Education Exodus: Nepal's Rising Trend of Students Seeking Opportunities Overseas, Reasons and Impacts

By Bishesh Shrestha

Since July of last year, 80,000 students have gained permission letters (NOCs) to study abroad. The trend of Nepalese students going abroad for higher studies keeps increasing year after year. Nepalese have spent as much as Rs 67.70 billion for education abroad in the last fiscal year alone.

But why? There are a multitude of reasons for this uptrend: higher quality of education, better job opportunities after graduation, exposure to new cultures as well as a sense of independence are a few to list.

Yet the major aspect being explored here is Nepal's inadequate education system. There are only a few quality education institutes in Nepal making the competition for seats very steep. Only with very high grades and connections in the right places can students get into such institutions. However, even the top universities in Nepal are sub-par compared to the universities around the world with the number one university in Nepal “Kathmandu University" ranked 3957^th in the world. Additionally, the courses offered are stagnant and outdated. Very few institutions provide practical knowledge, mostly the knowledge is purely theoretical and focused only on test scores. The student-to-teacher ratio is also appalling. At Pokhara University, there are 371.98 students per teacher, and the ratio of students per teacher at Mid-West University is 25.32:1, at Far-Western University the ratio is 27.85:1, at Kathmandu University the ratio is 72.84:1, and in Tribhuvan University the ratio is 44.19:1. However, according to the National Centre for Educational Statistics in the US, the ideal ratio between students and teachers should be 16:1.

There is also the nuisance of exams, results, and courses being delayed in many Nepali universities. Along with the political activities in Nepali colleges, student unions, and teacher unions are in constant opposition resulting in disruption and violence taking place within campus grounds. Prem Chalaune, an assistant professor at Tribhuvan University, is one of the many teachers who were attacked by the student union.  

Perspective of students studying in Nepal

Interviewee no. 1

The interviewee pursued a degree in the arts from a Kathmandu University (KU) affiliated college for his Bachelor's comments on how luckily he was able to complete his courses with no delays and graduate on time while other universities in Nepal faced postponements especially due to the COVID pandemic. He emphasized how, unlike other public universities, KU doesn't have to face any obstacles due to politics within schools. He also appreciates his college inviting professionals to teach classes which helped him gain practical knowledge. Yet, he also remarked on the inadequate number of quality educational institutes and qualified professors forcing young students to pursue their degrees abroad, especially in the fields of medicine and law. He is currently working in an INGO and is satisfied with his life in Nepal.

Interviewee no. 2

This interviewee graduated with a BA degree from Tribhuvan University. It was relatively easier for him to get into the university of his choice. Though he was able to study the course of his choice, he comments that this might not be the case for students seeking a degree in medicine or engineering. Even so, it was disappointing that most of the professors and lecturers in his college were alumni, who were incompetent to teach their respective subjects. He adds that there are not enough competent professors and lecturers in the higher education institutes of the country. He further vocalizes frequent delays in examinations and results at Tribhuvan University (TU). Furthermore, the inability of TU to transition to a virtual learning model on time, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic further hampered timely course completion. The college was exam focused and was unable to acquaint the students with practical knowledge as imperative in current times. He remarked on outdated courses offered by the university; and favoritism and nepotism which deprives suitable candidates of jobs in Nepal.  

Due to the reasons pointed out, parents have no option but to pay hundreds and thousands of rupees for their children to pursue higher education abroad, may it be by selling land or taking educational loans. Even with all this support from back home, students abroad also have to work tooth and nail studying and working at the same time, just to make a living when they are studying abroad. 

Perspectives of students studying abroad

Interviewee no. 1

This interviewee, a permanent resident of the United Kingdom, went to London in order to gain new horizons and new experiences. Even with good financial support from home, he had to go through a lot of hardships. Despite this, he does not regret the decision as he believes what he has achieved there would not have been possible in Nepal. While he still sees potential in the education system of Nepal comments on how education abroad doesn't fixate on exams and marks but more so focuses on delivering practical and real-world knowledge to the students. A lack of opportunities in Nepal and higher standards of living abroad is the main reason for the growing trend of going abroad.

Interviewee no. 2

This interviewee completed his Bachelor's in software engineering from Kathmandu University (KU). He highlighted the timely completion of courses, examinations, and results in KU. Further, there was no disruption due to political activities. However, he made a remark on outdated courses hampering education in Nepal. He further added that some incompetent professors and lecturers are further deteriorating our education system. Regarding his decision to go aboard, the key factor was the lack of a good institution for a Master’s degree in Nepal. Despite a good job here, he decided to go to Australia with an educational loan. He is happy with the decision as education abroad is more practical, empowering students for the real world. Though finding a full-time job with a student visa is challenging he is confident of a bright future in Australia. 

The outflow of money from the country for higher education is in an increasing trend as indicated in the table below. In 2022 alone, students took an amount of Rs. 68 billion out of the nation which has increased the outflow of foreign currency causing the nation's foreign reserves to fall resulting in currency depreciation. Estimates show that Nepal spent $3.3 billion on education overseas in just the first six months of 2022. By comparison, Nepal’s annual petroleum import bill was $2.5 billion, and tourism brought in less than $1 million in 2019. This depicts how big of a dent this causes to the nation's economy, with students taking more foreign currency out of the country than what Nepal’s exports can bring into the country. 

Massive outflow of students to foreign countries has significantly hampered Nepalese colleges. Admissions are at an all-time low as the oldest university in Nepal, Tribhuvan University has called for a merger of its affiliate colleges owing to low student numbers. Some colleges have shut down certain courses, being unable to pay salaries and cover other expenses, along with some universities having to operate on loans.

Furthermore, brain drain occurs as the best and brightest students leave the country to get educated in a foreign land but end up settling there for a better future. Many students also aim to work in a foreign country in order to pay back their student loans and send money back home as remittance. Many obtain student visas in order to immigrate to a foreign nation and start living there. Quite a number of Nepalese students in Australia admitted that getting a student visa was a one-way ticket out of Nepal. In the last 10 years, the population of Nepalese in Australia has increased 5 fold.

Brain drain has hindered many Nepali businesses and institutions as well. Brain drain refers to the mass exodus of highly skilled and highly talented youth out of the country; students going abroad, as well as people going abroad for jobs both, contribute to brain drain.  As most of the youth are out of the country, there is no room for innovation and change in the nation. With no one to change the current situation, more and more youths are demotivated and move out of the country causing even more brain drain. The majority of youth who have gone for higher studies tend to settle abroad due to better job opportunities, better pay, better quality of life, and better future for themselves and their family. While no one would blame them for such a decision, talented youths who have gained great knowledge abroad won't be able to use it in their home country to bring improvement and innovation in education, health, science, technology, and business fields essential for the economic growth and development of the nation.

A study conducted by Dr. Jitendra Prasad Upadhyay of the International Journal of Management shows that in a survey of 250 students of various educational institutions in Nepal, 65.6% of them desire to go abroad for studies.

Nevertheless, it is not as bad as students studying abroad to make their life better and make the lives of their families back home easier by sending money back to the country as a remittance. In just the first 5 months of 2023, Rs 480.50 billion in remittance has entered the country. Remittance is the biggest source of foreign currency in the nation. It is the lifeline of the Nepalese economy making up 30% of the GDP of the nation. The remittance sent by them improves the quality of life and purchasing power of their family members back home. While studying, students might become a financial burden for their families but after graduating, they can join the workforce in their host nation and earn high salaries, in comparison to Nepal. According to a study, poverty decreases by about 1.1 percent with every 10 percent increase in remittance inflow to households. Many students who go abroad for studies intend to stay there permanently. These people contribute a lot to remittance as it's easier to both learn and earn abroad with flexible work timings through part-time jobs.

Though many Nepalese students prefer settling abroad for a better life, many do return and use their knowledge and skills for the betterment of the nation. Just to name a few, Swarnim Wagle who studied at Australian National University and Harvard University and later worked in the World Bank is back in the country as a politician trying to bring forth a change; Amun Thapa, an undergraduate at University at Central Oklahoma is currently the CEO of Sastodeal Nepal; Karvika Thapa, an MBA graduate from Boston and a resident of Boston for 14 years returned to Nepal and started her own company Kimbu tech; Vidan Rana, an undergraduate at Hope college is currently the founder of Biruwa Ventures. But the success stories are also few and far between as statistics show 50% of emigrants who return back to Nepal want to emigrate back to their host country.

There are both pros and cons of Nepalese students going abroad in order to study. At an individual level, they will significantly be able to improve not only their but the quality of life of their family as well. Even from a societal perspective, the remittance that they send back is an essential source of income of foreign currency for our nation, one could say a lifeline for our nation. The remittance can be used to stimulate the economy and increase aggregate demand in the economy thus, increasing the overall productivity of the economy.

However, this is not something permanent. As the core of our workforce leaves our country, the youth of our nation slave away in other developed nations, we cannot hope to develop our nation with a dearth of innovative ideas and skilled human resources. Brain drain is the main reason why poor countries remain poor and rich countries keep growing richer. Highly developed countries have a surplus of older people while under-developed and developing countries have a surplus of young people as illustrated in the population pyramid below, thus they are so welcoming to migrants to come study and work there. Yet, they can conveniently stop these migrants from coming in or staying in their country if they so choose posing a risk for the migrant as well. The number one destination for Nepalese students, Australia, is currently planning to further tighten rules around student visas; this decision was taken after a formal review of Australia's migration system.

Japan is another growing destination for Nepalese students as 30% of students going abroad tend to go to Japan.

There is a lot that is to be improved if you want to overturn this rising trend of students leaving Nepal. Most students completing their high school education aim to get into foreign universities and of the few that stay back many end up regretting the decision or moving abroad at later stages of their education. As it has become a norm to leave the country after graduating from high school, the first step undoubtedly is to improve national universities and the quality of education, especially higher education here in order to reverse the trend at its root.

Bishesh Shrestha is an intern at our company. Shrestha is a recent International Baccalaureate (IB) graduate from Lalitpur-based Ullens School. He possesses a keen interest in the realms of finance and economics.