The decreasing number of students in Nepali universities has become a major issue in our country. Only a few days ago, the prestigious Shankardev Campus, which supposedly used to admit the cream of the crop management students, saw 40% applicants in its MBA program. same with Nepal Commerce Campus, Ace College, Apex College, Uniglobe, and other private colleges are facing the same issue. There are very few students in the market.
This problem has already been identified. More than 15k students took IOE entrance seven or eight years ago, but only 9.5k students took IOE this year. Many students have left this country and gone to Australia, Canada, the United States, and Europe.
Those pursuing bachelor’s degrees here want to go abroad for master’s or PhD programs.
Layered problem
Problem 1: The quality of education is brought up, but what does it mean? We don’t have a straight answer, but we think it has to do not only with what you learn but also with how you learn.
Nepal’s teaching style has remained consistent since the 1950s and 1960s. It still has a lot of modernizing to do. This will effectively determine what and how much the students learn. There is a difference between studying to pass or ace an exam and learning something because you are passionate about it.
Problem 2: Political parties have a bad influence on Nepalese students. Mainly young Nepali people are ignited for rallies and banda. You have a problem with the teacher, so “Banda.”
Various student unions have been formed in order to balance the ground level of Nepal’s so-called major political parties.Their student union election inside the college hampers faculty education and exams.
Some of the students are citing, “It’s ironic to discuss solutions to the problem of that place where a decent student’s voice is worthless.”
Problem 3: Imagine a Nepali HR department where they have the choice of hiring someone who graduated from a Nepali university or someone who graduated from a foreign university.
Who do you think has a better chance? We don’t have a lot of data, but from the small pool we do have, it feels like foreign university education gets a preference.
Opportunity
If you go somewhere to study and graduate, some places have a retention policy. When you go to a university in some country and graduate, you are a skilled workforce, and some countries try to retain that workforce and have a lot of policies in place where you are able to work.
And we don’t mean only the top students. If the quality of education is good, all people who graduate should have enough qualifications to be “skilled labor” in that field, and policies are set to retain them. That is, if you travel abroad and become proficient, you are more likely to land a good-paying job.
Many people continue to choose jobs outside of their fields or small jobs that pay absolutely nothing in Nepal, but in other countries, the salary is adequate for a good life and you end up with decent purchasing power.
And even if you live in a country where this retention is not practiced (for example, the United States, Australia, or the United Kingdom), you still have a good chance of landing a job that will pay you more (and give you more purchasing power) than if you completed your education in Nepal.
We don’t think any educational institution in Nepal is capable of igniting the passion of the majority of the students. Sure, there could be a handful, but we believe those people would be passionate anyway.
Impact
We believe that students are not yet willing to join Nepali universities. You have to be at the top to get anywhere. The outcome of this impact could be devastating. Already, we are seeing less manpower at the corporate level.
Those who have quality education are moving towards the US, Europe, and Australia, and those who are skilled manpower are forced to leave this country and work in Arabic countries. Within 10–15 years, there could be a problem of manpower in every sector in Nepal.
Solution
The only solution to every problem in this country, “Nepal,” is stable government and good governance. Through various initiatives, the Nepali government should inspire both universities and students.
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