The number of Nepali students opting to study abroad is getting back to pre-Covid levels. Records at the Ministry of Education show 112,528 students headed for 80 various countries acquired No Objection Certificate (NOC) in the fiscal year 2021/22.

The number is close to a fourth of the total university students in the country. Some half a million students are enrolled in 11 different universities in Nepal. Poor quality of education, delayed academic calendar and lack of jobs after studies, according to the education experts, are the reasons for the large-scale brain drain from the country.

As per the ministry’s data 66,885 Nepali students acquired the NOC for Australia and 16,820 for Japan. Those getting the government’s clearance to study in the United States and Canada stood at 5,883 and 5,522, respectively, while as many as 5,074 got the NOC for the United Kingdom. The numbers of the students acquiring the NOC gives a tentative figure of the numbers of students flying abroad for higher studies.

The country is headed for its second general elections after the promulgation of the 2015 constitution, and the parties are busy unveiling their election manifestos. Education is one of crucial agenda items in their pledges to voters.

The election manifesto of the ruling Nepali Congress says it will encourage Nepali universities to enrol at least 10 percent international students. It also claims that it will connect Nepal’s universities to the international network of educational institutions for collaboration and cooperation.

Binay Kusiyait, a professor at the Tribhuvan University and a researcher on education, says the parties should stop making unbelievable claims like attracting international students when Nepali students themselves do not trust our education system. “Why would international students come to Nepal when our own are unwilling to study here?” he told the Post. “The parties should also explain how they plan to realise their pledges. Sadly, the parties are happy making vague commitments, which are not backed by credible plans.”

The CPN-UML is competing with the Congress in making unrealistic promises in the manifesto. The UML says, if elected to power, it will provide world class education and take educational infrastructure to international standards.

Students, however, find such claims hard to buy as the same parties have overseen a steady decline in the quality of the country’s academic institutions over the past few decades. For instance, the Tribhuvan University, the country’s largest and the oldest university, hasn't been able to publish the results of the examinations conducted a year and a half ago. As many as 125,000 students of the Bachelor’s in Business Studies First-Year have been waiting for their results since July last year. Similarly, 64,000 students of Bachelor’s in Education, and 35,000 students of Bachelor’s in Arts, who sat their examinations in July last year, are also waiting for their results.

“The parties have been making tall promises about transforming the country’s education system before every election, but not much has improved,” Ronisha Raut, 20, who is preparing to join a foreign university, told the Post. “I am not convinced that my prospects will improve if I pursue my higher studies here.”

The students claim politicisation has plagued the country’s education system. And they are not wrong. The vice-chancellor, rector and registrar in universities are appointed based on power-sharing agreements among the political parties. Even school teachers and university lecturers are appointed based on political affiliations. These appointees are gradually given permanent appointments without having to attend competitive exams.

Education experts, meanwhile, point to the absence of a mechanism to hold the parties accountable in the event of their failure to make good on the promises. “This is the reason why they have been making impossible promises all these years,” said Kusiyait.

Promulgation of the Federal Education Act was not a priority of any of the parties when they were in power. However, all of them in their manifestos have promised to soon promulgate it.

“The public should grill the politicians repeatedly on how they plan to implement their pledges, and what they did all these years when they were in power,” said Kusiyait.