New leadership appointed across seven Nepali universities

The Government of Nepal has appointed new vice-chancellors at seven universities, including Tribhuvan University, and the appointees have already taken up their posts. This is according to a report credited to the national news agency RSS by DC Nepal and published in the same form by Thaha Khabar and other Nepali outlets. The appointments were made under the Integrated Procedure for Selection and Recommendation of University Vice-Chancellors, 2083, which was issued for the purpose. A recommendation committee chaired by Minister of Education and Sports Sasmit Pokharel, who is also pro-chancellor, formed an expert-led subcommittee that carried out the selection.

The report says the new vice-chancellors will need to improve higher education, see that examination results come out on time, run academic sessions effectively and look after university property. It expects them to make the universities more practical, technology-friendly and result-oriented.

Profiles of the new vice-chancellors

• Tribhuvan University: Prof. Dr. Bhola Thapa worked at Kathmandu University for about 30 years, as dean, registrar and then vice-chancellor for four years. He holds a doctorate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology on sand erosion in hydraulic machinery, and the report credits him with knowledge of energy research, including hydropower, and of engineering education.
• Sudurpashchim University: Kisantdatta Bhatta, from Baitadi, is an engineer who earned postgraduate and doctoral degrees in Hong Kong, the first in urban development. He has taught at the university for a long time and served two terms as dean of the Institute of Engineering Studies.
• Mid-West University: Dr. Rajan Suwal, from Bhaktapur, is a senior structural engineer and professor who studied at the university and served as dean of its engineering faculty. He was founding principal of Khwopa Engineering College, which he led from 2001 to 2009.
• Agriculture and Forestry University: Rishi Ram Kattel, from Rainas Municipality in Lamjung, is a professor of agricultural economics with about 20 years of teaching, research and university administration. He has been a department head, academic council member and director of the university's research and extension directorate, and has more than 50 publications.
• Rajarshee Janak University: Prof. Dr. Shyam Narayan Labh, from Janakpur, is a former zoology professor at Tribhuvan University, an aquaculture scientist and a policy advocate, with a doctorate from India on fish nutrition. According to Farak Dhar, he has received several lifetime achievement awards and the Nepal Vidya Bhushan (Class A) medal, awarded in 2010.
• Pokhara University: Devendra Adhikari, from Bhojpur, has a doctorate in physics and taught for a long time at Mahendra Morang Campus. He was chairman of the Purbanchal University Service Commission and has worked at Tribhuvan University and the Open University.
• Purbanchal University: Prof. Dr. Sujan Babu Marahatta is a public health expert and a former director at the Medical Education Commission. The reports describe him as an expert in epidemiology and infectious disease control, especially tuberculosis and COVID-19, with more than 100 research articles published in national and international journals.

The report says the new vice-chancellors will have to prioritise restoring the universities' declining reputation and reforming teaching and examination systems.