Only 11,912 students had applied for the letter in the year 2011/12 and 16,499 in 2012/12. The number dramatically increased last year with as many as 28,126 applying for the letter this year.
The number of students applying for no-objection letter could well exceed 30,000 till mid-July, said Prakash Maharjan, chief of the MoE division that issues the letter to students.Recent trends show that more students are applying for higher studies in Japan than Australia. As many as 9,363 students received no-objection for Japan and 8,692 for Australia. Some 7,933 students had applied for no-objection letter for Japan and 11,184 for Australia last year.
More Nepali youths are involved in entrepreneurship and jobs in Japan than in Australia. Nepal which is already seeing thousands of youths flying to greener pastures every year could see more youths flying abroad if the country fails to create jobs in the local market, said Educationist Basudev Kafle.
The US remains the third most preferred destination for youths as 3,643 students aspiring to study in the US applied for the objection letter this year. For the first time, students also applied for no-objection letter to study in Indian colleges. Some 1,018 students applied for no objection letter to study in India and 979 applied for the letter to study in Malaysia this year.
Over 80 percent students get student visa to study abroad only after producing no-objection letter.
Nepali students are currently studying in 45 countries, according to the Educational Consultancy Association of Nepal (ECAN). The cost for studying in Japan begins from Rs 1 million and goes up depending on their course of study, said ECAN Vice Chairperson Ram Chandra Poudel. The cost goes up to Rs 1.2 million to 1.5 million for higher studies in Australia, US and European countries, he added.
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