The SLC results have been declared and you are wondering: do I take up arts, science, commerce or a vocational course? Well, you are not alone. Thousands of students share the same feeling as you. However, do not make haste and take the wrong decision.

The trend today is to take up a subject that interests you as there are career opportunities in every field. You can even opt for vocational training.

Here’s an introduction to what you can expect in each stream.

Arts

The arts field has traditionally been thought of as meant for students with no interest in studying, or those who got poor results. On the contrary, Arts offers a varied range of opportunities and career avenues.

Subjects offered

The compulsory subjects in Arts are English and Nepali, optional subjects include political science, psychology, economics, history, literature, et cetera. Understanding the essence of each subject will get you started in the right direction.

Aptitude

Are you creative? Do you write well? Is your verbal communication good? Do you have good research and

analytical abilities? Does understanding and working with people invigorate you?

If yes, then Arts could be your calling. Depending on the subjects you choose, this stream essentially requires a liking for human nature, languages, a quest to know about ancient facts and cultures, the study and analysis of people, their surroundings, delving into research on past civilisations, their growth, thought processes and social evolution.

Work opportunities

Arts opens avenues to psychology, archaeology, hotel management, law, advertising, mass communication, travel and tourism, fashion designing, social work, teaching, philosophy and so forth.

Science

Science has traditionally been considered the domain of those with brains. This is true to an extent. But, besides brains, you will have to put in rigorous hours of study and hard work.

Subjects offered

The compulsory subjects are English and Nepali, Physics and Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

Aptitude

Do you have strong analytical skills? Are you objective, systematic and innovative in your thinking? Are you capable of putting in long hours of study? Above all, are you persevering?

Science essentially requires a liking for the subject and all that the field has to offer. You must also have a strong sense of logic, as you will be dealing with facts and figures throughout your career.

Work opportunities

You can pursue fields such as medicine, engineering, architecture, dentistry, pharmacy, agricultural sciences, computer science, genetics, nutrition and dietetics, astronomy and so forth. Fields like nanotechnology and biotechnology also offer good scope.

Commerce

If you are good with numbers, ratios and everything related to economics, money and mathematics, the commerce stream could very well be your degree to a lucrative career.

Subjects

You will study subjects like economics, organisation of commerce, book-keeping and accountancy, secretarial practice, mathematics and statistics, etc.

Aptitude

Do you solve mathematical problems in your sleep and arrive at possible solutions in your dreams? Do you like understanding a problem or a situation with lots of numbers and data instead of long pages of description in English? Are you analytical and precise?

Work opportunities

From becoming a chartered accountant to a chartered financial analyst to an economist, banker, stockbroker and foreign exchange dealer, there are a host of careers you can choose from as a commerce graduate.