The craze for studying abroad has significantly increased after the pandemic and as per the last record, 1,12,593 students received No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the Department of Education for continuing their studies abroad in 2023/24. Among all the students, the highest number of students went to Japan, being a total of 34,731. In the year 2020/21, 66,636 students received NOC to continue their studies in Australia. Furthermore, approximately 73 billion Nepali Rupees have been spent, as per the records, in the past three years. 

What is NOC

If you are someone researching the Abroad Study processes, or actually planning to continue your academic journey internationally, you might have come across the term NOC or the No Objection Certificate. This is actually governmental paperwork issued by the Ministry of Education (MoE) after evaluating and ensuring that the applied student has the correct documents and has received approval from the authorities. Hence, students willing to apply abroad are required to have an NOC. 

And, if you have received the NOC, it means that the government of Nepal has given you official permission to study in another country. With the help of this document, you will be able to make payments to the foreign university, that you have applied for. However, with one NOC document, you can not make payments or study in multiple institutions, Hence, you need to be clear from the start, regarding the university that you are applying for, and mention the university in the NOC itself. 

Sample of NOC

History

The provision of going to the actual schools and reading in Nepal does not have a long history, especially among the common citizens. It was after the end of Rana Regime (1951), that normal people were allowed to go to school, making it a total of 73 years only, now. However, since then, Nepal has been working on improving its education system both nationally and internationally.

Initially, education in the home country was more popular, and only some students from good family backgrounds, mostly the ones living in Kathmandu Valley, or a few excellent students with grants and scholarships would continue their higher studies in the foreign land. More than for study purposes, Nepalese people used to go abroad for work by applying for a working visa. However, currently, some of the most common global study destinations for foreign education have recently become nations with English as their primary language like the UK, Canada, and Australia, and other non-English dominant countries like Japan, Denmark, and Finland. 

 Present Scenario

With globalization and revolutionization, most Nepalese Students have chosen to continue their academic journey internationally. Most people believe that this rapid and quick trend of studying abroad started as people assumed that moving abroad is the key to greater opportunities. With a wide range of courses and strong career opportunities being the major pull point, more and more Nepalese students are being attracted to foreign universities. Furthermore, when asked the applicants, the majority of them responded that they did not like the education system of the country as it was corrupted and politically influenced, and although the curriculum was acknowledged, they did not like the facilities here. No matter what the reasons are, the fact remains the same – more and more students are applying for abroad degrees – and this should not be taken lightly as those young students are the future of Nepal, and are leaving Nepal.

Present Condition of the Nepali University

• In June 2023, Tribhuvan University issued an application regarding the merger of colleges affiliated with it as the number of enrolled students was dropping, with the majority of students applying abroad.
• The case is the same for Kathmandu University as it is also facing trouble to even fill the available seats. In fact, 30% of the seats were vacant, as of 2023.
• In Ratna Rajya Luxmi Campus, the number of students appearing for the third-year examination of Journalism was 40% less than the number of students enrolled in 2019. While 500 students were admitted to the program, only 300 students were given their boards. 

These are some of the recent cases demonstrating the struggle that Nepalese universities are facing with more and more students seeking education overseas. 

As per NRB, NPR 75 Billion Was Spent in Just 11 Months in Foreign Education

With the increasing number of students studying abroad, one of the major concerns that arise in the country is the amount of Nepalese currencies that exit the country when the students pay their university fees, or for any other purpose. As per the news published in the University World News, it seems that the students have paid a total of USD 571 million (NPR 75 billion) to different countries in the name of university charges in just 11 months for the fiscal year 2022/23. This news was taken from the Nepal Rastra Bank’s report. Furthermore, just a year before that, a total of USD 515 (NPR 68 billion) was spent on foreign land for educational purposes. Having this huge amount of expenditure, that too, every year, could result in something serious, if not taken care of, in time.

Along with the number of students abroad, the following map demonstrates the number of Nepali people working, and living abroad too;

How International Students Feel about returning to their home country

After spending dollars on reputed international degrees for quality education that international universities offer, students returning in the country seem to be facing trouble in getting their equivalence certificate from Tribhuvan University, not getting hold of some deserving job positions, and the long wait for the procedure to complete. Some of the real cases are addressed below as;

1. One of the PhD holders from the University of Cambridge, Aastha Dahal, when interviewing with the Himalayan Times mentioned that the bureaucratic system in Nepal is one of the main reasons why international students do not want to return to their home country. Adding to this, she mentioned her struggles in terms of getting an equivalence certificate from the TU.
2. Another PhD holder, Dhigha Raj Joshi expressed his concerns stating that he could apply anywhere in the world as someone with on-going PhD classes, but there is no vacancy in his own country, Nepal. He further mentioned how the processing could take years, as he had to appear for written exams even for the post of a professor, wait for years just for the results, and get a degree equivalence certificate. He further mentioned that the youths of the country themselves are not able to see their future in their own country, expressing dissatisfaction. 

Role of Government in Constraining the Students to Study in Nepal

With vacant seats in Nepalese Universities, and with more and more students leaving for studies abroad, the Nepalese Government has introduced various provisions like NOC acceptance requirements, visa application processing of students applying for degree programs only, and higher tax rates for international students. Let’s individually discuss each of the 3 strategies;

1. NOC Acceptance: If there was no such policy like NOC, all the students applying for foreign study would get easy access to their study abroad experience. However, the NOC has at least underlined certain restrictions that students must follow, especially when approaching currency exchange rates. 
2. Student Visa for Degree Program Only: This topic has become a controversial matter in the world of international studies as some people have favored it while others have opposed it. Talking about the favored part, this provision simply has stopped at least some number of Nepali students who were willing to learn vocational training, diploma courses, or language classes abroad. However, on the opposing side, most people have clearly stated this as discrimination as some people might not be able to afford international degrees in expensive countries but are willing to become foreign students. 
3. High Tax Rates: With the hope of decreasing Nepali outbound, the government of Nepal has started implying a 3% tax on university fees, which must be paid through a bank. Many have assumed that this is one of the efforts implied by the government to snail pace the opting of Nepali Students willing to study abroad. So, if you are a student and you need to send $30,000 to the university that you have applied for, then you have to pay an extra $900 as tax. 

Top 4 countries that Nepalese Students are applying for (2018-2023)

Canada

With about 16,000 Nepali student visas processed for Canada in 2023, which was 3% of the overall new international students applying for their bachelor’s or master’s degree, abroad, the percentage has gradually increased. Adding up to this, in 2018, only 0.2% of the overall students applying for abroad study, were the applicants of Canada. 

USA

With about 9.200 Nepali student visas processed for the USA till October 2024, there was a huge increase in the number of students applying for the US. This result of visas till October is 61% more than the full year 2023 and 49% more than the full year 2022. 

UK

As of the new policy in the UK, the applicants do not have the provision of bringing their dependants or family members with them, through their student Visa, since 2023. The ultimate purpose of doing so was to reduce immigration numbers as the UK government felt this was an abuse of the visa system. Furthermore, the government wanted to stick with the aim of providing student visas to international students, and that was for education and not immigration. However, as there was no significant proof found on this subject matter, approaches are made to change this regulation. If the approaches are accepted, the UK could be one of the top destinations, again, for international students.  

Australia

The number of students applying for Australia has significantly dropped in the past two years (2023 and 2024), as shown in the chart below. The number of students applying for Australia, from Nepal, significantly increased after the pandemic, in 2022. However, after 2022, it has been significantly decreasing, probably because of the new policy of Nepal applied since 2023. As per the policy, the student applying for non-degree programs like language, training, or any vocational education cannot apply for studying abroad. Only the ones applying for degree programs can apply for abroad study, from Nepal. Due to this change in policy, the visa grants for Nepalese students applying for such non-degree programs decrease by 96%, from 2022 to 2023. 

Factors Driving Nepal’s Population to Study Abroad

As per the data, Nepal seems to be one of the countries with the highest outbound mobility ratios for the past five years. Even when compared to the neighboring countries, China and India had an outbound mobility ratio of 1.9% and 1.3%, while Nepal had had a ratio of 19%, for the past five years, as per the record of 2021. Among that too, individuals ranging from 18 to 25, the younger population, were leaving the country more,

Furthermore, with 12 established universities across the country within 73 years, Nepal seemed to be struggling with proper infrastructure and qualitative academic structure. Believing on this, many Nepali assume that international universities would be favorable to meet their needs and prepare them for their future career and workforce. This factor, alongside the experiences of relatives and family, has further encouraged the students to take a foreign degree from a foreign land.