The Department of Education has mandated community schools to disclose their assets following criticism over the misuse of school property by School Management Committees (SMCs). Measures include moving school funds to government banks and revising the nomination process for SMC chairpersons to ensure only active members can lead. These directives aim to address corruption and irregularities in community school management.

1. DoE directs community schools to reveal assets
Department of Education has directed the community schools across the country to reveal their
assets.
The DoE´s instruction comes amid widespread criticism over misuse of school property by the
School Management Committees (SMC) for the personal benefit of committee members.
The DoE Director Tek Narayan Pandey said that the District Education Office (DEO) and the
Regional Educational Directorate has been charged with ensuring that all the schools come up
with credible reports on their property.
“It has been learned that some headmasters, under the influence or pressure from the SMC, have
allowed using the school land for taking out loans and using the amount for personal use,” stated
the DoE Director Pandey. The office has further directed that the schools´ money at private
banks be moved to the government-owned banks and kept under the school´s account.
In its latest move to curb the activities of the SMC, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has also
proposed a significant change in the nomination process of the chairperson of the committee.
The SMC, formed in representation of the local stakeholders including the political leaders of
various parties, guardians and school headmaster, gets its chairperson through the direct election
among the stakeholders.
But the newly proposed amendment in the Education Act 1971 states that only the working
member of the SMC would be eligible to lead the committee. Limiting the candidates for the
chairmanship is intended to create a healthy competition among the stakeholders, the MoE
officials have said. Under the current system, the guardians of a school can directly nominate the
SMC chief.
The report issued by the Office of the Attorney General earlier pointed out several cases of
corruption with the direct involvement of the SMC. Likewise, the Commission for the
Investigation of Abuse of Authority has also directed the MoE and the DoE officials to look into
the ongoing irregularities in the name of infrastructural development at community schools
across the country.