NHPC Minimum Requirements of Bachelor in Public Health, Second Revision 2076 (2019)

Introduction

Nepal Health Professional Council has approved this requirement according to clause of 9 (kha) of the Nepal Health Professional Council Act 2053. This requirement shall be called Minimum requirement for the recognition of Bachelor’s Degree of Public Health Program (2061), first revision 2068 and second revision 2076 (2019). An institution that plans to start or conduct Bachelor’s degree of Public Health Program shall ensure the standard as specified in this minimum requirement in order to qualify for granting accreditation.

Student Entry Requirement for Students

The entry requirement for a student in BPH will be Intermediate in Science (ISc) or Higher Secondary Level (10+2 Science streams) in biology stream or Proficiency Certificate Level (PCL, Science), or Certificate in Health Sciences or equivalent as recognized by concerned University/authorized body with at least 50% marks or equivalent grade score. Besides the basic academic requirement, an entrance examination will be held for all applicants and should secure 50% marks to be eligible for admission.

Duration of Study

Duration for the completion of all the requirements for the BPH program as a full-time student is 4 Years in annual system and 48 months (8 Semesters) in semester system.

Admission Policies

• Intake of students should be annual
• The maximum number for intake of students is 40 per academic year
• The selection of the student should be in merit basis

Attendance Requirements

A student must attend every scheduled lecture, tutorial, seminar, field visit and practical classes. However, to accommodate for late registration, sickness and other contingencies, the attendance requirements will be a minimum of 80% of the classes actually held.

Course Coverage

A student must attend the core courses (Public Health, Epidemiology, Community Diagnosis, Research Methodology, Health Management, Public Health statistics/biostatistics, Population health, Health Promotion and Education, Environmental Health, Reproductive/Family Health, Nutrition, Behavioral Science)

Student’s Evaluation

A student’s academic performance in a course is evaluated in two phases as:

• Internally by the concerned faculty member through quizzes, tutorials, lab works, home assignments, class tests, class participation, term papers, internal exam etc.
• Externally by the Office of the Controller of Examinations of concerned University through year/semester-end examinations.
• Practical, field practice and internship will be evaluated by external examiner through practical, demonstration, presentation (oral and poster) and oral examination.

Teaching Faculty

Number of Faculties Number of faculties for BPH program should be maintained as follows: –

• Professor/Associate Professor: 2 Full time
• Assistant Professor/Lecturer: 5 Full time

The above-mentioned number is for the full-fledged program and should be at least 7 full time faculties. There should be at least one full time Professor/Assoc. Professor and two full time Assistant Professors at the beginning and the number should be increased before the new batch is enrolled.

Council will recognize the minimum qualification of a faculty as per the concerned university service commission eligibility.

• As per the curricular needs additional part time teachers or teachers in course contract should be managed by Institution.
• Full time teachers should be from core subjects (Public Health, Epidemiology, Research Methodology, Health Management, Public Health statistics/biostatistics, Public Health Demography/Population health, Health Promotion and Education, Environmental Health, Reproductive/Family Health, Public Health Nutrition, Behavioral Health Science).

Note: Faculties working as a full timer at one institution can NOT be full timer in another institution.

Student Teacher Ratio in Teaching Learning

There should be sufficient teachers to teach as per curriculum in a ratio as follows:

• One faculty per 40 students for theory classes.
• One faculty per 20 students for practical classes.
• One faculty per 10 students for field work.

Qualification of Teacher

• Minimum academic qualification for above-mentioned full-time teachers should be at least Bachelor Degree in Public Health or Health Sciences or other discipline with Master Degree in Public Health or Public Health Sciences, with at least 3 years of teaching learning experience. Among them, at least 50% of the teachers should be from BPH with Master Degree in Public Health or Public Health Sciences.
• Other requirements for the academic positions shall be as per the requirement of concerned University.
• (Public Health Sciences include, but not limited to Epidemiology, Public Health Statistics/biostatistics, Public Health Demography, Population Health, International Health, Primary Health Care, Health System Management, Health Policy, Public Health Economics, Health Promotion and Education, Health Communication, Public Health Nutrition, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Family Health, Occupational Safety and Health, Global Health, Behavioral Health, Community Health, Medical Anthropology and other health sciences as decided by NHPC)

Work Load

• For taking the theory and practical classes as well as field practices
  – Principal/Chief: 8 hours/week (maximum)
  – Professor: 12 hours/week (maximum)
  – Associate professor: 14 hours/week (maximum)
  – Assistant Professor/Lecturer: 16 hours/week (maximum)
• One theory class equivalent to three hours practical classes and six hours field practices.
• One research supervision equivalent to one hour per week
• Co-supervisor’s workload is calculated as half of main supervisor’s workload
• One research supervisor can supervise only 5 students maximum per academic year.
• Research supervisor shall be from outside the college/institute if he/she is BPH or Bachelor in health sciences and MPH (or specialized MPH) and registered in concerned council. The research supervisor should have minimum qualification of a teacher as mentioned above.

Institution

Organizational Structure of the Constitutional or Affiliated Academic Institution Concern constitutional or affiliated academic institution should establish the following committees/sections;

• Departments/Instruction committee
• Examination section
• Student welfare committee
• Research Management Committee (RMC)
• A separate organizational financial system should include: – Financial viability plan – Annual budget for program – Source of income – Audit system

Principal or Campus Chief or Chief of Central Department or Director

Sole Public Health College: S/He should have at least Bachelor Degree in Public Health or Health Sciences with Master Degree in Public Health or Public Health Sciences and 7 years of academic/teaching learning experience. S/He should be registered in NHPC.

Multidisciplinary Health Science College: S/He should have at least Master Degree in any related subjects teaching in the college and 7 years of academic/teaching experience.  S/He should be registered in concerned council.

Head of the Department (HoD) and/or Coordinator

• S/He should have at least Bachelor degree in Public Health or Health Sciences with Master Degree in Public Health Sciences and 5 years of academic/teaching experience.
• S/He should be registered in NHPC.

Administrative Staff

Administrative staff should be sufficient in number to facilitate the educational/ administrative works. The required staffs are as follows:

• Administrative Officer: S/He should have passed minimum Bachelor degree or equivalent in any subject.
• Finance Officer: S/He should have passed minimum Bachelor degree in Commerce/ Business Studies/Administration or equivalent.
• Account/Administrative Assistants: Accountant and Administrative Assistants should have passed 10+2 or equivalent.
• Librarian: The Head of the Library should have University Degree and must have sufficient training in library science.
• Computer Technician: S/He should have passed minimum Diploma/ Bachelor in computer sciences and should have command both in English and Nepali languages writings and reporting.
• Laboratory Assistant: S/He should have passed at least 10+2 (science) with training and or demonstrating laboratory work of Laboratory Assistant in concerning Faculty or Department of particular organization.
• Any Office Assistants (helper/peon/cleaner/driver) should be a Nepali citizen and should be literate in Nepali (Command in both Nepali and English languages is preferable).

Teaching Facilities

Land, building and physical facilities requirements are as follows:

• Land and Building: Building with adequate floor space and sufficient land
• There should be minimum of four rooms for routine classes, and three rooms for group discussion purposes. Number of classrooms should be increased with the number of sections.
• The class rooms should have: – Well ventilated with adequate light – 0.75 sq meter space per student – Appropriate desk and bench, White board – Multi-media – The theory classroom should accommodate of at least 40 students
• Principal’s office room should have enough space for visitors/faculties and for small meeting.
• Administration office rooms should have enough space for administrative and financial work.
• Demonstration room for 20 students at a time on the basis of 1:20 teacher -student ratio for demonstration.
• Teachers’ room with sufficient numbers of computers and printers.
• A Library should have enough space for book and students’ study. – 1 course book per 5 students must be available in library. – Reference book in each subject should be available at ratio of 1:10 students in library. – Access to HINARI or other online data bases and other related free journals with a internet with high speed. – At least 5 professional recent journals should be available in the library. – Adequate number of reference books on each subject for teacher should also be available in library. – Other related books/dictionaries, magazines, newspapers should be made available. – Curriculum of the program must be available at office and at the library. Furniture like table, chair, open rack, must be available in the library as per required standard and quantity. – Sufficient Computer, printer, photocopy machine, email – internet facilities should be made available.
• For computer class, there should be one computer per two students and a separate computer classroom should be available.
• Audio-visual aid equipment should be available for classroom.
• Toilet at a ratio of 1:10 for working staffs and students (male/female separate).
• Multipurpose hall (at least 200-person accommodation with essential facilities) should be available.

Facilities for Other Activities

• An outdoors athletic ground
• Indoor games
• Provision of vehicles for field activities
• Parking space- faculties, staffs and students
• Space for student welfare with counseling services
• Students’ hostel (Male and Female separate) is preferable
• Canteen with safe drinking water, hygienic kitchen and dining hall

Laboratory and Equipment

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NHPC Minimum Requirements For the recognition of Master in Public Health