Admissions in medical schools in state of limbo

Enrollment process for fresh batch of students at several medical colleges has been halted after the Ministry of Health and Population interfered in Nepal Medical Council’s decision of allocating additional MBBS seats for the next academic session.

The MoHP directed NMC, the only medical education regulatory body, to instruct all the medical colleges in the country not to proceed with fresh enrollment of students for MBBS and BDS courses. “The Ministry in its letter issued on Thursday has told the NMC not to implement its decision of allocating additional seats for MBBS until further notice,” a NMC member said.

NMC had stayed put in number of BDS seats but revised MBBS seats for different medical colleges last week. “The ministry halted admission process after receiving complaints against NMC over its alleged irregularities in allocation of MBBS quotas,” an official at the ministry said.

Earlier, boards of the Institute of Medicine and NMC had jointly fixed MBBS and BDS seats for Tribhuvan University affiliated colleges after monitoring all medical colleges. However, NMC increased MBBS intake of Nepali Sena Swasthya Bigyan Sansthan run by the Nepali Army at Sano Bharyang, Kathmandu from 100 to 150 seats and Lalitpur-based KIST Medical College from 75 to 135 students for new academic session.

Similarly, Bhairahawa-based Universal College of Medical Sciences was given 135 seats slashing its earlier intake of 150 students while Chitwan Medical Colleges was allocated 140 seats, 10 seats lower than previous session. However, 70 seats alloted to Pokhara-based Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital & Research Pvt Ltd was not altered.

“We have not received official letter from NMC regarding the matter yet. Once we receive the letter, we will move forward accordingly,” informed Dr Rishikesh Narayan Shrestha, Director, KIST Medical College.

There are 18 medical colleges across the country offering MBBS and BDS courses.

source: the himalayan times,20 sept 2014

Chartered Accountancy: Much more than auditing and accounting

“CA courses provide students with knowledge on a variety of topics like auditing, accounting, taxation, corporate finance as well as management.

SUPRASANNA ARYAL

 “The number of students pursuing Chartered Accountancy (CA) courses has increased a lot over the years. This is mainly because the job market has an increasing demand of the expertise that CA courses ensure,” shares Umesh Raj Pandeya, a Chartered Accountant, who also teaches Taxation at Kathmandu Model Center of Professional Education in Hattisar. CA students are preferred in the market compared to other management students, he adds.

He elaborates, “CA courses provide students with knowledge on a variety of topics like auditing, accounting, taxation, corporate finance as well as management.” He further informs that these skills are highly regarded in almost all fields including manufacturing, insurance, investments and policy making.

As informed by Pandeya, students can also study on their own and take the examinations after compiling study materials as per the syllabus prescribed by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN). However, most students prefer going to coaching classes provided by various institutions so that they can have a general idea of how examinations are taken, he observes.

Mandeep Bashistha, 22, is preparing to complete the final level of his CA course of Nepali Board. There are three levels in the course. “I completed two levels attending CCMA College in Putalisadak. I’m planning to complete the third level on my own,” he says. “The last two levels were pretty tough. Seeking help from the institution was helpful,” he recalls.

Unlike the previous levels, an internship is compulsory for the final level. He has started working with an audit firm where he’s been practicing whatever he studied in the previous years, related with auditing, accounting and taxation. “We also give consultations on various financial matters to different organizations when required,” he shares.

Since this is his first ever professional experience, he’s pretty much satisfied with all the people he gets to meet and everything he gets to learn about. “I’ve been getting the opportunity to meet professionals from different walks of life and learning a lot from them,” he says, adding, “Also, since it’s a paid internship, it feels very good to be financially independent finally.”

Likewise, Shankar Pokharel, 25, is also preparing to complete the final level of his CA course. He completed the previous levels from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and will be taking the remaining examinations from Nepal.

However, despite the enrollment of a large number of students in the CA course, comparatively only very few students complete the course. Regarding this, Pokharel observes, “Many people feel that CA is a tough course and they quit without completing all the levels. But it isn’t really that difficult if one has the patience and perseverance to do well.” Another reason why many students quit is because they’re already offered high-paying jobs after completing the first levels, he adds.

He says that he has no regret over deciding to pursue CA as the course will ensure financial security in future because there are a wide range of options to choose from when it comes to career.

As shared by Pandeya, in Nepal, ICAN issues Certificate of Practice to the students after they complete the CA course and then they can start practicing. However, those who complete their CA as per India’s or the UK’s education system, they have to study more and appear additional examinations to get the certificate in Nepal, he adds.

Talking about the challenges of studying CA in Nepal, Bashishta observes, “We have faced some problems while finding the relevant study materials. But many new Nepali writers have been coming up with their findings, so the new CA students may not have to face the same difficulties.”

The course requires a lot of hard work and concentration, and students shouldn’t give up so easily, he concludes.

source: SUPRASANNA ARYAL, "Chartered Accountancy: Much more than auditing and accounting", republica,19 sept 2014

IoM fixes 760 MBBS seats for TU colleges

Institute of Medicine today fixed 760 MBBS seats for six medical colleges and teaching hospitals affiliated to Tribhuvan University for the upcoming academic session.

A joint IoM faculty, comprising the representatives from Ministry of Education and TU, also decided to slash 25 seats of Birgunj-based National Medical College allowing it to admit only 125 MBBS students.

“A meeting of the IoM’s full faculty also decided to allow Bhairahawa-based Universal College of Medical Sciences to admit only 135 new students, instead of 150,” sources said, adding that the IoM has allocated 140 seats for Chitwan Medical College, 10 less than the previous session.

A member of faculty board told THT that the meeting also decided to increase MBBS intake of Nepali Sena Swasthya Bigyan Sansthan run by Nepali Army at Sano Bharyang in Kathmandu from 100 to 150 seats.

Lalitpur-based KIST Medical College has been allowed to admit 135 students this year, 60 more than the last year.

Pokhara-based Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital & Research Pvt Ltd has retained its 75 seats.

The meeting also decided not to make any changes to the last year’s BDS seats allocated for the seven TU-affiliated colleges.

Earlier, a joint team of IoM and Nepal Medical Council reviewed colleges in terms of physical infrastructure, facilities, number of beds and occupancy, number of patients, lab and ambulances for allocating MBBS seats.

The formal admission process will begin once the NMC board reviews IoM decision. “NMC will endorse IoM decision, as it was based on the report of joint inspection team,” NMC sources said.

source: the himalayan times,9 sept 2014

65.29pc pass supplementary SLC exams

The Office of the Controller of the Examinations on Sunday published the results of School Leaving Certificate (SLC) supplementary exams held last month. Altogether 65.29 percent examinees managed to pass the supplementary examination this year. According to Examination Controller Bishnu Bahadur Dware, 78,453 students passed the examination held for nine days starting on August 5. A total of 120,317 students who failed in maximum two subjects in the regular examination were given the chance for supplementary exams. Among the successful candidates, 2,001 passed in first division, 59,086 in second division and 17,336 with third division marks. Of the total 65,378 girls appearing in the exam, 41,622 passed the exam while of the total 54,939 boys, 36,831 managed to pas the test.

source: the kathmandu post,7 sept 2014

Engineering scholarships for Nepali students

BML Munjal University in Gurgaon, India is giving away scholarships to Nepali students who want to pursue engineering there.

Education Park at Civil Mall in Sundhara, which has been assigned to regulate the scholarship procedure in Nepal has opened applications for students who have passed +2 in Science, said Bhupendra Sitaula, Chairperson of the Park.“The University has allotted 40 quotas of scholarship for Nepali students,” informed Sitaula, adding, “The scholarship covers tuition fees, accommodation and living costs.” According to him, the University will select students who have secured more than 80% marks in high school. The shortlisted students will then have to submit an essay, and then face an online interview (via Skype) with a representative from the University.

Aashma Shrestha from Baneshwar was at the Education Park to fill up the application form on Sunday. “I researched on the Internet about BML Munjal University and after being convinced that it’s a good University, I came here to file my application,” she told Republica.

BML Munjal University’s Regional Chief Mandip Chaudhary said that 40 seats have been reserved for Nepali students recognizing their talent. “We are facilitating scholarships for engineering students in three different categories. To students with more than 80% marks in their +2, we are giving them a 100% scholarship; those with more than 76% marks will have their tuition fees and accommodation fees waived, and students with over 70% marks will get discount in their tuition fees,” Chaudhary told Republica.

source: republica,1 september 2014