The British College, which offers courses in affiliation with foreign universities in Nepal, has been accused of duping students, prompting the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to launch an investigation.

Dozens of bachelor’s students have repeatedly protested on the college premises and have also lodged complaints with the ministry, alleging the college administration deceived them.

Both last year and this year, the college enrolled students in the Bachelor's in Hospitality Business Management (BHM), promising a foundation-level course (semesters 1 and 2) in Nepal, a next-level course (semesters 3 and 4) in Dubai, and a final-level course in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK).

But more than a year after enrolling, students got no concrete information about the university to which their course was affiliated. The protesting students claim they were assured that, by the final year of study, they could choose either the University of the West of England or Leeds Beckett University, or any other renowned university the college could secure affiliation with. The British College has been offering various programmes in affiliation with two UK-based universities.

However, the hospitality course that has landed in controversy is not affiliated with any of those universities, and no permission has been granted by Nepali authorities to run the foundation-level course that the college is providing.

Rajen Kandel, the college’s chief executive officer (CEO), states that the foundation course is designed to prepare students for subsequent levels. Thus no permission or affiliation is required. He claims the foundation-level course is non-academic, yet also states it is included in the BHM—which is contradictory.

The controversy erupted after a group of students who had gone to Dubai for the second level of the BHM course returned two months later, finding that neither the academic environment nor the internship opportunities had been as promised.

The students were taken to The Woolwich Institute (TWI), established in Dubai Knowledge Park, a free zone set up by the United Arab Emirates government to attract foreign investment. The rules in the free zones differ and are more flexible than those on the mainland. Kandel himself is the CEO of the Woolwich Institute.

“Neither were the classes as per our expectations, nor did we get the internship opportunities,” Binesh Maharjan, one of the returnees, told the Post. “We had to return home after finding we were cheated.” He claimed he was evicted from the hostel within 15 days and had to spend an entire night in the open before he was provided a new place. Five students had to share a single room in the new place, he said.

The British College administration, however, claims that it never guarantees job placement or internship opportunities. It also has got students to sign a paper which says, “The college does not surely guarantee or assure any job or placement.” The students claim they were asked to sign the paper as a formality.

Not just the students, even guardians claim that students are given lucrative promises during admission, but the college administration makes multiple excuses at the time of delivery. “As a layman, I thought expensive colleges are automatically good. Now I realise how wrong I was,” Khilraj Khadka, father of one of the students who was in the protest at the college premises on Monday, told the Post.

Students said they paid around Rs750,000 as a fee to study in Dubai in addition to Rs250,000 for the one-year course in Nepal. This does not include the processing and other expenses to travel to the Gulf nation.

Despite Kandel’s refusal, the website of the Dubai-based institute explicitly claims that it offers earning opportunities to all students. “We pride ourselves on being a vocational college, which means that unlike other institutes, we give all of our students the opportunity to ‘Earn While They Learn’. So all students enrolled at TWI have access to career training and placement opportunities so that they can work alongside their studies,” reads the introductory section of the institute’s website.

TWI is affiliated to the UAE’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority but not the Commission of Academic Accreditation (CAA). Following several complaints of students being cheated in the country, the Office of the Consul General in Dubai has asked the Nepal government to ensure students do not get No Objection Certificates (NOC) to institutions that lack CAA accreditation. Starting last month, the education ministry has halted issuing NOCs to study in the unaccredited institutions like the TWI.

Upon their return, the students lodged complaints at the ministry, which has constituted a four-member panel to study the matter. “The complaints are serious. The ministry will take further steps based on its findings,” Sagar Dhakal, advisor to minister for education Mahabir Pun, told the Post.

Returnee students say they want a refund of the money that was “wasted”. “The only thing we want is a refund. We had to start a sit-in because the college administration is unwilling to listen to us,” Ashuv KC, another student, told the Post. A student even tried to kill herself by slitting her wrist during the protest on Monday after the college administration allegedly warned that it will not hold any talks with protesters.

The college administration, however, sees it an effort to tarnish the long-built reputation. “Everything was explained transparently to the students. Half of the students are still happily studying in Dubai,” said Kandel. “We don't understand what these students want. There is no problem in refunding them.”

In a social media clip shared by Kandel with the Post, a student from TWI says she faced no issues in her study and has got whatever she wanted. “We have faced no problem. At this point we need to make clear that what is going on in Nepal and on social media platforms is fake,” she claims in the clip.

A student union has even tried to politicise the matter as the student-college tension continues. The All Nepal National Free Students’ Union, the sister wing of the CPN-UML, resorted to vandalism at the college, claiming no official was willing to discuss the issue with them.

“The incident has traumatised us. We never thought an academic institution would be vandalised for no reason,” said Dibya Prabha Jha, chief of outreach department at the college.