Information Technology (IT) has today transformed our lives—making it easier and exponentially more efficient. If once IT’s primary role was limited to automating factory work, in the modern day and age its scope has permeated into almost every aspect of our lives. A range of sectors—from banking, to health, to hospitality—are now inseparably intertwined with Information Technology. By the year 2020, it is estimated that 80 percent of businesses in the world will require IT professionals. Even our personal lives—with our cellphones, laptops and other manifold devices—are intricately dependent on IT.

Given the already wide application of IT in every sector, the field of study is bound to be one of the most sought after degrees in the future. Not only will it dictate the forms of communication in the world, it will also lead the innovation front that will continue to drive human progress forward. It, thus, is of little surprise that Nepal too is attracting a large number of students seeking higher education in the sector.

Sudarshan Pant, an IT consultant, says that Information Technology today permits people to collaborate, handle and interconnect a gigantic volume of information. Pant, who takes on different projects from various companies in the United States and Europe, hires IT experts, like himself, to complete assignments from a remote location. As per Pant, IT experts in Nepal are getting paid as per international rates. “Unlike doctors, engineers and lawyers we do not have to leave our family here in order to get good jobs. That is one best advantages of being an IT expert,” said Pant. Given how many international IT companies have entered the job market here in Nepal or outsource jobs remotely, experts believe that the sector’s has long term viability. There also remains a huge demand for IT graduates in countries like the US and Australia and South Asian countries as well.

Suman Shrestha, Marketing manager at the British College, said that the IT curriculums in Nepal are of the international standard and that students learn to work around modern technology. “This sector is not just about what they learn in school, their education has practical advantages in their daily lives, as everything now is interconnected by IT,” he added.

Because Information technology has successfully permeated the entire human existence, IT has become one of the most sought-after degrees in not only Nepal but the entire world. It offers a vast range of job opportunities and has a good growth potential. “As a result the demand for IT experts has soared all over the world and Nepal is one of the countries sending a large number of experts abroad for highly-paid jobs,” Shretha added. Currently, Tribhuwan University, Pokhara University and Purwanchal University offer 4-year undergraduate IT courses in Nepal.