A village boy from Saptari district who had left for Australia for study has returned home without educational certificate due to college's mistake.

Ritesh Devkota had gone to Australia four years ago to study Diploma in Hospitality Management and Commercial Cookery in Homes College. But, Devkota, a brilliant student, returned home empty handed though he paid Rs 1.8 million for the college, the victim said at a discussion programme organized by Education Journalists Group in the capital today.

Devkota said his grievances were not heard even though he knocked at the doors of Education Board, Australia, and other government agencies against the college's misdeed.

Responding to a complaint letter lodged by Ritesh during the India visit of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Delhi-based high commission of Australia has reportedly asked Ritesh to be in touch over the issue.

Brother in-law of Ritesh, Roshan Upreti said, "He was awarded with fake certificate though he had gone through legal channels and with all original documents."

Vice-chairman of Educational Counseling Association of Nepal (ECAN) Prakash Pandey suggested that Ritesh should go for legal remedy against the college if college officials had not informed Ritesh about change in the course.

Joint spokesperson of Ministry of Education Rojnath Pandey said that the educational consultancy that helped Ritesh to fly Australia should help the victim. Ritesh had gone via Interface Educational Consultancy.

Pandey assured to address the problem of Ritesh and urged the victim to lodge a complaint at the Ministry.

source: The Himalayan Times,2 Dec 2012