Nepal signs Rs. 7.1 billion agreement to improve higher education

Kathmandu, Aug 19

The Government of Nepal and World Bank signed a US$60 million (Rs. 7.1 billion) financing agreement for the improvement of higher education, on Thursday.

The ‘Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program’ will improve the quality of Nepal’s higher education, scale up online learning, and expand access to academic institutions for underprivileged and vulnerable students, they said in a joint statement.

“Investing in human capital is a key priority of the government to help young people in Nepal realise their development potential,” stated Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini.

“This project supports the government’s focus on recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by strengthening the higher education sector and ensuring students all across Nepal including those from disadvantaged groups have access to quality education amid the pandemic’s challenges,” he added.

According to the statement, the program builds on Nepal’s successful higher education projects supported through results-based financing.

 It will help the government align its higher education sector with labor market needs, boost collaborative research and entrepreneurship, improve governance, and access to quality higher education, especially for disadvantaged students. The COVID-19 pandemic has created strong incentives to expand online platforms and blended learning, which the program will help scale up across Nepal’s universities, read the statement.

The program will also expand targeted scholarships to help disadvantaged students pursue labor market-driven academic programs and support equity grants to higher education institutions in needy and disaster-affected areas in Nepal.

“An important aspect of Nepal’s recovery efforts from the pandemic is to ensure that quality higher education is accessible, inclusive, and relevant to the demands of the labor market,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. “This is key to helping Nepal build back better and strengthen its resilience. The World Bank is committed to support Nepal in this effort.”

Marasini and Hadad-Zervos signed the agreement at a programme organised at the Finance Ministry.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 20 August 2021.