Inaruwa: Many government-funded schools in Sunsari district are found providing false student number to the Sunsari District Education Office (DEO) and pocketing extra budget and facilities.

This revelation was made when the DEO conducted the student headcount of schools in the district on Monday.

District Education Officer Hari Prasad Basti said the schools involved in irregularity will face stern action. He said 800 teachers were mobilised to conduct the census in 1,596 educational institutions.

The DEO plans to publicise its report by Tuesday and initiate necessary action against the schools that have been providing false information about the student number and reaping unwarranted benefits.

Basti said that the DEO had decided to count of the number of students following a huge difference in the number of students going to school and the number of students appearing in exams.  After the DEO announced its census plan, various schools in Sunsari had started hiring ‘fake students’ from bordering Indian villages and other parts of the district.

On Sunday, local people in different parts of Sunsari had detained more than 100 children who were hired by different schools as students.

It was learned that these children were told to memorise the names of their schools, teachers and principals in case they were asked by during the inspection.

source: The Kathmandu Post, 13 September 2011