BY MANOJ KUMAR KARNA Tribhuvan University (TU), the oldest university of the country, has the formal entity of free students’ union which elects its president in the unit campus after each two years under the rector. Such is the practice in the multiparty system country’s other universities too not only in Nepal but worldwide. However, the foreign countries’ students, teachers and the governments are more conscious in teaching-learning activities than Nepal. Student politics in higher education in Nepal is very dangerously finishing all the academic dykes in the Nepali universities. It was a time when the political parties needed such political student and teachers in the universities in Nepal so that the awareness could be arisen in the people for universities are the centre of where the political discussion can be held safely. Now-a-days, the very some wise politicians in our country advocate the idea of limiting/minimizing or completely banning the politics not only from the teachers but also students in the universities. It is because the government is not getting academically sound human resources from average politically polluted environment of the Nepalese universities so that the country can rely on them confidently on the one hand while many Nepali youngsters go abroad for higher education by not trusting Nepali institutions on the other hand. The condition is very alarming that morally high some teachers feel very critical to survive in the profession among such politician mass of average teachers and students. Then, why shouldn’t we call it as if not lesser, the Dark Age of Nepal in the education field? This article examines at student politics in Nepal in brief from past to the present with its effects and some remedies. Yesterday The TU had first initiated the semester system around 2033 BS but there was the Panchayat rule in the nation. Still many teacher and students of the then implementation alive in Nepal remember those days and call it as a very good system of higher education. However, they also add that they did not like the ongoing political system together with the political parties so many students could not compete in the entrance examination and could not even fulfill at least eighty percent attendance in the class. So, with this ‘cause’ they made it issue against TU outwardly but against the Panchayat rule inside under the political motivation of the parties. The result was the political referendum in 2036 BS. Our concern is here not the victory of one over other rather the good system was crossed out from university in Nepal which still the very political parties’ leaders and those teacher and students lament over! How can one forget the events like misbehaving with then Vice-chancellor Madhav Sharma and Rector Soorya Lal Amatya of TU by the ANNFSUR (R) at Balkhu on the 22 May 2009 when Pushpakamal Dahal was the prime minister from the Maoist party or just some months earlier the joint ANNFSU’s students’ brutally beating with serious injury in the hand of the campus chief of Tri-Chandra Campus, Ghantaghar or the frequent misbehave of the same students to this columnist and other honest professionals in Patan Multiple Campus, Lalitpur when the very communist parties are in the government under PM K.P. Oli? Today From the last decade, TU is doing re-practice of the same semester system at master’s levels where the bachelor’s classes are more in the nature of semester and less annual because the course valuation is 60 (at master’s level) or 70 (at bachelor’s level) internal evaluation respectively in the four semesters (two-years) in the master’s level and the four-years course at the bachelor’s level. Many teachers want to follow the prescribed activities of the texts or directed by the subject committee or the respective Dean office but the class runs smoothly till theory only! In fact, when the writing or practical work starts in the class, the mass gradually reduces. After some days the very students come with so-called student leaders (or dealers?) not in a peaceful environment to discuss or getting well convinced each side rather to threat the teacher and administration. Due to this abruption, one feels difficult to carry out the activities of the internal evaluation. Can you imagine the quality of such students who will secure the 40 or 30 marks of internal evaluation with threat and will come out as A level or the first division? Actually, these products are consumable in the foreign countries for a steward or oil fillers at petrol pump which is shame and a matter of stigma for teacher, university and the government! The tragedy is ninety-five percent campus authority is just for filling up the bio-data purpose, that is, these authorities do not listen or interact over the issue with the core staffs and directly orders the immediate officer to take action upon for they have to ‘prove’ the ‘successful’ administrator in the tenure! What now? The politics of students should be to academic matter and material but it is misleading for union’s election to have vote in the favor even by carrying the foul and non-academic agenda which hamper the academic activities in the class. The political wings of the parties in the universities hardly demand the CCTV camera for monitoring student and their teachers for the teaching purpose. They hardly raise the demand with the campus administration for cozy class with academically sound teacher with full commanding on the subject matter who will operate the class with projector in the well security of those apparatuses in the class. They generally raise the financial demand for picnic, tour and games which are in today’s condition less used but more misused by the so called student leaders. These average student leaders in the certain group of students’ wing exert political pressure on the teacher and administrations for such preferences in the classes by carrying so called students which are the prescribed job in the profession. They convince less their followers to study hard for scholarship but ‘struggle’ more with administration to allow scholarship and admission even without standing high in the competition. I strongly suggest the university authorities and the government body instantly to differentiate the genuine student and leaders from the political goons in the disguised form of student for fare academic environment. Since, some student leaders of the ruling parties’ sisters’ wings behave as the goons and the events are coming frequently in the media but the government is not responding so, this government’s failure is seen. So the government must curb such goons in their name or clarify its attitude towards education or must quit from the government. The teachers must be morally higher than the students. The ethical question is whether to be ‘acceptable’ or ‘hero/heroine’ teacher among students without making them follow the prescribed job by persuading them or to be at least the morally high teacher by performing the professional works. For new course material in the competitive age, the campus administration should persuade and convince the student leaders about challenges of the course and their full co-operation to the pure academic matter in the class. It is advisable that the authority in the campus or university must give first priority to the academic environment rather that just bringing salary to the staffs to be refereed as the ‘capable and successful’ authority. The system of part-timer and contract should be for short time period and in the case of very genuine case of such individual who is national luminary or extra-ordinary to give something new input to the knowledge of the student. For this, the service commission of the universities must be regularized for vacancies twice a year as per the rule for the non-permanent staffers and the fresh candidates. The academic place should be shifted from the town/city areas to the mountain cliff, river or lonely place whereby the police or army base camps are available so that there will be security not only to the physical body of all but to the studious students also from the politician student leaders bybirth. The existing property of the campus in the town should be given on lease. (The columnist is lecturer at Patan Multiple Campus, Patandhoka, TU)