TU-relevance in digital era

Tribhuvan University, located at Kirtipur, Kathmandu, is bonded with Nepalis, and Nepali educational institutions in varied ways. It is known worldwide and to all families in Nepal as the icon of higher education.Because of the great image or brand that TU built over the years, its 50th convocation organized recently at Dashrath Stadium drew as impressive public attention and interest as those in its first convocation some six decades ago. That could be taken as a great indicator of its relevance in modern era marked specially by the digital talk and technology. To make the relevance more meaningful and comparatively more related to life, profession and newly emerging demand for specially skilled human resources in the country, the oldest University in the country should be motivated and energized to update its curriculum, teaching ways, evaluation methods and overall infrastructural facilities. The person power manning the TU in modern times should be oriented with the latest method of running University-education. Some scholars prefer to call for digitalizing the whole teaching learning and management of the TU while others emphasize not doing away completely with the physical legacy but offering digital way of higher education as an alternative in an evolutionary way. That process will make the human resources, currently engaged in TU-management and teaching, research and innovative search in various disciplines and knowledge arena, more motivated, competitive and efficient. The multi-University system introduced in the country since 1985 also demands the same. As TU introduces innovations in teaching, learning and research, it should not forget that its basic characteristic is “public higher education.” All the principles attached to a public higher education institution in a country should be taken care of. It includes among other things considering values such as equality, equity, diversity and inclusion in matters of making higher education accessible and affordable for all Nepalis who wish and are capable to have higher education. At the time when knowledge and skill sharing platforms and programmes are easily available thanks to the Internet, the task of maintaining standard university higher education cannot be lost sight of. The Degrees and Certificates distributed by the TU should be able to command honour and recognition in competitive career building sectors, professional job market and industry and scholarly pursuits in the country and abroad. May TU gather courage, finance and enthusiasm to initiate journey towards that direction from 2025 A.D. on!