Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara, Nepal

Tracer Study Report 2016

Summary
Nepal has considered education as an important indicator of national development om the latest decade and has engulfed the notion of multi-university system to produce skilled human resources. This step will contribute to the establishments of efficient and effective development bases. Tribhuvan University (TU) is the oldest and largest institution of higher education in Nepal

Founded on 1 September 1960 A.D in the western region, Prithivi Narayan Campus(PNC) was initially named Prithvi Narayan Inter College that started with 13 students and 2 teachers for post-secondary education and was run by the local community. Now, it is engaged in enhancing knowledge, managerial skills and expertise by broadening their outlook through the cultivation of right knowledge and attitude aided by its academic vigor and rationalized curriculum.

The major purpose of this tracing study is to find the current status of students who have graduated from PNC in 2016 and explore their employment status, analyze the issuers related to characteristics, expectations and aspirations and further explore on the issues related to quality and relevance of higher education. It is also aimed at assessing the programs’ contribution to graduates personal development and attempts to analyze educational differences by gender, ethnicity, caste and program wise.

Considering the bachelor and master graduates of 2016 batch as per the requirement of University Grant’s Commission (UGC), the study employed the structured questionnaire developed by UGC as the survey instrument. The study comprises of total 488 students among which 99 genuine responses were considered for the data entry. The questionnaire was administered to the students by the team members using the email of the students’ as it was made available. Referral of the students and guardian’s, social media such as Facebook, Skype, Viber and online form has also been considered as a reliable medium to get the data. To cope with delayed responses, telephone interview was also conducted. The study utilized descriptive tools such as percentages, proportions, mean etc. for general descriptions of study variables and analytical statistical tools such as regression, correlation, t-test, chi-square test, and regression analyses were used to determine the differences or associations of study variables.

The study has found that the participation of the scheduled and minorities in the institution is lower. Furthermore, the programs offered by the campus are found to be relevant in imparting job relevant skills but not as per standard. Similarly, the study revealed that the teacher student relationship is considered as one of the major strengths of the PNC. Besides, large portion of graduates were found working at the senior assistant, assistant and managerial level. Masters’ level graduates of the institution were found having higher employability compared to bachelors’ level graduates.

Primarily, the study recommends for the institution to have updated curriculum revisions, and design more inclusive and market-oriented specialization courses in order to increase the employability of bachelor program. In order to further improve and design the qualitative education the institution advised to include practical approaches in the pedagogy. The continuous improvement on the quality of faculties by inculcating research skills and activities is found essential to improve the educational quality. The institution also needs to further develop the library resources and other infrastructural facilities and is suggested to have major changes in the teaching pedagogies by involving new pedagogical approaches such as case studies, simulation, project work, seminars and workshops to enhance the academic quality of masters and bachelors level

Finally, the study suggests the higher education institutions to invest more on their resources and expertise in improving skill development, conceptual foundation and academic environment in order to prepare market-oriented graduates possessing sound educational quality. In the same manner, they should focus in the continuous quality improvement of the faculty by organizing skilful training, motivating and encouraging faculty by enhancing research skills and activities to improve the educational quality. It is also advised that the faculty should support the institution to develop new pedagogical approaches in order to enhance the academic quality and competency of higher education institutions.
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