Omkar Kandel Prabesh and Pujyata Karmacharya are two Nepali students who have been declared as winners of the British Council IELTS Awards 2015. The winners will receive NPR 4,80,000 each towards the cost of tuition fees for study abroad.

According to Suchita Shrestha Marketing and Communication Manager of British Council,the British Council IELTS Awards were launched in 2015 with the objective of assisting students intending to study at universities abroad.

Each of the winners was picked out from over hundreds of applicants, all hoping to win the grand prize to facilitate their study abroad dreams. The rigorous application process included essay writing on a topic of their choice in English, a presentation to the judges’ panel and interviews. This year, students chose topics as diverse as ‘Digitalization of educational content is good for long term learning’ to “Developing countries need trade, not aid”.

“This award is not a gate pass to go aboard but a support to gain knowledge and to come back to Nepal and help the country to develop. And the award being announced on the “shiksha diwas” is also a good thing as it shows the commitment of British Council towards the education sector of Nepall,” said Dr. Lava Deo Awasti, joint secretary at MOE.

 Omkar Kandel Prabesh, a resident of Kathmandu and the winner who will be going to the University of Hertfordshire, UK, to pursue an M.Sc in Advanced computer science.

“I am thrilled to be one of the winners of the British Council IELTS Award- 2015. This award, the first of its kind in Nepal, has certainly given my profile an edge and has done a world of good for my morale. The entire selection process was quite a journey and made me more driven to achieve the award.It indeed is a huge honor to be one of the first winners from Nepal. This award has not only mitigated the financial burden on my part but at the same time has also motivated me even more to excel at my studies abroad. I am very thankful to the British Council for giving me this encouragement via this award and being a part in my academic journey," said Prabesh.  

Pujyata Karmacharya who is currently pursuing her Bachelors of Arts with the degree of Bachelors of Commerce in Macquaire University, Sydney Australia joined the occasion through Skype.

“For me winning the award wasn’t about its monetary value. For me, it was about experience and pushing myself towards building my self-esteem and self-development. For me, even participating was the big gain. Like the quote suggests, ‘Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn’, the latter half of the statement was more important to me – learning from this experience. The major obstacle for leaving Nepal and studying abroad was self-confidence and financial support. British Council however, has eliminated these obstacles for me by supporting me, encouraging me and showing me that all things in life can be achieved if you are to give it your best. I feel immensely grateful for receiving this scholarship award from The British Council and couldn’t be thankful enough for giving me the opportunity to participate in this competition” expressed," said Karmacharya.