We are excited to announce that 123 students have been selected to receive financial assistance from NCEF during the 2022-2023 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 16 years of operating in Nepal, each year selecting students and administering this program.

Thanks to the diligence of the volunteers, we were able to collect the record high 105 new and 102 renewal applications along with the associated information about the applicants. This was a major milestone towards continuing our operation to normalcy even after the global covid pandemic.

This year, the selection committee had four members: Bhusan Neupane, Gyan Neupane, Maheshwor Kafle, and Santosh KC. 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 all the 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. Santosh has been helping with selection of the students in the last three years and he feels he can feel the hardship of these students in the 10 pages of the application. It's rewarding for him to select a few deserving students. In the meantime, he feels bad he can't approve all the needy applications due to resource constraints.

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 105 new applicants and selected five new students in Gorkha, three in Lamjung, four in Nawalparasi, five in Nepalgunj, four in Sankhuwasabha, and seven in Sunsari. The committee also reviewed applications for 102 renewal applicants in existing areas in Sunsari, Nepalgunj, Sankhuwasabha, Nawalparasi, Gorkha, and Bajura. We are happy to report that all our students have been promoted to the next grade. We renewed our assistance for 95 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.