UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION

NURTURING EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM (NEHEP)

2021/22 – 2025/26

STANDARDS, OPERATIONAL POLICIES AND GUIDELINES

FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION DIGITALIZATION

APRIL, 2022
 ACRONYMS

AI Artificial Intelligence
CCTV Closed-Circuit Television
CDN Content Delivery Network
COVID Corona Virus Disease
DERs Digital Educational Resources
DNF Digital Nepal Framework
DaaS Device as a Service
EMIS Educational Management Information System
GON Government of Nepal
HEIs Higher Educational Institutions
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IaaS Infrastructure as a Service
IoT Internet of Things
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
MOEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
MOHP Ministry of Health and Population
MP Master Plan
NEHEP Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program
NHEP National Higher Education Program
OER Open Education Resources
PaaS Platform as a Service
RA Result Areas
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SOPG Standards, Operational Policies and Guidelines
SaaS Software as a Service
TU Tribhuvan University
UGC University Grants Commission
VLE Virtual Learning Environment
VR Virtual Reality

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Country Context on Higher Education Digitalization ................................................................... 1
1.2 Higher Education Digitalization ................................................................................................... 2
2. STANDARDS OF HIGHER EDUCATION DIGITALIZATION .................................... 5
3. OPERATIONAL POLICIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION DIGITALIZATION AND
GUIDELINES ............................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Guidelines for Periodic Monitoring of HEIs Progress on Digitalization .................................... 10
3.2 Guidelines for Periodic Rating of HEIs Digitalization ............................................................... 11
3.3 Action steps for each activity: ..................................................................................................... 13
4. UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION DIGITALIZATION ..................................... 16
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 16
4.2 Current Status.............................................................................................................................. 16
4.3 Policies for Digitization of UGC ................................................................................................ 17
4.4 Strategies for the digitization of UGC ........................................................................................ 17
4.5 Guidelines for the digitization of UGC ....................................................................................... 18
4.6 UGC Support to HEIs for Digitalization..................................................................................... 19
ANNEX 1: Drivers and Enablers in Strengthening Education Technology Readiness ....... 23
ANNEX 2: A Marking Scheme for Ranking of HEIs on Digitalization ................................ 25
Set A: Institution's policy and performance ........................................................................................ 25
Set B: Governing bodies (UGC, University, MoE, Government) policy and performance ................ 25
Set C: Teacher's performance ............................................................................................................. 26
Set D: Student's performance .............................................................................................................. 26
Set E: Relative performance ............................................................................................................... 27

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

1. BACKGROUND

1.1 Country Context on Higher Education Digitalization

1. Digitalization of Education, though relatively a new practice, has received higher priority over
the last decade in Nepal and recent policies and practices have embraced its importance. The
National Education Policy 20191 has underscored the importance of the use of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) to deliver improved equitable quality education for
producing human capital for societal transformation and prosperity. Indicating the role of ICT
in higher education for improved pedagogy, the policy has also emphasized the need of an
integrated Educational Management Information System (EMIS) to inform the policy and
practices at different levels with real-time data to foster improved efficiency in education
service delivery and good governance. Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, 2019 2 has
highlighted the importance of producing skilled technical human resources and scientists by
upgrading and modernizing traditional knowledge and technology, developing scientific
culture, and encouraging a research-oriented education system.

2. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy 20153 has stressed the use of local
content & indigenous technologies and employment driven competencies It has also
emphasized affordable innovative and affordable technology use, E-learning, E-education, E-
library, distance & open learning, promoting research and innovation. It has also focused on
the capacity enhancement of higher educational institutions (HEIs) through the use of ICT
tools.

3. The Fifteenth Plan (2019/20–2023/24)4 has emphasized the role of practical and vocational
education towards developing entrepreneurship skills in higher education. It has highlighted
the importance of research and the use of new technologies such as ICT and Nanotechnology
in collaboration with higher education institutions and universities. For improved access to
quality higher education, the plan has also focused on alternative delivery approaches such as
open and distance education systems including open universities. In addition to this, the plan
has emphasized how the current system of educational data sharing could be improved with
the involvement of different stakeholders including the academics/students for research and
studies.

1.
Verhoef, P. C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Qi Dong, J., Fabian, N., and Haenlein, M. (2021). “Digital transformation: A
multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda.” Journal of Business Research, 122(July 2018), 889–901.
1 http://moe.gov.np/article/1244/राष्ट्रिय-शिक्षा-नीशि-२०७६-2.html
2 https://nitc.gov.np/downloads
3 https://nitc.gov.np/downloads
4 https://npc.gov.np/images/category/15th_plan_English_Version.pdf

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

4. The Digital Nepal Framework (DNF) 20195 aims at strengthening the foundation for a
knowledge-based society and digital economy. The framework aims at leveraging the digital
technologies to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). It has identified eight national
sectors to be addressed through eighty initiatives. Education is one of the major sectors among
them and the initiatives include smart classroom, promotion of open learning education,
promotion of online learning, rented laptop services, strengthening EMIS, developing a
centralized student admission system, use of biometric attendance and CCTV (Closed-Circuit
Television), and mobile learning for rural areas. The framework is designed to establish an
overall superstructure for digital services in Nepal and guide the entire digital technology
sector.

5. After the progressive impact of ICT in Education Master Plan 2013-2017 (MP-I), Ministry of
Education, Science, and Technology (MOEST) has released the draft version6 of Education
Master Plan-II (MP-II) with the mission of ensuring an equitable and relevant quality education
utilizing the ICT and innovative technologies and resources. These include among others
digital resources, a competitive workforce, whole-of-educational governance, and so on. The
four components the MP II has underlined are digital materials for quality education, ICT
infrastructures for equitable access, human resources development, and governance and
management. The MP-II has also noted the role of the University Grants Commission for
coordination and facilitation in strengthening ICT in the higher education sector.

1.2 Higher Education Digitalization

6. Nepal’s higher education includes public universities, their affiliated campuses and health
academies. National universities are on the radar of Ministry of Education, Science, and
Technology (MOEST), whereas the health academies are under the Ministry of Health and
Population (MOHP). Tribhuvan University (TU) has the largest share (around 76 percent) of
higher education enrollment. All these universities receive public funding through the
University Grants Commission (UGC). The UGC, an advisory body to the government, is the
implementing agency of the higher education program "Nurturing Excellence in Higher
Education Program". All government funding to universities, institutions, campuses, schools,
and departments is channeled through the UGC. While some Provincial Universities have been
established and others are in the pipeline, the federal government's higher education public
funding is not yet channeled to provincial universities.

7. Following the disruption of higher education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many
universities and colleges in Nepal quickly initiated online learning starting in April 2020. This

5 https://mocit.gov.np/pages/digital-nepal-framework
6 Reference on shared document of public DP and other stakeholder form MoEST

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

initiation was also founded on the limited experiences of online learning modes practiced at
Kathmandu University, Open and Distance Education Center (ODEC) of Tribhuvan University
and Nepal Open University. However, these initiatives were largely concentrated within the
relatively well-off regions and HEIs. The UGC-initiated support to universities/HEIs to
respond to COVID-19 contributed to create a foundational shift towards expanding the higher
education through blended and online mode. The universities have passed the regulatory
framework for online/ blended learning including assessments/ examinations with limited
coverages. Universities/HEIs have established IT centers/ units and they trained a large number
of teachers with basic knowledge in handling online teaching and learning. First rounds of
online examinations were also conducted by some universities. This was also supported by the
then Higher Education Reforms Project (HERP). As the implementation of online teaching-
learning progressed, the demand for a more comprehensive policy framework as well as
improved digital connectivity, campus intranet, last-mile connectivity, access of individuals to
devices, and more advanced training for faculty members/students in handling digital tools to
support online/blended learning were in emerging needs.

8. Globally, digitalization has helped higher education towards improving collaborations, good
governance, and overall education management. Despite its limited use, digitalization opened
wider avenues towards a sustainable teaching-learning process. Nepal witnessed its benefits,
which among others included added flexibility and self-paced learning through recorded
lectures and 24-hour resources; better time management with flexible choices; improved
virtual communication, collaboration, and resource sharing with a broader and global
perspective including exposure to faculty members/students from remote areas; fewer emission
with limited travel; new technical skills and so on. It was also realized that digitization helps
to improve better data management and progress monitoring on academic and administrative
aspects during pandemics and other forms of disasters and disturbances. The GON/UGC and
universities/HEIs have realized that Nepal needs to utilize the full benefits of digitalization for
sustainable and uninterrupted quality service delivery in education during pandemics and
disasters despite various limitations on digitalization, which among others include:

 Not clearly defined strategic framework for higher education in the ICT policy.
 Lack of policy and strategic plan for strengthening connectivity, online/blended learning
at some universities/HEIs.
 Limited outreach of digital connectivity, and access to the digital device to individuals.
 Lack of regulatory provisions for online/alternative mode of final examination
administration and management across the disciplines.
 Inadequate skilled human resources in universities/ HEIs in different aspects of
digitalization of higher education.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

9. In order to address the above limitations and other aspects of higher education digitalization,
the ongoing higher education reform program entitled Nurturing Excellence in Higher
Education Program – NEHEP (FY2021/22-2025/26) signed between the Government of Nepal
and the World Bank on August 19, 2021 has included digitalization as a core reform agenda.

10. The overall objectives of the NEHEP are to strengthen labor market relevance and quality of
higher education, boost collaborative research and innovation, and enhance equitable access
for underprivileged and disaster-affected groups. Extending the digitalization of higher
education is one of the cross-cutting result areas (RA) of the program to support the
achievement of the program objectives. This RA aims to improve the policy and governance
system for digitalization and connectivity and strengthen the institution’s capacity to digitalize
teaching and learning and the administration. The NEHEP support will focus on three specific
sub-results areas.

11. Sub-Result Area 1: Improving the policy and governance of digitization and connectivity. This
will include the preparation of a new ICT strategy for the higher education sector, including
strategies to leverage the available broad-band connectivity facilities under the NREN or
similar institutions and setting up more collaborative governance arrangements.

12. Sub-Result Area 2: Strengthening campus networks and distance learning capabilities. The
program will support strengthening campus networks and distance learning capabilities by
supporting competitively selected HEIs with Digitization Grants on a cost-sharing approach,
specifically (a) establishing last-mile connectivity, (b) strengthening the bandwidth for better
connectivity, and (c) installing on-campus wi-fi connectivity. The Digitization Grants will also
support the capacity building of HEIs for integrating online/digital learning for all aspects of
academic activities, from student enrollment to class teaching, examination, graduation. The
program will also support peer learning across various agencies and institutions.

13. Sub-Results Area 3: Digitization of UGC and university administration. This RA will support
the digitization of the UGC and university administration, including establishing a resource
planning system to manage the universities’ human resources, finances and procurement tasks,
student administration, and the efficient management of monitoring and evaluation. The
student administration would include, among others, the admissions, examination, alumni
relations and student scholarship/aid functions, and so on.

14. Associated with the three results areas, the UGC will strengthen the existing digital learning
platform and online administration at the UGC. The UGC and universities/HEIs will continue
strengthening digitalization towards increasing the share of students registered in courses with
online/blended teaching mode. The NHEP will work towards exceeding the NEHEP target of
50 percent on blended learning.

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15. Digitalization, being an emerging discipline, needs regular improvements and updates both on
policy and practice fronts. While this SOPG focuses on the implementation in the above three
sub-result areas of higher education digitalization, the UGC will also continue providing
evidence-based guidance and support to the universities/HEIs going forward to cope with the
emerging trends of higher education digitalization with defined standards and operational
policies as elaborated in the sections below.

2. STANDARDS OF HIGHER EDUCATION DIGITALIZATION

UGC has identified the following standards for the digitalization of the higher education sector in
Nepal for broader and technical aspects:

Broader Perspectives
16. Transformation of higher education by complementing face-to-face mode education:
Digitalization should contribute to the transformation of higher education by providing a
credible alternative to the conventional mode education. The online class is one of the
components of digitalization in education. Digitalization is a broader terminology that might
simply indicate the use of digital technology, such as computers and online content. For a rich
and complete learning experience in modern days, digitalization should be regarded as
complementary to the face-to-face mode of education. During normal times, a digital
component might have less weightage compared to the physical interaction but during unusual
times and circumstances (such as the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, riots), a digital
component can have up to 100% weightage of educational programs.

17. Quality enhancement. Digitalization should enhance the quality of education. This could be
achieved through one or more ways including – increasing the coverage of education, engaging
qualified teachers, providing access to knowledge resources, engaging students in learning,
and increasing teaching/learning efficiency. Digitalization should diminish the parochial
outlook and increase global outreach, thus making the Nepali education approach the global
standards.

18. Immersion into digital culture. The world is heading for Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR,
or Industry 4.0), and digitization is ubiquitous. Industry 4.0 involves components including
artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, virtual reality (VR), and the internet of things (IoT).
Education should prepare students to be adaptable to the digital culture, otherwise, they may
be at risk of being outdated. Teachers should also adapt to the digital culture not to risk their
careers for being outdated.

19. User-friendly, cost-effectiveness, and social adaptability. Digital technologies should be

easy, self-explanatory, and user-friendly. Advanced features should not be the barriers to
adapting to the technology but be the motivation to learn new things. The technologies should
consider the socio-economic condition of the nation and should focus on cost-effectiveness.
Online learning should add flexibility to learning.

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20. Inclusion and accessibility. Access to higher education is still a challenge in Nepal,
particularly in remote areas and for disadvantaged people. For example, in some communities,
boys can commute to education centers at a fair distance from their homes but girls are
discouraged to commute. Similarly, due to poverty students cannot attend the face-to-face
mode of education which are often conducted during the office hours in which they are
employed elsewhere for earning. Digitalization, in these situations, could provide higher
education opportunities in a more flexible manner that would enhance inclusion and
accessibility.

21. Collaboration and expertise utilization. Digitalization should promote collaboration among
experts at different locations and institutions. It should assist to utilize the expertise of various
people away from the physical reach of the students. As digitalization eliminates most
limitations to joining physically, more experts should be encouraged to deliver their
classes/sessions. At the students' level too, sharing among students living in different locations
such as Kathmandu and Jumla will become easier due to digitalization and such interactions
shall be promoted.

22. Short-circuiting of the conventional learning curve. Digitalization should improve the
efficiency of education. Some examples include: visual content can supplement as virtual tours
to fields; time and effort spent on travel can be saved to increase the pace of learning; content
can be played at the students’ convenience thus compensating for missing classes; efficient
practices from elsewhere can be followed. Through all these means, digitalization should short-
circuit the conventional learning curve.

23. Exploration of new tools and techniques. Digitization has emerged in numerous ways and
has the potential to bring changes in virtually every sector. Possibilities should always be
explored not only to adapt but also devise new tools and techniques. Possibilities may include
online class, presentation, video, group discussion, online conference, online exam, and virtual
tour to a farm, an industry, or a facility. Continuous refinement and advancement should
prevail. An example of a new technique could be that instead of submitting the photographs of
students' copies for assignments, students may be asked to computer type their answers through
a website.

24. Adoption of the core principles of digitization. This SOPG promotes digitization to reform
and advance higher education in Nepal. Digitization has a set of good practices and agreed
principles including compatibility, sustainability, interoperability, scalability, and cyber
security. This is a fast-moving development and hence the systems adopted should be dynamic.
Good practices should be followed and promoted.

Technical Perspectives:
 Access to the digital contents (course-related materials) to all the students at a reasonable
speed from anywhere anytime.
 All the digital contents must adhere to the syllabus developed by the university. And also,
the digital contents must be immediately updated as the syllabus is updated.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

 The contents must not be plagiarized or should not have a duplication level more than the
standards as specified by the respective university.
 The digital content should be accessible to only those users (students, teachers, staff of the
university) who are created by the university administration. Each user must be assigned
with the specific roles like who can read the content, who can create and read the content,
who can modify, delete the content, etc.
 All the digital contents are the property of the university, so those contents must be secured
from any kind of tampering.
 System must be available anytime with uninterrupted service.

3. OPERATIONAL POLICIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION DIGITALIZATION

AND GUIDELINES

25. The operational policies have been prepared to guide the universities/HEIs’ preparation for
digitalization in line with the provisions outlined in the NHEP and NEHEP, and also linking
the achievements with performance-based financing of UGC to the universities/HEIs as
explained in Table 4.1.

26. The UGC and academia have recognized the issues with Policy and Practice dimensions of
digitalization in the higher education of Nepal. To overcome these challenges, the higher
education institutions should continue working on the policy and practice dimensions and the
UGC will facilitate them in funding, providing technical support and coordination. The
implementation of digitalization will be conducted according to the MOU to be signed between
UGC and Universities/HEIs. While the UGC will explore possibilities of mobilizing various
sources for support, the universities/HEIs will also mobilize their internal resources to
strengthen their education technology readiness.

27. Digitalization of UGC. Digitalization of UGC and university administration is one of the
forefront agendas of the NHEP, which is also elaborated under Sub-Results Area 4.3 of the
NEHEP. The UGC digitalization will significantly improve the higher education
implementation and overall management in close coordination with the universities/HEIs. The
UGC will prepare/update the higher education digitalization policy and strategic framework
in alignment with the national policies, programs, and targets. The framework will include
among others connectivity, digitalization infrastructure, virtual learning environment (VLE),
implementation of a learning management system (LMS), human resource development,
digital education resources (DERs), and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The framework
will also include provisions for collaboration and resource sharing among GON agencies,
universities, private sectors, and other agencies to promote sustainable development with
shared responsibilities through resource sharing and other forms of partnership.

28. The universities will develop overarching policy documents, strategies, and rules/guidelines
for the implementation of digital technology in their university programs as elaborated in

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Table 1. The individual campuses, schools, and departments will prepare their strategic plans
and guidelines to be implemented at their levels as shown in Table 2.

Table 1: University level Responsibilities

Policies/ Area of coverage7 UGC Role

Strategies/
Guidelines

Universities The policy will include all key dimensions of Facilitates collaboration and
Information digitalization: connectivity, digital resource sharing among
Technology Policy infrastructure, learning management system/ universities and agencies and
virtual learning environment, digital materials, encourages the same in UGC
capacity enhancement of HR, EMIS funding as performance-
strengthening, funding, and sustainability plan based grants (Table 4.1)

University Implementation strategy of various dimensions Facilitates universities to

Digitalization of digitalization with milestones, estimated work on the provision of
Strategy budget, and sustainability plan government/UGC and
university cost-sharing
modality

Update regularly the strategy

as per the availability of
public funding and internal
resources

University Guiding framework of different components of Provides the list of areas to

Digitalization practices of digitalization for constituent and the HEIs for developing the
Guidelines affiliated campuses/ schools/departments. guidelines.

Monitoring and Periodic online survey to understand the status UGC will also carry out
Evaluation of education technology readiness on policies periodic online surveys with
and practices of individual universities and nationwide coverage
their constituent/ affiliated campuses for
evidence-based support going forward

7Refer Table 3 for details about various dimensions of digitalization that needs to be covered in the universities digitalization
policy, strategic plan, and guidelines for UGC funding as per performance grants (Table 4.1)

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Table 2: Individual Campus/School/ Department level Responsibilities

Activities Area of coverage8 UGC and Affiliating

university’s role

Campus/School/department Implementation strategy of UGC will encourage

level ICT Strategy the various dimensions of collaboration with other HEIs.
digitalization with UGC and the affiliating
milestones, estimated budget, university will also provide
and sustainability plan with guidance and technical
coverage on: facilitation for the preparation of
such strategy and collaboration

Campus/School/Department Implementation guidelines of UGC and universities will also

level ICT Guidelines different components of the guide as required
practices of digitalization

Monitoring and Evaluation Individual Institutes/ Schools/ UGC and affiliating universities
(Institute/ School/ Campus/ Campuses/ Departments will will also provide guidance and
Department level) conduct a periodic online survey technical facilitation for the
to collect information about the periodic surveys
status of EdTech readiness from
their implementation practices

The UGC will also encourage the universities to partner with other universities/HEIs and
private sectors for collaboration. The dimensions of digitalization the universities and HEIs
will include in their respective policies, strategic plans, and guidelines, will cover the following
aspects among others. Further details are also included in Table 4 and Table 5.1.

 Connectivity and ICT infrastructure development

 Learning management system/virtual learning environment
 Digital resources development and dissemination
 Capacity building of human resources including empowering university leaders/heads of
institutions/ principals and developing their e-leadership for academic management
practices

8
Refer Table 3 for details about various dimensions of digitalization that needs to be covered in the campus/school/departments
digitalization strategy, and guidelines for UGC funding as per performance grants (Table 4.1)

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

 Strengthening web-based EMIS

29. Provision for backup and Disaster Recovery System safeguarded: The UGC,
universities/HEIs will also ensure provisions for the backup and disaster recovery system. As
a practice, this would be critical for uninterrupted service delivery in the case of disasters.

30. Periodic progress updating of digitalization at policy and practice levels. The measures of
focusing on digitalization and the measure of what is happening in digitalization are both
critical aspects. The universities and HEIs will carry out periodic surveys as a part of their
monitoring and evaluation to assess the improvement of the universities/HEIs focusing on the
readiness of individual academic institutions for digitalization. This will help the institutions
to make additional efforts on the lagging indicators for improving both the policy and practices
(overall administration and other practices) fronts. This will also provide the institutions good
evidence to approach for focused support towards inclusive digitalization also reaching out to
underprivileged groups and lagging/remote regions. Such periodic updates will also help the
UGC and the government to approach various development agencies for enhanced partnership
with additional resources and technical support with shared responsibilities.

3.1 Guidelines for Periodic Monitoring of HEIs Progress on Digitalization

31. A guiding framework for monitoring towards strengthening policies and practices of
digitalization of the universities and HEIs is provided in Annex 1. This framework considers
various dimensions of digitalization to be captured in the periodic surveys. The institutions can
also customize and adapt the details both on policy and practice fronts during the design of
tools for a particular survey. The UGC will guide the universities and HEIs in designing such
periodic online survey tools and prepare a periodic survey report based on the data from
universities, HEIs, and from its national-level periodic surveys. Given that digitalization is an
emerging but important issue, the objective of the periodic survey is (i) to assess and collect
information on two dimensions namely education technology policies and practices in higher
education, and (ii) to suggest the drivers and enablers in strengthening these policies and
practices with needful improvements going forward.

32. The periodic survey will help analyze policies and practices on six broader areas as explained
in Annex 1: (i) connectivity, (ii) digital infrastructure including virtual learning environment
and learning management system, (iii) Education Management Information System (iv) human
resources - faculty members, students, academic/administrative staff, and university
leaders/head of institutions/ principals’ e-leadership for academic management practices (v)
digital educational resources, and (v) institutions: universities/HEIs. The outcome of the
periodic results will help design and launch a communication and sensitization strategy about
the need of improving digitalization in lagging areas the universities/HEIs would need to
improve both at the policy and implementation levels. The UGC will facilitate the
universities/HEIs with technical support in designing the survey tools.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

3.2 Guidelines for Periodic Rating of HEIs Digitalization

33. A Guideline has been prepared for a periodic rating of HEIs for their performance towards
digitalization under five rating scales Twenty-six ranking parameters clustered around five
broader areas will be marked with a total mark of 100. Each ranking parameter will be marked
on a rating scale of 0 to 4. The rating of the HEIs will follow the same category of ‘absent to
very satisfactory’ for score bands within 0 to 20, 20 to 40, 40 to 60, 60 to 80, and 80 to 100.
The details are presented in Annex 2.

Table 3.1: Guiding Framework for monitoring towards strengthening Policies and
Practices of Digitalization
(Applicable for UGC, Universities, and HEIs as per their specific needs)
Component Remarks
Connectivity
 Broad-band connectivity service
 Last-mile connectivity and campus area wifi facilities Applicable to all (UGC,
 Connectivity to individual faculty member/student residence Universities, HEIs)
 Deployment of intranet to connect all the departments of UGC,
universities and HEIs
Digital Infrastructure
 Availability of digital equipment at UGC, university/HEIs, for  Applicable to all
faculty members/students
 Development of a common educational data center  UGC coordination to
agree on a common
data center
 Acquisition of cloud service  UGC coordination
 Establishment of IT support unit  Applicable to all
 Establishment of Digital Studio Lab  Applicable to all
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
 Implementation of Video Conference/Online tools  Applicable to all
 Implementation of Learning Management System  Applicable to all
 Policy and sustainability plan for the Learning Management
 Applicable to all
System hosting
 Standard LMS and configuring it on the webpage  Applicable to all
 Approval of the template for the deployment of LMS with
needful customization and configuration, and publishing on the  Applicable to all
webpage.
 Applicable to
 Preparation of the step-by-step user’s guide (manual) both for universities/HEIs
teacher and student and published on the webpage.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Component Remarks
LMS Implementation Support Arrangement
 IT support Unit: the unit will work as an administrator of the  Applicable to
LMS implementation. This unit will provide necessary support universities/HEIs
and training to teachers and students.
 Administration Unit: This unit will administer students,  Applicable to
teachers, online teaching/learning resources; develops and universities/HEIs
manages all the necessary documents; considers students’,
teachers’, and staffs’ welfare.
 Examination Unit: this unit will work for the exam through
 Applicable to
LMS. This unit closely works with teachers to create questions, universities/HEIs
make results.
EMIS System will address the following aspects
 Centralized Email System
 Website/Web portal
 Student Admission System
 Account/Finance
 Administration
 Research, Development, Innovation, Entrepreneurship
 Quality Assurance and Accreditation
 Assessment and Examination
 Online Payment
 Integrated Monitoring & Evaluation
Human Resource Development
Academic Leaders
 Identification of key elements required for empowering  Applicable to
university leaders/heads of institutions/ principals and universities/HEIs
developing their e-leadership capacity for academic
management practices
Faculty Members
 Identification of key elements required in a digital competence  Applicable to
framework for faculty members and imparting training and universities/HEIs
inputs to make them capable of integrating ICT for teaching in
line with the curricula, and training to staff for digitalization of
administration and EMIS:
- digital literacy training
- integrated pedagogical skill training for faculty members
- mass-scale training through the MOOC learning platform
- self-paced learning environment  Applicable to
universities/HEIs
 Monitoring & Evaluation of the impact of ICT technology on
the current pedagogical approaches the faculty members use in
the teaching-learning and evaluation

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Component Remarks
Students  Applicable to
 Identification of key digital competencies for students that the universities/HEIs
universities and institutes/ schools/ campuses/ departments
should develop and impart training in alignment with the
curricula:
- use of digital resources,
- use of online libraries, MOOC courses, and so on
Open Education Resources (OER)
 Use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Data  Applicable to all
 Development and sharing of OER  Applicable to all
 e-resources, e-library, privacy/plagiarism/security tools  UGC/universities/HEIs
collaboration for cost-
sharing

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)  UGC will provide a

 Periodic M&E about the implementation of the policy and framework for UGC,
practice dimensions of Digitalization universities, and HEIs
 Inform Policy and Practices for appropriate revision/updating in collaboration with
universities

3.3 Action steps for each activity:

34. Digitalization Policy, Strategy, and Rules/Guidelines: The following action steps will be
followed to execute these activities:
 Universities and HEI (Community Campuses) should develop the short term and long term five-
year strategic digitalization policy, strategies, and guidelines to clarify the roadmap of the
digitalization process including capacity development, infrastructure development, digital material
development, virtual learning, and blended learning, EMIS and educational governance issues with
a various dimension of digitalization with milestones, estimated budget and sustainability plan.
 Universities should develop the IT policy including all key dimensions of digitalization: internet
connectivity, secure wi-fi zone, security policy, digital infrastructure, learning management system/
virtual learning environment, digital materials; capacity enhancement of HR, EMIS strengthening,
funding, and sustainability plan on the field.
 UGC will provide the template policy format to the uniformity of IT policy in every university and
HEI (Community Campuses).
 Universities and HEI (Community Campuses) should develop issue-specific guidelines for the
execution of digitalization activities including internet access, email operation, information
security, privacy, etc.
 Universities and HEIs must organize a broad consultation with the related stakeholders before the
approval of the policy, strategy, and guideline development process.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

 Universities and HEIs could recruit expert consultation support for the formulation of policy,
strategy, and guidelines as per their own procurement rules.
 Approve strategic, policy and guidelines must be published in the public portal (Website of HEI)
to release all grants.

35. Digital Educational Resources Management: The following action steps will be followed to
execute these activities:
 Universities and HEIs (Community Campuses) should establish/operate the digital library
platform to develop digital materials for their universities and HEI using proprietary or open-
source platforms such as DSpace etc.
 Database or digital repository could be subscribed by universities and recommended utilizing
cost-sharing mode.
 Subscribed data repositories should be available in off-campus and on-campus modes.
 Universities and HEIs should develop digital studios including hardware and software at the
universities level to produce interactive books, audio, and video materials, simulations, and
animation for the higher education sector.
 Production and publishing of e-books, audio/video, animation, simulation, gaming learning
materials, and so on and dissemination/sharing (up to 500 items) by universities and HEI to fund
disbursement.
 Universities should organize promotional activities to promote Open Educational Resources
(OER) and open data between the students and faculties.

36. Connectivity and ICT Infrastructure Development: The following action steps will be followed
to execute these activities:
 Universities and HEIs should ensure the minimum broadband9 connection with the collaboration
of private ISP and coordination with the NTA broadband project (RTDF Fund).
 Universities and HEIs could manage the alternative modes of connectivity if NTA provides
government-subsidized support services.
 Coordinate with MoEST (Ministry of Education and Science and Technology), MoCIT (Ministry
of Communication and Information Technology), and NTA to connect with higher education by
UGC.
 Establishment of secure Wi-Fi zone on universities and HEI premises, the secure Wi-Fi zone
development guideline should be provided by UGC.

9
Minimum Broadband bandwidth will be varied on geographical location, number of students, number of
program, but ensure minimum 20 Mbps.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

 Utilization of national and international collaboration to establish intranet and educational

network on campus with the support of NREN, NPIX, and other similar networks.
 Establishment of an IT support unit at the Universities and HEIs with appropriate hardware and
software.
 Development of a guideline for cloud hosting Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a
Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Device as a Service (DaaS) with a priority
content delivery network (CDN).
 Development of own intranet and extranet by the Universities and HEI to connect campuses,
central offices to share and exchange educational data with each other.
 Allocated grants should be released after completion of the above tasks.

37. Learning Management System (LMS)/Virtual Learning Environment: The following action
steps will be followed to execute these activities:
Each campus will implement LMS with the following working action steps.
1. IT support Unit: the unit will work as an admin of LMS implementation. They will
provide necessary support and training to teachers and students.
2. Teaching and Learning (T&L) unit: the unit will work to design a pedagogical model
for LMS implementation. This unit will provide necessary teacher training for
effective LMS implementation.
3. Administration: the unit work for students’ welfare. This unit develops all necessary
forms and notices for campus-level administration of the digital database
4. Student: the unit is related to the student club for digital transformation. This unit
will provide necessary awareness of LMS across student levels.
5. Examination: this unit will work for the exam through LMS. This unit closely works
with teachers to design diagnostic, placement, formative, and summative exam
guidelines
The additional documents required from the HEIs to be eligible for the fund are as follows.
1. Sustainability plan: The campus must prepare and approve the sustainability plan for
the LMS hosting. [hardcopy]
2. Standard: The campus must use global standard LMS and configure it on their
Website.
3. Template: The campus must approve the template for the deployment of LMS. It
should be customized and configured accordingly and published on the campus
Website.
4. Manual: The campus must prepare step by step user guide for both teachers and
students and publish it on the campus Website

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

38. Capacity Building: The following action steps will be followed to execute these activities:
Each campus will set up a Teaching and Learning (T&L) unit: the unit will work to design a
stepwise user manual and provide training as below.
1. Training on generic tools for digital literacy
2. Training on pedagogical tools for video conferencing (MS Team, Zoom, Meet)
3. Training on pedagogical tools for LMS (Moodle)
4. Training on assessment tools (Constructed Response)
5. Training on assessment tools (Selected Response)
6. Training on learning analytics.

4. UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION DIGITALIZATION

4.1 Introduction
UGC, the apex body of the higher education system in Nepal, is established to maintain the
quality of higher education in Nepal. UGC monitors the progress of the universities and
campuses, encourages research work, provides grants to researchers, allocates budgets for the
universities, and produces several reports related to the higher education system of the country.
UGC is also responsible for executing the World Bank project to promote and enhance the
quality of the higher education system as per the demand of the time.

UGC has the following divisions to execute its tasks and activities in the implementation of
the higher education program and also for coordination with the Government and other
agencies and stakeholders as an advisory body of the government about higher education:

1. General Administration Division including Information Education and Communication

Section and Procurement
2. QAA Division
3. Research and Scholarship Division
4. Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division including EMIS
5. University Coordination Division
5 Financial Administration Section

4.2 Current Status

Currently, these divisions are executing their tasks and activities with minimum use of
Information Technology. Some of the divisions are using MS Excel to store data; MS Excel is
good for storing data, but producing summary reports of different types is a time-consuming
process for most of the users and needs special skills. These departments perform their task

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

alone or by collaborating and cooperating with other divisions as and when necessry.
Collaboration and cooperation are done through face-to-face meetings or telephonic
conversations. This traditional method of working has resulted in delays in the completion of
the tasks and activities; in absence of sometimes personnel in the division, it becomes almost
impossible to get the data and information needed. It has become very necessary to digitalize
and automate the tasks and activities of the UGC and connect the divisions for smooth
execution of tasks, easy sharing of data and information, easing decision-making processes.
Financial administration section would also need to integrate the banking system and online
payment methods.

4.3 Policies for Digitization of UGC

- Use of information technology to collect, process data and produce information in the
digital format in all the divisions, units of the UGC
- Establishment of a high-speed computer network in the UGC for smooth transmission of
data between the divisions, units anytime
- Installation of security measures to protect all the data/information of the UGC
- Fast transmission of data from server to the client and client to the server; users should
get data/information within a reasonable time frame.
4.4 Strategies for the digitization of UGC
- Establishment of an IT department
- Development of centralized information system to store data of all the divisions, to produce
information, reports by the divisions, units; the information system development process
includes major stakeholders of each division, unit; they should provide all the
requirements, things to be done by the information system
- Thoroughly testing the developed system to ensure if all of the requirements have been
addressed or not, to assure the quality of the system is acceptable or not
- Provisioning of power backup to ensure the system is always on and running (24 * 7 hours)
- Implementation of a backup server of the main centralized server computer
- Installation of the firewall to protect the system from unnecessary access
- Creating users with roles and responsibilities; each role should be clearly defined with what
the user with that role can do and can’t do
- Networking of division’s, unit’s computer with the central system using exiting standard
networking protocols and ensuring the high-speed data transmission between client and
server
- Providing training to all the staff of the UGC to make them familiar with the system
- Cloud service can be used to store all the data of UGC instead of purchasing its server
computers. In this case, there is no need of maintaining power backup, firewalls, back up
servers.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

4.5 Guidelines for the digitization of UGC

- A small team of 3 to 5 members selected by the executives of the UGC (including major
stakeholders of UGC) should be created; this team will be responsible for providing
requirements of the users of the UGC, actively participating in the software system
development; ensuring the quality of the developed software by testing the software
thoroughly
- A document with a list of requirements of each division and unit will be prepared by the
team
- Software and hardware vendors should be selected and software and hardware should be
purchased under the existing procurement rules of the UGC; HEIs can also subscribe cloud
services.
- Team should actively participate in the software development process, other employees
(not members of the team) should also participate and observe the development process,
and provide feedback, comments to the team whenever they feel necessary; the team will
communicate about the feedback and comments with the developers
- A draft document of the requirements (list of requirements of the divisions, units) must be
prepared within a specified period. The team must prepare test cases to test the software
with the help of employees of the concerned divisions, units.
- The executives of the UGC should specify the roles (what a user can do and can’t do, who
can do, who can’t do) and provide a document with roles specified to the team at the time
of the requirement collection period. Users and roles should be clearly stated and written
in a document. The team will provide that document to the software developers.
- All the components, modules must be tested using the prespecified test cases to ensure the
quality of the components, modules. Evaluating the system to ensure all the requirements
are addressed correctly
- The developed and finalized subsystems should be installed in the centralized computer
and allowed to the user; if some issues/problems are found by the users those must be
addressed immediately
- Security of the computer network and data must be ensured
- Easy to read and use user manual with clearly specified steps for using the system, every
component and module of the system must be provided by the software development team
(company) after the completion of the system development within a reasonable time frame.
- Reports, notices, Completed forms must be printable in different formats as required by
divisions, units of the UGC
The IT department of UGC will be responsible for:

- Maintaining user accounts, creating a new user account, removing existing user accounts
in the UGC digitization system.
- Maintaining the system, database, and other relevant server computers at UGC
- Making a backup of the database as a disaster recovery system
- Supporting divisions to access and use the system
- Maintaining the intranet and keeping the network intact and functioning.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Learning Management System (LMS) at UGC

39. The existing UGC LMS will support online courses for the general public. To use that
LMS, the following approach should be taken by the UGC:

- RD will collaborate with IT section to manage the LMS.

- Use/implement the MOOC-based self-learning and self-paced general courses (Decided by
UGC Board) for all stakeholders in higher education.
- Hiring of Teachers/experts for the development of digital content (courses) relevant in the
current time in collaboration with universities, HEIs, and private sectors.
- Manage and track the self-registration of students in the courses using the online system
- Establish the self-paced learning platform and certification process.
- Update and management of the self-paced MOOC course learning materials and the
student’s data.

4.6 UGC Support to HEIs for Digitalization

40. UGC will continue to support universities and HEIs for digitalization on policy and
implementation level. UGC will provide performance-based fund to the universities and HEIs
for digitalization focusing on policies and implementation. The funding scheme is presented
in Table 4.1. These supports will be an integral part of other supports provided by the UGC.
The UGC will also play a coordinating role with academia, government agencies, business
communities, and private sectors to facilitate collaboration among these agencies in
sustainably strengthening higher education digitalization with shared responsibilities.
Table 4.1: Performance Grants to Universities/HEIs for Digitalization

S.N. Indicator Activities Grants Amount

1 1.1 Digitalization Universities Universities:

Policy, Strategy,
and (i) Preparation of Policy, Strategic Plan, Policy, Strategic Plan,
Rules/Guidelines Rules/ Guidelines in consultation with Rules/ Guideline
stakeholders incorporating all aspects of
preparation, Funding Arrangement11
approval and digitalization adhering to the standards
implementation and operational policies as explained in Universities with total students:
chapter 3 Table 1 of this SOPG and  >100,000 total students: up
approval (release of 20 percent of the to NPR 1crore
allocation upon completion of this
task)10  > 50,000 total students: up to
NPR 50 lakhs
(ii) Implementation of Policies, Strategic
Plan, and Rules/Guidelines (80%)

10
Provision of Back-up and Disaster Recovery System for universities/ campuses EMIS, LMS, e-Library and so on safeguarded
in the policy, strategy and rules/guidelines
11 Policy, Strategic Plan and Rules/Guidelines each will have 1/3 rd weights of the total performance grants

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

S.N. Indicator Activities Grants Amount

 < 50,000 total students: Up to
NPR 25 lakhs

1.2 Connectivity Campuses Campuses

and ICT (i) Broadband Connectivity @ NPR 1,00,000 per activity
Infrastructure (total Rs. 5,00,000/HEI)
(ii) Secure Wi-Fi on campus
Development-
(iii) Intranet development on campus to
connect all the departments
(iv) IT support unit with hardware and
software.
b) Integrated Intranet in the Central NPR 50 lakh
Departments of S&T
2 Learning Universities with constituent campuses/  >=100,000 students in
Management programs constituent
System/Virtual campuses/programs: NPR 1
Learning Establish a university-level LMS platform
Crore
Environment integrating constituent campuses/schools/
departments, and delivery of online/blended  > 20, 000 students: NPR 50
mode academic courses (existing and or lakh
new)12 with setting up of a virtual learning  < 20,000 students: NPR 30 lakh
environment (MS Teams, ZOOM, Meet, or
other similar tools)
Community Campus
Establish the LMS platform at the campus
and deliver online/blended mode academic Community Campuses
courses (existing and or new)12 with setting
 >= 3,000 students: NPR 10
up of virtual learning environment (MS
lakh
Teams, ZOOM, Meet, or other similar tools)
UGC:  < 3,000 students: NPR 5 lakh

(i) Offer the self-paced MOOC course for

HEI faculties and students public UGC:
concern courses such as climate
adaptation, cyber security, digital (i) Delivery of MOOC courses
pedagogy, entrepreneurship, indigenous with self-certification: 20
teaching including self-certification courses in 5 yrs. @ Rs
2,00,000/course
(ii) Technical support to continue
operationalization of the UGC LMS
including the addition of new features as Rs 20 lakh
per needs

12
50% of allocated amount against delivery of two courses on online/blended mode and remaining against three
additional courses delivered in online/blended mode in each campus programs

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

S.N. Indicator Activities Grants Amount

3 Digital Resources Universities with constituent campuses Universities with constituent

Development and campuses
Dissemination (i) Establish/operate the Digital library
platform to develop the digital materials @ NPR 20 lakh/100 items (item
standard as per the guideline
(ii) Digital studio set up provided by UGC)
(iii) Production and publication of e-books,
audio/video, animation, simulation,
gaming learning materials, and so on
and dissemination/sharing (up to 500
items)
Community Campuses Community Campuses

i. Establish/operate the Digital library

platform to develop the digital materials @ NPR 20 lakh/100 items (item
ii. Digital studio set up standard as per the guideline
iii. Production and publication of e- provided by UGC)
books, audio/video, animation,
simulation, gaming learning materials,
and so on and dissemination/sharing
(up to 100 items)
4 Capacity Building Universities and HEIs Universities and HEIs
(i) Conduct the digital literacy training for  Digital literacy training
faculties, students (DLT):
(ii) Conduct digital pedagogy training for Rs 50,000/100 faculty
faculties members
 Digital pedagogy training
(iii) Conduct the subject-specific tools
DPT: Rs 100,000/100
handling training for faculties.
faculty members13
 Subject-specific tools
handling training:
Rs100,000/50 faculty
members

13
DPT training will follow after two groups or 100 faculty members DLT training (whichever completes earlier) to be eligible for PBG against
the subsequent groups DLT

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

S.N. Indicator Activities Grants Amount

5 Strengthening Web- Universities and constituent campuses Universities with constituent

based EMIS campuses/programs14
(i) Integration of university/constituent
campus EMIS with UGC EMIS system  >= 100,000 students in
including with provision of reporting constituent campuses/
programs: Rs 1 Crore
(ii) Regular updating of academic data in the
 >= 20, 000 students in
EMIS system and generating executive
constituent campuses/
reports.
programs: Rs 50 lakh
 < 20, 000 students in
constituent campuses/
programs: Rs 30 lakh

Community Campuses
Community Campuses15
(iii) Integration of campus EMIS with UGC
EMIS system including with provision
of reporting
(iv) Regular updating of academic data in Rs 3 lakh per campus for five
the EMIS system and generating years.
executive reports.

6 UGC EMIS and UGC UGC

Office Automation
System (i) Re-engineering of EMIS system and
implementation of UGC EMIS system
(ii) Digitalization of QAA, Research, and
Development, Monitoring and Estimated amount: Rs 2 Crore
Evaluation, Planning, admin, finance
(To be released as per the
functionalities at the UGC level.
expenditures against the five
(iii) Integration of UGC functionalities and
noted activities)
develop the integrated educational
management information system
(IEMIS) system with universities and
HEIs EMIS.
(iv) Capacity enhancement for staff of
UGC
(v) Capacity enhancement of service
seekers and the staff of HEIs
(vi) Back-up and Disaster Recovery System
managed

14 First 50% PBG tranche release to universities upon publication of the first EMIS Report of the university starting 2021/22 and
2nd tranche upon integrating the university EMIS with UGC EMIS
15 First 50% PBG tranche release to community campuses upon publication of the first EMIS Report of the campus starting

2021/22 and 2nd tranche upon integrating the campus EMIS with UGC EMIS

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

ANNEX 1: Drivers and Enablers in Strengthening Education Technology Readiness

Components Policies Practices
Connectivity  What regulatory issues exist  What is the connectivity that a
related to connectivity and student needs at the HEIs
information access issues as based on the availability of
they relate to the higher computers in the classroom
education sector, and what and the type of activities or
guidelines and best practices intensity of the use of the
have emerged? Internet?
 What elements are required to  How to adjust the use of
ensure the availability of digital devices and digital
Internet connectivity in urban education resources according
and rural HEIs and remote to the connectivity available
regions? to students and teachers?
 What measures would help to
moderate the cost and ensure
affordability?
Digital Infrastructure  What are the goals that the  What type of pedagogical
UGC, universities, and HEIs support is needed for faculty
are trying to achieve, and how members and students to use
the digital infrastructure help the devices?
to meet such goals?  What organizational
 What are the direct and arrangements need to be
indirect investments needed conducted to ensure the
(upfront capital and operating availability and maintenance
expenditures)? of ICT devices in universities,
 What are the procurement Campuses/ Schools/
best practices and required Departments?
coordination with the
Education Technology
ecosystems?
Faculty Members  What are the key elements  What inputs are required to
required in a digital support faculty members to be
competence framework for more effective at integrating
faculty members? ICT for teaching?
 What models exist for the  What pedagogical approaches
effective utilization of ICTs to do faculty members use and
support ongoing professional how will these be impacted by
development for faculty technologies?
members?
Students  What are the key digital  What conditions are required
competencies (DC) for for students to better use
students that the universities technologies inside and
and HEIs should develop? outside the universities/HEIs?

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Components Policies Practices

 How are these competencies How to ensure an effective
aligned with the curriculum? learning experience when
What mechanism do the students use digital educational
universities/HEIs use to assess resources?
students’ DC?
Digital Education Resources  What conditions are needed to  What conditions are required
(DER) foster the pedagogical to ensure pedagogical
relevance of DERs aligned to usefulness and (re)usability of
the curriculum? DERs?
 What standards are needed to  How to equip managers/
guarantee the quality of DERs teachers to search, identify,
and a mechanism to evaluate share, create or purchase
them? appropriate DERs?
 What are the most effective  What are the best practices for
strategies to secure access to creating, adopting, and
DER for those communities adapting digital curricular
which are more digitally content?
excluded?
Universities, Institutes/  What are the key elements  What conditions do the
Schools/ Campuses/ required that systems need to university
Departments define for the integration of leaders/heads/principals need
ICT in strategic plans? to integrate ICT into the
 How can education systems strategic plans?
empower university  How can university
leaders/heads of institutions/ leaders/principals/ heads
principals and develop their e- foster the effective use of ICT
leadership? for faculty members/
academic management
practices?
 How the use of education
technology could foster
collaboration and partnership
among different agencies for
sustainable development as a
shared responsibility?

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

ANNEX 2: A Marking Scheme for Ranking of HEIs on Digitalization

The HEIs will be ranked for their performance towards digitalization of the education sector into
five categories. Twenty-five parameters will be marked with a total mark of 100. Each parameter
will be marked on a rating scale of 0 to 4 shown below. The rating of the HEIs will follow the
same category of ‘absent to very satisfactory’ for score bands within 0 to 20, 20 to 40, 40 to 60,
60 to 80, and 80 to 100.
Rating scale
0 Absent — component is missing
1 Unsatisfactory — needs significant improvement
2 Somewhat satisfactory — needs targeted improvements
3 Satisfactory — discretionary improvement needed
4 Very satisfactory — no improvement needed
Set A: Institution's policy and performance
Parameter Fullmark Obtained mark
The institution supports the digitalization of higher education through a set 4
of policies, strategy guidelines, notices, actions, and encouragements
The institution has developed a digital infrastructure 4
The institution has practiced a learning management system/virtual 4
learning environment with digital materials and their accessibility
The institution provides digital literacy and other digitalization related 4
training to its faculties and students
Compared to the previous years, the institution has tangibly progressed 4
toward digitalization16
Total 20

Set B: Governing bodies (UGC, University, MoE, Government) policy and performance
Parameter Fullmark Obtained mark
The government has promoted digitalization in higher education 4
through favorable acts, policies, instructions, decisions, budgetary
support, program support, electricity, internet facility, awareness,
etc.
The governing university has supported the HEI for digitalization 4
through policy, budget, program, guidelines, orientation, facilitation,
and responding to the requests
The HEI receives direct funds and programs from the government, 4
university, or UGC explicitly for digitalization or the HEI allocates
sufficient funds for digitalization making no need for external
budgetary support

16Examples include: implemented of policies, updated website, developed course portal, created documents for download and
sharing, creating online learning modules, tools or apps, created a digital library, extended computer/ICT lab, conducted online
teaching/seminar/virtual tour/exam, partnered for promoting digitalization, established or improved internet connection. Any of
those should have taken place in the most recent year as this parameter measures the continual progress of the institute.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Parameter Fullmark Obtained mark

Compared to the status and progress made by the HEI towards 4
digitalization, how are the status and progress made by the
government, university, and UGC (relative pull or push factor)
Compared to previous years, have there been any tangible progress 4
made by the government, university, and UGC towards
digitalization
Total 20

Set C: Teacher's performance

Parameter Fullmark Obtained
mark
Are the teachers17 familiar with digitalization? 4
Have the teachers received any training related to digitalization? 4
Have the teachers conducted online classes, seminars, conferences 4
or virtual tours, online assignments, and exams?
Are the teachers passionate about digitalization and use digital 4
infrastructure and media at the HEI and their end voluntarily?
Compared to previous years, was the number and digital literacy 4
level of teachers adapting to digitalization improved in the current
year?
Total 20

Set D: Student's performance

Parameter Fullmark Obtained
mark
Are the students18 familiar with digitalization? 4
Have the students received an orientation/training related to 4
digitalization?
Have the students attended/participated in online classes, seminars, 4
conferences or virtual tours, online assignments, and exams?
Are the students passionate about digitalization and use digital 4
infrastructure and media at the HEI and their end voluntarily?
Compared to previous years, was the number and digital literacy 4
level of students adapting to digitalization improved in the current
year?
Total 20

17
The section evaluates for the entire faculties in the HEI. So, this set of question should be representative of all teachers. For an accurate
evaluation, the same set of questions can be answered for individual teachers and their average can be used in the final evaluation sheet.
18 The section evaluates for the entire body of students in the HEI. So, this set of question should be representative of all students.

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 UCG Board Decision Date: 2078-12-21, Decision Number: 1455

Set E: Relative performance

Parameter Fullmark Obtained
mark
Compared to similar HEIs in the province19 and Nepal, how has 4
been the performance of the HEI towards digitalization?
Compared to other universities in Nepal, how has been the 4
performance of the governing university of the HEI towards
digitalization?
Compared to similar HEIs in neighboring countries, how has been 4
the performance of the HEI towards digitalization?
Compared to the teachers in similar HEIs in Nepal, how has been 4
the performance of the HEI's teachers towards digitalization?
Compared to the students in similar HEIs in Nepal, how has been 4
the performance of the HEI's students towards digitalization?
Total 20

19An HEI that is outstanding in its province will receive full mark

27