Kathmandu, December 16

Educationists have demanded that the government rank colleges on the basis of the percentage of students who get employed after graduation. They said ranking on this basis would create healthy competition among colleges and encourage them to improve the quality of education.

With more than 16,000 government and private colleges across the country, students are increasingly finding it difficult to choose the right one for them to pursue higher education.  Ranking would help students to choose the right college.

Vice-chancellor of Tribuvan University Tirtha Raj Khaniya said, “A college cannot said to be providing quality education just because it is affiliated to a certain university. While there are certified agencies to rank colleges in foreign countries, in our country there is no such body. The government should set up a body to rank colleges here.”

Currently, there are six universities — Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu University, Mahendra  Sanskrit University, Lumbini Bauddha University, Purbanchal University  and Pokhara University — offering higher education in Nepal.

Director of University Grants Commission Deepak Kumar Khadka said, “Once the government starts ranking colleges on the basis of pass percentage and the percentage of students who get employed after graduation, they would be compelled to improve the quality of education. This will eventually improve the overall scenario of higher education in the country.”

Not that the educationists and government have not thought about ranking colleges. They have reached several agreements in the past to rank colleges and universities. However, the agreements never came into implementation.

Similarly, TU Rector Sudha Tripathi said, “Colleges also need to be supported by the government. This would encourage them to increase pass percentage and provide affordable quality education.”