Communicating educational opportunities

"I see quite a number of foreign educational opportunities advertised in our local newspapers all throughout the week in almost all this print media.

"There are so many foreign universities and higher seats of learning involved in having local branches of the same promoting the ideal of obtaining higher degrees, diplomas, and postgraduate degrees. But I am not too sure if this is the realistic scene," said the veteran journalist, who entered my room the other day with a heap of newspaper cuttings as if to show that he is conducting a new communication research project in print media and educational opportunities.

"Have a look at these cuttings," he added placing his cuttings on my table. "But I did not want to go through each and every piece, as I have seen and felt the subject for sometime."

"But what is it that you want to drive in?" I asked him in order to change the subject to a better elevation.

"This is my point," he insisted. "Can't we offer these subjects and teach them in our own universities and higher institutes if there are any around, and why should we spend a lot of money on these if we have a well organised scheme of studies here?".

That was food for thought, I imagined, but by this time he had framed his question and the answer to trap me.

"I think the parents are more concerned about the higher education of their children," I said.

"But surely we have so many universities, so can't we teach the same subjects here instead of sending them abroad?"

"But most of these subjects are not taught here in the way the educationists want and that might be the reason why they yearn to send the children abroad," I said.

"But surely you ought to know that all these subjects are listed in our universities as well. Now, for example, Business Administration.

Is it not taught in almost all the local universities and take for instance the subjects like Philosophy, Religion, Language, Literature, Sociology, Mass Communication, Medicine and Psychology. Of course they are taught in our universities by learned scholars."

Then I remembered one or two cases of student selection process and intake.

"There is a high degree of competition and that must be the reason why some students are not selected into the main streams they want to enter." At this moment my friend - the journalist did not agree with me.

"I think you are trying to defend yourself," he said in a mild tone of irritation and posed a question. "So is that the reason why the local students go abroad?"

"I think so but I am not too sure." I said trying my best not to get involved in an argument but it led us actually into a problem of interpersonal communication of a higher order.

"It is the problem of money involved that worries us here for we are a poor nation who cannot afford so much of money to send our children abroad for higher learning."

"The parents who have money somehow or other send their children abroad for higher studies by exhausting their resources."

"That is exactly the point. So why don't we expand our educational structures to suit the needs and requirements of our country and why can't we do the samething that other higher seats of learning do in our country?" "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Aren't there any subject areas that we can teach the foreign children here in our own seats of learning like the universities and educational institutes and why don't we advertise our universities giving relevant subjects abroad?" he asked politely.

"That is exactly an honest question. So let us think of the subjects we can teach here? How about taking then in the alphabetical order a subjects like Astrology, Astronomy and Ayurveda?"

"The first two come under sciences and the third one comes under the broad subject of medicine and they are being taught well in some of the Indian universities."

"What about a subject like Biology?"

"That is being taught all over the world in most universities and it looks as if we are far behind times."

"What about Chemistry?"

"That too is taught in some of the well-known universities abroad with extended subject areas like Chemical Engineering and subjects pertaining to Recycling Processes which are still alien subjects for most of us."

My friend was thinking of some more subjects like Data Processing, Engineering, Genetics, Graphics, Cybernetics, Semiotics and a whole host of other titles inclusive of Musicology.

"I am not too sure if Musicology is taught in Sri Lanka, but I am sure it is taught in Indian universities as a specialised subject. So a student will prefer to go there instead of coming here." I said.

Then he was recalling subjects like Zoology recalling the last letter in the order "I can't think of a subject that comes under X and Y," he said. "But there is a subject area that comes under T," he said laughingly.

"What's that?" I asked him, to which the instant response was 'Terrorism' and he laughed more.

"It is not a laughing matter", I said. "The newspapers now globally report that 'terrorism' too is taught hand in hand with 'racism', 'fundamentalism' and 'violence'.

"They are not advertised directly but hinted indirectly in various news items all over the world as being taught."