Serious concerns were raised by the Education minister of Nepal, Mr. Giriraj Pokharel regarding the standard of higher education in the country, which he said did not meet international standards and is not sufficiently research oriented. Pokharel went on to add that access and quality of education are other challenges being faced in higher education. The minister was speaking at a function organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The chairperson of the UGC, Professor Parasar Koirala also cited the mushrooming of higher education institutions as another problem since the UGC lacked the resources to manage them. The unplanned increase in the number of higher education institutions was also blamed for the deterioration of quality of higher education in the country. More details are available on the original article.

Much of the focus in Nepal in terms of education development has been on achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which focusses on primary education and are on track to be achieved. There is an understanding of the need for reform but there are very few development programmes that are focussed on this issue. One of the biggest news in this area came earlier this year when the World Bank approved a USD 65 million credit line for the Nepal Higher Education Reforms Project to support reforms in selected institutions for improving quality, relevance, and efficiency of higher education; and to assist under-privileged students for equitable access. Another opportunity to work in this sector is now available through the Erasmus+ programme for Capacity building in the field of higher education. The programme calls for transnational collaboration between EU institutions and local (Nepalese) institutions in various fields (details available on the Erasmus+ website).

Should you see an opportunity for your institution to be a part of a project in any of the fields as laid out in the Erasmus+ programme, do reach out to Abhinav Shakya who leads on Higher Education activities for the British Council in Nepal.

Email: abhinav.shakya@britishcouncil.org.np