Education ministry seeks reasons for removing 10 Nepali students from Bangladeshi scholarship quota

Published On: May 15, 2024 03:30 PM NPT By: Ruby Rauniyar

KATHMANDU, May 15: The Bangladesh government has removed the names of 10 students out of the 22 Nepali students selected and recommended by the Nepal government to study MBBS and BDS courses on a full scholarship in Bangladesh.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Medical Education Commission are seeking reasons why the Bangladesh government did not accept 10 out of the 22 students recommended by the Nepal government to study on scholarship.

Education Minister Sumana Shrestha on Monday summoned Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury, the ambassador of Bangladesh to Nepal, and inquired about the removal of the names of 10 students from the scholarship list.

Keshav Dahal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said that Ambassador Chowdhury said that he would find out the reason soon and report back to her. "During the discussion with the ambassador at the ministry on Monday, the minister asked why the Bangladesh government rejected 10 of the 22 students recommended by us," said Spokesperson Dahal. “In response, the ambassador said that there was no mistake on the Nepali government side and the selection process was fine. The embassy promised to find out the reason behind the removal,” he said.

According to Spokesperson Dahal, Minister Shrestha said that the Bangladesh government allocated a quota of 22 students to the Nepal government and after all the procedures, the scholarship should be provided to all the 22 students.

For the academic session 2023-2024, the Ministry of Education selected 22 students, 19 for MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) and three for BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) to study in Bangladesh on scholarship, and sent them to the Bangladesh Embassy in Kathmandu through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After the Ministry of Education received the diplomatic notes of Bangladesh, it was informed that the names of 10 of the 22 students had been removed. The Government of Bangladesh has given the Nepal Government the right to select students for the scholarships.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent a letter to the Ministry of Education on May 3 with a diplomatic note dated May 1 from the Bangladesh Embassy in Kathmandu. Dahal, the spokesperson for the education ministry, said that in the diplomatic note they had received, the names of nine candidates for MBBS and one for BDS had been removed.

Dahal said that the names of 10 out of 22 people selected by the Medical Education Commission following the prevailing laws and regulations were removed by the Bangladesh government for no reason.

This unexpected decision has frustrated both the Ministry of Education and the Medical Education Commission.

The Government of Bangladesh requested the Ministry of Education through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Nepal to recommend 19 names for MBBS and three for BDS to study in Bangladesh on scholarship for the academic session 2023/24. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education asked the Medical Education Commission to select 22 students.

Based on the letter from the Ministry of Education, the Medical Education Commission had asked for online applications. Krishna Prasad Kapri, member secretary of the Medical Education Commission said that the Commission selected the names of 22 students from among the applications received and recommended them to the Education Ministry on January 28.

"The Bangladesh government entrusted the entire responsibility of student selection to the Nepal government. The Medical Education Commission recommended the students based on its inclusive criteria," said Member Secretary Kapri. "We are surprised by how the embassy made its selection. If there were disqualifications, the embassy should have requested the Nepal government to select new candidates. It is wrong to remove the names of 10 students without informing the Nepal government,” Kapri added.

Minister Shrestha, member secretary of the Medical Education Commission Kapri, representatives of the Higher Education Branch of the Ministry and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated in the discussion on this matter with the Ambassador of Bangladesh at the education ministry on Monday.