MoE to curb scholarship abuse

KATHMANDU, Feb 11: The Ministry of Education (MoE) is gearing up to crack down on students who discontinue their studies midway without any reasonable justification after receiving scholarships.



The MoE has already constituted a high-level committee to take action against such students. The five-member committee, which is headed by a joint secretary of the MoE, will figure out the total loss incurred by the government as a result of this trend.[break]



Also, the MoE has written letters to all the universities and colleges, where Nepali students have been awarded scholarships, asking them to inform the government if any of the students drops out after receiving scholarship. The MoE has also asked them to regularly send the progress reports students who have been awarded scholarships.



“We have always been lenient toward such students,” Pralhad Aryal, under secretary at the scholarship section at the MoE, told Republica. “From now onward, we will not remain a mute spectator. All scholarship awardees should acknowledge the fact that the government´s scholarships are precious and someone else would have benefited if not them.”



According to the Scholarship Act (1964), the MoE can recover the scholarship money from such students. The high-level committee will determine the amount of money to be recovered from such students.



The move by the MoE against errant scholarship awardees comes in the backdrop of frequent cases of students quitting their courses midway. According to sources, two students who received scholarships to study abroad recently quit their courses. Most of the students, it is learnt, quit studies if they receive some other attractive opportunities.



“It is okay if a student does not complete study due to illness,” Aryal said, adding, “However, we can not be kind to students who abandon their studies just because they get other attractive scholarships or jobs.”



According to Aryal, the MoE has recently started to conduct orientation classes for scholarship awardees asking them to not take up any other opportunities during their courses.



“Scholarship is not just an opportunity,” he said. “It is a duty as well. This is what we try to explain to all students before they begin their courses.” The MoE has been providing more than 300 scholarships, mostly on medical studies, for Nepali students within the country and abroad.

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