But merely taking a look at statistics can sometimes be quite misleading. It is true in this case too. While universities have multiplied, there is a big question mark on how they qualify to become a university in the first place. The fate of Lumbini Buddhist University (LBU) is a case in point. Approved by the government in 2004, LBU now functions from a few cramped rooms on the premises of Bhrikuti Mandap in Kathmandu. Other universities, except the private ones like Kathmandu University (KU) and Pokhara University, have similar stories.
Considering the load of students in TU and its constituent campuses, the need for more universities cannot be ignored. TU is already stretched beyond its limit and the student pressure in it needs to be eased. Hundreds and thousands of students are squeezed in 60 constituent and 800 affiliated colleges of TU. For example, just Pokhara’s Prithvi Narayan Campus, a constituent campus of TU, has a student enrollment of 17,000 whereas the total student strength of KU is 5,000. Mahendra Morang Campus of Biratnagar and Tri Chandra Campus of Kathmandu are some other institutions under TU that have huge student enrollment. These campuses in fact deserve to be developed into autonomous institutions thus setting the foundation for transforming them into universities in the future. It is in this context that the idea of more universities is a desirable option.
But will merely proposing and announcing universities be able to serve the need of the hour? We are skeptical. First, some universities have come into being not because those institutions have enough infrastructures and human resources but because of political motives. Many of the university bills in the parliament even lack the recommendation of University Grants Commission’s. Granting university status without basic requirements will only boost the culture of universities granting affiliation to private colleges whose chief concern, more often than not, is nothing but earning profit.
As a matter of fact, any educational institution, be it school, college or university, should be backed up by functioning infrastructures, good buildings, running laboratories, trained and competent teaching human resources and clearly charted out policies and programs. In absence of these prerequisites, any proposal for a new university should not be approved. We expect that the Ministry of Education will heed to these basics. If new universities keep on coming up but without the needed infrastructures, we will only be rich in data.
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