PRIVATIZATION OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN NEPAL: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS Kedar Prasad Acharya University Grants Commission Email: [email protected] Abstract: This paper intends to figure out the characteristics, trends of privatization of engineering education in Nepal and associated problems and prospects therein. For the purpose, five universities and their constituent and affiliated campuses are considered as the population of the study and out of these, five universities and ten affiliated campuses have been selected for the study. The researcher has collected, stored, retrieved, and analyzed relevant data, responses from multiple sources on privatization of engineering education in Nepal. The outcome duly proposes certain recommendations to achieve socioeconomic goals in order to ensure that quality human resources are available for the design and implementation of a desired future for the well being of the mankind. Keywords: privatization, engineering services, private sector, engineering education Introduction Institutional learning in the oriental society guided by the Vedic philosophy started through the Gurukul system from 500 B.C., whereas it was guided by Christian and Islamic philosophy in the western society and the middle eastern society respectively. In the course of the advent of the society, higher education emerged as a powerful weapon in the welfare state philosophy and philosophy of the social democratic consensus (Tilak, 2004). Thus, higher education is characterized by state provision and financing by the state. It is an investment and is expected to pay for itself; and the government will recover its costs through consequent higher tax receipts (Mishan, 1969). Modern neoliberal economic reform policies initiated in the 1980s and based on the philosophy that any aspects associated with the public are inefficient and any aspects associated with the private sector are 'ipso facto' – efficient and desirable brought a complete change in that social democratic values and welfare states was replaced by the free market philosophy that stresses individual economic values and gains (Tilak, 2004). The private sector now holds the center stage (Tilak, 2004). The market (private sector) can do everything for everybody. The private provision of higher education is a very effective measure to improve efficiency. It is considered as an important measure of easing the financial crisis. To enhance efficiency, the role of the government should be confined broadly to the formulation of a coherent policy framework (The World Bank, 1994, Tilak, 2004). 196 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2016 With the introduction of economic reform policies, the role of higher education is reinterpreted and redefined. Social democratic visions encapsulated with higher education are being replaced by market driven policies and the role of the government is being reinvented. These paradigm shifts resulted in cut downs or even criticism of public subsidies (Tilak, 2004). Nepal is not aloof from this global phenomenon. After the introduction of multiparty democracy and the introduction of the multi-university concept and liberalization of economy, engineering education in Nepal has seen tremendous growth over the past decade both in the number of students and number of colleges. The growth has been skewed towards private dominance, and it raised many questions mainly about that quality, equity in access including others. At the same time, many stakeholders suspect about the average quality of graduate students and college (Varshney, 2006) in the Indian context. Similarly, the World Bank, WTO and Provision of General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATS) brings the policy posture on privatization of higher education in the ground that economic returns on primary education far exceeds those in higher education and private returns on tertiary/higher education far exceed the social returns (Acharya, 2013). In this line, this research article aims to find out the major characteristics and trends of privatization of engineering education in Nepal; in particular, it tries to find out how the state has been involved in promoting, regulating and managing private engineering education and the government’s policies on privatization of higher education, and how this policy dresses the issues of equity and accessibility. History of technical education The modern education system started in Nepal with the establishment of the Durbar High School for the ruling dynasty of the Ranas (Bhattarai, 2007) whereas the history of technical education started when a trade school was established in 1930 to impart technical skills to the students. Technical training school was established in 1942 and the school offered trade and sub overseers programs in engineering. In 1959, Nepal Engineering Institute started offering civil overseer courses leading to a Diploma in civil engineering. Corollary to this, the Technical Training Institute was established in 1965 with the assistance from Government of Federal Republic of Germany and offered courses on general mechanics, auto mechanics, electrical engineering and mechanical drafting (IOE, 2013). In 1972, the Nepal Engineering Institute at Pulchok, Lalitpur and the Technical Training Institute at Thapathali were brought together under the umbrella of the Tribhuvan University to constitute the Institute of Engineering and these two institutes were named as Pulchowk Campus and Thapathali Campus respectively. Since then, various efforts were made to horizontally and vertically expand the engineering education in the country. Privatization of Engineering Education in Nepal: Problems and Prospects 197 Emergence of private higher education sector in Nepal After the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1990, Kathmandu University from the private initiative was established by the act of parliament. This opened up avenues for private sector involvement in engineering education too. The School of Engineering of KU as a constituent school was established where undergraduate level education has been imparted. The establishment of Nepal Engineering College with the affiliation of Tribhuvan University in the year 1994 was the landmark for the growth and development of engineering education from the private sector in the country (Bhattarai, 2007). Policy posture of privatization of higher education in Nepal As education is investment at present to reap benefits in the future, it is a type of investment which provides benefits distinct from goods which is productive over a long term (Varshney, 2006). Following the wave of market principles, the supply has been growing. It is argued that market principles can not applied to education due to various reasons. For example, markets are largely driven by economic considerations. In fact, students and parents are not able to ascertain quality for the price they have to pay. It is due to the fact that they will enter the labor market after their graduation. The quality of engineering colleges can be known considering what type and kind of infrastructure they have, the quality of the faculties, including tracer study, alumni association, academics, and industry feedback, etc. (Varshney, 2006). In line with this debate, it was in 1980 that TU started to extend affiliation to the colleges from the private sector after then the government gave permission to TU and this opened avenues for the private sector in higher education. The Eighth Plan and the Ninth Plan highlighted the role of private sector in higher education. In 2006, The Ministry of Education issued “Fundamental policies for the establishment of technical higher education institutions from the private investment, 2006”. Policy and procedures of granting permission to establish private engineering colleges It was realized that there is a lack of clear cut policies and procedures for establishing engineering higher educational institutions in the country. In individual university act gives legal right to establish constituent and affiliated higher educational institutions to the universities. The university sets the criteria, procedures and methods of granting affiliation, including terms and conditions. Similarly, Nepal Engineering Council is also involved in the process of establishing engineering colleges. The Ministry of Education also has been involved in the process. As per the practice, the proposed college has to be registered in Nepal and have to apply for 198 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2016 establishing the college in the MOE along with the application fees of Nrs. 200 thousand (Nrs. 400 thousand for SAARC investors & Nrs. 600 thousand for third countries, investors). The MOE conducts studies of the proposed colleges and decides over the matters. If MOE opts for grant permission, it issues a Letter of Intent (LOI). After getting LOI from MOE, the institutions have to apply to Nepal Engineering Council (NEC) and the affiliating university. The proposed engineering colleges are evaluated based on several criteria, including the credibility of the institutional management and program providers, assurance of the laid compliance of norms and standards, the market sensitivity of the program output (NEC, 2014). If both the agency approve, then the engineering institution comes into the existence. In principle, MOE does not have such permission granting authority because Nepal opted higher education system on an autonomous basis. UGC works as the buffer between the