"Students should complete their 
bachelor degree course in Nepal, for master’s degree course they may move
 to foreign..."

Shanta Shrestha, who was born on December 1974 in Vyas municipality of Damauli, Tanahu, is a well known IT professional and lecturer. He has done Bachelor in Computer Science from Queens College, The City University of New York (CUNY), USA and is serving the motherland by producing capable IT professionals. We hope his experiences and his thoughts will turn out to be helpful for IT 
students as well as to the peoples who are related to IT. Below is the  interview taken with him by the members of CSC.

CSC: Let’s start our conversation with the word IT. Please tell us when  did you hear the word IT for the first time?

Shrestha: The word computer was familiar to me and I was interested to 
study computer science since my childhood. But, the word IT remained unknown to me unless I reached USA.

CSC: Was there any family background which influenced you to march towards computer studies.

Shrestha: Yes, my elder brother who works at IBM 
(International Business Machine), USA is the source of inspiration for 
me. He has helped a lot for my career development, other wise it is not 
easy for Nepalese to complete their Bachelor degree in USA within 4 years.

CSC: Why do you say so? Is it really difficult for the Nepalese students 
to study in USA?

Shrestha: Definitely. We, the citizens of the poor country Nepal are not 
able to afford the cost. The financial problem simply ruins one’s studies.

CSC: Nowadays many students are willing to complete their bachelor's 
degree in foreign. Many have already left and a  lot more trying for it.
 What is your suggestion for them?

Shrestha: The problem is even harsh for undergraduate students. They
 need a lot of time for studies. But, due to their financial problems, they 
are obliged to work. As a result they are unable
 to give sufficient time for the studies. I personally, had a tough time there. I had to do a great struggle. The memories are still  fresh in my mind. 
Because of the lack of time, once I got only an hour to sleep. During my programming classes I went under even more difficult times.

CSC: That means you don’t recommend students to go foreign 
for the Bachelor Degree?

Shrestha: Certainly not. They should complete their bachelor 
degree in Nepal. For Master’s degree course they may move to foreign.
 The life will be a lot more comfortable then. The master’s degree course 
is of just two years. They can easily maintain it.

CSC: As, you are familiar with the education system of Nepal as well as 
of the USA, what is the major difference you found in them?

Shrestha: The major difference I found is that the professors in US are always searching for the  place to add marks. But, in 
Nepal they are always searching for the place to deduce marks.

CSC: What do you think is the position of IT in Nepal?

Shrestha: Here, people have just started to know about IT. 
Unless one knows about the thing how can s/he make use of it? 
IT awareness is increasing day to day. I feel IT has a great future in Nepal.

CSC: Since past few years many IT colleges have been established in 
Nepal. What do you say about them?

Shrestha: Most of the IT colleges are giving emphasis on quantity of students rather than the quality. I have seen IT students, engineering students taking courses on institutes as  they are not getting enough
 from their colleges. There arises a great question, to which the products belong, universities or the institutes?

CSC: Do you think private institutes are adding any effort in upgrading of IT?

Shrestha: In certain way they are. But, the thing which should be 
considered is that who is the teacher? Generally, it is seen that a person 
taking one month training starts teaching in the institutes. It is not fair.
 One month or one and half months training is not enough for being teacher. The product we will get from such  institutes will be of no use.

CSC: Do you think the efforts contributed by Computer Society on Nepal (CAN) is enough for IT development in Nepal?

Shrestha: I cannot say their efforts to be enough. A lot more has to be 
done. The suggestion which I want to give to the CAN is that they 
should not give their membership to everyone. Before giving membership person's background should be considered. If s/he is not from IT 
background, s/he should not be given membership, if given such membership is of no meaning.

CSC: Right now what do you think is the greatest obstacle for IT to 
spread out in Nepal?

Shrestha: Right now our country is in disastrous condition. Along with 
other fields IT is also facing lots of problem because of that. Apart from
 that, other factors like lack of equipments, wrong policy and corrupt governance are causing great problem 
for development of IT.

CSC: What do you mean by lack of equipments?

Shrestha: My brother who works in recovery section in IBM often says
 that he will be jobless if he returns to Nepal. It is quite true also because
 we don't have the machine which he uses their. Because of our poverty we are not able to get such equipments. It is really hindering for the
 development of IT.

CSC: And what about wrong policy?

Shrestha: Lots of well talented Nepalese who are in foreign and willing to serve the motherland are not able to return home. It is because as they get the citizenship of other countries, they have to leave Nepali citizenship.
 When they want to start  business in Nepal they lack Nepalese 
citizenship. The problem can be solved if the Government brings the 
concept of Dual citizenship.

CSC: You are right now working as a lecturer. Had you thought
 of being teacher before?

Shrestha: I had never thought of being a teacher. While learning 
PASCAL programming during my bachelor studies, Dr. Muller became
 heavily impressed by my program of Matrix Manipulation. Because of 
that he made me his assistant for teaching the PASCAL programming. A whole semester I taught PASCAL programming in QCUNY as his 
assistant. I really enjoyed teaching. At that time I had made up my mind 
that I will work as a teacher, may it just be a part-time job.

CSC: What differences have you found between the students of USA and Nepal?

Shrestha: Students are students whatever the territory they belong. All
 the students are same for me. I do not  have any discrimination between students. I am willing to teach them who are willing to learn. I don't care whether s/he belong to the college I teach or not. If anyone wants to learn anything from me s/he can take appointment, I would be pleased to teach.

CSC: Finally, please say few words of inspiration for the IT students.

Shrestha: Students, don't just stick to your course. Find out the field 
which you find more comfortable. Start getting practical knowledge, keep on trying new things. If you will do that you will really turn out to be a 
Successful IT professional. Otherwise in this competitive world you will 
find yourselves in no man's land.

We heartily thank to Mr.Shanta Shrestha for giving us golden  
opportunity and his valuable time to talk about his life and some 
knowledge about the Information Technology.

Interview by:                         
Bibhor Baral