Nepali students stranded in Holland Kantipur Online - 25/12/2005 The lure of a European degree has left many Nepali students stranded in the Netherlands. The Dutch Delta University (DDU) and a Kathmandu-based educational consultancy, Softwarica, allegedly fed Nepali students wrong information have landed them in trouble in a foreign land. Though no data is available, a student recruiting agent in Kathmandu said an estimated 70 Nepali students are currently studying at DDU. The latter is offering them free air tickets home and an option for an online degree in Nepal after amassing thousands of Euros as six months' tuition fees and insurance. Prakash Timilsina, a student originally from Panauti, told our correspondent that dozens of students who came to the university with dreams of quality higher education have been cheated. Timilsina himself saw an advert in a newspaper that lured him to the Netherlands. Hundreds of students attended a seminar at a star hotel in Kathmandu on September 2, 2004 where they were told about Dutch work-study programs. They thought this was a wonderful opportunity for them to grab an European degree. "Mr Deelstra (president of DDU) had also attended the seminar and assured us that everything was very easy in the Netherlands. He told us that we could work three hours a day," Timilsina said. Each student paid 4,050 to 6,000 euros, which covered 6 months' tuition fee, insurance and a residence permit. But once they landed at the university, they were told that they could work only 10 hours a week. Now, they don't have money to make the rest of the installment payments. Returning to Nepal without a degree seems even more humiliating as their parents have already spent a huge amount. Arjun Dahal from Lakeside, Pokhara, Bhola Pudasaini of Kathmandu, Umesh Rijal of Jhapa and Bishal Prasain made headlines in the Netherlands after they told the local press that they were cheated by their university. "We were badly treated by the University and IND," Dahal said. Ghanashyam Ghimire, manager of Softwarica, dismissed the allegations. "Not all students are complaining. We have sent many others. We are ready to face legal action if we had done anything wrong." Similarly, Jules Plevier, director of Education at DDU, denied having lied to Nepali students in Kathmandu. "The university is trying to send Nepalese students back to Nepal with free air tickets and an option for an online degree, where students will be supported by a local representative," he said in an e-mail sent to the KOL. An official at the Consulate of the Netherlands, requesting anonymity said, "Hundreds of Nepalese have entered Western Europe in recent years due to conflict in Nepal." The official also accused the educational consultancies of taking advantage of Nepal's precarious situation to make profits.