Jul 3, Kathmandu: Australia which is considered to be the most attractive destination for Nepali students in foreign education has recently tightened visa requirements. Only 10 percent of the students who applied for visas have succeeded, despite the Australian government's crackdown. Up to three months ago, up to 96 percent of students applied for visas.

On average, up to 200 applications are received daily from Nepal for Australian visas. However, the number of rejected applications has increased. At present, up to 300 visas are denied daily, according to the Nepal Educational Counseling Association (NECA).

According to ICANN, the Australian High Commission in New Delhi has been sending messages that it will not provide information on whether a visa has been approved or rejected for a long time. While the process was relaxed, visas were issued on the same day as the application.

With the increase in visa denial rates, educational counselors and students have become concerned. According to Prakash Pandey, president of ICANN, even visas for highly qualified students have been denied. Australia has been supplying 30 percent of the foreign students from Nepal. Nepal ranks third among the countries with the highest number of students going to Australia for higher education. India and China are ranked first and second respectively. According to him, Nepal had recently surpassed both countries in applying for visas.

"In the past, visas were given easily to those with low education, but now even those who are qualified in everything are being rejected," said Pandey. He said: "In the past, even the weakest students got visas easily, but now that they have not received any visa without any basis, the wrong message has been sent to the students that there is no scientific standard in the visa policy and educational system of the Australian government."

Currently, the number of those who want to enroll at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels is higher than the number of visa recipients. Admission and tuition fees at these levels are expensive and the basis for admission is tight. After failing to get admission to these levels, most of Nepali students applied for a two-year vocational course and were admitted to the university only after completing this course. It costs about 10,000 Australian dollars a year to attend such a course. It is also easier to get admitted and get a visa. Students are enrolled at the undergraduate level with the money earned from studying for two years. Undergraduate and postgraduate tuition fees are twice as high as vocational courses.

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 61,636 students have received no-objection letters from last July to the first week of July. The Educational Counseling Branch of the Ministry has informed that one lakh two thousand 873 people have obtained such licenses during this period. In the same period, 16,328 students went to Japan, 5,201 students to Canada, 4,852 students to the United States, and 1,192 students to Korea to study at various universities. In the last 11 months, the revenue of Rs. 205.74 million has been collected from students for the No Objection Letter alone.