Equivalence Certificate

Obtaining the equivalency certificate from Tribhuvan University (TU) has been a frustrating and exhausting task for those who returned after completing their higher studies in foreign universities. First disappointments students face are the rude behaviour of the TU employees. Students allowed to ask questions from a window feel disappointed by the indifferent attitude of officials, who, instead of listening to the students' grievances and solving their problem, tell students to go from one window to the next.  A TU equivalency certificate is essential for those graduates to get a job and professional licensing. However, the unnecessary process, excessive delay, lack of transparency, inconsistency in decisions and rigid rules and regulations, impel the students to go back to the countries where they studied, and it, in turn, becomes a prominent reason behind brain drain that Nepal has been experiencing for a few decades.  

A news about a Cambridge graduate being frustrated with the hassle and humiliation he went through while trying to get an equivalency certificate made headlines in the paper and the media. The person declaring 'I don’t want equivalency at the cost of my dignity' showed the level of anguish he went through, and the difficulties he went through are equivalent to the difficulties faced by the scholars who seek an equivalency certificate in Nepal. TU is often blamed for systematically preventing foreign graduates from entering Nepali private and public services for decades. 

Executive director of the Curriculum Development Centre, Ramsharan Tiwari, acknowledges that there are several structural barriers that exist within the university. He said many of the current issues stem from those systemic problems. TU, marred by political interference, has failed to update itself with the changing times. The curriculum that does not match TU's curriculum has come under scrutiny. Students often complain that, despite receiving a degree from a reputed university, they are required to submit a raft of documents and, after that, wait for months without receiving a clear response. 

TU Administrative Act suggests that only the subject committee can decide whether an obtained degree is related to the required subject. A Jawaharlal Nehru University graduate, whose research paper is taught in the TU Anthropology Department, is a guest lecturer, but the equivalency certificate he received was questioned by the TU Service Commission. This is what tests the patience of graduates and acts as the push factor for the brain drain.

Several equivalence-related cases are currently pending in court, with about three equivalence-related cases filed every day at the court.  After the amendments to the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1993, the UGC has been legally authorised to manage higher education credit transfer and quality assurance and accreditation (QAA). The equivalency certificate issued by the Curriculum Development Centre will be issued from July 17, 2026. The amended law also requires UGC to publish an updated list of recognised degrees and institutions every six months. 

TU has time and again faced backlash for issuing equivalency certificates to degrees for unaccredited universities and questionable online programmes. Unclear standards for online education have led to scrutiny. It is rational for the TU to rigorously screen the students graduating from foreign universities, but the genuine students who graduated from recognised universities must not suffer from the entrenched red tape and discourteous attitude of its staff.