Mentoring for BD students

Many Bangladeshi students struggle in beginning and continuing study in new atmosphere in Germany. They face difficulties in arranging accommodation, bank registration, insurance coverage, securing part-time jobs and also taking care of themself. Many of them are shy in communicating with others including senior students.

Thus, a number of Bangladeshi students fail to cope with Germany's education system, quite different from Bangladesh's. They lack proper ideas about how to complete a project/thesis or even some courses. They need guidance in preparing a good CV, cover letter, managing Linkedin/Xing profile and adjusting with job culture in Europe.

To guide new students, a new initiative has been taken recently. A course-based mentor team of 24 senior students from 10 Master's courses taught in English has been formed at Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, in Germany. There is an industry mentor team to guide the students about job or internship. These matters were also discussed at a seminar on 'Mentoring Programme for Bangladeshi Students' organised by Bangladeshi students at Magdeburg on October 17. The participants were briefed about research assistantship, teaching assistantship and scholarship-related matters, at the seminar..Currently, there are almost 170 Bangladeshi students at Magdeburg and around 45 of them are new students.

SM Andalib Hossain

Magdeburg, Germany