More than 3,000 students in the country today enrolled in any of the 24 engineering colleges are affiliated to four major universities in Nepal. About 500 engineers are churned out every year. And there is need for more. The quality of engineering education in the country has now become a matter of serious concern owing to challenges such as a lack of uniform norms and standards for all these institutions and a need to upgrade the present curriculum.

A decade ago, there was only one institution - the Institute of Engineering (IOE), Pulchowk Campus under Tribhuwan University (TU) to provide engineering education in Nepal. At that time only a limited number of students (48) were enrolled in Bachelor of Civil Engineering in a given year. To cater to the demands from more students for more engineering degrees, more institutes had to be established.

After 1995 a horde of private colleges and universities were established to meet the popular demands. At a seminar held on Sunday by the IOE Alumni Association (IOEAA) on “Engineering Education in Nepal, Opportunity and Challenges”, Rameshwar Rijl, principal of Kantipur Engineering College said that the rapid growth in institutions could lead to unhealthy competition and deviation from set norms and standards.

“To avoid this situation we need to form a strong coordinating body which could act as a ‘watch dog’ for all universities and colleges,” he said. As professor Deepak Bhattarai, principal of Nepal Engineering College said, the Nepal Engineering Council - which has been entrusted the responsibility to standardize the quality of engineering education in Nepal - should be strengthened to standardize the curriculum of various Nepali Universities.

Principal of Advance College of Engineering and Management Shree Ram Neupane spoke of the importance of reviewing the examination system because of certain problems inherent in the present system such as insecurity of students taught by teachers who do not set examination questions, and sharp differences in results among colleges.

He recommends that the exam board should include representatives from private colleges as well, and that there should be a ‘coding system’ in answer copies for final examinations. “A fair and strong examination system reflects an ideal education,” he emphasises.

Dean of IOE professor Dr Jiba Raj Pokhrel says it is important to maintain and upgrade the quality of engineering education in the country and to make it more effective. If this is not done, the good image and esteem of IOE – the mother of engineering institutions in the country – could also come at stake, he says. IOE today offers several masters as well as doctoral courses in engineering.

Pokhrel also opines that although people might say that the country has been producing more than necessary engineers, the production of engineering manpower of the country is not sufficient. “In fact we have not been able to create enough work in the country,” he says. The production of engineers contributes to a higher economic growth rate, he reasons, adding that for this to happen, still more institutions have to be established in the country.

“The vision of engineering education should be to push the country up the arena of development so that Nepalis may be able to live with dignity along with the citizens of other countries,” he remarked