KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ addressed the issue of Nepal’s higher education challenges during a conference of university vice-chancellors focused on ‘Uniformity in the Standard of Higher Education and Internationalization’ in Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchok.
Expressing concerns, the Prime Minister emphasized the necessity for substantial investments in both physical and digital infrastructures essential for higher education. He highlighted the dilemma faced by the nation, pointing to the inadequate state investments while skilled youths, groomed through national investment, often opt to pursue education abroad.
Prime Minister Dahal underscored the crisis arising from a scarcity of enrolled students despite the proliferation of universities in Nepal. He called upon government-grant universities to perceive this challenge as an opportunity and emphasized the significance of convening university counterparts for collective progress—an initiative he labeled as novel.
The Prime Minister stressed the need for Nepal’s higher education to align with global trends in research, innovation, and diverse subjects, including space science, nanotechnology, quantum physics, and human psychology.
“The lack of effort in elevating our higher education standards to global levels will result in a continuous exodus of our youth seeking education elsewhere,” Prime Minister Dahal cautioned, urging collective responsibility among the state, intellectual community, and educational institutions to address this scenario.
Acknowledging the potential in disciplines such as Yoga science, naturopathy, mountain ecology, and Buddhist education, he suggested prioritizing their inclusion in higher studies curricula for comparative advantages and internationalization.
Dahal lamented the sluggish progress in connecting entrepreneurship with education and governmental policies, hindering job opportunities. Highlighting the University Grants Commission’s pivotal role in determining educational standards, he praised the Commission’s recent authority to set equivalency standards internationally.
Proposing collaboration among universities for curriculum development, examination systems, and research-based journals, the PM advocated for policy-level and structural changes to establish Nepal as a hub for higher education.
Addressing concerns about the Prime Minister serving as the ex-officio Chancellor of all universities, he proposed seeking alternatives without political influence. Prime Minister Dahal stressed the necessity for clear policies to assess and monitor the quality of universities established at the provincial level before challenges escalate.
He urged universities to adapt to regional and global educational transformations, emphasizing leadership’s role in enhancing education quality.
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