Kathmandu: A parliamentary sub-committee under Public Account Committee, which was formed to study the distribution of 12,000 teachers’ relief quotas and per child funding for the teachers two years ago, has found that former education minister Ram Chandra Kushwaha was behind misappropriation in the distribution. Following media reports of his involvement in the anomaly, minister was sacked from the post.

PAC will issue direction to the prime minister and education ministry to scrap the teachers’ appointments and take action against Kushwaha, former secretaries, director generals and District Education Officers involved in distributing 12,000 teachers’ quotas illegally.

PAC studied the quota distribution in Bara, Parsa, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Nawalparasi, Siraha and Terhathum for 17 months beginning June 24, 2009 and came to the conclusion that minister, secretaries and other

senior officials had given written orders to the DEOs for appointing their men and DEOs just did that while appointing 12,000 teachers.

The report adds that the DEOs exercised the authority that is vested in District Education Committee, which is an authorised body to appoint teachers recommended by the schools’ management committees. Each district should have a 13-member District Education Committee chaired by Chief District Officer, with DEO as member secretary. But none of the said districts had mandatory 13 members. In a district, DEC had only four members.

The panel led by lawmaker Keshav Raj Mainali submitted the report yesterday to PAC Chairman Ram Krishna Yadav, who told mediapersons that PAC would urge prime minister and education minister to implement the report, which will also be presented in the Parliament.

“Kushwaha’s brothers took the appointment letters from the DEOs and distributed them in Tarai districts by charging thousands of rupees,” Ajaya Chaurasia, one of the seven members of the sub-committee, told this daily.

Teachers were appointed in schools having no students, adds report. As many as 48 unauthorised teachers were found to be on the payroll of government schools in Nawalparasi. In Mahottari and Bara districts, teachers were appointed without any authentic documentation, according to the report.

It adds that schools give exaggerated number of students to take extra teachers and no action has been taken against teachers working with fake certificates.

source: The Himalayan Times