Around 10,000 IT graduates enter the workforce in Nepal each year. However, many graduates lack the practical skills and industry readiness expected by employers.

This gap between academia and industry has contributed to a growing “skills gap” in the IT sector, often requiring graduates to undergo additional training before entering the job market.

To address this issue, NASSCOM-IT Nepal (NASS IT) has initiated the development of a new bachelor’s level IT curriculum aligned with industry requirements.

The initiative is being supported financially and technically by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swisscontact. According to NASS IT Chairperson Gaurav Pandey, this may be the first time in Nepal that an industry-led approach is being used to design a higher education curriculum.

The program will focus not only on coding but also on problem-solving skills, data understanding, critical thinking, and the ability to work with AI-driven systems.

The four-year curriculum is being developed under the National Qualification Framework (NQF) in collaboration with the Nepal Open University. A key feature of the course will be “work-integrated learning,” allowing students to work in the industry from the first year of study.

The curriculum will include emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, and Cybersecurity.

According to NASS IT, this initiative is expected to bridge the gap between academia and industry and help produce globally competitive IT professionals in Nepal.