Gone are the days when hundreds of Nepali students thronged China for MBBS studies. With the Chinese government´s new regulations in place, the tide of Nepali students heading northwards has swiftly turned southwards. [break]
According to Nepal Medical Council (NMC), 653 students have enrolled in Bangladeshi colleges since August 23, 2007. In this very period, only 263 students have joined Chinese colleges.
In the fiscal 2064/65 BS, 301 Nepali students went to Bangladesh for MBBS studies whereas China attracted only 147 Nepali students. In the following fiscal, 352 Nepali students joined Bangladeshi colleges whereas only 116 students were enrolled in Chinese colleges. Pakistan has also been attracting a lot of Nepali students of late.
The hike in tuition fees in Chinese medical colleges has been a major deterrent. In 2006, the government of China made it mandatory for all medical colleges to charge foreign students no less than $ 5,000 annually as tuition fees, which is almost equivalent to fees charged in colleges elsewhere.
“Why would Nepali students opt for Chinese colleges if they need to pay there as much as anywhere else in South Asia?” questioned Dr Krishna Adhikari, who works as a visiting professor at China Three Gorges University (CTGU).
Students from China fail the litmus test
Nepali Students with MBBS certificates from Chinese universities have often fared badly in NMC exams. Only a few students pass out in their first attempt.
A total of 866 students with certificates from Chinese colleges appeared in four different exams held by NMC between June and October in 2008. Of the total examinees, only 481 managed to obtain medical license.
Similarly, a total of 398 students appeared in four different exams held by NMC between June and December in 2007. Of the total examinees, only 228 students passed out. While the pass percentage of students with degrees from Chinese colleges has never crossed 60, percentage of Nepali students from other South Asian countries has always remained above 75.
Dr Adhikari says pass percentage of students from China in NMC exams was as low as 15 until a couple of years ago. “The pass percentage has increased as only competent students are studying in China these days,” he asserts. “Chinese colleges are not of low quality. Their reputation was tarnished because they took as many students as they could, irrespective of how low they scored in previous exams.”
Besides, the government decided on December 24, 2007 to ban students studying in Chinese colleges from interning in Nepal´s public hospitals.
Nepali students have to learn Chinese language to intern in Chinese hospitals. The burden of necessarily learning Chinese language means extra cost for MBBS studies in China. Unlike in China, Nepali students can go to India, Bangladesh and Pakistan -- where Hindi can be used as a lingua franca -- without learning any other local languages.
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