ANNISU-R can go into the national convention boasting that they forced the nation’s oldest and largest university to act as they had wanted it to. The university can express its helplessness in succumbing to the political pressure put by a sister organization of the nation’s largest party. But the decision, and events preceding the decision, not only set a wrong precedent but also smeared TU´s reputation. The TU annual examinations were already being held behind schedule, and compared to other universities, TU is lagging far behind in its calendar. In such a situation, when TU needed to speed up things, the decision to put off the examinations was quite preposterous.
TU has been an educational institution where ‘implement, see and decide’ tests have been carried out again and again hampering the studies of students. The internal assessment system that was put in place for a few years is one example. Although a good decision for increasing students’ attendance and their assignments in classes, the decision to scrap it off after a few years only showed the incompetence of TU. It should have stuck with its policies, no matter what. Instead of the university administrators running the show, the student leaders belonging to various political parties are running it, thus putting the lives and career aspirations of many students in jeopardy.
The biggest problem with TU, and many other Nepali state institutions, is politics and the way political institutions and figures try to influence it. Appointment of top-level officials to minor decisions at campus level needs political approval. In such an environment, how can anyone expect anything big from the institution? Therefore, the first step that needs to be taken to make the nation’s oldest institution function properly is to depoliticize it. Appointments should not be based on political affiliations and personal loyalties, instead, they should be based on academic experience and qualifications.
While condemning both ANNISU-R for the political pressure it put on the university and TU for opting for postponement of exams, we hope that such incidents would not repeat in the future and that other student unions would not jump to postpone examinations and other educational programs that overlap with their own political programs. We also hope that TU will eventually develop itself into a competent university with an impeccable reputation.
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