An impending umbrella statute, which is being introduced in the education sector, is aimed at restructuring the present management of the country’s five universities and over 900 higher secondary schools. Although, an umbrella education body, the University Grants Commission, formed a decade ago and bequeathed with the authority to advice and assess the funding needs of the universities in addition to advising the government on university issues, was not bestowed with all the authority to reform the prevailing management practices. Moreover, colleges remained outside the Commission’s direct ken. The absence of an immediate supervising authority to look into management practices at universities and colleges — often considered autocratic by students and public — in fact has provided a safe haven for the growth of unsatisfactory management system. Besides, the arrangement with the Commission to safeguard the autonomous character of the universities meant that the latter strayed too far by way of granting affiliation to colleges, without caring whether or not the affiliate institutions had supported infrastructure and facilities for these courses. Some universities took undue advantage of the new-found freedom.

In this light, the Higher Secondary Education Act, which will now monitor and ascertain the requirements for granting affiliation besides checking whether the programmes are run as per the criteria was long overdue. It is also set to define the borders of the deemed universities, only two of which exist now. The Commission is also being recommended by the new framework for giving top priority while selecting teachers in order to bring uniformity in the selection process. The vice-chancellor remains almost sacrosanct. The new stipulations must circumvent all of these issues so that the country’s education sector is rendered transparent, impartial and credible. Now that reformation has begun, one area lying in the shadows is the equivalence section. The Tribhuvan University (TU) recognises only a handful of foreign universities and even this inventory is outdated and nothing has been done to update it. This has the country’s premier learning centre frowning at degrees acquired from others, some of which, in fact have far better infrastructure than at TU. This has considerably affected the students returning with degrees from foreign universities. Besides, the recommendations to revise the fee structure, explore the possibilities of department mergers and intake of students is a welcome initiative. Equally important is it to make these institutions self-reliant. However, all of it will come to naught if the changes are not implemented as outlined.