Shyam Sundar Shrestha, Vice Principal of Texas International College, is dedicated and committed to meeting the rising demand for qualified and skilled manpower. Mr. Shrestha has shared his view on the need of blended education— eastern and modern western— to satisfy the needs of students of the 21st century. Excerpts:
Texas International College carries a decade-long legacy of imparting quality education. What are its distinct features that are rare in other colleges?
We believe in education with right thought, culture and skill inculcating human value to develop humanity. A high priority has been given to Meditation and Yoga for achieving mental peace and happiness. Our focus is on admixture of eastern philosophy and the western trend for the perfection of our pupils. So, we provide soft skill, communicative skill as well as internalize human value along with the formal education decided by the curriculum. Our orientation is education with skill and ethic.
The provision of our supplementary courses enables our students to connect them with their curricular subjects. For an instance, if students are interested in IT sector, we provide them IT related additional courses, which are necessary but not included in the syllabus. Similarly, we facilitate a series of start-ups and entrepreneur training sessions to the business group students. Moreover, our focus on job placement accounts for 90% of total students who have directly benefitted from it. In fact, our focus is not only on certificate-based education but also on the assurance of high level of creativity and development of professionalism of students.
Although ten-plus-two education is considered pre-university education, it is included in school education. How do you assess the existing pedagogies of ten-plus-two level?
In the past, proficiency level education was under university education. The students used to venture into university education after SLC; however, the policy of the government has now slightly changed, and +2 education is also part of school education. The students after SEE join grade 11 as a natural process of upgrade and the NEP conducts the board examinations of grade 12. Since ten-plus-two education is considered pre-university education, we should prepare students to acquire the basics of university education to underpin their foundation and a surplus of supplementary course and soft-skills along with regular pedagogy are a conglomeration that will accelerate students’ learning caliber. We should guide and instruct them perfectly to choose the right subject in grade 11 that consolidates their appealing career choices.
Despite a series of counseling programs and sessions for ten-plus-two aspirants, a dilemma still looms in the minds of students as they cannot decide themselves which faculty and subject lead them to professional development. What suggestions would you like to give to the SEE graduates regarding life-changing faculty and subject?
It is obvious that +2 educations is the entrance of university education. So, students need proper counseling while choosing the right subject and right college. First of all, they should be determined of their field of study and analyze the scope of a particular field in the global market. So, after determining their future destination, field of interest and scope of the subject, they should eventually embark on the subject they are interested in.
Appealing features of an ideal learning center encompass physical infrastructures, its academic environment, past results, feedback of the alumni, cocurricular and extra-curricular activities for practical orientation and soft-skill development.
A widely acclaimed proverb, ‘Judge the people by behavior not by their words’ proves that an institution should keep quality education in priority rather than adverts that may be misleading to students searching for enrollment. The same theory applies for the selection of the best college as well. The students should not be influenced by fascinating words of the college or its attractive adverts rather they should observe every activity of the college before the enrollment.
What message would you like to convey to the SEE graduates and their guardians as the Vice Principal of Texas International College?
Texas International College has proven itself to be the center for academic excellence and life-changing education which offers an array of course choices in Humanities, Management, Science, IT and Law focusing on practical orientation and ethical values. We focus on professional development of students to crystallize their dream of becoming a successful person. So, I would like to request the SEE graduates to visit Texas College and explore a wealth of opportunities we provide to our students.
