate and graduate level also helped them a great deal in accomplishing studies at the higher level successfully.