NEPAL: Government prepares to set up open university

With the Open University Nepal Initiative's new offices on the premises of the Ministry of Education, the government is gearing up to establish the much-awaited open university, writes Rudra Pangeni for the Himalayan Times.

However, parliament must approve the Higher Education Bill, registered in the parliamentary secretariat, to establish the university. The ministry is working in coordination with Non-Resident Nepalis' Association, the Canada Foundation of Nepal and Athabasca Open University in Canada, to set up the open university.

Member-secretary of the Open University Nepal Initiative, Pramod Dhakal, said they would run pilot programmes in coordination with Athabasaca University in the first phase. Initially, courses including information technology, distance education, rural information management will be offered. Nepal will be the seventh South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation country to have an open university.
Full report on the Himalayan Times site