KATHMANDU, Jan 8: Tribhuvan University (TU) has vowed to take action against professors and employees who have gone abroad on study leave and have not yet returned to their job.
According to the University Act, TU has been sending its teachers and employees abroad on paid study leave along with service facilities and concessions to further enhance their skills. However, the number of teachers and employees who go abroad with all the service facilities but stayed abroad after completing their studies has gone up increasing, prompting students to stage protests against this trend.
The United Students' Organization had been protesting in front of the Tribhuvan University Rector's office for a week to end the irregularities seen in Tribhuvan University. To address the 10-point demands of the protesting students, TU has been agreed that the names of such teachers and employees will be made public through the university executive decision.
When Professor Dr. Keshar Jung Baral, who is close to the Maoist Center, was appointed Vice Chancellor, the United Students' Organization, under the coordination of Dinesh Air, the President of the All (Revolutionary) Students' Organization close to the same party, raised their voices and protested about the university’s irregularities. A three-member committee formed under the coordination of Professor Pashupati Adhikari had reached a 9-point agreement to address the demands of the students.
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Chairman of the Revolutionary Students' Organization, Air, said that due to the irresponsibility of the TU officials, more than 65 people were found to have not returned to their duty even after completing their study abroad under TU's service facilities.
He also said that they have demanded the TU authorities should recover all expenses and facilities provided to absconding teachers and officials. 'According to TU's rules, a teacher receive a maximum of five year leave to study abroad. According to the rules, after studying such teachers must return to TU and teach for, at least, three years and officials and employees must return to the university and work in their workplace for three years,' said Chairman Air.
According to TU regulations, such teachers receive more than 5 million rupees from TU throughout their study period, including salary, service facility allowances and other benefits. But even when they stayed abroad without contributing to TU, the university was found to have taken no action against such teachers and employees.'
TU should be aware of the teaching staff and employees whose tenure has reached 15 years and they have 5 years left to retire and they will be sent abroad and will have to retire when they return. TU has already started collecting the names of such teaching staff, said union member Subedi.
Similarly, these students are frustrated by another anomaly prevalent in the university– several TU professors have obtained PhDs from India even when they have been teaching at TU. Not only this, when students raised their voices saying that TU has failed to find out such anomaly while offering official equivalence to such degrees. They accused TU authorities for giving equivalence or officials recognition of such PhDs arbitrarily. This issue should also be investigated and necessary action should be taken, the students demanded.
Following discussion with students, the Tu authorities agreed to form a high-level investigation committee to prepare a report on all decisions made on TU equivalence granted to PhDs after 2013 to resolve the problem," said member Subedi. "The report will be implemented within a month of the formation of the committee."
Similarly, TU has agreed not to implement the decision to automatically render the part-time teachers and teachers hired on the contract basis, permanent ones.It will immediately bring out advertisements seeking new positions for vacant associate professors and employees through open competition.
