KATHMANDU, APR 02 -
Hundreds of Nepali students are compelled to travel to India spending
thousands of rupees to take International English Language Testing
System (IELTS), a popular English proficiency test, due to lack of
adequate quotas.
A significant rise in the number of students opting for overseas
studies has shot up the demand of English tests--one of the requisites
for admission into popular academic destinations in Australia, USA and
UK.
According to Suchita Shrestha, MarComms and Learning Centre Manager at
British Council, the sole body responsible for IELTS in the country, all
the dates for the test are full till September.
This has left those opting for June/July intake in trouble. Education
Consultancy Association Nepal (ECAN) estimates 200 students, who are
planning for June/July intake, have been flying out to India, mainly
Delhi, every fortnight for the tests.
"It's an unnecessary burden for us," said Sachdev Basnet, an MBA
graduate, who is going to India for IELTS next week. For a test which
could be completed for Rs 13,800 in Nepal, Basnet explained, a candidate
will have to spend around Rs 50,000, including travel and accommodation
costs and exam fee in India.
Those who are unwilling to travel to India will have to wait for
January/February intake, according to ECAN officials. The volume of
students taking IELTS has gone up by 80 percent this year compared to
the previous year, said Shrestha. "The target of around 17,000 we set
for April 2013 to March 2014 was achieved in six months by October
2013." The British Council conducts three tests a month, with around
1,000 students taking it in a single sitting. Ram Chandra Poudel of ECAN
explained the number for IELTS candidates has soared as prospective
students for Australia has shot up this year.
The Ministry of Education record shows more than 17,000 students have
taken No Objection Certification (NOC) letter in the past eight months;
out of them 9,000 are for Australia alone.
"The British Council has declined to increase quotas despite our
repeated requests," Poudel lamented. He said an ECAN team will be urging
the IDP in India to resume its service in Nepal to allow more students
to take the test. The IDP (Australia) had been running IELTS tests in
Nepal for a decade before closing its service last year.
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