PART I: EVOLUTION OF MASTERS OF ARTS IN POPULATION STUDIES

1.1 Establishment of the Central Department of Population Studies, University Campus

The Government of Nepal (GoN) rightfully recognised that sound population policy formulation in areas of population and development, as well as the effective and efficient implementation of these policies depend on competent professional research, analysis and advice. With this realization, the GoN collaborated with TU to establish an esteemed research and training institution that serves the country's population and development programs. In this context, the Central Department of Population Studies (CDPS) was established by the TU Council in 1988 and commenced its regular programs from 1990.

Over the years, the department has made significant contributions towards the nation's population sector- is the focal point for conducting trainings and research activities for government agencies viz. Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) and also works collaborately with sectoral ministries and policy/planning agencies viz. National Statistics Office (NSO). It has also contributed in formulating ‘population policies’ for MoHP. The department also partners with international/national agencies to support issues related with population namely United Nations (UN) agencies like United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and International Organization on Migration (IOM).

It is envisaged that CDPS will continue to grow parallel with the evolving needs for research and training in the country and that it will emerge as a major research and training center in South Asia in due time. The department aims to trigger academic discourses and foster high quality research by promoting greater public understanding, advance independent analysis and encourage further professional competence on issues relate to population and development, the overarching goal of the country. The department intends to achieve this by attracting students and scholars committed to interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches in population and development.

Objectives

The main objective for establishing CDPS is to strengthen the national human resources’ capacity for training, research and policy analysis in areas of population and development. The specific objectives include:

• Increase the human resource of the country that are skilled/trained in population studies at the Master of Arts (MA), Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) levels in Population Studies. The trained human resources, competent in demographic/development research, policy analysis, programme implementation, monitoring, evaluation and training will possess the analytical skills necessary to assist the Government (or its stakeholders) in its effort to integrate population into development.
• Provide introductory and specialized short-term trainings designed to enhance job performance (capacity building) of officials from the GoN, TU and I/NGOs in their capacity as planners, educators, trainers or as deliverers of social services.
• Conduct research and policy analysis projects at the request of the GoN and/or UN agencies to design policy strategies and implement/monitor their programs.
• Clarify issues on population and formulate (advocate) policies by organizing national conferences, seminars and workshops by bringing together policy makers, programme implementers, community leaders, technical experts and researchers.
• Provide professional advisory services to the GoN, UN agencies, NGOs and local communities of Nepal.
• Contribute to the heightened awareness of issues on population and poverty prevailing in the country and link their interrelations with human development through publication of research reports, position papers, seminar proceedings, teaching aids and other resource materials.
• Work collaboratively and network with other institutions of Nepal and other countries.

Funding and Support

Central Department of Population Studies receives regular support from TU that in turn receives support from the GoN. From 1990 till 2007, UNFPA provided technical and financial assistance to CDPS that includes the current physical infrastructure. The department was the implementing partner of UNFPA’s seventh country programme (2013-2017) and is currently entrusted with preparing 14 thematic papers for NSO based on National Population and Housing Census (NPHC) 2021 database.

In recent days, CDPS/TU and IOM Nepal have been collaborately working together on migration management though a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two. The Migration School has acclaimed great recognition and is a popular program in which the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS), GoN has joined hands as a government collaborator. Started in 2023, the two-week non-credited training aims towards the capacity building of early career government employees, academia, post graduate (PG), MA, MPhil and PhD students, activists and employees from non-government organizations/private sectors working on various themes and issues related to migration. In addition, the two institutions are periodically organizing migration management policy discourse for senior officials from the government, academia, non-government and private sectors. International Organization on Migration also funds early career students of CDPS in migration research.

The department also received technical assistance from Department for International Development (DFID) to support institutional linkages with the Centre for Population Studies (CPS), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The International Labour Organization (ILO), World Bank and British Council/DFID have been recurrent sources of funding for small and medium scale research and curriculum development. Between November 27-30 2024, CDPS hosted the 6^th Asian Population Conference organized by the Asian Population Association (APA) that was supported by TU, MoHP/GoN, UNFPA and IOM. In addition to these sources, CDPS also generates its own income by undertaking projects/surveys and conducting workshop/seminar/training.

Teaching pedagogy/physical infrastructure and library facilities

Central Department of Population Studies has established itself as a center for excellence with application-oriented (research-based skill oriented) knowledge that links teaching with applied research. The pedagogy combines a number of methods to achieve the learning objectives of the program among which classroom teaching – lectures, seminars, tutorials and assigned readings are collaborated with practical activities – essay writing, workshops, group work, field visits and computer-based practice.

The department has state of the art audio-visual classrooms with multimedia touch board, air conditioning, solar backup and internet. Research work involves research seminars, bibliographic exercises, internet searches and literature review. It has ample physical space within its well-equipped furnished building and library premises. It has an excellent collection of more than 15,000 books, research reports, journals and periodicals.

1.2 Department of Population Studies (Constituent campuses)

Tribhuvan University envisions a central department at the University Campus and a separate department at its constituent campus for most of its programs. Many constituent campuses are offering MPS course at their respective campus. In addition to this, TU has also permitted public/community/private campuses/colleges to offer MPS program at their campus through affiliation.

Since its establishment thirty-five years ago, CDPS has produced thousands of skilled professionals that have successfully established themselves across various campuses/colleges as academia, government officers or under various responsibilities in INGO/NGO/private agencies. Nearly all academia involved at various constituent campus are products from CDPS.

1.3 Population Studies Subject Committee

As per TU rules and regulations (संगठन तथा शैक्षिक प्रशासन सम्बन्धि नियम २०५०: परिच्छेद ७७-८0; नियम ३२१-३४२), the population studies subject committee is chaired by the Head, Central Department of Population Studies and includes a maximum of 21 members [16 (maximum) in-service TU faculties, including the chair, that teach population studies; 3 experts from outside TU and 2 faculties from affiliated campuses]. This committee is mandated with the task of updating the course of study for population studies and once approved, forward it to the faculty board, Office of the Dean, FoHSS, TU for review which, upon consent, is forwarded to the academic council for approval after which the course is implemented.

Admission

Admission for each batch will open once a year and candidates will need to apply at the Office of the Dean, FoHSS, TU fulfilling the assigned criteria. Prospective students must have a Bachelor’s degree in any disciplines from a university recognized by Tribhuvan University. Applicants must attend and pass an entrance/qualifying exam for eligibility. Fifty students will be selected on a merit basis based on results from the entrance exam and other criteria deemed necessary by the Population Studies Subject Committee.