Page 92 - EW November 2024

International News

difference between a Trump win, a narrow Harris win, or a
Harris landslide,” says Dr. Marsicano.
However, Prof. McGuire says that it was a “toss-up”
whether students would vote for Ms Harris, noting that Is-
rael’s war in Gaza had “galvanised collegiate opposition” to
the Biden-Harris administration.

NEPAL
Autonomous varsity proposal

A NEW NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PLANNED TO
open next year could lead the way in reforming Ne-
pal’s underperforming higher education sector if it
can secure sustainable funding and resist political pressure,
academics believe. Kathmandu policymakers have given the
go-ahead for the creation of the University of Nepal, a new PM KP Sharma Oli: ex officio chancellor of all universities
type of public university designed to tackle the low quality
of higher education in the country. Starting a top-quality university is expensive and requires
Crucially, unlike Nepal’s other universities, the institu- a long-term commitment. And if the government is invest-
tion’s governing body will be free to select the vice-chan- ing funds and is used to bureaucratic control, can they keep
cellor, a change from the existing politicised appointment their hands off?” asks Altbach.
process. Currently, Nepal’s prime minister is ex officio The idea for the university was conceived in the late
chancellor of all 11 of the country’s universities — a situa- 2010s by a group of Nepalese scholars. Other academics
tion that some believe hinders their development. on the development board told The Kathmandu Post that
“If implemented successfully, this new university could the university would aim to begin enrolling students in Au-
serve as a model for academic rigour and innovation, which gust 2025.
may inspire reforms across other institutions in the coun- They hope the new university will help to prevent the
try,” says Krishna Bista, professor of higher education at exodus of students from Nepal. In 2021, 19 percent of ter-
Morgan State University in Maryland. tiary-level Nepali students were studying abroad, according
However, it might not be straightforward to untangle the to the United Nations — one of the highest ratios globally.
university from political control. Former vice-chancellors
of Nepal’s leading institution, Tribhuvan University, spoke SWITZERLAND
out earlier this year about government pressure on univer- Research cut blow
sities in the country, arguing that it adversely affected their
functioning. GOVERNMENT FUNDING RESTRICTIONS
“Given Nepal’s history of political involvement in uni- ON Swiss higher education and research could
versity affairs, the true test of autonomy will be in how ef- damage the country’s historic competitiveness,
fectively the institution can resist external pressures over sector leaders have warned. Luciana Vaccaro, president of
time,” says Prof. Bista. “Should it succeed, it could indeed the umbrella group Swiss Universities, told Times Higher
set a new precedent for governance in Nepal’s higher educa- Education that Switzerland’s strength in research and de-
tion institutions, encouraging a shift towards more autono- velopment “is not built by miracle — it’s built by the fact
mous and globally competitive universities.” that we can attract talent to the country and can compete
A fund will be established to finance the new university, at a global level.” “At the moment, we cannot compete. We
with contributions from federal and local governments, are losing attractiveness,” she says.
as well as businesses. The mayor of Gaindakot, where the In March, the Swiss federal council proposed education
university will be located, told local press that the regional and research budgets for 2025 to 2028 of CHF29.2 billion
government would allocate funding for “infrastructure de- (Rs.2.7 lakh crore). While this surpassed the 2021 to 2024
velopment”. budgets by CHF1.3 billion, Swiss Universities noted that
The development board is also set to begin approaching “due to the expected inflation, there will be almost zero
business for investment. An important — and potentially growth or even a real decrease in funding for universities”.
challenging — part of the process will be ensuring sustain- In September, the Swiss parliament approved a final
able funding, says Philip Altbach, professor emeritus at budget that exceeded the original proposal by less than
Boston College’s Center for International Higher Educa- 0.3 percent. “This small increase can be seen as a positive
tion. “Often, good ideas are floated with a flourish, and signal, but it is not enough to meet the real needs of the
(then) sustained funding peters out and the effort fails. research community,” says Roberto Sala, head of strategy

92 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2024