Hordes of academia, students, parents and education stakeholders visited the fifth annual ‘Kantipur Hissan Edu- Fair 2018’ that opened at Bhrikutimandap Exhibition Centre in the Capital on Thursday.

Around 35,000 students visited the fair on the first day.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli opened the four-day fair with the theme ‘Excellent Education Within Nepal’.

It features more than 150 schools and colleges of different faculties to promote and provide information of quality educational institutes of Nepal to more than 200,000 students.

Besides PM Oli, the State of Israel’s Ambassador to Nepal Benny Omer, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokhrel and Nepali cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane attended the opening ceremony of the fair. Gates of the exhibition hall will remain open from 10am to 6pm.

The fair, jointly organised by Kantipur and the Higher Institutions and Secondary Schools’ Association Nepal (Hissan), targets students who recently completed their plus 2 and Secondary Education Examinations.

In his speech at the event, PM Oli said education is the backbone of any nation’s development.

The government is taking steps to produce quality human resources by providing good technical education to make Nepal an Education Hub.

“Private institutions should contribute to nation-building by imparting quality education and keeping aside their business strategies,” said Oli.

The government will not compromise on education. It endeavours to provide better education with the goal of increasing technical education to 70 percent in upcoming years.

PM Oli urged the private sector not to charge exorbitant fees so that middle and lower class families could afford education.

He said his focus is on propelling technical education. He cited Israel’s example where 2 percent of the total population produces food, with the help of modern agriculture methods, for the entire country and even exports as well, though it has only 20 percent of arable land.

Hissan Chairman Ramesh Silwal said, “Hissan is always ready to contribute to education for the betterment of the nation by providing quality as well as technical education and help the government’s vision of making the country an educational hub.”

More than 30,000 students travel abroad every year for higher education. Most think Nepal lacks higher education facilities, he said.

Hissan General Secretary Lok Bahadur Bhandari, “The fair focuses on providing students and parents information on international quality education available in the country.”

Visitors of the fair said that they found the Fair informative as they came to know about the facilities, infrastructure and quality of education provided by various schools and colleges.