A public policy dialogue on the preliminary draft of the Higher Education Bill that was designed to amend and unify laws related to higher education was organized.

February 06, 2024

The Policy Research Institute in coordination with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has organized a public policy dialogue among the main stakeholders for further improvements in the initial draft of the Higher Education Bill aimed at amending and unifying the laws related to higher education in Nepal.
The program was attended by the former Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Giriraj Mani Pokharel, Hon. Member of the National Planning Commission, Dr. Ramesh Poudel, the Secretary of Education, Mr. Suresh Adhikari, representatives of various political parties, Vice-chancellors and officials of various universities and medical academies, officials of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, officials of the federal governments and educationists.

Most of the speakers who spoke in the program praised the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for making the draft of the bill public and seeking suggestions from all. Honorable Member of the National Planning Commission, Dr. Ramesh Paudel, expressed his commitment to accept the suggestions received from the discussion on this bill and take initiatives from his position to improve and modify it. Similarly, the former Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Giriraj Mani Pokharel held the view that the current bill cannot solve the problem and it should be corrected. He suggested that the Policy Research Institute should analyze the current problems of higher education based on the bill and prepare a comprehensive report on the solution.

On the occasion, Deputy General Secretary of Nepali Congress, Mr. Badri Prasad Pandey, expressed the opinion that there has been a lot of criticism of this bill, but no one seems to want to take ownership of it. He was of the opinion that the Policy Research Institute has done a praiseworthy job by holding discussions on the Bill, considering its duty, and the voice of the experts should also guide the political leadership. Mr. Pandey argued that if the experts start giving suggestions out of prejudice, it will only be noise and it will not lead anywhere.

The vice-chancellors and professors of various universities emphasized and gave suggestions regarding the autonomy of the university, political non-interference, ethics, assurance of resources, quality of education, equitable access, and so on.

The Policy Research Institute will analyze and synthesize the ideas received from the experts in the policy dialogue and submit a detailed report to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

PARTICIPATION
Invited guests
Mr. Giriraj Mani Pokharel (Former Minister of Education)
Mr. Badri Prasad Pandey (Joint General Secretary, Nepali Congress)
Dr. Rajesh Giri (Head of Education Department, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party)
Mr. Surendraman Shakya (Central Member, Janata Samajwadi Party)
Mr. Hari Acharya, (Central Member, Rastriya Janamorcha)
Mr. Anup Kumar Upadhyaya (Vice Chairman, Policy and Planning Commission, Far West Province)
Prof. Dr. Narabikram Thapa (Vice Chairman, Provincial Policy and Planning Commission, Bagmati Province)
Dr. Ramesh Paudel (Member, National Planning Commission)
Dr. Shila Mishra (Member, Madhesh Province Policy and Planning Commission)
Dr. Sohan Prasad Sah (Member, Madhesh Pradesh Policy Planning Commission)
Prof. Dr. Anjani Kumar Jha (Vice-Chancellor, Medical Education Council)
Prof. Dr. Amar Prasad Yadav (Vice-chancellor, Rajarshi Janak University)
Prof. Dr. Ammaraj Joshi (Vice-chancellor, Far Western University)
Prof. Dr. Upendra Koirala (Former Vice-Chancellor, Mid Western University)
Prof. Dr. Duk Bahadur Chhetri (Vice-chancellor, Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Nand Bahadur Singh (Vice-chancellor, Mid West University)
Prof. Dr. Bidyanath Koirala (Educationist)
Prof. Dr. Punya Prasad Regmi (Vice-Chancellor, University of Agriculture and Forestry)
Prof. Dr. Mangal Rawal (Vice-chancellor, Karnali Academy of Health Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Yadav Prakash Lamichhane (Vice-chancellor, Nepal Sanskrit University)
Prof. Dr. Yadav Raj Koirala (Vice-chancellor, Purbanchal University)
Prof. Dr. Rajendra Dhoj Joshi (Chairman, Madan Bhandari University of Science and Technology)
Prof. Dr. Shilu Manandhar Bajracharya (Vice-chancellor, Nepal Open University)
Prof. Dr. Subarna Lal Bajracharya (Vice-chancellor, Lumbini Buddhist University)
Prof. Dr. Bishwaraj Joshi (Vice-Chancellor, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Panna Bahadur Thapa (Academic Advisor, Kathmandu University)
Prof. Dr. Madhusudan Subedi (Professor, Patan Academy of Health Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Chandra Prasad Rijal (Executive Director, Mid West University)
Dr. Balakrishna Acharya (Dean, Patan Academy of Health Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Hridaya Ratna Bajracharya (Technical Advisor, University Grants Commission)
Prof. Dr. Binod Pokharel (Head, Central Department of Anthropology, TU)
Prof. Dr. Ramesh Kumar Joshi (President, Nepal University Teachers’ Association)
Mr. Ganesh Basnet (Volunteer, Madhesh Pradesh)
Mr. Govind Raj Marasini (Researcher, New Era)
Dr. Nimanand Rijal (Technical Education Expert)
Mr. Nishnu Thing (Researcher, Adibasi Janajati Pratishthan)
Mr. Pitambar Bhandari (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology)
Mr. Bhishma Kumar Bhusal (Secretary, Ministry of Social Development, Bagmati Province)
Mr. Raju Shrestha (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology)
Mr. Lakshmi Prasad Bhattarai (Secretary, Ministry of Social Development, Koshi Province)
Mr. Shiva Kumar Sapkota (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology)
Mr. Shri Prasad Bhattarai (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology)
Mr. Suresh Adhikari (Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology)
Dr. Binda Pandey (Senior Expert Advisor, Policy Research Institute)

Policy Research Institute staff
Mr. Laxman Prasad Bhattarai (Office Manager)
Dr. Hari Sharma Neupane (Senior Research Fellow)
Dr. Deepak Kumar Khadka (Senior Research Fellow)
Dr. Mukti Ram Rijal (Senior Research Fellow)
Dr. Giriraj Sharma (Research Fellow)
Mr. Ashok Pandey (Associate Research Fellow)
Mr. Rajendra Senchurey (Analyst)
Mr. Gopal Acharya (Analyst)
Ms. Rija Manandhar (Analyst)
Ms. Urmila Koju (Intern)
Mr. Kanchan Gautam (Intern)
Mr. Kushal Thapaliya (Intern)
Ms. Jyoti Luintel (Intern)
Mr. Sanjog Singh Kadayat (Intern)
Ms. Sonia Basyal (Intern)