Nepal government has legalized educational corruption by holding the nationwide School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations even though the questions papers of English, Nepali, Science, Maths and Social Studies were leaked and sold to hundreds of students. On 4 April 2007, All Nepal Free Students Union –Revolutionary (ANFSU – R) with the help of Maoists’ youth wing captured captured red hand two teachers Keshab Shrestha and Prakash Shrestha while selling the leaked question papers. With proof, they had submitted the culprits to the police and the office of the examination controller. A meeting held till night at the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Education at the advice of the Controller of the School Leaving Examinations decided to let the ongoing SLC examinations despite the availability of the evidence of leaked questions and the red hand capture of some involved teachers.


Confident sources state that the government does not have any moral courage to take actions since the whole educational bureaucracy has been loyal to a powerful educational mafia that has been controlling all the educational systems of Nepal. It is worth remembering that the Nepal government has kept education not under human rights but under commerce and industry. Private schools and colleges have to register with the ministry of commerce and industry as commercial companies. This policy of the Nepal government has proved that educational mafia have succeeded in making education not a basic human right but a market commodity.


Every year, media report many cases of the leakage and sale of SLC question papers. Because of this organized black business controlled by a powerful educational mafia, the Nepal government does not seem to be willing to take any actions.


But to put dusts into people’s eyes, the Nepal government has formed a committee to investigate into this scandal. By fully validating the ongoing scandalous examination, the government has pretended as if it is thinking of action. Surprisingly, the government has included Ex-Controller of SLC Examinations Arjun Bhandari in the probe committee. Bhandari himself, when he was the Examination Controller, was arrested by the Special Police for his alleged involvement in selling SLC question papers to some students of Galaxy Public School during a night on the eve of a previous SLC examination.


Students belonging to the working class background have felt extremely frustrated at this scandal. They despise the educational system of buy and sale. Those capable of affording to buy expensive leaked questions can obtain the distinction marks and get scholarships in highly lucrative subjects while working class students work hard in their studies but cannot bet good marks and scholarships. This situation clearly divided people into haves and have-nots.


Educationists think the government could invalidate the whole ongoing SLC examinations and reschedule and re-set the questions if the educational mafia was not more powerful. Even illiterate people think that if education itself becomes an object of black marketing, no sector can be free from corruption. But the Nepal government has silently legalized educational mafia work and apparent educational corruption.