Tribhuvan University (An Introduction)

Tribhuvan University (TU) [त्रिभुवन विश्वविध्यालय]is a public university located in Kirtipur,Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest of the six universities in Nepal. A huge number of students, approximately 3,00,000(not sure) from all over Nepal and abroad, makes it the biggest university in Nepal and 19th biggest in the world.

The university provides undergraduate and graduate education. Currently, more than 2,400 courses are offered, of which 300 are for intermediate-level courses (equivalent to Higher Secondary School), 1,079 are for undergraduate and 1,000 are for postgraduate programs. The university has 65 integral colleges and more than 200 affiliated colleges throughout the country. Since it is government financed, it is less expensive than other private universities.

During its 48 years, the state-owned university has expanded its programs. There are five technical institutes and four non-technical faculties, which offer 300 courses in certificate, 1,079 courses in bachelor, and 1,000 courses in master level. More than 2,400 courses are offered.

Technical and non-technical Ph.D. programs are available. TU offers a variety of courses of study as required by the nation. Recently TU decided to offer Biotechnology, Dietician, EMBA, Distance Learning Courses at the Master Level and an M.A. in Conflict Peace and Development. M.Phil courses have been started in the faculty of Management, Humanities and Education.

Before 1980, TU offered courses through its constituent campuses only. With the increasing number of students wishing to study at Tribhuvan University, it became necessary to establish colleges in the private sector; the constituent campuses of the university alone could not meet the demand.From 1980, TU began to accord affiliation to private colleges to conduct a variety of programs at different levels. In that year, 24 colleges were affiliated to offer the certificate programs. So far 561 colleges, located throughout Nepal, have received affiliation.

There are 290,833 students at TU who study at various levels. The majority of the students (171,592 or 59%) are in its 60 constituent campuses spread throughout the country and the remaining 119,241 (or 41%) are in the 416 affiliated colleges. Because of the lower fees and easy access,the number of students in constituent campuses is very high.

Tribhuvan University has 7,049 teaching faculty members and 5,607 non-teaching staff, including support staff, in its constituent campuses.

TU is government financed, but still an autonomous organization. The Head of the government, the Prime Minister, is its Chancellor.

     Chancellor

⇓

  Pro-Chancellor

⇓

   Vice Chancellor 

⇓

       Chairman 

⇓

         Rector 

⇓

       Registrar 

Council

Tribhuvan University has five decision-making bodies:

University Council is the supreme body that makes decisions on policies, budget, rules and regulations and the formation of special committees and commissions.

Executive Council implements operational decisions while the University Council accepts donations to the university. It makes decisions on grants, affiliation to private campuses and appointments of university officials.

Academic Council makes decisions on policies and practices regarding curriculum, teaching, examinations and research.

Research Coordination Council makes policies on TU research activities, approves guidelines for researchers and coordinates the functions of university level research organizations.

Planning Council has an advisory role of preparing plans (long and short-term), developing annual programs and evaluating programs implementation.