Shafiqul Islam Jibon : Counseling is a big issue in foreign education. Therefore, it is turning into a lucrative business now a days around the world. Even some reputed foreign schools are running this business beside of their teaching service as they found it attractive to enhance revenue. So called individuals, even some of them work as marketing managers in the schools, have ownership in various consultancy firms to maximize their income by sharing of commissions. I don’t like to talk about others as I found them broadly involved with unethical business practice with the students and their innocent parents..
So, now it is a huge challenge to find out an honest and transparent consultant, who can really help making a bridge between the dream and students. I believe the education counseling should be treated as medical services like nursing as some students need solutions with proper mental supports. Most students are talent and they know the basic about admission procedures, preparing with the immigration requirements and how to manage in different stage by themselves. Just they need some honest guide with the timely and true information for a better motivation, that helps to build confidence and leadership. But, the so called consultants work that way hampers the confidence of a student by providing miss leading information to make panic among students to earn money.
How to know that an education consultant is honest and transparent. Different consultants may have different ideas to prove them that. But it always should be considered with the dealing of money and documents. A student should carefully try to know that the consultants are open minded and free to share information, and they do not hide them from the foreign schools during the whole process.
Here are few tips for my students:
You can guess your consultants are honest as they are not asking any legal or original documents to be hold with them unless they show you the official instructions from the foreign schools, which you can verify of your own. If you provide original documents without verification that means you are creating a room for the consultants to make such financial deal.
Your consultants can charge you a logical fees for their counseling service, but you must not get involved with the deal of tuition or immigration fees between schools and embassies. The popular term of such dealing is ‘Package Deal’ established by so called agencies which does not make any sense of transparency or honesty in education counseling.
Foreign educational counseling should be a team work of students, consultants, admission and immigration officers as no one is separate from the success!
We are not god of counseling. But, we are master of our minds. We know what to do with your confidence and leadership!
http://www.gscl.com.bd or http://globalstudyconsultancy.com.bd