Examinations under Tribhuvan University are a lengthy affair with 4-5 exams taking upto two months to complete. Then, the endless wait for results. Common mistakes in marksheets and transcripts are a norm. Examinations test students on purely subjective grounds that give them next to no knowledge of the objective use of their acquired knowledge. Add to this cheating permitted during exams. In the recently concluded Masters Level exams, it was the unruly students who were taking impartial and strict invigilators to task for confiscating books and notes brought into the exam hall for copying.

This has damaged the hallowed image of the oldest and biggest university in Nepal. The closer one looks, the bleaker the university’s prospect of producing capable manpower seems. This is all too well reflected in the curriculum that prescribes outdated textbooks at a time when the latest knowledge is only a click away. A complete overhaul of TU establishment is long overdue. Granted, some tasks might be easier said than done. But what has stopped the authorities from checking the widespread practice of cheating? And what does it say about the tenured faculties that are all too happy to put forth the same set of questions years on end? The hundreds of thousands of ‘educated’ students who fail to meet even basic job requirements certainly don’t see anything funny in the manner things are being run at TU.