The University Grants Commission has jointly awarded Quality Accreditation Assurance (QAA) certificates to one department and three Tribhuvan University campuses.
The Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Tribhuvan University; Western Campus, Pokhara; Gupteswar Mahadev Multipurpose Campus, Pokhara; and Walling Multiple Campus, Syangja have been jointly awarded the QAA Certificate.
The certificates were handed over to all at a formal function held at the commission's office.
Addressing the program, Commission Chairperson Prof. Dr. Bhim Prasad Subedi said that Nepal's presence in the global higher education sector was weak. He stressed the need for all parties concerned to be active in advancing higher education enrollment.
Referring to the fact that QAA certification had been accorded to three educational institutions in Gandaki, he informed that the participation in the higher education sector in Gandaki is more than that in other states.
He was of the view that technical subjects should be promoted in the higher education sector. He further stressed increasing women's participation in higher education and the advancement of contextual education in Nepal.
Member Secretary of the University Grants Commission Prof. Shankar Prasad Bhandari delivered a welcome address at the program. He expressed the need to stop leaving educational institutions in the lurch after their establishment.
He also suggested that the educational leaders strengthen the institution by sustainably implementing all the assessment aspects of quality accreditation.
Member of Gandaki Pradesh Assembly Mohan Prasad Regmi assured that Gandaki Pradesh would prioritize higher education and motivate all higher education institutions to maintain the quality of education.
Similarly, Rina Rana, a member of the Indigenous Nationalities Commission, lamented that it was growing increasingly difficult to acquire quality accreditation due to the community campuses' weak physical infrastructure.
Dean of the Institute of Engineering Studies, Prof. Dr. Shashidhar Ram Joshi, shed light on the fact that two affiliated campuses of the Institute of Engineering Studies have already been accorded with QAA certification. Four other campuses are in the process of the same. He further advised that the institutions implement strategic plans to guarantee quality and not just do it only for certification.
Prof. Dr. Deepak Aryal, head of the department at the Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, expressed his commitment to continue implementing various aspects of physical, educational, and managerial reforms and vowed to make qualitative changes in teaching methodology and research patterns at the department.
Ram Prasad Poudel, Campus Chief of Western Campus; Prof. Dr. Tankaraj Adhikari, Chairman of Gupteswor Mahadev Multipurpose Campus Management Committee; Sachitananda Yadav, Campus Chief of Waling Multipurpose Campus; and others also expressed their views during the certificate handover program.
