All signs: Party Office Abin Shrestha in Samaya, 11 September

In the last couple of years the number of Nepali students studying abroad has increased rapidly. While studying in Canada is difficult for Nepali students, the number of students going to the US and Australia is increasing yearly. According to the Institute for International Education in New York, the number of Nepali students studying in the US increased by 27.9 per cent between 2006 and 2007, bringing the total number of enrolled Nepalis i n the US to 7,754. Nepal now ranks 13th by number of students studying in the US, compared to 23rd in 2004.

The number of students going to the UK has decreased from 704 in 2000 to 292 in 2005. But according to Australia Education International, 2,884 Nepali students went to Australia in 2007 alone. Nepal now ranks 11th among countries sending students to Australia. An estimated 200 students apply for visas every day at the US embassy. With the visa fee of Rs 9,000, the embassy earns more than Rs 50 million just from visa fees every month.

From 1997-2000, Nepalis spent an estimated Rs 54 billion studying abroad. Between 1990 and 2005, the number of students going abroad doubled, which means Nepali students are spending more that Rs 30 billion annually to study in countries other than India.