• Last month, Tribhuvan University, Nepal’s largest and oldest university, issued a notice

seeking proposals for a merger between two or more colleges. The decision, according to
the university, was made as colleges were struggling to attract students. (Source : Nepal
Live Today).
• Kathmandu University is facing a significant challenge in filling seats for its bachelor’s
level programs as 30 percent of seats are vacant. (Source : Nepal Live Today).

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The period from 1971-1986 can be termed as the golden period of higher education in terms of expansion and
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quality. As a result, the Maharajgunj Campus (Medical campus), Pulchowk Campus (Engineering Campus),
Kirtipur (Tribhuvan University Central Campus), and the first regional campus at Pokhara were established.
With the policy of regional autonomy, the faculty of medicine started in the National Academy of Medical
Sciences, Bir Hospital. The educational sector has suffered greatly in the last 13 years of political conflict,
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and higher education was the most affected. With the increasing political intervention in the overall
administrative architecture, appointment of political figures as the deans and campus chiefs, and gross
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violation of student union politics, are a few examples of the same. Decisions regarding education have
suffered from lack of visionary leadership coupled with frequent policy changes. The education policy of 1971
sought to fulfill basic education for the masses, but remarkably, higher education has always been a replica of
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a foreign model and catered to the needs of a selective few. Policy contradictions and insufficient budget have
been detrimental to achieving the goal. In recent years, higher education is no longer the same in terms of
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quality and standard, since the state monopoly over higher education was waived off. The mushrooming of
private colleges and profit-oriented industries in education without a sufficient regulatory framework has led
to commercialization and compromise in justice and equity. During the detrimental period, many efficient
academicians chose to work in foreign countries, and brain drain was significant in society. The major problem
of Nepali University is the quality of its education. What is meant here is that the graduates of the university
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would not be competent and cannot compete in the job market. This is mainly attributed by the head of the
university which does not make education as their priority. Often to protect their position and extend their
term in the university they will have to support certain political parties during student election. They would
even sacrifice school holiday just for the sake of that political party. This include student from diploma up to
post graduate. Head of university would need to support their own lecture by providing their political party
that lecture needed to extend their term of teaching in university. This would only mean that the position of
lecture is also not safe and would have to be involved in active politics. With this happen, the lecture have
inadequate time to prepare for teaching the future generation and thus this might jeopardize the future of
country generations. High quality education can only be obtained if the lecture are free from active politics
and able to concentrate in teaching.
Universities have been politicised to some extent since the advent of multi -party politics and democracy in
1990. Campuses have frequently become political battlegrounds due to the involvement of student
organisations and different political parties. "The politicians took control of the student unions as their first
action. The unions started to be perceived by the parties as a factory for its leadership. Leaders who are
agitators rather than academics or thinkers have emerged as a result of the current student union system."
According to Dr. Khatiwada, this is the reason why the unions haven't been able to make a positive impact in
the academic community. In certain instances, these political actions have resulted in the appointment of
department heads, rectors, vice-chancellors, and deans based more on party loyalty than on qualifications.
This has had a negative impact on the institutions' standards. The systems and rules are incorrect, according
to an experienced educator and former vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University. The Polytechnic Institute was
operated by the Prime Minister's office until we took over one year ago. How can an educational institute be
controlled by the Prime Minister's Office? He believes that frequent leadership changes and policymakers'
intervention have left colleges directionless and sluggish. Today's scenario is quite awful. The universities do
not adhere to any set method. Any political party that gains power will do anythi ng it wants with the
universities. It's as if they're up for sale.

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According to Dr. Krishna P. Bista, "curriculum is a heart of university, if the heart does not work properly the
whole body will not work properly." This suggests that university curriculum are important for the products
that they generate. The knowledge and skills of university graduates are determined by the curriculum. Even
though the world is changing quickly due to market liberalisation and globalisation, Nepalese institutions

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continue to teach courses that were developed a century ago. Long stretches of time pass without curriculum
revision, and when it does happen, the updated courses typically do not align with the demands of the global
economy. This is among the causes of the lack of current knowledge in their fields of study among university
students from Nepal. One of the most evident examples is the use of Cobol programming in the syllabus of
Engineering students. This is a language which is vanishing from the global IT market. And in the comparison
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of foreign universities, there is a huge difference between the two curriculums. For example, the same level
of students in science streams have to study chemical engineering whereas there is not a single college in
Nepal providing chemical engineering education. Due to this kind of mismatch of curricul um, the students
have to study what is not in the country and this way they end up doing something completely different from
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what they were studying. Sometimes this can be positive if they are seeking to have global exposure through
further studies. But in most of the cases, this does not happen and they get jobs that they were not prepared
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for. This is a sheer wastage of manpower. There are many Tribhuvan University (TU) colleges that lack basic
amenities including a playground, library, lab, and restrooms. A 2003 research by the Centre for Educational
Development, Income Generation and Research (CEDIGR) in 30 TU-affiliated colleges spread throughout 15
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districts brought to light the severe lack of laboratory space, extracurricular activities, and library books.
Higher education establishments outside of Kathmandu are in considerably worse shape. Private professional
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and technical education institutes are little more than commercial endeavours that were started with the
intention of making quick money. Humanities and social science HEIs are likewise not exempt from the lack
of funding. Numerous TU-affiliated colleges and community campuses lack even their own buildings. The
government established community campuses in an effort to bring education closer to the general public. The
government has not been providing these campuses with regular grant payments, thus they are beset by a
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shortage of funding.
Even IOE, one of oldest and top ranked college of engineering in Nepal not spared from lack of founding.
The controversy surrounding the fee hike for engineering courses at the Institute of Engineering (IoE), Nepal.
The Dean, Shashidhar Ram Joshi, had been advocating for an increase in the fee structure, arguing that the
IoE could not operate without it. The fee for B.E. and B. Arch was revised by the IOE after a recommendation
from the fee revision committee on August 10. However, protests demanding the IOE not implement the new
fee, which was more than doubled, started kicking off. The revised fee for eight semesters (four years) of B.E.
and B. Arch is Rs. 775,720 for full-paying students, up from Rs. 318,880 earlier. An agreement was reached
between student associations and Tribhuvan University officials to not implement the new fee. However, since
the agreement did not have a representative from the IoE, it was not implemented. The article also mentions
that the entrance examinations for the 2023/24 academic session could not be conducted in the schedule put
forth by the notice of Chairman of the Examination Board Sushil Bahadur Bajracharya, members Sanjiv
Prasad Pandey and Kiran Chandra Dahal, member-secretary Bidur Dhakal, and advisors Suraj Lamichhane
and Hikmat Raj Joshi, who gave mass resignation citing that the entrance examination could not be conducted.
The article also mentions that Shashidhar Ram Joshi, Dean of IoE, had to sign the notice on October 2 under
duress.

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The fee hike at the Institute of Engineering (IoE) was due to the institution's poor economic condition and the
need to increase the fee or receive enough budget to ensure the campuses operate as international -level
institutions. The fee for B.E. and B. Arch was increased by IOE on the recommendation of the fee revision
committee on August 10. However, in response, students and their associations launched protests demanding

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that the IOE not implement the new fee. The revised fee for eight semesters (four years) of B.E. and B. Arch
is Rs. 775,720 for full-paying students, up from Rs. 318,880 earlier. (Source : my RepublicaNepal)
The government established community campuses in an effort to bring education closer to the general public.
The government has not been providing these campuses with regular grant payments, thus they are beset by a
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shortage of funding. Many schools in the mid- and far-western region rely on student fees to cover additional
costs, including instructor salaries. Many even have uncertain lives since they cannot afford the bills and do
not receive financial assistance from the government. Jana Aawaj primary school teacher Ranjana Regmi
shares her experience of studying Bachelor in Education in a private community affiliate to TU. She says, 'I
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had to pay my examination fees from the pocket after the campus said that it did not have the grant to cover
the fees'. Setogurans Samaj secondary school teacher Amar Khadka admitted his failure to pass the Bachelor's
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level due to the lack of resources in his college in the far western region. This case sums up that of thousands
in Nepal.
The reputation of the faculty determines the quality of education that is provided. However, there are not
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enough qualified and sufficient faculty members selected in Nepal. The majority of the faculty is made up of
master's degree holders who, in the lack of better opportunities, are attempting to secure government
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employment. A large number of faculty members lack practical experience and academic credentials,
particularly in the management area. As a result, university education becomes less effective. A social
conundrum is also brought about by the faculty members' high salary demands despite their limited education.
To meet their own financial demands, political leaders and their families are also appointed to certain teaching
positions. In order to improve the learning atmosphere in universities, this practice needs to end. The ratio of
teacher and student in Nepal is 1:30, which is quite high and unsatisfactory. When a good teacher with proper
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qualifications and experience is appointed in a college, he is allocated many additional responsibilities that
are not related to teaching. Due to this, many good faculty members migrate to foreign colleges. This reduces
the learning environment of students, and they do not receive proper guidance from qualified teachers.

At Nepalese universities, the issue of corruption is less about offering bribes and more about how grades are
paid. Political parties provide a powerful platform for many academics who are active in politics, and since
they appear to be the ones making the decisions, anything they do is recognised as lawful. Nepotism has
always resulted from political participation. The practice of giving friends or family members preferential
treatment in the form of jobs, admittance, or other financial benefits is known as nepotism. A recent example
would be TU's decision to appoint thousands of temporary lecturers who had been jobless for long span of
time without open competition, thus ignoring the past supreme court verdict, and the pursuing the result is
known to everyone. This sort of act only arises a job bazaar for the political cadres and it doesn't cultivate
competitive environment and does not provide any positive result.

Nepal's universities are at a standstill when it comes to research, which presents a problem for the country.
Many students from different universities in Nepal have earned a wide range of degrees at various levels
throughout the last few decades. Still, there has been relatively little progress in the field of research, even
with the rise in the number of Nepali students graduating from universities. This has serious ramifications
because most researchers and students who earn their degrees relocate to industrialised countries to continue
their education because there are more possibilities and resources available for their academic growth there.
The country is losing a lot of intellectual human resources as a result of this ongoing export.

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