Prithivi Narayan Campus

Prithvi Narayan Campus or P.N. Campus,( ne, पृथ्वीनारायण क्याम्पस) is a public co-educational institution located in the northern part of the Pokhara city and is one of the largest campuses affiliated to the TU. The institution offers undergraduate(Bachelors) and graduate (Masters & Doctorate) programmes. It is named after the great king; Prithvi Narayan Shah.

History

The campus, initially named Prithvi Narayan College, was established on Sept. 1, 1960, as the first community college of the Kaski district for post-secondary education by local efforts. In its initial years, the classes were conducted in Ratna Rajya Laxmi High School. In 1961, it was granted public land in Bhimkali Patan, Bagar where it currently exists. Regarded as one of the largest affiliate campuses of TU, it is a major center for Undergraduate, Graduate and Post Graduates education in the Gandaki Pradesh.

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 infrastructure, making rules, working plans and economic policies and a sub committee under the management committee looks day-to-day affairs of the campus. The campus is spread over 35 hectares along on the banks of the Seti River. The campus buildings occupy only a small part of its total area; most of the land is open and covered with grass and trees. 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.

Programmes

The campus is providing Undergraduate, Graduate and Post Graduate courses for students. The Undergraduate is the most popular program with Bachelor programs. The Graduate and Post Graduate level consists of Masters and Doctorate programs respectively. 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.

Free Students' Union

The Tribhuvan University law requires its affiliate campuses to allow the formation of democratic Free Student Unions (Nepali : स्वतन्त्र बिद्यार्थी युनियन) mandated with handling extra curricular activities of the campus and matters related to student affairs. Although the student union was conceived as an organization to be the direct representatives of students of the college, their activities are more inclined towards the politics of the country. Therefore, they are also called student political parties. The major student parties are Nepal Student Union, All Nepal National Free Students Union and All Nepal National Independent Students' Union (Revolutionary) and participate in the elections to form the student union council of the campus that has a term of 2 years. All Nepal National Free Students Union, a student wing of CPN(UML) currently holds a majority of seats in the student union council and has been winning the elections successively since the establishment of the free student union in 1969.

Violent clashes between different student political parties are common, they are also frequently accused of vandalization of campus property. Awareness Group of Technical Science (AGTS) is another organization on the PN campus that is not affiliated with any political parties. It currently works as a mediator between students and the campus administration.

References

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Tribhuvan University
Education in Pokhara
1960 establishments in Nepal
Constituent campuses of Tribhuvan University