In today's fast-moving IT industry, a degree is a starting point, not a finish line. Students need hands-on skills, industry exposure and guidance to make good career decisions.
The numbers
- About 10,000 IT graduates enter Nepal's workforce every year, and many lack practical, industry-ready skills (NAS-IT via The Himalayan Times).
- Youth unemployment for ages 15–24 in Nepal was 20.6% in 2025, against a 15.5% world average (World Bank / ILO via TheGlobalEconomy).
- In a survey of 384 students, the strongest predictors of graduate employability were teamwork and problem-solving, practical training and university curricula (Khadka, NepJOL 2025).
Why the gap exists
A Kathmandu University study on ICT graduate employability traces it to four causes:
- Too little practicum and work-based learning
- Curriculum design and delivery that lag behind industry
- Weak links between universities and industry
- Students and employers rating graduate readiness differently
How Project Seepshila responds
Project Seepshila tackles these causes directly. It adds practical sessions, work-based training, mentored projects and direct industry links on top of regular study, through three components:
- Credit-linked skill courses. A 10-hour, 3-credit-hour course designed with the university, run in the semester break or on Sundays.
- Personalized training and internship. Career counseling, then three months of specialized training and a three-month industry internship, in batches of 14–16 students from different colleges. The training fee is returned at the end, so the net cost to students is zero.
- Final-year project mentorship. Groups of five, supervised from selection to delivery. Strong projects may be co-funded by Iraa Ventures toward a startup.
Three partners, one path
Colleges host the courses and send students. Industry defines the skills it needs, hosts interns and offers placements. Iraa Ventures counsels, trains, mentors and coordinates. Everyone gains: students get skills and a path to a job, colleges get better employability and industry links, and employers get interns trained on their own requirements.
Are you a college or an employer? Talk to us about partnering. A student? Tell us you're interested.
