Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara, Nepal

Tracer Study Report 2017

Summary
Education has, at present, been accepted as one of the major determinants for all round development of a country. The quality of education has to be enhanced to produce able, productive, disciplined and socially responsible citizens, and also to create a workforce capable enough to face the challenges of the 21st century. In addition to that the education must be accessible to all. That’s why; the concepts of ‘education for all’ and ‘education for development’ have become the popular slogans in the country. Educated human resources can generate employment for them and for others simultaneously and they, consequently, help to reduce the level of poverty in the country. Tribhuvan University (TU) is the backbone of Nepalese higher education. It holds not only the history of higher education but bears major share for the prosperity and development of higher education of the country. It is full-fledged public university which accounts around ninety percent of student enrollment. It has largest student graduation rate (88.5%), largest staff organization, big physical infrastructure, many teaching hospitals, a numbers of workshops for engineers, four research centers and many affiliated academic foundations throughout the country. Much of the student experience at Prithivi Narayan Campus (PNC) is defined by its size: the campus is both geographically dispersed and immense in its resources. For incoming students, success while at the campus often depends on identifying personal pathways through their undergraduate experience. Toward that end, the campus must ensure that students have early and ongoing interaction with faculty, as well as structured access to opportunities for engaging in research and professional development. This defining characteristic should be protected and nourished.

The indicators of academic quality may be graduation rate, learning outcome, academic satisfaction, teaching resources, teaching process, academic governance, curriculum, student diversity and so on, which greatly impact academic standard. The up-to-date information regarding the placement of graduates of the campus is not available. The campus is unaware about the progresses of the graduates. In this context, this study will explore the current status (employment, entrepreneurial, further education, social involvement, and preferences) and the usefulness of the knowledge, skills and expertise required for the development in further academic and professional life. The study is the first attempt of PNC towards this aspect. The study will also highlight on the academic and professional issues vital for the university authorities, policy makers, planners and the concerned authorities to appraise the requirement of higher education in producing globally competent management graduates. Finally, the study may also abridge the distance between the university and its alumni and can provide information in building strong relationship with them and their institutions. The primary objective of this tracing study is to find the current status of the students who have graduated from our institution at master and bachelor level in 2017.

The study has considered and taken the Master of Business Studies (MBS), Master of Arts (MA), Bachelor of Arts in Law (BALLB), Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) graduates of 2017 batch among the 32 programs launched by the institution. The study has incorporated the employment and educational details of the above mentioned batch only. The traced students consist of 100 graduates. The study adopts descriptive and analytical research design. It describes current employment status of the graduates and other factors measuring academic quality and job relevancy of the academic programs conducted by the institution. The survey instrument used for the study was adopted from a semi-structured questionnaire developed which was made available by the University Grant’s Commission (UGC), Nepal. Data entry has been carried out mainly using SPSS 20 version software. The study has incorporated and utilized descriptive tools such as frequency, percentages, proportions, mean etc. for general descriptions of study variables. Similarly other statistical tools have been used to conduct further analysis. The outputs for easy interpretation were presented in tables and graphs when necessary.

The tracer study results reveal that the academic quality and employment status of the graduates from our institution is not satisfactory. However, the academic programs of the institution are found to be successful in imparting sound conceptual foundation and job related skills to the students. The employment status of its graduates is not satisfactory and most of the graduates are not pursuing further study. It reflects the negative aspect of the institution regarding the employability of its graduates. The programs offered by the institution are found contributory in imparting personal and professional requirements of the graduates

Our institution, as higher education providing institution is found to be stronger at teacher student relationship, ranges of courses offered, quality of education, relevance of the program in enhancing professional requirements and the teaching learning environment. Whereas, the institution is relatively weaker at imparting problem solving skills, work placement related matters, teaching learning environment and extracurricular activities. For institutional reform and academic quality enhancement, educational institutions should focus on designing new pedagogical approaches such as case studies, simulation, project work, seminars and workshops to enhance the academic quality and competency of higher education institutions. Library resources and the infrastructural facilities are also the major elements in improving the academic quality; therefore it is advised to the institution including other higher education institutions to design programs that support its development.

It is recommended for the educational institutions involved in higher studies to emphasize more on designing and developing courses and program offering entrepreneurial skills. Furthermore, it seems more plausible for the government and its representative organizations to foster and include entrepreneurial practices among the graduates. The representation of female, scheduled castes and other minorities are found to be less in higher education. Hence, encouraging and supportive environment is much needed for attracting female graduates towards higher education. The government and educational authorities of the country should design more inclusive programs to attract female, scheduled castes and minorities towards higher education. Most of the graduates do not choose self employed status which signify that the graduates are not provided practical education.

Skill development, conceptual foundation and academic environment are found to be highly associated with educational quality which finally promotes better work placement opportunities. Therefore, it is suggested to the higher education institutions to invest more of their resources and expertise in improving skill development, conceptual foundation and academic environment in order to prepare workplace or market-oriented graduates possessing sound conceptual foundation as well as job related skills. The higher educational institutions and government authorities of the country is suggested to focus in the continuous quality improvement of the faculties by organizing skillful training, motivating and encouraging faculties involved to the further higher education and inculcating research skills and activities among them to improve the educational quality.

It is advised to institution to have more appealing programs such as scholarships and other related encouragement programs to increase the access of scheduled castes and minorities in higher education. Since the percentage of self-employed graduates is relatively lower, the institution should promote and formulate policies to enhance the entrepreneurial spirit among the graduates. The master level graduates marketability are relatively lower in comparison to bachelor level graduates; therefore it is suggested to the institution to enhance the hands-on skills to the master level graduates in order to increase their marketability. Additionally, it seems better if the institution establishes a distinct Job Placement Cell to look after these affairs. It is advised to the institution to manage the work placement programs in cooperation and collaboration with organizations by managing in-institution placements to reduce the average placement time. The study reveals that the institution needs to emphasize on creating effective pedagogical differences that promotes problem solving skills among the students. It is suggested to the institution to incorporate academic practices that equally fosters conceptual knowledge and skill development in the masters program whereas for the bachelors program only the focus on skill development seems significant. Similarly, the institution must focus more on skill development and managing resources for sound academic environment to enhance its academic quality.

Relatively, the master program has less employability in comparison to master programs. To improve and design the qualitative education, the institution is advised to include practical approaches in the pedagogy, similarly, it should also have updated screening of the job market necessity and impart skills and knowledge as per its goal. The institution also needs to further develop the library resources and other infrastructural facilities along with good toilet, water facility and cleanliness in order to improve academic quality. The institution should also 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 master and bachelor level students.
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