No Alternative to Learning the Language for Higher Education Abroad, Says Education Consultant Supriya Kumar Chakrabarty

There is no alternative to learning the language when preparing for higher education abroad, believes Supriya Kumar Chakrabarty, chief executive officer of Sha Associates, a consultancy firm on education, careers and immigration.

Supriya Kumar Chakrabarty worked for 12 years as chief education officer at the Russian Federation embassy in Bangladesh. In 1998 he then set up his own firm, Sha Associates.

Through his firm, around seven and a half thousand students have already pursued higher education in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The firm works with Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and generally provides services on student visas and travel visas; on request, it also handles some immigration visa work.

In his view, getting admission and a visa in Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom without IELTS is like a dream. Some countries offer admission to the main course after completing an English language (ESL) programme, but he does not know whether a visa is granted in those cases.

He said that to go abroad, one must build oneself to adapt to the environment there. For this, one must be skilled in English, stay well informed and be active in co-curricular activities.

In his words, preparing to go abroad while not taking IELTS or TOEFL, or not learning the language of the destination country, cannot happen. In other words, there is no alternative to learning the language for higher education abroad.

On sponsor-related complications in visa matters, he said some banks known to them arrange education loans for students to make FDRs according to their needs, and this FDR plays an important role in the visa process.

He also said every embassy is now in a quite strict position. Visas are issued only after applicants' information and documents are verified with great care and everything is confirmed.

His advice to students is to come out of excessive use of social media, read plenty of books, take part more in social activities and practise English regularly. He noted that English is needed even to earn online from home.

On avoiding fraud in higher education abroad, he said many firms still deceive students with false information, unrealistic hopes and fake promises. He therefore advised verifying all information and processes thoroughly before making a decision.

As a future plan, he said he wants to deliver all information related to higher education abroad easily to students through an app.