‘Open varsity Act soon’

Kathmandu, October 13

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Children and Social Welfare, Ranju Kumari Jha, today assured that the country will soon get the Open University Act to regulate operation of open universities.

Speaking at an interaction on ‘Open University Bill-2015’ organised on the occasion of the seventh international conference of Non-Resident Nepalese Association, Jha said the country was going to get the act soon.

She said the bill has been tabled in parliament, which would soon endorse it with some amendments.

Shesh Ghale, president, NRNA, said the concept of open university was introduced in the country with the aim of reaching out to the rural youths, who have been deprived of educational opportunities.

“We had been working on the concept of open university in coordination and cooperation with other foreign open universities,” he added. He further said that bill says nothing about whether NRNs would be allowed to invest in open universities, though the concept was conceived by them.

“The government cannot bypass the NRNA,” he said, adding that the NRNA was ready to provide intellectual, financial and other support to open universities. “We are ready to extend all kinds of support, but the government has been delaying passage of the bill,” he added. He clarified that the NRNA wanted to invest in open universities not for profits but to contribute to the development of education sector.