Students have been protesting since November 17, saying their future is in danger due to campus management, poor academic environment, lack of transparency, and confusion in faculty registration.
What you should know
The student sit-in, which began at the Central Technical Campus Hattisar in Dharan, demanding educational and administrative reforms, has been ongoing for two months.
Under the leadership of the campus's SBU President Peshal Raj Karki, students have been staging a one-hour sit-in at the main gate of the campus since 10 am every day, demanding six points, including academic and administrative reforms.
The students have been protesting since October 17, saying that their future is in danger due to the campus management, poor academic environment, lack of transparency, and confusion in faculty registration.
According to SBU President Karki, students have been directly affected by irregularities in faculty registration, academic quality, financial transparency, campus management, and health insurance.
According to him, the future of the students is in doubt as the BSc Microbiology and BSc Nutrition and Dietetics faculties, which have been operating for years, have not been registered with the Nepal Health Professional Council yet.
The students say that the sit-in, which has been going on for two months, is not limited to the demand for campus reforms but has reached a level of raising serious questions about higher education in Nepal, professional recognition, and the responsibility of the state. They complain that students are forced to carry 'unrecognized degrees' after years of study, and are deprived of employment.
Student leaders allege that the failure to recognize the Faculty of Nutrition and Dietetics, which has been operating since 2067, even after 15 years, is the result of policy weaknesses. 'The university teaches, the council does not recognize, the ministry remains silent, students have had to pay the price of this triangular confusion,' said President Karki.
Protesting student Ashish Karki says, 'We studied for four years, spent lakhs, but in the end we do not have the license required for jobs.' We have been protesting for two months, but there has been no hearing. The administration has not shown interest.'
Students have accused serious negligence even in the quality of education. Despite being present in class regularly, teachers do not come on time and cannot be found in the teacher's room, said student Bishweshwar Prasad Budha. 'We sit and wait in the classroom, but the teacher neither comes to the classroom nor is found in the teacher's room,' he said.
Similarly, they are demanding that the amount be returned unconditionally, saying that they have not received any service for the Rs 500 fee collected from the students in the name of health insurance.
Meanwhile, campus head Professor Basanta Kumar Rai has said that he has resigned, saying that most of the demands raised by the students fall outside his jurisdiction. He informed that although he had submitted his resignation to the Vice-Chancellor on the 21st, it was not accepted and that he is currently continuing administrative work.
Although efforts are being made to correct the irregularities seen on the campus, the results of the same are not immediately visible and that the work is being done for the benefit of the campus. He claims that the students have not come despite being called for dialogue repeatedly. He said that he is fulfilling the demands that he can do and resigned because he does not have the authority to address the remaining demands.
Although the resignation of the campus head indicates that the movement has created institutional pressure, the problems of faculty registration, professional recognition and policy clarity still seem far away. The debate over who is responsible - the campus, the university, the council or the ministry - has intensified.
