NRN-initiated Open University to be launched next year

An agreement was signed on Friday during the 7th regional conference of Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) in Sydney, Australia, to establish an Open University in Nepal from 2013.

A trilateral agreement was signed between NRNA president Jiba Lamichhane, Education Ministry's joint secretary Mahashram Sharma and representatives of open universities of UK, Australia and Canada. Education Minister Dina Nath Sharma, who had opened the three-day conference on Thursday, was also present at the signing ceremony.

Under the agreement, the Education Ministry will provide infrastructural support such as land and building in Dhulikhel while the open universities of UK, Canada and Australia will provide technical and curricular support.

A group of non-resident Nepali intellectuals including Raju Adhikari, Pramod Dhakal, Drona Rasali and Ambika Adhikari had prepared the concept paper for the Open University and had actively lobbied with NRNA and other concerned agencies. nepalnews.com