For decades, Nepali students have been travelling to India for education. The lack of schools in the past meant that most Nepalis who had an interest in education, along with the necessary resources, were obliged to send their children across the border to various educational hubs. Initially, it was the aristocrats and the landed gentry who took advantage of India’s proximity, sending their children to premier institutions in Darjeeling, Banaras, Lucknow, Patna and Kolkata (then Calcutta). It was in India, during his days in college in the 1930s, that BP Koirala first became active in politics, protesting British rule with the Indian Congress while a student at Banaras Hindu University. In 1947, while still in India, he founded the Nepali National Congress (which in 1950 became the Nepali Congress). More recently, Baburam Bhattarai is notable for completing a doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Given this backdrop of close historical ties that Nepalis have with India, it is no surprise that students continue to travel to India for education. For generations, it has been common practice among Kathmandu elites to send their children to exclusive schools in the hills of Nainital, Mussorie and Darjeeling. A larger number of Nepalis also cross the border for their higher education with an increasing number of students pursuing advanced technical degrees, such as engineering and medicine. While exact data for Nepali students in India are not available, Nepal’s educational consultancies put the figture at approximately 10,000 per year. This relationship is one that has developed over generations but continues to grow, as is evident, for example, in the number advertisements of Indian schools in Nepali newspapers. Unfortunately, there are schools out to take advantage of naive Nepalis with attractive admission packages, quotas and reduced fees. Some don’t even require entrance examinations. Last Sunday, nine Nepali students were rescued from the Rural College of Nursing in Karnataka that was reportedly holding them ‘hostage’ while harassing and abusing them. Lured by flashy advertisements and tall promises, upon reaching the college, the students discovered that the buildings were incomplete, the promised facilities non-existent and standard of education poor. In yet another incident a few months ago, eight Nepali students pursuing an MBA degree faced a similar predicament at the Bhagwan Mahavir Institute of Technology and Management in Jaipur.

Without the means to evaluate these schools, gullible parents and students can end up paying significantly more for a sub-standard education. To assist families, the Nepal government, with assistance from Indian authorities, needs to set up a mechanism to oversee Indian educational institutions canvassing for Nepali students and make sure that they are up to par. The Nepali embassy in New Delhi, which has on occasions made commendable efforts to rescue students, needs to be further strengthened. In the short-term, both parents and students also need to conduct adequate enquiries into prospective schools, colleges and universities. Equally responsible, however, should be the Indian institutes, and their government, that have benefited from the outflow of Nepali students.

source: republica,19 March 2013