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epal has recognized importance of higher education for its overall development, and considers it a priority for alleviating poverty. The importance of higher education has also been highlighted by the emerging world trend toward knowledge-based economies. This trend offers new hope for a country that is poor in terms of natural resources, but rich in terms of human capital. The transition to a knowledge-based economy is proving rather challenging, however. The World Bank’s 1999 World Development Report on the knowledge- based economy listed four important characteristics required for such a transition: (i) an appropriate economic and institutional regime, (ii) a strong human capital base, (iii) a dynamic information infrastructure, and (iv) an efficient national system for supporting innovation. Nepal has the potential to grow in terms of all these characteristics.The government’s focus on universal basic education, especially at the primary level, has expanded primary school enrollment, which in turn has driven rapid expansion at the secondary and tertiary levels. This expansion of access has had critical implications for the quality of education, particularly at the tertiary level. Colleges have been established rapidly, without provisions for ensuring academic standards. The Tribhuvan University system, the country’s oldest and biggest, is overextended due to a rapid expansion in enrollment, a situation found at all Nepalese universities and colleges. Academic management has been affected the most. Acquiring and retaining competent faculty remain a challenge; the student admissions process for general subject areas (e.g., bachelor of arts [BA], bachelor of business studies [BBS], bachelor of education [BEd]) has become unwieldy, both in terms of admission dates and the ever higher numbers of students admitted; the academic calendar remains unenforced; and student examinations are hollow, ritualistic affairs, and unreliable measures of overall student achievement. Because of the pressures on academic management, it has been difficult to support progress in pedagogical methods and technology. In fact, the use of learning resources has remained rather debilitated, and the utilization of information and communication technology (ICT) in higher education has so far remained only a dream of planners and enthusiasts.
There is now an increasing realization among students and parents that education is important, and that the quality of education is critical for better job prospects. The fact that more and more of them are eager to pay for higher quality education has created opportunities for private sector investment in tertiary institutions. Today, more than 25% of students in Nepal attend private primary and secondary schools. Private education providers have even formed associations to safeguard their interests. Moreover, a large proportion of youths are going abroad for study, looking for a quality of education that will garner better job opportunities. The availability of scholarships and the chance to work while studying are also important motivations for studying abroad. Higher education
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institutions in Nepal have yet to address the challenge of attracting these students, which could be done by offering programs that are employment- or market-oriented; providing financial support, including loans and work–study arrangements; and ensuring the quality and credibility of university research and development, among other academic activities. These issues reflect both the problems and the opportunities that will require critical assessment, reflection, and responses. Many countries have made paradigmatic shifts in the planning and development of their higher education systems in order to address similar challenges. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), for example, has launched Project 211 to strengthen 100 of its higher education institutions and key disciplinary areas as a national priority in the interest of social and economic progress. Since the late 1990s, the PRC has been implementing Project 985, which has aimed at establishing world-class universities, now numbering about 40.49 India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the
country’s intention of establishing 14 world-class universities, showing that the Government of India also planned to aim for excellence in higher education. And India has expanded its prestigious Indian Institute of Technology from 6 to 12 campuses. These moves are apparently intended to copy the inspirational success of top universities in other parts of the world in driving scientific, technological, economic, and social advancement in their countries. Indeed, there is an ongoing lively debate in India about the need to develop world-class institutions.50 It is high time that Nepal also take appropriate steps toward
developing its higher education system, in order to advance the country’s economic and social development.
In Nepal, higher education is expected to help develop skilled, productive, and open- minded graduates capable of creating, applying, and spreading new ideas and technologies relevant to the country’s economic and social environment. A competitive higher education system that includes research universities will be important for preparing the professionals, scientists, and researchers needed by the economy, and to generate knowledge in
support of the national innovation system.51 It is important for the government to learn
from successful world development trends and to understand the important features of successful institutions of higher education. Several ways have been devised to identify, list, and rank successful universities. The basis of this identification lies in assessing the proportion of graduates who are in high demand in the job market and/or have demonstrated the ability to engage in advanced research, publish papers in peer-reviewed journals, and generate innovations. Universities that are successful in producing such graduates are deemed to be world-class. Jamil Salmi pointed out that there are three important and interdependent features of world-class institutions: (i) a high concentration of talented faculty and students; (ii) a rich learning environment, with resources and opportunities for advanced research; and (iii) supportive governance that practices flexible decision making, uses its resources to encourage innovation, and enables the institution to take the necessary steps in achieving world-class status.52
49 China Education Center. 2014. Project 211 and 985. http://www.chinaeducenter.com/en/cedu/ceduproject211.php 50 India Today. 2013. Our Higher Education Has Hit a Low: PM Manmohan Singh. 6 February. http://indiatoday.intoday.
in/story/higher-education-in-india-has-hit-a-low-prime-minsiter-manmohan-singh/1/249035.html; Government of India, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. About Department of Higher Education: Overview. http://mhrd.gov.in/overview
51 World Bank. 2002. Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education. Washington, DC. 52 J. Salmi. 2008. The Challenge of Establishing World-Class Universities. http://portal.unesco.org/pv_obj_cache/
The important questions at this point are: Can universities in Nepal undergo the reforms that could help them get to that stage? Or should new universities be started from scratch? The answer to these questions can be inferred from the ongoing efforts in the PRC and India. Both countries are working to establish new universities in collaboration with top universities abroad, with the intention of having these new institutions achieve world-class status. But the two countries are also reforming their existing universities by providing liberal reform grants and by giving them autonomy with regard to academic exchanges and collaboration. In return, theses universities must accept the responsibility for achieving clearly positive performance outcomes.