Polotsk State University always welcomes guests from different corners of the planet. But it is even more pleasant to welcome our graduates and see that they have become highly qualified specialists and have succeeded in various spheres. The visit of a delegation from Nepal is a good example for that, as three of its members are our graduates. Traditionally, Rector of PSU Dmitry Lazovsky, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Yury Golubev and the head of the International Office Siarhei Piashkun greeted the delegation.
The visit, which took place on July 25-26, wasn’t accidental. In the 90th of the past century, Polotsk State University actively cooperated with Kantipur Engineering College, founded by Dr. Tara Prasad Pokhrel, a PSU graduate.
“I came to study in Novopolotsk in 1986 and entered Novopolotsk Polytechnic Institute. I was the only one who came from Nepal,” recalls the chairperson of Kantipur Engineering College. “In 1991 I finished my Master’s Degree course with honours and took a postgraduate course, which I finished in 1995. After finishing my studies I went to Nepal and founded Kantipur Engineering College in 1997.”
The end of the 90th was a difficult time of economic reforms for Nepal. In 1999, on establishing Kantipur Engineering College, with the help of PSU, the specialists training in “Industrial and Civil Engineering” started. In fact, it was the first experience of a joint educational programme and of a prototype of a university affiliate abroad. There wasn’t any higher educational establishment that offered engineers training in Nepal. The quality of joint education was very high.
“The training was evaluated by professors from Nepal and they confirmed that the training was of high quality.” Affirms Tara Prasad Pokhrel. “The majority of the enterprises are headed by the graduates of Kantipur Engineering College. Many of them work abroad.”
The College paved the way to engineering and technological education in their country. Having the experience and knowledge in engineers training he had acquired at Polotsk State University, he began to train engineers himself. And already in the beginning of 2019 his leadership and the Government of Nepal decided to launch Master and, later, Postgraduate studies in engineering. Moreover, it was decided to ask for help Polotsk State University, the experience and best practices of which can hardly be overestimated,.
“The most important is that I studied here, I know all the academic staff and the Rector,” explains Tara Prasad Pokhrel. “And you can work well with what you know well. Besides, the conditions are good and the quality of education here is high.”
Not only the chairperson of Kantipur Engineering College is interested in professional engineers training. Among the delegation were 2 other graduates of our university: Rebant Kumar Basnet, director of a constructions company: “Bajra Guru Construction” and his colleague Keshab Tvanabas, head of “Dukuchu Construction”.
Keshab Tvanabas notes: “The building policy in Nepal has changed and there are good conditions for that: about 70% is financed from the budget. That is why we need new experienced employees, new knowledge to put facilities into service in time.”
According to the Nepal specialists, Polotsk State University can render the best assistance in high-quality training of engineers. And their own experience of training here plays a significant role in their belief.
“In 1992, I graduated from Novopolotsk Polytechnic Institute with honours,” says Rebant Kumar Basnet that came to Novopolotsk a year after Tara Prasad Pokhrel. “The lecturers provided knowledge with which we can work successfully in our country. Now I run my own constructions company: we build roads, hydroelectric power stations in Nepal. We advise our young generation to study at Polotsk State University to get a high-quality training.”
As a result of the visit, the parties signed the agreement on international cooperation in the area of education, culture and science, and decided to continue establishing close friendly ties. Besides, former graduates had a tour around Polotsk State University campuses, recaptured their student years and saw how the university had changed.
“I remember lots of things,” shares Rebant Kumar Basnet. “Youth is the golden age. We spent 6 years here, we made friends and still have them here. Many things remain in memory. For this reason we wanted to come here and recapture our student days.”
“Everything has changed very much,” agrees Tara Prasad Pokhrel. “The most important is that the conditions here are very comfortable for students. Earlier everything was simple as there wasn’t any computers or calculators. Now, there are beautiful and well-equipped rooms, lots of campuses, new energetic and active academic staff. I really liked it.”
Apart from our former graduates, representatives of Nepal governing bodies visited Polotsk State University as well: Rajendra Raj Sharma, Director of the Department of Roads of the Nepalese Government, and Keshab Kumar Sharma, Director-General of the Department of Roads of the Nepalese Government.
Rajendra Raj Sharma studied at BNTU but visited Novopolotsk when he came to see his friends. When he heard that the chairperson of Kantipur Engineering College is going to Polotsk State University, he decided to join the delegation.
“Last time I was here almost 30 years ago. Everything has changed, it has become more beautiful here. It was the Soviet time back there and now everything looks modern,” notes the Director of the Department of Roads. “I hope that I’ll be able to visit this place more often.”
It was the first visit to Belarus and Polotsk State University for Keshab Kumar Sharma.
“It took a long time before I could come to Belarus, though a lot of my friends got education in your country,” mentions Director-General of the Department of Roads. “They told me many different stories about their life here and I had a strong desire to come and see everything with my own eyes. And now there was a window of opportunity to visit Polotsk State University. My friends invited me to join and I’m very glad I’m here.”
Besides working at the Nepalese Government, Keshab Kumar Sharma also works as a teacher. He has visited a great number of higher educational establishments all over the world. But Polotsk State University couldn’t but impress the guest:
“We’ve visited Polotsk Museum of Science and Enlightenment, where the history of education on Polotsk land is shown. It seems to me that here is the centre of education in Eastern Europe. The thing that fascinated me the most was the way how the history is preserved here. I assume that if you remember and preserve your history, you see your perspective development directions better. Even at major universities it can be difficult to see where they started and follow their development. And here we can easily do this. That’s what impressed me the most.”
Polotsk State University will do its best to help its partner from Nepal to improve higher education system and strengthen their cooperation with industry. Nevertheless, such visits are important not only because of signing new agreements. They remind us of what is important in life. They are: good education that provides opportunities to start a career in any sphere, good relations to which distance and time are not obstacles, and the past that makes us move forward into the future.
Siarhei Piashkun, Anna Nanos, Daria Alekseyeva
Photos: Polina Kosarevskaya