Kathmandu, August 24

Students majoring in any subject in their bachelor’s degree will get admission to Master of Arts in English at Tribhuvan University, its constituent campuses and affiliated colleges from the upcoming academic session that begins in October/November.

Earlier, students who had taken English as major subject in their bachelor’s level, were only eligible to get admission to the MA English course.

“The proposal to enrol students from other faculties has been approved by the Subject Committee under the Faculty Board. The Central Department of English had come up with the proposal, and it has been forwarded to the Dean’s Office. The proposal will be endorsed before admission announcements,” said Shiva Lal Bhusal, dean of Tribhuvan University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“There is no harm in allowing students from other faculties to pursue a course in English literature at masters’ level. But the students should pass the entrance exam to get admission,” he added.

“English literature is an interdisciplinary subject. It has corelation with history, sociology, culture, international relations, psychology, environment and various other areas of studies. Therefore, allowing students from different streams to study English literature will bring in positive changes and help revive the dying Humanities at the university,” said Professor Anand Sharma, adding, “It’s high time we made MA in English open for everyone. If we still do not open the way for students to pursue master’s degree in interdisciplinary courses like English literature, it will be great injustice to all those aspiring to study English literature.”

Years back, courses in English literature were limited to British and American literature, but now the scenario has changed — English literature courses include world literature. English literature courses have been designed incorporating multi-disciplinary approach to help students broaden their horizon of knowledge, said Prof Amma Raj Joshi, former head of the Central Department of English at TU.

Professor Joshi, however, suggested that the entrance tests should be conducted in a fair manner and entrance question papers should meet the standard to make sure that only deserving candidate get admission.

At least 150 students get enrolled in MA English programme run by the Central Department of English, TU, Kirtipur, each year.