The recent decision of the Nepalese Government to effectively stop its citizens from travelling overseas to undertake skills training courses concerns many members of the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA). As a result, ITECA has held an urgent meeting with officials from the Nepalese Embassy in Canberra in addition to consular officials in other cities.
“In a crushing move for Australia’s international education sector, the Nepalese government has stopped issuing no-objection certificates for students planning to study skills training or language courses abroad,” said Troy Williams, ITECA Chief Executive.
The move comes after Nepal passed an amendment in 2016, which banned such permits, although No Objection Certificates (NOCs) had still been issued for skills training and language courses until recently. Only students wishing to study bachelor’s or higher level courses will now be granted permission by the Nepalese Government to study abroad.
ITECA notes that for the current visa program year (from 1 July 2022) there have been 17,022 offshore international student visa lodgements from Nepalese nationals, of which 2,887 were from students wanting to undertake skills training courses with the remaining 14,135 from students wanting to undertake higher education courses.
Nepal is the second largest market (after India) for international students wanting to undertake skills training in Australia, and more than 90% of these students study with independent providers.
“ITECA’s discussions with the Nepalese Government canvassed the issues that are critical to ITECA members and there is a commitment by both parties to discuss the matter further,” Mr Williams said.
ITECA has also discussed the matter with the Australian Government.
“ITECA is committed to working through the issues with both the Nepalese and Australian Governments with the aim of ensuring that international students from Nepal can once again access quality skills training courses in Australia,” Mr Williams said.
ITECA’s members in the international education sector will be meeting on 15 May 2023 to discuss the matter.
