Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said the ‘economic outflow’ from Nepal-like countries of the South for higher education should be stopped.

Addressing the inauguration program of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU)—North Zone Vice Chancellors’ Meet 2024 and Bharat-Nepal Higher Education Summit today, he underscored making efforts to retain within the country itself a majority of the youths and the resources they have. “There is a huge outflow of money from countries like Nepal into higher education, and this trend should now be reversed. We should create an environment conducive for those youths seeking opportunities globally,” PM Dahal said, pointing out the need for re-evaluating the internationalization of higher education.

Stating the education sector is struggling against the challenges brought by global forces, the Prime Minister said the latest trend of students and intellectuals getting drawn to the universities of the North is seen as they have invested much resource in skill and education development. “The balance of higher education is seen as tilted towards the north. Although the education system of the North has attracted international students due to the expensive budget, this situation cannot last long,” PM Dahal further added.