The Manmohan Technical University under the Koshi State Government has prepared a four-year curriculum for the B.Sc. Nursing program. However, it is still unclear in which modality the Dhankuta Hospital, which is considered the base for operating the program, will be handed over as a teaching hospital.

According to the university's Vice Chancellor Dr. Subashree Pokharel, the 8-semester curriculum, which was prepared by a team of nursing education experts and doctors over months, is based on 40 percent theory and 60 percent practice. The university claims that the course was developed on the 'less theory, more practical' model by studying market demand and international standards.

However, even after the curriculum has been prepared, the handover process of Dhankuta Hospital, which is used as a teaching hospital, is still undecided. Even though the hospital committee has decided to hand it over to Manmohan, it is not clear when, how and in what structure it will be handed over. The handover has not been possible due to incomplete agreement and technical preparations at the ministry level.

Due to this uncertainty, the question has been raised as to how practical the university's plan to conduct classes immediately after the curriculum is ready is. Dr., a nursing expert at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. Ramsharan Mehta said that although the curriculum is excellent, ‘the challenge of implementing it will depend on the hospital management.’

According to Menuka Bhandari, head of Nursing Campus Biratnagar, the new curriculum is useful not only for job seekers but also for nurses who want to be self-employed. However, they are concerned that the lack of sufficient clinical sites may affect the quality.

Medical Services Commission Director Dr. Sujan Babu Marhattha, while taking information about the curriculum development on Wednesday, suggested that the curriculum be prepared as per the standards set by the commission. State government officials, however, said that the course structure is ‘timely’ and assured that the hospital handover will be ‘completed soon’. However, Manmohan’s preparations to start nursing classes without a teaching hospital have raised questions about both the university’s priorities and the government’s decision-making capacity.

Manmohan is currently running engineering, pharmacy, hospital management, BBA-LLB and LLM. Although the university aims to start various new programs, including a PhD, within the next decade, the recent nursing program has repeated the same old problem of 'curriculum ready - infrastructure uncertain'.

Decision made in last month, process not yet finalized
On 12th of this month, the Koshi Council of Ministers had decided to transfer Dhankuta District Hospital to Manmohan Technical University and upgrade it to a teaching hospital. After the cabinet decision, Kosi government spokesperson and Minister for Internal Affairs Rewatiraman Bhandari had even made a formal announcement that the agreement with the university would be finalized soon, claiming that 'the process has moved forward'.

However, even after seven months of the decision, the process of transferring Dhankuta Hospital to Manmohan University has remained stalled. Since the agreement has not been signed, the path for the university to get its first teaching hospital has remained undecided.

Manmohan University, which has not been able to run health education programs due to the lack of its own hospital, has already prepared curricula for programs such as nursing, optometry, radiology, BMLT, physical therapy. However, due to the lack of necessary infrastructure for clinical practice, all programs can be started only after the hospital is handed over.

According to Vice Chancellor Pokharel, we have prepared the curricula after the government announcement. We have also submitted the draft agreement required for operating the teaching hospital. However, the government is yet to make a final decision on the agreement. Pokharel says, "If a decision had been made sooner, we would have immediately taken charge of the hospital and started the program."

According to him, the university has repeatedly discussed with political parties, civil society and the hospital management committee of Dhankuta district. During the discussions, the people of Dhankuta have expressed their happiness at the upgrade of their district hospital to a teaching hospital through a technical university and have urged the government to conclude the process quickly.