Stakeholders accuse foreign affiliated colleges of exploiting academics

Kathmandu. Stakeholders have alleged that some colleges with foreign affiliations have been involved in wrongdoing. They protested against some of the recent activities of the British College.

In an interaction organized by ANNISU (Revolutionary) with the participation of the aggrieved students on Monday, they also demanded the repeal of the directive on the operation of foreign colleges.

ANNISU (Revolutionary) Chairman Birendra Shah has accused the foreign affiliated colleges of openly exploiting education in Nepal.

Unveiling a working paper on ‘Education, Illusions and Reality of Colleges affiliated to foreign universities’, Shah said that the directive made for the operation of foreign colleges was illegal and it should be scrapped.

Former Vice-Chancellor of Mid-Western University Nanda Bahadur Singh said that the issues raised by ANNISU (Revolutionary) were very important and demanded a ban on running colleges through franchise in Nepal.

Stating that the government of Nepal is the main reason for the problems in the education sector, Singh said, “It happens in Nepal that is nowhere to be found, anyone can do anything, even if the ministry issues illegal directives. The UGC and the responsible persons of the ministry have been put in a position to regulate the foreign colleges in a weak way, and there is no problem

.”

Secretariat member of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (majority) Gunaraj Lohani has accused Nepal’s curriculum of being rejected by foreigners. Lohani said that Nepal’s ministers are also influenced by the bureaucracy and that the country’s education sector has been spoiled by making policies and regulations according to them.

The victim, Priyanka Nepal, accused The British College of taking students by deceiving them and charging huge money.

Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Parshuram Tiwari, said that although there is a rule in Nepal allowing foreign colleges to run programs by granting affiliation, they are not exempted from mischief. Tiwari admitted that the government has not done anything about the educational exploitation of students by violating the rules.

Prof Dr Madhusudan Giri accused the foreigners of weakening the country by interfering with the traditional education in Nepal. Giri claimed that universities accorded foreign affiliation have played a big role in making the country dependent on the country in recent period.

Another victim, Sajina Khadka, said that they were lured by the British College on the pretext of various temptations. Pankaj Jalan, former president of IPPAN, said that out of the 59 foreign affiliated colleges in Nepal, some of them are bad, but not all are the same. Stating that it is true that some people have been exploiting students by taking the opportunity of political instability in Nepal, he said that it should be stopped. Jalan said that many problems can be solved if there is good consultation and discussion between parents, students and the college before teaching in any college.

Secretary of the Revolutionary Revolutionary Party, Hari Bista, said that his organization has been continuously fighting for a radical transformation in the education sector.