It has been revealed that annually around 4,000 Nepali students leave for different 26 countries of the European Union.

Students go to Europe for attaining higher education in academic institutions including Universities, shared at a programme organized in the capital.

On the occasion, Spokesperson of Education Ministry Dr Hari Lamsal said that the bilateral diplomatic and cultural relations between Nepal and EU could be further consolidated by arranging learning exchange visits among the students of both the sides.

He was of the opinion that the technical and theoretical education should be expanded giving high premium to its quality to effectively implement exchange learning programme.

Tribhuvan University Registrar Sudha Tripathi also noted that the Nepal-Europe relations should be further consolidated through cultural learning exchange programme between the students of Nepal and those pursuing education in different universities of Europe.

EU Ambassador to Nepal Rensje Teerink shared that European Union has possessed 42 out of 100 best universities of the world and hinted the existing scholarship quotas could be increased citing reference that Nepali students completing their higher education from European Universities are performing well at international arena.

Also speaking on the occasion, French Ambassador to Nepal Yves Carmona called for launching of cultural exchange programme between the students of Nepal and EU to allow them to understand the culture, tradition and geographical contexts of both the sides.

Representatives from 20 universities including 11 universities under EU and nine from Nepal partook the event coordinated by Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industry.

On the occasion, Federation Chairperson Shyam Prasad Giri said the EU should expedite efforts for establishing Affiliate Universities in Nepal as the country's topography is appealing toi draw students from China and India. RSS