Kathmandu, July 3: The Institute for
Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) and Kathmandu University (KU) launched an
academic programme on Public Policy on Tuesday.
The programme will offer Master’s Degree
on Public Policy, and the classes will run at the IIDS secretariat in
Mandikhatar.
“Currently, a Master’s Degree course
will be run, and we are also planning to launch a Bachelor’s Degree in the
future,” Vice-Chancellor of KU Prof. Dr. Ram Kantha Makaju said at a programme
organised to announce the launch of the new course.
He said that the new programme would
offer a professionally-managed and academically-inclined curriculum and attract
highly qualified students and faculties.
The two institutions had signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) in April 2016 to affiliate the IIDS with the university
and to operate the proposed premier Public Policy School in affiliation with
the KU.
According to Dr. Bishnu Dev Panta,
Executive Director of the IIDS, the academic programme on public policy was
launched to provide a range of interdisciplinary programmes –theoretical and
practical knowledge – in the context of policy making, create a network with
the bureaucracy, non-government organisations and the private sector, offer a
local programme with a global reach and create a socially responsible
sustainable institution.
Former vice-chairman of the National
Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Swarnim Wagle said that there were no credible
public policy opinions backed by data, and most of the policy analysis was just
opinion pieces.
“In the recent past, there has been
institutional decay in the country. Even the in-house government institutions,
such as the NPC, have become very weak. The reform programme of the NPC has
been endorsed by the new government, and there is also a need for reviving
institutions like Centre for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA) and
Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS),” he said.
He also said that Nepal should learn
from improvements in public policy discourses made by our neighbouring
countries and recommend the universities to launch programmes like public
policy with large financial backing, such as endowment fund or grant and
affiliation with large international institutions.
Lawmaker and former minister for health
Gagan Thapa said that he had for long felt the need for an interdisciplinary
approach in social sciences and hoped that this programme would fill that void
and help groom the policy makers and improve the public policy discourse.
According to him, as the local
governments are in dire need of public policy knowledge, they should sponsor
students of public policy.
“The government must step in to support
such programme and philanthropists should also join,” he said.
US Ambassador to Nepal Alaina B. Tepliz
said that solutions that are going to make government more responsible also
make individuals more responsive.
According to her, improved governance is
an important part of democracy. Improving governance was more than just a
science, it’s an art that could help guide the future of a country.
She
suggested the public policy initiative focus on better policy making and
inclusiveness while striving to set higher standards.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 July 2018.
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