After two months of monitoring, 56 schools in Morang district, 78 in Jhapa, 58 in Illam and 62 schools in Sunsari were found to be violating government provisions. [break]
According to the director of Eastern Zone Educational Directorate, Hari Prasad Dhakal, out of the 255 schools that were operating without having obtained the permission or completing the physical infrastructure, some have been ordered to stop classes while others have been asked to close the school itself. Six schools that had illegally started branches in Morang have been ordered to close them down.
Education Office has sent a letter to Gyanodaya Boarding School (Bahuni 8) to shut down the whole school for operating the primary school branch without permission. According to Morang District Education Officer Pramod Shah, Sungava Higher Secondary School (Jaite 2) was offering classes from 1 to 3, Chandar Memorial School (Bhaihada 4) was holding classes from 1 to 5 without permission, Greenland School (Madhumalla 5) was offering classes up to grade 5 without permission, Classic Boarding School (Madhumalla 3) had opened a branch up to grade 5 and Evergreen School (Buhuni 9) was operating a primary level without permission.
All these schools have been ordered to immediately close down and transfer the students to other schools, Shah said.
Those affected include nearly 7,000 students in Morang, 7,500 students in Jhapa, 3,700 students in Illam and 5,000 students in Sunsari, who were enrolled in different grades. After the two-month long monitoring of 80 schools out of 322 schools in Morang, 57 schools were found to be operating certain classes and levels without permission, said Tanka Gautam, a member of the monitoring team.
Nine schools in Morang have been found to be offering classes up to grade 10 when they had permission only for the primary school. Shah informed that these schools made their grade 10 students appear for School Leaving Certificate through the local community schools.
District Education Office has made an agreement with PABSON and NPABSON to transfer the students studying in these schools to other schools which have similar syllabus and uniform to minimize expenditure for the parents as far as possible, said Dhakal.
While the illegal schools in Sunsari have been fined Rs 3,000 each, schools in other districts have been ordered to either dissolve levels, classes or schools on the whole. As per the rule of the Educational Directorate, a school can be fined up to Rs 25,000 if found to be operating illegally.
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