A world-class university in the offing
The proposed University of Nepal aims to be a high-quality, autonomous liberal arts university that would address the existing gaps and shortcomings in the higher education of Nepal
the HRM
Some 40 prominent academicians of the country have been on a mission for the last couple of years. The task is to establish a world-class university where students don’t just learn but develop faculty to think critically.
It’s not that there aren’t adequate varsities in the country. A dozen universities have been established across the nation – half of which came into operation after the second people’s movement in 2006. There is a competition among the provincial governments to announce new universities. The federal government, too, is preparing to add three more.
All the established varsities and those in the pipeline have many things in common. The state funds them; the government appoints the vice-chancellor and other executives giving space for partisan politics. That has been an excellent recipe to dwindle the academic performance of existing varsities in Nepal.
Despite an increase in the number of universities, the quality of teaching and learning has remained dismal. With no hope that the existing varsities will improve, the team of 40 are preparing a strategy to set up a new university away from the government’s control. The to be established, University of Nepal was first conceptualized by Dr Arjun Karki, a renowned pulmonologist also a former vice-chancellor of the Patan Academy of Health Sciences. Other academics gradually joined him.
“The University of Nepal plans to impart knowledge, skills and the conscience in the students, which existing varsities have largely failed to do,” said Karki. “We are holding consultations and discussions with the stakeholders at different levels to ensure the university moves in a planned way.”
On June 15, the federal Cabinet formed the Infrastructure Development Preparation Board to set up the University of Nepal. Along with Karki, the 11-member board includes Bipin Adhikari, former dean at the Kathmandu University School of Law, writer and engineer Dovan Rai and Surya Raj Acharya, a former visiting faculty member at the Institute of Engineering, among others. Gaidakot Municipality, Nawalparasi, is the proposed site of the university.
The board has got two years for the preparatory works, and its members are confident that they can complete the construction of basic infrastructure and commence study in the next three years.
The municipality’s council meeting has already decided to provide land to the university in wards 10 and 11. The Cabinet’s approval is necessary to acquire the land to set up the infrastructure. Adhikari said they are now requesting the National Planning Commission to list the university as Nepal’s priority project, which eases the land acquisition process. Once the NPC enlists it as the priority project, the Cabinet will provide the land to the university. The authority to hand over the public land to any government or non-government agencies lies only with the federal government.
Similarly, an Act is a must to govern the university, and it has to be done at the federal level. The draft bill for the University of Nepal Act has been forwarded to the Cabinet for an endorsement. Once it is endorsed, it will be presented in the federal parliament for promulgation.
“The board is working on two things simultaneously: preparing the strategic report of the university and developing the curriculum,” said Adhikari. The academicians held a three-day strategic meeting in the first week of November at Gaidakot to discuss the academic and financial model, working modality and courses of its focus. The strategic report is being prepared based on the conclusion of the three-day consultations.
Nepal’s existing universities operate under their separate Acts with the prime minister as chancellor and the education minister as pro-chancellor. The vice-chancellor is the executive head of the university. As the ex-officio chancellor, the prime minister appoints vice-chancellors based on the recommendations made by the education minister-led search committee. The focus of the discussion was keeping politicization at bay and not allowing the government to vet the appointments in varsities.
“The government’s role will be limited to the preparation of the law and other supervision,” said Adhikari. “The university will be autonomous in a true sense.” The board of trustees will be the supreme body to govern the university, which represents the people from different walks of life. The authority to appoint the vice-chancellor and other executive officials will be with the trustees, which is a significant difference between the existing universities and the academicians set up.
There is unanimity among the academicians that there will be no affiliated university colleges. They believe that providing affiliation is just a means to raise money from the colleges, which is only ruining the quality of education. Tribhuvan University, blamed for failing to deliver quality education, has close to 1,100 affiliated colleges.
Rai, a member of the development board, said they are confident that the new varsity will prove a milestone in shaping the university education in the country. “The university will focus on liberal arts-oriented interdisciplinary education,” said Rai. “Liberal arts is a concept of education where blended with humanities and social science, natural science, mathematics, technology, economics, agriculture, development and environment.”
The members of the development board say the university will prepare graduates who can meet current needs and future challenges to lead their communities and country. The graduates from the university will have cognitive skills that foster innovation, creativity, independence, critical thinking, and evidence-based analysis. Promoting research-based education to discover facts, analyze them and conclude is a significant focus of the university.
“The existing universities have failed in producing the human resource with critical faculty. We have envisioned a university that can produce the human resource to combat the problems in the country and society,” said Rai. The university will be financially independent of the government, not just the administrative.
The campaigners of the new university say while they will accept any support from the government, it will be based on its discretion. The campaigners themselves are ready to contribute to their capacity. Seeking help from the business houses and even opting for crowdfunding are other options the preparation board is looking at. Surya Raj Acharya, an infrastructure expert, said they don’t think financial resources will be a considerable challenge. “We need between Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 million in the initial starting phase. I don’t think that is unmanageable,” he said.
Many foreign academicians are together in the campaign to set up the model university in Nepal. Cliff Tabin, a professor at Harvard University and Robert Woollard from British Columbia University, are together with the Nepali academicians ever since the new university was conceptualized a few years back.
Several Nepali academicians based in different countries too have assured their support for the proposed university. While they are ready to contribute financially, they have also confirmed to present in the classrooms to teach the Nepali students. “We are hopeful that the University of Nepal will be one of the best universities in the region within a decade after its establishment,” said Acharya.
“The University of Nepal plans to impart knowledge, skills and the conscience in the students, which existing varsities have largely failed to do. We are holding consultations and discussions with the stakeholders at different levels to ensure the university moves in a planned way.”
Dr Arjun Karki
“The board is working on two things simultaneously: preparing the strategic report of the university and developing the curriculum.”
Bipin Adhikari
“The university will focus on liberal arts-oriented interdisciplinary education. Liberal arts is a concept of education where blended with humanities and social science, natural science, mathematics, technology, economics, agriculture, development and environment.”
Dovan Rai
“We are hopeful that the University of Nepal will be one of the best universities in the region within a decade after its establishment.”
Surya Raj Acharya
