Kathmandu:Twenty-eight Nepali students, who chose to pursue BSc Nursing at a university in Dhaka, are in a tight spot after it was revealed that the varsity was running the programme without permit.

Now the students will not only be barred from pursuing higher degrees but will also be disqualified from applying for nursing jobs as the Bangladesh Nursing Council has refused to recognise the degree, making it obligatory for the Nepal Nursing Council to follow suit.

“Before getting admission, we were not aware that the programme was being run without official permit. But when the issue came to light, we were told that it would be resolved soon,” Susmita Rai (name changed on request), a first batch student of the programme at International University of Business, Agriculture and Technology, said over phone.

Rai was among seven other Nepali students enrolled in the first batch of 2002. After toiling for five years, they completed their studies but only to obtain a degree that BNC refuses to recognise. With no certificate at hands, their future is in limbo. “But what is intriguing is the varsity continued to enrol more Nepali students in later years,” said Rai. “The university deliberately cheated us,” said another student. Most of the students had gone to Bangladesh through local university agents.

While most of the students are still in Bangladesh, hoping that the problem will be resolved soon, some have returned and are working in private medical colleges and hospitals quietly.

The Nepali Embassy in Dhaka is also learnt to have been lobbying for the cause. Embassy staff have met officials of the University Grant Commission and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh and urged them to resolve the issue at the earliest as it was related to the future of students, said Krishna Chandra Aryal, Deputy Chief of Mission of the embassy. “We have been assured that the students’ concerns will be addressed.” But no one knows when and till then these students aspiring to be a nurse can only curse the time when they chose to join the varsity.

source: The Himalayan Times(2011),"Aspring nurses cursing Dhaka varsity ", The Himalayan Times,29 July 2011