Pratik Sapkota, 19, of Kageshwori Manahara Municipality, Kathmandu was planning to apply to an Australian college after completing his grade 12 exams. However, Sapkota changed his plan after knowing the border was closed for over a year now.

“I wanted to go to Australia for my further studies but as the international flights to Australia have been suspended due to Covid-19, I have changed my plans,” said Sapkota. “Many seniors of mine are still in Nepal despite getting visas due to the border closure but they were paying hefty fees from Nepal for online classes. I didn't want to do that so I changed my plan to study abroad.”

But now the government has made it easier for those like Pratik to make the decision.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on Wednesday said it was stopping issuing no objection letters to study in Australia as well as in four other countries—Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh and China.

The ministry issues no objection letters once students get college admission abroad so that banks can transfer fees to them.

Narayan Prasad Pokharel, undersecretary for the Abroad Study Permission Section at the Ministry of Education, said that the decision to stop issuing no objection letters to those five countries was not because of the rising number of Covid-19 cases but also because of restrictions those countries have imposed.

“We found that many students despite getting no objection letters have been stuck in Nepal as the borders of those countries have not opened and they were forced to take their classes online paying millions in fees from Nepal,” said Pokharel. “This decision on NOC does not, however, apply to those Nepali students who are already enrolled and studying in the universities of these countries.”

Kashyap Adhikari got a visa to study in Australia in December last year but due to the border closure Adhikari is stuck in Nepal and is forced to attend online classes.

“I have deferred my classes till July. However, if the border remains shut till then, I am planning to ask for a refund from my college as paying millions from Nepal for online classes is unimaginable,” Adhikari told the Post.

Australia has not opened flights for international students since March last year as a result of which hundreds of students are stuck in Nepal despite getting visas and are forced to take online classes. According to a recent report by 7 news, experts have warned that international inbound travel is likely to remain restrictive until 2024.

The government’s decision may have been welcome for students like Pratik, but educational consultancies that help Nepali students get admission in Australian colleges are not happy.

According to Santosh Pyakurel, president of National Educational Consultancies’ Association, the government's sudden move has impacted many students who were willing to apply abroad.

“Not only students, it will again shut down consultancies which have just started working after remaining shut for almost a year during lockdown last year,” said Pyakurel.

While the number of students getting admission in foreign higher education institutions had been steadily rising for the past several years, since the pandemic struck it has gone down drastically, based on the number of no objection letters the Education Ministry has been issuing.

According to the data provided by the Abroad Study Permission Section at the ministry, 58,758 students applied for no objection certificates to study abroad in the fiscal year 2017-18 and rose to 63, 259 in the fiscal year 2018-19.

However in the fiscal year 2019-20, that ended in mid-July 2020, the number of applicants applying no objection letter declined by almost half to 34, 094 as the government had imposed lockdown and closed services including issuance of NOL from March 24 to July 21 last year.

In the first six months of the current fiscal year 2020-21, altogether 17,218 students have received no objection letters. Data of these six months shows that Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and the United Kingdom are the top five destinations for Nepali students in the current fiscal year.

Of the total 17, 218 applications 4,475 were for Japan, followed by India with 3,042 and Australia with 3,015. While 1,714 students have applied for no objection letters after getting admission in South Korean institutions 1,130 in institutions in the UK.

There are at present no restrictions for students to travel to the UK and the United States, the other popular destination for higher education.

The decline in the number of students going abroad to study has meant that less foreign exchange is going out of the country.

According to data provided by Nepal Rastra Bank, in the fiscal year 2018-19 more than Rs46 billion was sent through Nepali banks to foreign educational institutions but that figure came down to Rs25 billion in the fiscal year 2019-20. In the first eight month of the current fiscal year the figure stands at Rs18 billion.

But educational consultancies are not happy with the potential downturn in their struggling business with the latest decision.

“The government stopped issuing no objection letters citing complaints from students,” said Pyakurel. “Prior consultation with us and proper reasons should have been provided before taking the decision but the government makes decisions on an ad hoc basis without proper consultations.”