World Bank to provide US $ 60 million to strengthen Nepal’s higher education

Kathmandu / June 12: The World Bank (WB) on Friday approved US $ 60 million to improve the quality of Nepal’s higher education, scale up online learning, and expand access to academic institutions for underprivileged and vulnerable students.

The fund is expected to help Nepal improve human capital development that is largely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which will aid the country in gaining post-pandemic recovery along with strengthening resilience. “Improving access to quality higher education and helping students acquire the skills that are in demand in the labor market,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, country director of the WB for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

The multilateral institution in a press release has stated that the pandemic has created strong incentives to expand online platforms and blended learning while the program in this regard will help scale up across Nepal’s universities. “It will help the government of Nepal align its higher education sector with labor market needs, boost collaborative research and entrepreneurship, improve governance, and access to quality higher education, especially for disadvantaged students,” reads the WB issued press statement.