Nepal-Sri Lanka Education Accord: Fostering Academic Collaboration
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Sri Lanka approves bilateral agreement with Nepal for student and teacher exchange, fostering higher education cooperation and strengthening ties.
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The Sri Lankan cabinet this week gave its approval to a proposal by Education Minister Susil Premajayantha for an agreement with Nepal to promote student and teacher exchange programs. This comes as welcome news for Nepal's education sector.
As per Sri Lankan Cabinet Spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena, the bilateral agreement aims to strengthen cooperation in higher education and spur the development of universities in both countries through faculty and student exchange initiatives. It reportedly includes provisions for participating in joint higher education conferences and leveraging technical collaboration.
For Nepal, this provides a valuable opportunity to build relations with a key neighbor and SAARC member. As highlighted by Minister Gunawardena, there are already a significant number of Nepali students opting for Sri Lanka’s private medical universities in pursuit of quality overseas education. Formalizing exchange partnerships can facilitate more Nepali youth accessing international standard programs in the island nation.
In the aftermath of COVID's impact on global mobility over the last two years, the agreement is timely as Sri Lanka has announced plans to boost its higher education sector. Attracting more international students into local degree courses, whether in state universities or private institutions, is a key priority there. Nepali students stand to gain from these policy shifts.
The University of Colombo recently started offering medical degrees to foreign students and also reduced its fees, charging $62,500 for the 5-year course. Such lower-cost options add to the appeal for aspiring Nepali medical graduates looking to study overseas.
As Nepal continues rebuilding post-pandemic, the exchange program can spur educational cooperation at the government level with a key regional ally in South Asia. More collaborative linkages between Nepali and Sri Lankan institutes will prove mutually beneficial for both in terms of knowledge sharing.