MA in Rural Development

Evaluation System

Students are evaluated through summative and formative approaches on a regular basis during their semesters. However, the course introduces some formal processes internally and externally by adopting a 60–40 combination under the following criteria and procedures.

Internal Evaluation:
Internal evaluation here reflects the evaluation of 40 marks for each paper undertaken by the department/campuses, which has been allocated on the basis of the following components and criteria:

i. Attendance: Every student must attend at least 80% of their classes to ensure physical presence and regularity in the classroom. Any student failing to achieve this criterion will not be allowed to appear in the final examination. Here, attendance carries 5 marks.

ii. Peer evaluation: Peer evaluation is a process in which students assess each other's performance based on pre-defined criteria. To allocate 5 marks as an internal evaluation, students will be oriented about the objectives and provided with the rubric. Then, students evaluate each other based on the rubric with constructive feedback.

iii. Assignments: Assignments are another major component of internal evaluation for 10 marks. During teaching learning time, each student is assigned to submit their assignments to their respective teachers under the prescribed format within a given deadline. Teaching faculties are responsible for evaluating the assignments. Students need to secure at least 50% marks in their assignments.

iv. Presentation: Presentation helps students to develop various communication skills, builds confidence in public speaking, enables students to build active engagement in teamwork, and enhances critical thinking. Presentation is a compulsory tool to evaluate students' performance for 10 marks. Subject teachers assign certain tasks to the students, and they can develop PPT slides or any presentation. Students can be evaluated either on an individual basis or a group basis, and they must secure at least 50% marks in the presentation.

v. Mid-term examination: In order to assess the progress of students, departments/ campuses can conduct mid-term examinations in the middle of the academic session with formal notice. Students need to appear in the exam for two hours and must secure at least 50% marks for each subject to be eligible for the board examination. In case a student remains absent in the internal examination due to serious illness, he/she will be given a one-time opportunity to appear in the exam if he/ she is able to produce an authorized medical certificate or any official document to justify his/her absence.

External evaluation: The external evaluation is the semester-end examination, which is also known as the board exam. The dean's office at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences formally announces the examination schedule. The students must fulfill all the criteria of internal evaluation to appear final examination. The total weightage of external examination for each subject is 60% and the allocated exam duration is of 3 hours for each paper. The dean's office has developed the model questions for the exam, in which altogether 13 questions (3 from long questions and 10 from short questions) can be asked in the examination. Students should write their answers in their own words as far as practicable to maintain creativity in performance. Students can be asked to write answers in English or Nepali medium or both. Students should attempt any two questions from Group A of long answer questions and any eight questions from Group B of short answer questions, where  each long question is worth 10 marks. 

Freeship and Scholarship

Among the total students enrolled in departments or colleges, 15% students are entitled to receive either a freeship (only tuition fee) or a scholarship (one student is entitled to receive only one type of scholarship). Freeship and scholarships are provided to only those students who have completed their SLC/SEE, +2, and bachelor's degree from government schools, government campuses, or community/public colleges and have secured better academic performance in their results. Scholarship quota will be divided among the students according to the inclusive quota. Students failing in any exam are not qualified to get any scholarship. Students who get a freeship will get a refund of the tuition fee on the basis of the admission receipt.

Students who have passed a Bachelor's degree (undergraduate level) from Tribhuvan University or an equivalent recognized institution are eligible to apply for the entrance examination.

• Admission Announcement: The dean's office formally announces admissions through national daily newspapers and its website, providing details on the procedure and submission deadlines.
• Application Process: Students must fill out a form with their personal and academic information, specifying their desired department or college.
• Entrance Exam: The dean's office conducts a mandatory entrance exam to test the basic ability of students and officially publishes the results.
• Passing Criteria: A minimum score of 40 marks is required to pass the entrance test for enrollment.
• Exam Format: The exam consists of 50 objective questions (2 marks each) and has a duration of one hour.
• Enrollment: Students are enrolled based on merit. The total number of students to be enrolled is determined by the concerned authority based on recommendations from the respective department or campus.

Course Cycle and Semester Plan