Nepal’s new government announces HE reform measures

In a push to reform the academic sector, the new government led by Balendra Shah is set to introduce a raft of measures and has started with the announcement that party-affiliated student unions at universities are to be dismantled within two months.

Balendra, who took the oath of office on 27 March, swept into power as Nepal’s youngest ever prime minister with a big majority on the back of a landslide victory that followed a student and youth-led uprising.

But the student unions’ proposals have received mixed reactions.

Unveiling the government’s 100-point good governance roadmap on 28 March, the Shah announced plans to disband the students’ wings of political parties in universities within 60 days and replace them with mechanisms such as student councils in 90 days.

The move, the roadmap claims, aims to end political interference in the education sector and the deterioration of academic quality.

“We are working on plans to execute the announcements made in the roadmap. They will be implemented within the deadlines,” Choodamani Paudel, secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, told University World News.

Political parties object

The political parties and their student wings have quickly objected to the move, claiming it violates the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and association.

The student wings of 14 parties, including the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, have jointly demanded that the decision be revoked at the earliest possible.

“The decision taken in the name of reform intends to impose restrictions on the freedom of thought, expression, and association. It is not just immature but also unconstitutional and undemocratic,” reads their joint statement issued on 1 April.

They have warned of protests if the government does not revoke the decision.

Nepal has a long history of student politics, and party-affiliated student wings have led democratic movements at various times. When political parties were banned until 1990, the students’ wings took the lead in campaigning against autocratic rules.

Of late, however, they have been blamed for over-politicising the academic institutions and ruining the academic environment.

“They had relevance during the autocratic time when the political parties were banned. Now they don’t,” Kedar Bhakta Mathema, a former vice-chancellor at Tribhuvan University (TU), Nepal’s largest and oldest varsity, told University World News.

He said the more student wings there are, the tougher it is for the university authorities to deal with him.

“As a vice-chancellor, I had a feeling 35 years back that the partisan student bodies should be restricted. They are more into serving partisan interests than raising the students' concerns,” said Mathema, who is a highly regarded educationist in Nepal.

As Mathema claims, the student wings have been found resorting to padlocking universities to block entry, vandalising offices, and even threatening university officials to pressure them into meeting their demands.

Threats and vandalism

For instance, in November, a group of student leaders vandalised the office of TU vice-chancellor Deepal Aryal, saying he refused to grant free passes to watch Nepal’s premier cricket league, which was held at the stadium on the university premises.

Threats to university officials and vandalism have been common in Nepal’s higher education sector.

Against the claims from the student unions that restricting them is against the constitutional authority, experts say restricting partisan unions doesn’t contradict the constitution.

The formation of the student council respects the right to organisation in the spirit of the constitution, according to Chandra Kant Gyawali, a constitutional expert.

However, the student leaders claim the government is getting away with several problems facing Nepal’s academic sector by putting all the blame on them.

“Are student unions the only reason for the poor show of our universities? I ask the government to find the long-term solutions rather than defaming the student unions,” Bijay Prakash Sharma, chairperson of the All Nepal National Independent Student Union (Revolutionary), told University World News.

Results to be published

Announcing other reforms, the government said that all universities will publish the results of bachelor’s and master’s-level examinations in accordance with the calendar provided by the education ministry.

It has also been said that necessary procedural arrangements will be made so that citizenship certificates will not be required for students to pursue studies up to the bachelor’s level.

Producing a citizenship certificate is a requirement to enrol in universities and colleges in Nepal, depriving hundreds of Nepalis of the opportunity to pursue higher education.

The incumbent government, which commands a close-to-two-thirds majority, has also made public a long-term vision for good governance that includes several reform plans for the education sector. Even as the erstwhile interim government had prepared the vision paper, it was unveiled by the current government.

“I believe the incumbent government has owned the vision paper,” said Paudel.

Towards centres of excellence

The vision paper calls for universities to become centres of excellence and for institutions with low student enrolment to be merged.

It proposes regulating colleges affiliated with foreign universities, as well as auditing their fees and examinations.

Several colleges operating in affiliation with foreign universities have been accused of providing certificates that are not accepted by good universities abroad.

Making education consultancies accountable and recovering the cost from them if they send students to the wrong institutions is another reform proposed. A number of education consultancy operators in Nepal have been arrested over the past few months for their alleged involvement in duping students.

It also suggests a long-term plan is to allow five-year multiple visas for foreign students willing to study in Nepal. “I see a zeal for reforms in the new government. However, the long-term decisions like merging universities should be consultative and based on proper study,” said Mathema.