Kishor Gautam is the Principal at Himalya College of Engineering, which is under KMC Education Network. Mr. Gautam, with his entire team, has left no stone unturned to impart practical education aided with technology. He is also Director of KMC Education Network and Deputy General Secretary of PABSON. He has expressed his views to College Readers. Excerpts:
Himalaya College of Engineering is a top-notch engineering college in Nepal. To what extent do you think the objective of establishment of the college has been fulfilled?
Himalaya College of Engineering, affiliated to Tribhuwan University, was taken over by the KMC education network with an aim of imparting technical education in Nepal. The college offers Civil Engineering, Electronics Information & Communication Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Architecture in bachelor’s level. The college also offers B.Sc.CSIT and BCA courses affiliated to Tribhuvan University. The college stands among top-ranking private engineering colleges in Nepal in terms of academic excellence and physical infrastructures. As a result, it is widely popular as one of the top-notch private engineering colleges in Nepal. In this regard, in my perspectives, the objective of its establishment has been fulfilled in many extents.
Why should students study engineering and IT courses at Himalayan College of Engineering?
Himalayan College offers both engineering and management education under the same management. Students from different disciplines will get opportunity to acquaint with each other, share experience and knowledge. The college is an appropriate platform for sharing and showing good care among the students from different disciplines. In fact, IT and engineering are interrelated in terms of the area of knowledge and skill. So, information technology is inevitable for engineers to accomplish their work whereas engineering knowledge is useful for IT experts in their profession.
In addition, Himalaya College of Engineering provides all sorts of facilities to the students. It is one of the top engineering colleges in terms of academic excellence and physical facilities. As part of our teaching and learning endeavors, we conduct a range of extra-curricular activities to escalate the learning efficiency of the pupils.
You have a decade-long entailment in engineering and IT education. In your experience, how are the prospects of these programs in Nepal?
These courses are the most demanded ones in the present context of Nepal and abroad. The human resources related to these fields are globally employed. As a result, our graduates have shown their outstanding performance in Nepal and abroad. Till the date, none of our graduates have been found dillydallying in search of job. Currently, our motive is directed towards the orientation of producing job creators rather than job seekers.
Despite rapid changes in the world’s academic sector, there is less research and innovation practice in Nepal. What efforts have you made to enrich your graduands with research and internship privileges?
Himalayan College of Engineering is most probably a pioneer in introducing research and providing internship privileges to its pupils. The college has set up a separate department for research which does publishing of both faculty members and students’ projects. The research director is assigned to motivate, collaborate and facilitate the teachers and the students with research project and publishing. Our Robotics Club is dynamic and is involved in innovations and inventions.
It is widely criticized that there no availability of internship opportunity for bachelor’s level graduands in Nepal in their syllabi. How have you analyzed the issue and how is the state of internship in your college?
The University has not included internship course in their teaching package; however, it is inevitably essential for the students to acquire practical knowledge following theoretical knowledge in the classroom. So, our college has considered internship as a path to entrepreneurship skill. With this motive, our college has established tie-ups with different organizations and companies. Nevertheless, in the recent times, the University has realized the importance of internship for the career of students. So, let’s hope the University will include internship in the course and make it compulsory for the implementation.
The dropout ratio of engineering field in Nepal is heard to be increasing dramatically in comparison to other fields of study. Is engineering a difficult course to study? What could be the reasons behind such aberration?
There are many reasons behind the high dropout rate in engineering program. A weak foundation is one of them. Our students are habituated with annual exam system up to grade 12 which does not require diligence and hard work of students. But engineering education requires diligence and continuous efforts. Therefore, only laborious students having will power can get success, and other ordinary students face lots of difficulties which result in their drop out in the middle of their course tenure. In this regard, the university and colleges should make reformations, particularly in evaluation system to diminish the dropout rate of engineering program.
The covid-19 pandemic affected most sectors in Nepal. It compelled us to adopt online teaching, and gradually repeated immediately after the resumption of physical classes. The third wave has created more threats. How is your plan to go ahead in coping with such devasting predicaments in future?
The Covid-19 Pandemic is a worldwide problem. The whole world has undergone devastating circumstances. Amid many predicaments, Education sector was adversely affected. We were just recovering from the pain and reviving physical classes, but another variant has brought about devastating maelstroms. So, we should be ready to adopt alternative ways to cope with the challenges. Himalayan College of Engineering is well-prepared for conducting virtual teaching and learning activities.
Finally, what would you like to suggest the ten-plus-two graduates for their bachelor study pursuits?
First of all, I suggest they should decide what interests them depending on their aptitude, capabilities and learning caliber. If you are eligible and interested in engineering education, please visit such a college that can really satisfy you and help you crystallize your dream of becoming an engineer. Secondly, I would like to suggest that parents should give right of choosing an appropriate field of study to their children for higher study, but at the same time they are advised to choose the best college themselves. In this regard, my advice for both parents and students is to pay a visit to the prospective college virtually or physically. Lastly, I would like to suggest career hopefuls that they obtain their bachelor’s qualification from Nepal and make a decision to go abroad upon your bachelor graduation, if needed.
