Appoint VCs on merit basis

Apropos of the news stories “Call to end all political appointments in universities” (THT, Aug. 4, Page 2) and “ Shun political appointment of the VCs, NUTA tells PM” (THT, Aug. 6, Page 2), the vacant post of the VCs in the seven universities will be another challenge after August 8 as the appointments to such top executive post are less likely to be solved easily. As a result, administrative work of the universities will be hampered without the leadership like what happened four years ago.

Honest professors in all universities will feel being cheated if the top posts are allocated on the basis of political power-sharing. Universities may remain closed for months, hampering the academic session which had already been halted for more than a month due to earthquakes of April 25 and May 12. Varsities should not be the places where politicians play their dirty games.

Qualified and well experienced people should be appointed without any political bias.

Political intervention in all the universities is the main cause of poor quality of education. Those institutions where political interference is non-existent have performed well and developed themselves as centers of excellence within the country. Like in the constitutional bodies, there must be a constitutional provision that sets certain criteria for the appointment of VCs in all universities where the government has to allocate budget for their operation. A permanent committee should be set up outside the Ministry of Education that will recommend names of suitable candidates for leading the universities.

Som Nath Ghimire, Kawasoti

Mafia

The answer in one word to “What ails medical education in Nepal?” (THT, Aug. 6, Page 1): political mafia. This applies to other disciplines as well including business studies and pilot training. Anyone still remembers the infamous Shivani Airlines which scammed and bolted leaving two dozen aspiring pilots in the lurch. If we were the Indian or US democracy, the Shivani thugs would be rotting in Tihar or Long Island. Medical education is not as simplistic as tending to cattle or harvesting fodder. Yet, medical education is the new and the most lucrative means of riches for the rustic politicians to graduate from hooch to whiskey. In neighbouring India, most medical colleges are run by trusts as are other disciplines. Their admission criteria are as tough as going to the moon. Our primary criterion is fees. No wonder our mafia are unhappy, among others, at the ceiling of Rs 3.5 million fees payable in various installments. The government should be wise to implement the Mathema report on fees and locations. No medical colleges should be allowed within 200-km radius of the Kathmandu Valley. If Nepali students can travel to as far as the US, the Philippines, and Chennai, they should have no problem in travelling to other parts of the country for quality education.

J. Talchabhadell, Bhaktapur