This issue has been in the news since Education Minister Mahabir Pun said that the chancellor should be removed from the university during the 32nd anniversary of the University Grants Commission. Educationists have also been of the opinion that the Prime Minister should not be appointed as the chancellor to prevent extreme politicization in the university.

But how easy is this task and what legal steps should be taken to do as the Minister of Education said? And is this the first time the issue the Minister of Education said has come up for debate? We have tried to explain these and similar issues in five questions and answers.

Education Minister Mahavir Pun has been saying that the Prime Minister will be removed from the position of the Chancellor of the university. Is this a new issue?

This issue is in the news after Education Minister Pun made a public statement that the system of the Prime Minister being the Chancellor of the university needs to be removed. But this issue is not the first time that this issue has come up for debate. Although the discussion about removing the Prime Minister from the position of the Chancellor of the university started after the Ministry of Education formed a task force on 5th November to prepare a draft of the Higher Education Bill, there had been debate on this issue before. 7 years ago, the report of the High-Level Education Commission formed by the government in 2075 BS had also suggested that the Prime Minister should be removed from the position of Chancellor. Experts have been demanding that the university be run by a board of trustees, i.e. a group/council of academics, instead of making the Prime Minister the Chancellor. Education Minister Pun has already formed a task force under the coordination of University Grants Commission Chairman Devraj Adhikari to prepare a draft bill related to higher education. The task force, which includes the vice-chancellors and former vice-chancellors of the university, will decide whether or not the Prime Minister will be the Chancellor. Coordinator Adhikari said that the work of the task force is in the initial stage. He said that the bill will cover the entire higher education issue, including the criteria for university operation, and that the issue of making the Prime Minister the Chancellor or not will also be decided in the process. What should be done to remove the Prime Minister from the position of Chancellor as the Education Minister said?

There is a provision in the respective acts of universities, including Tribhuvan University, for the Prime Minister to be the Chancellor and the Education Minister to be the Pro-Chancellor. The act itself must be amended to remove the Prime Minister from the position of Chancellor. The Ministry of Education is now preparing a unified umbrella act to run universities instead of separate acts. In such a situation, the university acts will automatically be repealed. This issue will be practically implemented only after the unified act provides that the Prime Minister will not be the Chancellor. For this, the bill prepared by the ministry must be approved by the Council of Ministers and submitted to Parliament. This act can only be implemented after it is passed by Parliament. Therefore, it does not seem that this issue can be implemented immediately. Because the House of Representatives has now been dissolved.

According to sources close to the Minister of Education, in such a situation, preparations are underway to register the bill in the National Assembly. There may be a possibility of submitting the bill to the House of Representatives and passing it only after the elections on Falgun 21. In that case, the government can also make laws through ordinances. But the issue of the central interim government bringing necessary acts for overall higher education through ordinances for election purposes may cause further complications. The Secretariat of the Minister of Education has said that discussions are ongoing on registering a bill in the National Assembly or amending the law on higher education through an ordinance after receiving the draft bill. Although the Minister of Education seems serious about this issue, major political parties including the Congress, UML, Maoists and others do not seem ready to remove the Prime Minister from the position of Chancellor.

What is the proposal in the Higher Education Bill prepared in 2080 regarding the Prime Minister being the Chancellor?

The then Education Minister Ashok Rai had moved the Higher Education Bill in 2080. At that time, the Law Ministry requested discussions with stakeholders and the bill was returned to the Ministry of Education.

The draft bill proposed that the Prime Minister be the Chancellor of Tribhuvan University and the Education Minister be the Chancellor of other central universities. It was proposed that the Chief Minister be the Chancellor of provincial universities. The bill proposes that deemed universities can be established at the central, provincial and private levels. The proposal was contrary to the suggestions of the Higher Education Commission's report 2075. The then draft mentions that central universities can also be classified and taken to provinces, and that provincial universities can operate campuses only within the province. Similarly, the Vice-Chancellor will be appointed through open competition, and that even foreign-affiliated colleges will be operated by the University Grants Commission under the same act.

What is the Education Minister's understanding on removing the Prime Minister from the position of Chancellor?

At the 32nd anniversary of the University Grants Commission, Education Minister Pun had also said that the Chancellor should be removed from the university. He had said that the Prime Minister does not even know how many universities he is the Chancellor of. He has been saying in different contexts that there is extreme politicization in universities. The Education Minister is saying that politics should be eliminated from education and has received similar suggestions from the Vice-Chancellor on this matter. To remove the widespread politicization in universities, the practice of making the Prime Minister the Chancellor should be changed and a Board of Trustees should be formed impartially to select the Chancellor. The law should be amended for this.

Which universities have the Prime Minister as their Chancellor?

Most federal universities, including Tribhuvan University, have a system in which the Prime Minister is the Chancellor. Kathmandu, Pokhara, Agriculture and Forestry, Sudurpaschim, Madhyapaschim, Lumbini Bouddhya, Rajarshi Janak, Shahid Dashrath Chandra Health Sciences Universities have a system in which the Prime Minister is the Chancellor. Provincial universities, including Nepal University, which is in the process of being established, have a system in which there will be a Board of Trustees. Although it is said that there will be a Board of Trustees in Gandaki and Madan Bhandari Science and Technology Universities, they are not free from criticism from political interference. Nepal Open University has a system in which the Minister of Education is the Chancellor. Manmohan and Madhesh Universities have also been opened with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor.