Kedar Bhakta Mathema, former vice chancellor of Tribhuvan University, today said uplifting the status of education in Nepal was near impossible without prohibiting all kinds of politics prevalent in the university.

Speaking at the 21st anniversary of University Grants Commission (UGC) today, he stated that the university has been losing the image of a temple of knowledge due to politics.

Mathema, who is also coordinator for the task force formed last week by the Ministry of Education to draft a policy for health education said, “The politics of students and teachers has always played negative role in bringing academic and policy level changes in the university.”

He said students’ politics should not be allowed to enter the campus gate.

“If students need to raise their voice for their rights, a small body such as ‘Student Council’ would be sufficient,” he added, “Student politics is just a waste of time for students who come to academic institutions to study.”

He shared his experience stating that while he was Vice-chancellor of TU, he had proposed the idea of forming a separate governing body for the operation of campuses with the provision of exercising control over students and campus chiefs, but it was not successful due to students and teachers politics.

source: the himalayan times, 24 Nov 2014