KATHMANDU, Sept 5: The Institute of Engineering (IOE), Pulchowk Campus, under Tribhuvan University, has faced widespread criticism after publishing student entrance exam results without disclosing the scores.
The entrance examination for engineering studies is highly competitive. However, questions have been raised after the IoE responsible for conducting the exam started publishing results by only listing names and rankings while withholding the pass scores.
Once renowned in the field of engineering education, the IoE has recently been accused of focusing more on supporting private colleges—by filling their quotas—than on maintaining academic standards.
The Dean’s Office under the IoE conducted the entrance exams for various undergraduate programs from August 19 to 23. A total of 10,735 candidates participated and the results were published on August 27. According to the policy set by the IOE’s Academic Council, results should be published for one and a half times the total number of seats. However, this rule was also violated when publishing the results.
Claiming negligence in result publication, former students have filed a complaint with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), demanding an investigation. They argue that the Dean’s Office has been publishing arbitrary results with the intent of filling quotas in private colleges, thereby damaging the IOE’s academic quality. The pass percentage in engineering has remained quite low.
Currently, there are five constituent campuses and 10 affiliated private colleges under the IOE. For these 15 colleges, a total of 4,344 seats have been allocated at the undergraduate level. One and a half times this figure amounts to 6,516 candidates.
However, the results listed 6,617 candidates as having passed. The results did not include the students’ scores, further fueling suspicions of manipulation. “If the scores of all students were published, there would be no room for doubt,” said former student engineer A.R. Tuladhar. According to him, students can only see their own scores but not those of others.
Tuladhar, from the 1996 batch, recalled: “Back when we sat for the entrance exams, only those who scored 50 percent or above were eligible to study engineering. At that time, results were published along with the scores, which ensured transparency. There was no chance of irregularities. But later, politics entered the institute.
In 2003, the pass percentage was reduced to 40. Even then, as private college seats remained unfilled, it was lowered to 35 five years later. From 2017 onwards, the institute stopped publishing scores altogether. By making it so students cannot see each other’s scores, the institute began releasing arbitrary results, undermining academic quality.”
He added that the trend of increasing the number of students passing the exam by manipulating the criteria—just to fill quotas in private colleges—must be stopped. “No one should compromise the quality of technical education,” Tuladhar warned. “Doing so could lead to major disasters.”
Meanwhile, Assistant Dean and Information Officer Binod Kumar Bhattarai claimed that the decision to stop publishing scores was based on a directive from the University Grants Commission (UGC). He said the institute has been publishing results for one and a half times the total seats as per UGC instructions. “The Academic Council of the institute has been publishing results based on the quota system. However, this time, under the Council’s directive, 101 additional students were declared passed beyond the set standard,” Bhattarai said.
The IOE runs programs in Civil, Computer, Electrical, Mechanical, Architecture, Geomatics, Automobile, Chemical, Industrial, Agriculture, Electronics and Information, and Aerospace Engineering. Altogether, there are 4,344 seats in these subjects. Among them, 2,304 seats are at constituent campuses (Pulchowk, Thapathali, Dharan, Pokhara, and Chitwan) and 2,040 seats are at the 10 affiliated private colleges.
“Although 6,617 students were declared passed in the entrance exam, only 3,002 seats have been filled so far,” Bhattarai said. “While quotas at Pulchowk have been filled, 48 seats each remain vacant in Industrial and Automobile Engineering at Thapathali, and seats in Geomatics at Pokhara are also vacant. Seats remain unfilled at private colleges as well. The market demand lies in Computer and Civil Engineering. Low enrollment in other programs might be due to a mismatch with student interests.”