Nepal, Aug. 26 -- Last month, the government appointed Vice Chancellors (VCs) at seven universities from among the names recommended by the Universities Vice Chancellors Selection and Recommendation Committee. In the second round, the government recently appointed the VC of Kathmandu University (KU). Before that, in May, the government dismissed the existing VCs of those universities along with more than 1,500 officials from various public entities through the ordinance on special provisions relating to the removal of public officials. This appears to align with the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party's (RSP) pre-election commitment to reforming and depoliticising educational institutions.

A closer examination of VC appointments reveals that...