Dixya Poudel

Today most of the Nepali students are in colleges and universities in Nepal and abroad working hard to earn a secure future. Nepali students are assuredly earning educational heights in foreign countries. However, as they graduate from colleges, they tend to be employed abroad.
After the completion of their higher secondary education, most of the students in Nepal apply for admission to colleges abroad. For Nepali students, the most popular destinations for higher studies are Australia, the USA, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea among others. As of today, Nepali students have been to about 72 foreign nations for higher education, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The main attraction for higher studies seems to be Australia since it has higher admission rates for Nepali students. And according to the US Embassy in Nepal, about 13,270 Nepali students were enrolled in the US colleges in 2018.
Why are the students in Nepal so attracted to educational institutions abroad? The answer would be a quality education that ensures better employment prospects. Those remaining in Nepal have to make do with lacklustre educational prospects. They see their friends climbing educational scales abroad and are lured by the promise of a secure future. And they aren't wrong in this assumption. There are many Nepali students who have been admitted to Ivy League colleges and prestigious universities worldwide. They have done quite well and have earned a name for themselves.
Education is the best way to empower the youth globally. In Nepal, education is quite costly in private sectors. In public institutions education is affordable but when it comes to quality of education, quite dismal. Those staying in Nepal can rarely compete with their compatriots studying abroad. One of the advantages of studying in countries such as the United States and Australia is that the students can balance both education and employment.
Shrewd students can earn their tuition expenses and scholarships to sustain themselves throughout college. However, not all are so fortunate. The remaining youth of Nepal face terrible employment prospects due to their poor educational backgrounds. The Nepali youth as such are resigned to face harsh working conditions and low pay in the Gulf nations.
As the young generations from Nepal try to compete with their foreign colleagues, they learn that they have been dealt a disadvantage in education since their childhood. Most of them do excel in science and technological sectors. However, while Nepali students do well in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields, they fare inadequately in the Arts and Humanities.
It seems education in Nepal doesn’t inspire the students to think and learn critically and creatively. When it comes to analytical, critical, inventive and argumentative skills, most Nepali students flounder. Yet, there are Nepali students abroad who have excelled in diverse fields of studies thanks to their diligence and determination.
Nepal has much reverence for education. Lately, there is no discrimination among girls and boys when it comes to education. As the older generation retires, it is up to the youth to upheld Nepal's pride in a global scale. Nepali youth has a promising future that ought to be invested in Nepali terrain. The education that the Nepali youth earns abroad must be utilised to build Nepal as a prosperous nation.