Kathmandu. Minister for Education and Sports, Sasmit Pokhrel, was paid a courtesy call on the ambassadors of different countries of the European Union (EU) today.

Deputy Head of Mission at the EU Office in Nepal, Thomas Miller and non-resident ambassadors of Lithuania, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Romania, Denmark and the Netherlands jointly called on Minister Pokharel at the Ministry today. Matters relating to bilateral relations and collaboration in education sector were discussed during the meeting.

The representatives of the EEF countries had evinced interest in collaborating and partnering with Nepal in the areas of government’s priority as well as in the changed context of education, especially in higher education. The EU was willing to support the new government in the priority areas of Nepal’s education sector and stressed on how to advance collaboration and partnership in higher education.

Minister Pokharel, who is also the spokesperson of the Government of Nepal, thanked the EU and other countries for their support to Nepal’s education sector and expressed readiness to increase partnership with EU countries in days ahead.

Briefing about the government’s policy and priorities, Minister Pokharel opined that further collaborations could be made in the future in the areas of inclusion in existing education, infrastructure development, teachers’ professional development, among others. He also stressed the need of strengthening coordination among the countries on the issues of expanding access to technology in education and partnership in higher education.

Elaborating further on the steps taken by the Ministry, Minister Pokharel said that the Ministry was ready to increase the collaboration and partnership with educational institutions and universities in the future for digitization of education, exchange of students and faculty members of universities.

Minister Pokharel also urged the stakeholders to share expertise and ideas of various countries in the context of the restructuring of higher education. He expressed his views on what kind of cooperation could be made in the coming days through open discussions between the two countries.

The ambassadors of Cyprus, Romania and the Netherlands expressed their readiness to work together in the education sector, especially in the higher education sector. They stressed the need to further expand the relations between Nepal and Cyprus and Romania in the context of increasing trend of Nepalis going to Cyprus and Romania for higher education.