Sadly enough, the student leaders seldom speak about the condition of the college, and what they have ever said about it is nothing but porkies. Nevertheless, the main problem is student politics at Tri-Chandra The country’s oldest educational institution, Tri-Chandra Campus (TC), recently witnessed a strange event. Students physically assaulted the campus chief, Professor Pradeep Neupane. The incident happened when a mob, led by the ANNSFU (All Nepal National Free Students’ Union) that was protesting against the 100% fee hike in the Science and Humanities faculties, got enraged. ANNSFU is the student wing of the ruling party. According to eye-witnesses and staff of Tri-Chandra Campus, the mob pulled Prof Neupane out of the building and on to the street, assaulting him several times on the way. As seen on the CCTV footages, Prof Neupane was thrown on to the floor, kicked and also walked over. At present, Prof Neupane’s office is padlocked, he is in a hospital bed, and nobody knows what is upcoming. The government, human rights activists and Tribhuvan University (TU), the parent institution of TC, all are silent, but why? Will Prof Neupane be able to safely return to his workplace? Furthermore, will the ruling party take responsibility for the incident? These questions remain unanswered. TC has been growing as a hub of some ill-minded people in the name of student politics since the past couple of years. Students indulging in narcotics and drunkenness can be seen on the shabby side of TC. This is a threat to the genuine students. This college is the first choice of students representing all social classes because of its nominal tuition fees and prime location. Because students coming from a higher social status have made it a transit point for abroad studies, the drop-out rate at TC is quite alarming. It is more than 60% between the first and fourth year at the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.). Professor Neupane has initiated some improvements at TC. Laboratories have been renovated with funds received from the University Grants Commission. The college, even though the oldest centre for higher education in Nepal, has been profoundly lacking in scientific equipment, requiring instruments worth more than Rs 10 billion. Sadly enough, the student leaders seldom speak about the condition of the college, and what they have ever said about the state of the college is nothing but porkies. Nevertheless, the main problem is student politics at Tri-Chandra. Constituent campuses of TU have the right to set up their own tuition fees after taking approval from the university. Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara has set the annual fees at Rs 11,000 for General B.Sc. and Rs 24, 000 for B.Sc in Microbiology, whereas for B.Sc in Geology, one has to pay about Rs 33,000. Another constituent campus of TU, Birendra Multiple Campus, Chitwan charges Rs 24,000 for B.Sc in Microbiology and Rs 36,000 for B.Sc in Geology, or B.Sc. in Meteorology. Private and community colleges, on the other hand, charge annual tuition fees of more than Rs 50,000, even for regular B.Sc General Science. At Tri-Chandra, for the bachelor’s programme in Science, students had been paying Rs 7,000. However, the fee has been raised to Rs 14,000 with the 100% hike mentioned earlier. This increment in fees is well-founded as the operational costs of the science programmes are incomparable to other disciplines. Besides, the increment in fees does not affect the current students; it is only applicable for the next batch of first years. Currently, there are more than 14,000 students studying at Tri-Chandra Campus, making it the largest campus in terms of enrollment. Last year, this campus suffered a deficit of Rs 17 million because fees had not been adjusted for a long time. Most of the fees collected are spent on the payment of contract-based as well as part-time teachers, who unlike permanent faculties, are paid by TC itself rather than by TU. As noticed by everyone, part-time faculties are a severe burden on the college, as they number very high. In physics, there are 46 part-timers; in microbiology, 36 part-timers; and in chemistry, 60 part-timers. The condition is quite similar in other departments as well. Tribhuvan University has set a quota of 2,500 students for the B.Sc. programme, but TC is incapable of hosting such a mass. The campus has launched 18 different science combination programmes at the undergraduate level, which is probably the highest in all of South Asia. No one has paid attention to addressing the shortage of classrooms on the campus. According to the students, some teachers do not attend practical classes. The college library severely lacks books. Such issues are not correctly handled by the college administration due to political polarisation and other reasons. Currently, 40 per cent of the students enrolled in the Science and Technology programmes under the banner of TU have taken admission in TC. TU has five constituent campuses in the Kathmandu Valley, but students prefer to join TC, but this is not to be understood that education in TC is good. In reality TC is not able to deliver quality education. This year, 343 students have given entrance examinations to join Amrit Campus, 62 to join Padmakanya Campus, 36 to join Bhaktapur, 118 to join Patan and 2,704 to join TC. Because of the overflow of students, about 200 students attend the basic science laboratories, such as physics and chemistry, but their capacity is less than 40. Tribhuvan University has neither diverted the students to another college, nor has it managed the problems of TC.