• In the last academic year, number of students opting for History as a major was nil

Kathmandu, January 3 In view of the waning level of interest among students towards the study of History in recent years, the oldest university of the country, Tribhuvan University, has come up with schemes to encourage students to study the subject in its campuses. At an interaction organised here today by TU’s Central Department of History titled ‘Teaching and Learning of History Subject in the Present’, scholars pressed for the need to lure students towards this subject. In connection with this, TU has announced that scholarships will be awarded to those willing to study history. Earlier, this subject was taught in TU-affiliated colleges throughout the country but only the Central College at TU is running classes in History of late. Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at TU, Professor Shivalal Bhusal opined the decreasing number of history students was due to inability to make them understand the importance of this subject. Bhusal said, “Students prefer to take up job-oriented subjects due to which attraction towards old subjects like history among students was on the wane.” He further said that students would be hugely attracted to History if its significance was increased in sectors such as politics, government services and social sectors among others.” Bhusal said although history was an old subject and was losing its charm among students; its importance had not decreased. With the onset of semester system in TU, there were seven students studying this subject in TU which had been nil in the last academic year. A total of five students have enrolled with history as major subject in the new academic session. Prof Bhusal said the charm of other subjects such as geography, culture, Buddhism and linguistic were also on the wane lately. There were negligible students for geography subject in 2016. Chief of Department of History, Shanker Thapa, said that different programmes have been mooted to attract students such as option of morning shift, scholarship to students with poor financial status and exposure to participation in programmes of academic importance. He said that tudents have been attracted by the revised curriculum. Thapa said, “Attraction towards History subject is decreasing in the world, not only in Nepal.” Saying that many researches are carried out in History, Thapa said removal of history-related issues from the Public Service Commission curriculum was one of the reasons behind the less number of students studying History. Former Dean of Humanities Faculty, Professor Triratna Manandhar, said that subjects like History were at risk of removal from the academic curriculum after introducing new subjects without any study and research. Similarly, former chief of the Department, Tirtha Prasad Mishra, said there was a negative attitude in society towards History as a subject.