The Tribhuvan University has formed a 14-member committee to look into the dispute between the central campus and different student unions over the varsity’s plan to introduce semester system from the new academic session.

The rift between the campus administration and student unions has widened after the country’s oldest and the largest university announced to implement semester system in the postgraduate level at its central departments.

According to TU’s Rector Gunanidhi Neupane, a committee led by the dean of the Faculty of Education has been set up to settle the dispute by addressing grievances of different

student bodies.

The 14-member committee was constituted after nine student unions served an ultimatum to TU to scrap its decision of introducing the semester system.

The student unions held that TU’s ‘unpreparedness’ for implementation of semester system and the system itself would exclude many students and discourage them to study further.

“Students will have to pay higher tuition fees after its implementation,” they said.

Student unions also demanded implementation of a new academic calendar, punishment for irregular professors, physical infrastructure, increment in scholarship quotas and ending political interference in the university, among others.

After rounds of talks held with the agitating student unions, Tribhuvan University authorities and student representatives agreed to form the joint committee, Neupane informed.

“The members of the committee include deans of Education, Management, Humanities and Science faculties, TU’s principal, chief of the TU’s student welfare division and two representatives each from four major student unions.

According to him, the Nepal Student Union of the Nepali Congress, ANNFSU of CPN-UML, ANNISU–R of UCPN-Maoist and ANNISU-R of the CPN-Maoist have their two representatives each in the committee while chief of the TU’s student welfare division was named the committee’s member secretary.

The committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to try to find amicable solutions to the issues.

Rector Neupane hoped that the committee would come up with a solution by Friday.

source: the himalayan times,5 feb 2014