Mashiyat, a recent humanities graduate, wants to pursue her master’s in humanities at a reputed university abroad. While searching for a study abroad programme best fit for her, she was lost and puzzled by a plethora of online information. From choosing a programme that meets her needs to writing cover letters and formal emails to professors, the entire application procedure seemed insurmountable.
Opting for overseas education has become a growing trend among Bangladeshi youths because of the vast amount of opportunities it offers. Admission process appears intimidating to many aspiring students like Mashiyat.
To bridge that gap, BEE Global Limited's consultancy wing hosted a daylong education fair for aspiring students on February 11, 2019 at Hotel Sarina located in Banani area of the city. Representatives of more than 20 universities, aspiring students and education counsellors participated in the programme. The education fair was open to all students wanting to pursue any level of higher education. Riad Mahmud, consulate of Georgia was present as the chief guest. Vice-chancellor of Southeast University Dr. ANM Meshquat Uddin, Vice-chancellor of Primeasia University Professor Abdul Hannan Chowdhury and Dean of School of Science at Primeasia University Dr. AJM Omar Faruq were present as guest speakers. Chief Editor of Eastern News Agency (ENA) Omar Yasser Mallick and President of Arona International Wasiuddin Dewan were also present.
Representatives of University Southern Cross, International College of Management, Sydney, Webster University, University of Law, University of Nebaraska, GISMA Business School, Univesidad Catholica de Murcia, Toronto School of Management, Australian Technical and Management with University of the Sunshine Coast and Federation University Australia, Hill School Switzerland, New ERA Institution, University Canada West, Wilfrid Laurier University, MAHSA University, University of Asia Pacific, Johnson and Wales University, Maynooth University, New Jersey University of Technology, Acsenda School of Management, IDAHO University and Duquensne University participated at the event. They showcased their popular programmes to students and provided all necessary information so that students can make the right choice. Students were walked through the process of fund collection, visa application, application for student loans along with overall guidance based on their documents.
These sort of personalised consultancy to students from foreign university representatives is crucial in helping them draw comparisions and boosting their confidence.
Language plays a key role for application for any study abroad programme. To many students, taking part in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is the most challenging aspect of their application procedure. The fair attempted to ease that difficulty of students by arranging a workshop on how to get prepared for IELTS. To assist the financial need of the students, banking partner NRB Commercial Bank also participated with its wide pool of solutions including student loan facilities.
Students often do not know how to reach out to a university properly and it is particularly discouraging to them if they do not get proper responses from universities. BEE global helps deliver the university feedbacks and responses to students as it has affiliations with over 40 universities and colleges around the world. The most popular choices for higher studies abroad among aspiring students at the event were Canada and Australia. There are a wide range of disciplines to choose from. While business studies, arts and humanities programmes have high demand overseas, the fair showed relatively less options for students willing to pursue higher education in the fields of science and technology.
Guest institutions are very welcoming of Bangladeshi students as these learners add to a diverse learning environment in their universities. Some foreign institutes offer different styles of education programmes such as demand responsive vocational education as opposed to the conventional higher education programmes. "If you're going somewhere, you need to start thinking the same way as your destination," advised a foreign representative to students.
In order to build a bright future for themselves in a university abroad, students need to research on their desired university and start preparing and applying carefully without fear because "even a bigger issue than making mistakes for aspiring students is that they think they'll make mistakes and that will ruin their career," opined Khan Md Pavel Hossain, managing director of BEE Global Limited.
The writer is studying in Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), BRAC University. She can be reached at rafisalwa85@gmail.com