As Nepal ushers in its 43rd Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, following last September’s uprising against decades of perceived corruption and nepotism, education reforms are taking centre stage.
Though the Himalayan nation is sandwiched between two Asian giants, India and China, it has an exceptionally high tertiary-level outbound mobility ratio of around 19% – far exceeding India (1.3%) and China (1.9%) – something the proposed reforms are also looking to rein in over the coming years.
As per the government’s 2025/26 governance reform roadmap, plans are in place to overhaul the current No Objection Certificate (NOC) framework by classifying subjects into priority and non-priority sectors, with foreign currency exchange permitted only on that basis. At present, students require an NOC from the education ministry to transfer tuition fees abroad.
The move, which would approve forex only for selected courses and sectors deemed important for Nepal, comes amid a wider governance reform push to streamline international study and labour approval systems.
“In my view, priority sectors are likely to align with Nepal’s broader development needs, including STEM fields, healthcare, engineering, infrastructure, and emerging digital areas such as IT and data,” Roshan Ghimire, founder and managing director of Gen Z Global Visa and Education Services, a Kathmandu-based education consultancy, told The PIE News.
“However, the definition of ‘priority’ will be critical. If applied too narrowly, disciplines such as arts, humanities, and social sciences could face indirect limitations, despite their importance in long-term societal and institutional development.”
Despite more than 60,000 Nepalese students having been issued NOCs over the past five years, issuance has in some cases been tied to institutional compliance, enrolment integrity and student welfare concerns – most recently in the case of a UK university facing scrutiny over missed enrolment deadlines.
Any student complaint that reaches the embassy becomes highly sensitive. We always flag issues with universities early and ask them to resolve matters before they escalate to that stage
Deepak Khadka, Franklin Education
According to Deepak Khadka, founder and CMO of Franklin Education, with the Nepalese government actively seeking to curb brain drain – which remains above the global average – any gaps by universities in handling accommodation, payments and student support are flagged immediately, making potential tighter policy measures no surprise.
“The Nepal government has significant leverage through the No Objection Certificate system, as every student requires permission to transfer foreign currency abroad,” stated Khadka, while speaking at The PIE Live Europe 2026 session on Nepal’s potential for sustainable partnerships and student recruitment.
“Any student complaint that reaches the embassy becomes highly sensitive. We always flag issues with universities early and ask them to resolve matters before they escalate to that stage.”
Such discrepancies also affect agents, consultants and the wider sector in Nepal, with proposed reforms requiring Nepalese consultancies to compensate stranded students and carry mandatory liability insurance if incorrect advice leaves them abroad at invalid institutions.
The reforms would also require consultancies to be publicly graded on student success, complaints and service quality on the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s website, alongside a centralised student mobility database and digital tracking of overseas education-related financial transactions to curb informal money channels.
“Certain areas, particularly around digital tracking of financial transactions and data systems, could move relatively quickly as they align with broader governance and transparency priorities,” stated Ghimire.
“However, structural changes such as reforms to the NOC framework, consultancy grading mechanisms, and broader compliance requirements will likely take more time, as they require further policy clarity, stakeholder consultation, and coordination across regulatory bodies.”
With over 20,000 Nepalese students going to the UK last year, and the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) framework set to be replaced with a new regulatory model in the coming months, sector leaders say compliance remains one of the top concerns for recruiters.
For Khadka, the immediate focus is less on volume and more on survival in an increasingly compliance-driven market. “Compliance is the biggest thing that keeps me up at night,” he said.
He noted that Nepal remains one of the most mature recruitment markets in South Asia, with more than 5,000 agencies operating in the country, making it highly saturated and increasingly competitive.
Khadka also pointed to the need for universities to build Nepal-specific strategies rather than viewing it through a broader South Asia lens. He also highlighted growing concerns around English language compliance and the lack of consistency among institutions.
“What we want as agents is uniformity,” he said, referring to inconsistencies around the use of medium of instruction (MOI) letters across providers. “Some universities accept MOI and others do not, which puts us at a disadvantage.”
Speaking during the Q&A at The PIE Live Europe’s Nepal session, Sudarshan Subedi from the British Council in Nepal raised concerns over cases in which students had paid fees and travelled, only to face difficulties at immigration due to language barriers.
“There are cases where students who were admitted and had paid the fees were unable to communicate with the immigration officer properly and were even deported back to the country,” said Subedi. He cautioned universities against relying solely on medium of instruction as proof of readiness.
“I think medium of instruction, or English language proficiency, should not be the sole basis on which students are assessed, but there must be proper checks in place to ensure they can understand what is being taught and cope once they arrive.”
Taking a more balanced view, Michael Goodine, English testing expert, said easier access for students should be supported, provided adequate checks are in place.
“I’m all about opportunity and access, and I love the idea that it becomes easier for students to get to where they want to be. If it can be confirmed, and diligence is done, I’d be completely for that,” said Goodine.
“Replacing the test with something that’s actually useful sounds perfectly acceptable to me, provided adequate checks are in place.”
The roadmap also includes provisions to facilitate international students and researchers coming to Nepal, including multi-entry visas of up to five years and simplified bank account processes.
Alongside this, the government has proposed a Study in Nepal initiative aimed at attracting international students in niche areas such as Buddhist philosophy, Sanskrit, Himalayan environment and adventure tourism – areas that, according to sector experts, offer “unmatched immersion” for students seeking academic depth in these fields.
