February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad. He said that this trend needs to be stopped, according to the state-owned RSS.    

Addressing the inauguration of the North Zone Vice Chancellors' Meet 2024 of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Bharat-Nepal Higher Education Summit on Thursday, the PM underscored the need for making efforts for retaining the majority of youths within the country.    

"There is a huge outflow of money from countries like Nepal on higher education and this trend should now be reversed. We should create a conducive environment at home for those youths seeking opportunities abroad," RSS quoted PM Dahal as saying.

Stating the education sector is struggling against the challenges brought by global forces, the prime minister said that students and intellectuals are getting drawn to the foreign universities as they have invested much resource in skill and education development.

According to the latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank, the country spent Rs 58.95 billion for education in the first six months of the current fiscal year. This amount is more than the travel income of Rs 39.56 billion earned by the country in the review period.

According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report released recently by the central bank, Nepal’s travel payments increased 60.6 percent to Rs.92.87 billion, including Rs.58.95 billion for education in the review period.

It means that Nepal spends much more on travel expenses and foreign education than it earns from foreign visitors.