KATHMANDU:- There has been a serious problem in the consultancy business provided to students who want to go abroad for foreign education. As the number of students going abroad for higher education increases without proper consultancy, many students are facing hardship after reaching abroad. Many students have even lost their lives due to the financial, mental and other stress they have to face there. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has also been struggling to solve the problems that have arisen due to the actions of some unscrupulous businessmen.

According to the ministry, 53 Nepalis have lost their lives in Japan alone between July/August and April 1. Most of the deaths were students, while many committed suicide.

According to Semanta Koirala, Undersecretary of the Ministry’s Educational Counseling and Certification Branch, the incident of so many people losing their lives prematurely in one country in less than a year confirms that they were not properly counseled before going abroad.

Just a few days ago, the Nepali Embassy in Japan sent this data and said that the bullying in the name of consulting organizations should be strictly monitored. Koirala said that the main problem of most of the students who are said to have committed suicide in Japan seems to be related to financial issues. Currently, students who go to study in Japan are legally allowed to work only 28 hours a week, but the problem of not being able to find employment to work during that time is becoming serious.

While some students work 28 hours a day and other hours secretly, this is not the case for everyone. Deputy Secretary Koirala said, “If students and parents had been properly counseled about potential future problems before going to any country, perhaps such incidents would have been reduced!”

This problem has not stopped even after many consultancy professionals who have been caught cheating students by giving wrong advice have been brought to justice. Currently, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology receives complaints from students and parents on a daily basis, alleging that they have been cheated by consultancy professionals. Some complaints are received in writing, naming the consultancy professionals, while others are received verbally.

The ministry has been studying the complaints received and if it can, it sends them to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police for further investigation and action if it cannot. According to the Ministry’s Educational Counseling and Certification Branch, more than three dozen counseling professionals have been sent to the CIB with a request to investigate and take action.

Recently, after the Ministry of Education closed the registration of new organizations for the consultancy business in 2074 BS, registration has started from the provinces, but no government body has accurate data on how many consultancy companies have been registered in which province. According to Deputy Secretary Koirala, out of 924 consultancy companies registered in the association, only 759 have been renewed.

After the registration in the association was closed, some provinces, including Gandaki Province and Bagmati Province, have opened the registration by formulating procedures, while other provinces are also preparing to open the registration. However, according to Deputy Secretary Koirala, it is estimated that more than 4,000 organizations are currently operating without registration.

Laxman Poudel, president of the Educational Consulting Association of Nepal (ECAN), a joint organization of consulting professionals, said that it is a very shocking incident that a student lost his life prematurely in such a short period of time in Japan. ECAN provides a lot of counseling to students before they go abroad through its members, but such a problem may have arisen because many consulting professionals are scattered across the country and not all of them are able to provide quality counseling, Poudel said.