We are excited to announce that 119 students have been selected to receive financial assistance from NCEF during the 2021-2022 school year.

Student selection is at the core of NCEF’s mission to ensure that students in need receive the financial assistance to cover their school-related expenses. The process of student selection has been informed by more than 15 years of operating in Nepal, each year selecting students and administering this program.

Given the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, we were concerned that we may not be able to collect adequate documentation from the applicants. Thanks to the diligence of the volunteers and the improving pandemic situation, we were able to collect the applications and associated information about the applicants similar to any year before the pandemic. This was a major milestone towards returning our operation to normalcy.

This year, the selection committee had four members: Santosh KC, Maheshwor Kafle, Mona thapa and Bhusan Neupane. These volunteers work as a group to ensure that the student selection process is fair and completed in a timely manner. These volunteers read through many applications, sort through heaps of information regarding academic and financial standings, and discuss candidates amongst themselves to make a final selection. Their work is supported by many volunteers in both Nepal and the US. These volunteers assist with the logistics of application collection, verifying information, or obtaining needed data that is missing from applications.

Students must meet minimum academic requirements and must have financial need in order to be eligible for assistance from NCEF. These criteria are well-defined and posted publicly on the NCEF website.

This year, the team interviewed 75 new applicants and selected 9 new students in Sunsari and 5 in Lamjung, and 10 in nepalgunj. The committee also reviewed applications for 91 renewal applicants existing areas in Sunsari, Nepalgunj, Sankhuwasabha, Nawalparasi, and Gorkha. We are happy to report that all of our students have been promoted to the next grade and therefore we will be renewing all our assistance for those students. Congratulations!

One of the committee members noted that we wish we could support all the applications because the volunteers on the ground had put in quite a bit of effort identifying the most deserving students. We are often limited by the long-term financial commitments we are able to make (we support students until they complete high school) and our capacity to operate effectively on the ground. We are continuously looking to make progress on both the fronts and we rely on your support to be able to support even more students in the future.

We want to thank the donors who make this great work possible. We are as excited as the students to help this cohort continue on their academic journey.