Oral Interview Report
For the purpose of completing this report, I decided to interview a fellow international student Harris Khan, who hails from the South Asian country Pakistan. After a three days work of trying to match up the schedule and a time for the interview I finally caught up with him during our common break time. Harris is currently studying in the Masters for Business Law programme. According to the information he provided me during the interview, he grew up in the Southern city of Karachi and all his formal education was held there.
He started his schooling at the age of 4 years and by 22 years of age; after doing his GCE O’levels and A ‘levels, he had completed his Bachelors in Business Administration in one of the top universities in Pakistan. Harris mentions that all of his schooling had been completed in one of the country’s most prestigious academic systems. Thereon, after spending twenty two years in his home country, he decided to come to Canada for completing his Masters. When asked if he felt there were any major differences between the educational standards between the two countries, he was quick to answer with a positive “not really”.
In his mind and from what he has experienced, “both the countries have the same educational standard however; it is the way things are taught here which is different than back home. ” I wanted him to elaborate on what the education system in his country is like. So he explained, they have a tougher schooling system. Harris says the main reason why the schools are very strict in Pakistan is due to the fact that they follow the British system of education. “It really plays with your head and makes you think, we do college level mathematics or physics in grade 11 and 12.
The stimulation on a young mind is incredible out there. And there is fierce competition; everyone wants to get the best grades. There’s always a race. ” “Those who can afford to go to school benefit very much, because our schools really make you work hard. Our teachers engrave in us that we have to work hard and make a good living out of the future. Plus it is also an honor type of a thing, who does best, is always the question and you always want to be the answer. From the beginning I was molded in such a fashion that getting below an A grade is shameful.
You learn to be like that then, you always want to study and the final aim is to get into the top universities. ” He claimed that in Pakistan, schools are a strict boot camp you have to attend from 7 30 in the morning till 2 30 in the afternoon. They don’t enjoy multiple break times, only a single lunch break during the whole day. “We have a routine out there; tutorials after tutorials…can go on to 4 in a row, each one an hour long. ” One must wonder, that must be very hard on the students. But Harris quickly disagreed to that analysis by me.
“No. ” he said. “We gradually learn to live like that. It becomes a second nature. Had I not known about how the American or the Canadian kids go to school, I would’ve never though there’s something extra about the schools in Pakistan. Also, our exams are taken way more seriously over there, every test counts. And trust me; there are many tests in a term of 6 months. ” Not everyone in his hometown studies though. Not everyone has a school to go to like he went to. Most number of schools in Pakistan are government owned.
And the pupils of those schools are not receiving education according to the British system. The attendance in these schools is also “scarce”. So the general trend of going to a good school is quite exclusively an option that the rich families enjoy only. “You only make it to the top universities in Pakistan if you went to a good school. That is why a lot of under privileged kids never make it to the university level. ” Harris enlightened me that the universities in Pakistan are as tough as anywhere in the world.
“There is less variety of different sorts of people, I mean people don’t always come to Pakistan to study in the universities. But the level of education is excellent. The rules are quite strict also; you can’t really take more than 3 days off if you’re enrolled per semester in a Business course. ” It sounded tough to me. When I probed him into what he finds the difference here, he said that there is much more variety here. “The technology point of view here is incredible. I am really in love with what I am studying and how they are teaching it.
” He says the reason why he enjoys studying in Canada a lot is that here they make use of different ways to teach one thing so it doesn’t become monotonous. Being practical is the key to success in business oriented fields and he feels that the programme he has chosen is making him into a confident young business man by having various practical assignments. “Another thing I love about being here is the University campus is gigantic. You don’t really find that in Pakistan. The good universities are big but not quite as big as this campus.
It gives you more freedom and the fact that you study with people from all around the world, well it can be a positive impact on your learning ability. ” I had to ask him what else he found different here so he mentioned the fact that the education system here is a little more relaxed that back home. But he says that just the fact that life here is a little faster tracked than in Pakistan, it makes him want to go back. But he says there is also a learning element in that fact. He has learnt how to manage time very efficiently now.
Finally, I pondered about why he had chosen to come here in the first place. “The reason is simple. The Masters level education is more advanced here, though Pakistan is matching up, this university is more renowned. A degree from here will not only able me to get great jobs, it also means that I have managed to expand my horizons and met new challenges. I feel as if I am already being shaped into an efficient young man”. References: Anderson, S. & Hey, J. A. K. (2007) International Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Global Issues. Westview Press
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