By Sushila Budhathoki
Gone are the days when students had no choice but to go abroad for foreign degrees, thanks to the increasing number of foreign educational institutions which are providing internationally recognized education in Nepal.
With the growing popularity of A Level, international affiliation has become important for the brand value of the Nepali educational institutions. According to the Ministry of Education (MoE), the importance of foreign affiliation for higher education emerged to the fore zone six years ago in BS 2063 and currently there are 87 educational institutions affiliated to foreign institutions. Among them, 36 institutions are providing Bachelor level and above Degrees (see table). Dr Keshav Kumar Shrestha, Executive Director, Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) of Tribhuvan University, says getting affiliations to foreign universities has seen an upsurge in Nepal in recent years. “These institutions are helping students to broaden their knowledge and make them more practical as well as assisting them to complete the courses more efficiently keeping in mind that the world is turning into a global village,” he says.
These colleges have emerged at a time when going abroad for study has become a common phenomenon. The foreign institutions operating in Nepal are expected to lower this trend as enrolling in these institutions is more accessible and affordable. According to a government publication titled “Nepal Education in Figures 2012”, a total of 11,912 students applied for permission to go to 53 different countries during fiscal year 2011/12. Among them, 3,759 were female and 8153 were male students. Samjana Basnyat, Principal of International School of Tourism and Hotel Management, says, “As education is vital, a degree from a reputed institution is a feather in your cap. General Nepalis cannot afford to go abroad for higher studies.”
International exposure is one of the factors that helps to make an individual qualified globally. The foreign-affiliated institutions in the country provide an international exposure as well as an international degree to the students. They get the same certificate which the students who go abroad can hope to get. According to Kshitij Regmi, Business Development Director at Islington College, though the fee structure of the foreign-affiliated colleges is a little higher than that of the other local colleges, the students get double advantage when they enroll in foreign-affiliated institutions like Islington. He says, “We are giving a world class British degree here in Nepal and for that we have world class infrastructure and resources. Getting the same degree in Europe requires a lot of resources and is unmatched to what we give here.”
Islington College runs BBA and other specialized courses like BIT- Bachelor in Multi-media, Computing, Networking and IT Security. The college produces 300 plus graduates a year. Regmi adds, “Education is an investment. Now the students have to start building a career right after the Bachelor level unlike till the recent past when one would not bother about a career before completing the Master level. Therefore, they have to invest more to learn earlier and faster. And it’s not only money that they are expected to invest in their education; they need to invest time and planned efforts as well.”
The demand for higher level education is growing in Nepal is apparent in the statistics on the students’ number in Nepal. More than 300,000 students appear in the SLC exam every year, and about half of them pass it. Around 100,000 pass the +2 level every year. However, the number of educational institutes providing higher level studies is insufficient to accommodate them all. According to Nepal Education in Figures 2012, there are 9 universities and 3383 higher secondary schools - 2,499 public and 884 private schools. Similarly, there are 1,102 colleges of the universities including 90 public and 1,012 private colleges, 3 medical institutions and 418 Technical Education and Vocational Training (TEVT) institutions. At the existing universities, which offer education up to the PhD level, faculties like humanities, management, education, science and technology and engineering are popular among the students. The international institutions operating in Nepal have included varieties of courses in these fields in addition to other international courses.
The education ministry says, while granting permission to students to go abroad or to foreign institutions to open their affiliated institutions here, it gives priority to the subjects which are rare at the Nepali educational institutes. There are different courses for the students to choose from in the fields of management, Information Technology, Hospitality, Science, Computer Science and Fashion Designing. Some of the colleges also run specialized courses. For example, Kathmandu Forestry College runs M.Sc.in Geo- Information; International School of Tourism and Hotel Management runs Master of Innovation and Management in Tourism. Similarly, such institutions are running courses as per the need of time and market. As there is a high demand particularly in the field of management, many of these colleges are running BBA or MBA classes. Human biology is the latest course that is popular among the students.
Dr Dev Raj Adhikari, Dean of Central Department of Management, Tribhuvan University (he is also a member of the Expert Committee formed under the Ministry of Education for the monitoring and evaluation of foreign universities), feels the need for welcoming good foreign universities since the trend of global education has already started. According to him, as we have entered into the WTO regime, it is not appropriate to restrict foreign universities from coming to Nepal. He says, “The presence of top quality universities in Nepal will encourage Nepali universities to raise their standards and be on a par with their foreign counterparts. It will also motivate Nepali colleges to increase the quality of their education in order to compete and sustain in the market.”
Growing popularity
The institutions are running international courses particularly because of the demand driven market. According to Biplav Singh, Senior Programme Manager at King’s College, the trend of enrolling in foreign institutions is increasing fast. King’s College which started BBA classes in 2009 has produced 12 MBA graduates and the number of intake this year is 66. Similarly, Lord Buddha Education Foundation which started MBA classes in 2000 has produced around 400 MBA graduates. Dr Tulasi Thapaliya, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Education, says these institutions are fulfilling the demand of those students who are opting for internationally recognized courses. He says, “Colleges are coming to us for the approval of a range of subjects. The colleges also see huge prospects in these courses. That is why they are investing huge amounts to establish their institutions.”
High chances of job placement after the completion of the courses are also luring the students. Timely completion of the courses and possibility of credit transfer to a college abroad are the other attractions. Many colleges are providing skill development trainings beyond their academic courses to enable the students to compete in the international market. King’s College runs an MBA entrepreneurship course for those who are running their own business or planning to start a business on their own. Singh says, “We are working intensively for the placement of our graduates in the job market. We have already started Chinese language classes and a 2-year compulsory English class for MBA students.” Similarly, Islington College organizes job fairs where they call the prospective employers and the chances of students getting jobs are high. Regmi says, “Co-operation from the government and job providers is increasing. Currently we have tie-ups with many national and multinational companies for student placement and internship programmes. Some of our students are earning more than Rs 200,000 per month.”
Started in 2004, International School of Tourism and Hotel Management basically produces hotel management graduates, Many of its students are working at the assistant or even executive level positions in many five star hotels in Nepal and abroad, according to Samjana Basnyat, Principal of the College. She says, “We focus on shaping the overall personality of the students because inculcating positive attitude is a must in today’s competitive age. This positive attitude does make an individual far more superior than others.” The college has a high number of students in Higher Diploma in Hotel Management (Equivalent to Bachelors Degree) course.
Many of these colleges are providing full time faculty support which helps students learn beyond their curriculum. The resource centers of these colleges like libraries, computer-labs, science-labs etc are also available full time. Some colleges are offering customized curricula to suit the needs and demand of the Nepali market. Courses like Diploma in Hotel and Restaurant Management, Bachelor in Hotel and Catering Management, Diploma in Travel and Tourism Management etc are being provided by these institutions as the tourism sector is seeing a shortage of qualified manpower. On the other hand, some courses are more advanced than that of Nepali universities, especially the courses offered by the British and American universities. However, the curriculum is not everything about the offered courses, say the experts. Adhikari says, “The quality of faculty and teaching- learning methodology plays a crucial role in setting the quality of the offered degrees. The quality of graduates is equally dependent on the quality of faculty members and the quality of pedagogy practiced.”
Weak monitoring
The growing demand has led to some unethical practices too. Some colleges are found admitting students beyond their capacities and running courses without any government approval. In September 2012, some 72 colleges across the country including some foreign institutes were found running management, IT and natural science courses without approval from the MoE. Among them, many were reputed foreign institutes and renowned colleges. San Institute of Nursing, the first institute to get foreign affiliation, lost its good reputation when the college could not run smoothly. The college established in 2060 BS (some nine years ago) closed down soon after producing its first batch. According to Basnyat, the failure of the international educational institutes in maintaining academic discipline is becoming a threat for the education sector. She says, “The international educational institutes in Nepal should emphasize on quality education. Failure to maintain academic discipline and merely going for quantity will take us nowhere.”
The government publishes the list of colleges affiliated to foreign institutions after providing affiliations and permission for operating in Nepal. Dr Tulasi Thapaliya, says, “It is high time that we started regulating these international institutions so that they could offer quality education in Nepal.” Many of the parents and students are unaware of the fact that if the institution has not got its courses or curriculum approved from the government, the institution or the course becomes invalid and the students will not get the degree. Without government authorization, the degrees are not recognized. By law, the institutions need government permission before adding courses or branches. However, there are many instances of the colleges not following the rules. Some of the colleges have been found to collect fees from the students or publish advertisements without any assurance that the classes will actually start. Likewise, many of these colleges are offering courses that are beyond their capacity and without permission from the authorities while some are busy in promotions rather than providing quality education.
The ‘Directive for Foreign Educational Institutions Running Higher Level Education, 2059’ has laid down the requirements and procedures needed to be followed to run such colleges. There are provisions laid down in the directive to apply for opening an institution, getting foreign affiliation and adding courses and programmes. The directive has also set down the rules for human resource requirement in the institution, credibility of the university concerned and the relevance of the courses offered in Nepal. However, it is a different matter that MoE has not been able to handle these issues properly.
Foreign educational institutions that want to operate in Nepal must be accredited by the law of the country of origin, according to the existing Nepali law. The institutes cannot close down its operation before the end of the academic year. They should be purely educational institutions and should follow the directives of 2059 BS. There are norms for all educational institutes. For example, there are separate specific norms set for GCE A Level, Engineering B.E. & IT, Nursing and Hotel Management. There is a committee at the Ministry of Education (MoE) to scrutinize the quality of the international degrees offered in Nepal and the foreign universities that the Nepali colleges are affiliated to. But the committee has not been able to carry out its responsibilities, say the critics. They also point out that many of the colleges are violating the norms. Moreover, they also complain that there is no law to penalize such colleges operating without the government’s approval. The existing Education Act 1971 lacks clear provisions to check such lawbreakers. A bill to amend the Act awaits the parliament’s go-ahead.
Although the international courses have good credibility in the international market, freedom to choose and decide the curriculum by colleges themselves may invite negative consequences, say the experts. They further add that it is necessary to carefully inspect and monitor the standard and quality of pedagogy and courses introduced here. There is an academic council at TU that develops the courses to be run by Nepali colleges. The council also helps to implement the courses developed by foreign universities in Nepal. Dr Shrestha says, “We have also kept in mind the need for course revision at every department. Such courses should also meet national and international market demand.”
There are many foreign-affiliated colleges in Nepal that are having administrative problems. “Many colleges are in the reviewing process due to the lack of documents. And many of them have been suspended for their failure to prove credibility,” says an officer at MoE, requesting anonymity. According to him, weak monitoring and regulation has helped these colleges to run without proper documentation, infrastructure, capacity, credibility and meeting other required criteria. There is no clear policy on the number of faculties and programmes a colleges can run. The MoE officer adds,” We are reviewing all these colleges for their exact status.” On the other hand, the institutions say that the red tapism in the Nepali bureaucracy is the main problem in timely the updating of their statuses.
A lot of problems are seen in the tuition fees that these institutions raise. There are different fee structures for different faculties. The fees also vary from college to college. Many of these colleges have not properly mentioned how much fee is collected from each student. However, according to Roj Nath Pandey, Assistance Spokesperson for the MoE, there are no written complaints against these institutions for taking high tuition fees. He says, “We would instantly take action if any complaint is lodged in this regard. They cannot take fees more than what they have mentioned in their applications seeking our approval for the course.”
The way forward
Many of these colleges have just started their sessions and the results are yet to come. Yet, it should be recognized that these emerging affiliates of international institutions have raised the hope of developing Nepal as an international education hub. “If we carry forward the mission to fulfill this dream, it is possible to make Nepal an educational hub,” opines Dr Shrestha. According to him, the basic infrastructure to develop Nepal as an education hub must be there and the academic calendar should be updated. He says, “Activities like padlocking and protests at TU are a huge setback to this mission. The resources within the universities should be well managed first to start the mission of developing the country into an international education hub. Also, a timely change in the curriculum is a must.”
International affiliations have also opened the door to the international training institutes. Linked with The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), LCCI Nepal has been working with around 15 colleges, mostly with foreign affiliation. “Ours is a new initiative. We work in the Nepali education sector as an outsourced knowledge provider. Our training enables students to gain knowledge beyond the course. They can work in whichever country they go because they are trained professionally,” shares Dikshanta Bhatta, Assistant Manager at LCCI Nepal. He adds, “Our programmes are so popular that we are now targeting also the colleges that are affiliated to Nepali universities.”
The college operators are also hopeful of a bright future in Nepal. They believe that if they focus on providing quality education to the Nepali students and offer a moderate fee structure, they will be able to get enough number of students. Regmi says, “Nepal is a strategically located country. It has good links to various countries including neighbouring India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Technical subjects such as IT have good prospects.” He demands policies facilitating the global system which he says is a basic requirement of the global market. Regmi says, “We are in an open market and have a dynamic future. We could work better than this if we had more friendly policies.”
The MoE, on the other hand, is planning to intensify the monitoring process this year. Dr Thapaliya Says, “Now we are taking action against some of the colleges which are found admitting more students than they can effectively handle. We are also reviewing the performances of these colleges.” The Supreme Court has also recently issued an 11-point order seeking to regulate the freewheeling private schools and colleges including the foreign institutions in response to a writ filed by advocates. This verdict will have a strong impact on the colleges which are not performing well.
Some of the institutions are also conducting monitoring and evaluation by themselves for quality assurance. However, the bad image of some colleges is casting a shadow on the good private colleges operating in Nepal under affiliation from foreign universities. The colleges, too, are afraid that the wrong deeds of a few colleges might ruin all of them. Basnyat shares, “Our plan is to keep upgrading ourselves in terms of infrastructure, quality education etc and provide the necessary facilities to the students as well as increase collaboration with the international players and get affiliations from different hospitality outlets so that our graduates could get multiple avenues.”
