PRITHIVI NARAYAN CAMPUS

Prithivi Narayan Multiple Campus (PNC) (पृथ्वीनारायण बहुमुखी क्याम्पस) is a public educational institution located in the northern part of the Pokhara city and is one of the largest campuses affiliated to the Tribhuvan University.^[1][2] The institution runs undergraduate (bachelors degree) and graduate (masters & doctorate) programs in a variety of fields. It is named after the king Prithivi Narayan Shah credited for the unification of Nepal in its modern form.

 History

The campus was established in Sept. 1, 1960 as the first community inter college of the Kaski district for post secondary education as a local effort.^[3] and provided with public land in 1965 in Bhimkali Patan, Bagar where it currently exists. Regarded as one of the largest affiliate campuses of Tribhuvan University (TU) it is a major center for post secondary education in the western region of the country.

The campus is regarded as one of the important educational institutions in the country and receives government grants distributed through the TU. In accordance with the TU decentralization act of 1998 the campus elected a management committee in Sept. 1999 which handles tasks such as construction of physical infra-structure, making rules, working plan and economic policies and a sub committee under the management committee looks after every day affairs of the campus. The campus is spread over 35 hectares along on the banks of the Seti Gandaki River. The campus buildings occupy only a part of this area; most of the land owned is open. In 2006, UNDP Global Environmental funded a project to develop this open space as Green Space Park, where university students could learn about environmental conservation and demonstrate the use of open space to serve the leisure and recreational needs of the growing urban population of Pokhara.^[4] The campus is regarded as one of the most picturesque in the country.

Academics

There are altogether 28 departments in the campus. Being a public educational institution, the fees are heavily subsidized by the government. Many of the current 18,000 students are from the Pokhara city as well as from surrounding areas of Kaski district, Baglung, Mustang, Manang, Tanahu, Palpa, Syangja, Lamjung, Gorkha, and other western parts of the country.

Programs

The undergraduate is the most popular program with bachelors and intermediate level, however, the later has been scrapped from the academic session of 2010. The post graduate level comprises Masters and Doctorate programs. Five different faculties are identified: Science, Law, Humanities, Education, and Management. The campus is introducing newer subjects in order to fulfill the requirements to upgrade itself into a full fledged university.^[5]

Sciences

The campus has one Institute of Science and Technology affiliated to the TU that oversees 6 departments of the science program. The science program started with proficiency certificate level in Science (I. Sc.) in 1968 on the subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. The two year Bachelor's level in Science (B. Sc.) was started 1987 on the subjects Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Zoology, Botany and Statistics. The bachelor's level was transformed into 3 years program in 1998 and as of 2010 the I. Sc. program has been discontinued in accordance with the TU guidelines. The campus has separate buildings for theoretical and laboratory classes.
Chemistry
The department offers undergraduate degree in Chemistry. It started by introducing intermediate level program (called Proficiency Certificate Level) in August, 1962. Intermediate Sciences Program has been removed from TU affiliation beginning July, 2010, and is now a part of school of education. Bachelor’s Degree: The bachelor’s degree in science, as part of the Institute of Science and Technology, was started in 1987. Chemistry is offered for both the physical and the biological groups. The traditional classification of biological group is one where students take one or more courses in zoology, botany or microbiology and physical group is one in which students take one or more courses in mathematics, physics or statistics. In the third year the students have options to select one of the subjects as a major subject given the prerequisites are fullfilled.^[6] The examination of each course is a written examination conducted TU wide of three hours duration for each subject. The laboratory examination is of six hours duration. The selected subject in the third year is the specialized subject for further studies such as the master's degree program in Chemistry, if it is chosen as the subject of specialization.
Physics
The department offers both undergraduate and graduate studies in Physics. The organization of the undergraduate physics program is similar to the undergraduate (B. Sc.) program in Chemistry. Students with science background in high school (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) are eligible to apply for the undergraduate Physics program and accepted student are classified as Physical Science group and as such must also take courses in Mathematics for at least two years with two more courses in Chemistry or Statistics. Graduate Program: The two years' Masters program in Physics was started in 2008 and enrolls a maximum of 40 students each year. The students are admitted through a common TU wide entrance examination.
Mathematics
The department offers both undergraduate (B. Sc.) and graduate degrees (M. Sc.) in Mathematics.
Biology
The Biology Department was established in 1968 and currently offers undergraduate degrees in three major branches Botany, Zoology and Microbiology. Separate Botany and Zoology department were created in 1998 with launching of the B. Sc. program and the Microbiology program started in 2010.