Officials at the District Education Office, however, hesitate to compare the spending with the results. Students from 163 of the total 560 community schools in the district attended the SLC exam this year but no one passed from nine schools while only two to five students each from over five dozen schools got through the test.

Admitting that the quality of education at community schools in the district was not satisfactory, District Education Officer Raj Kumar Thapa said lack of sense of responsibility in teachers, parents and lack of supervision by concerned resource centres were some of the factors leading to the failure. He highlighted the need for a new policy to tackle such problems.

The Janata Secondary School at Ikrahi in Biratnagar-5, for instance, has not been able to get even one student through the exam for the past three years. Devi Panthi, chairperson of the local Parents’ Association, said the teachers’ affiliation to various political parties was to blame for the poor performance of students. “How can we expect the quality of education to go up when teachers are busy working for parties?” he said.

Though some schools, in an attempt to upgrade the quality of education, have started English-medium classes from grade eight, they have started facing financial constraints. Khem Acharya, headmaster of the Pokhariya Secondary School which has been running English-medium classes for the past two years, said it was difficult to run such classes from tuition fees collected from students.

Indramani Thapa, secretary of the local teachers’ union, meanwhile, said teachers were carrying out their responsibilities though some of them are involved in politics. He said the students’ tendency to remain absent and the policy to upgrade students with minimum attendance was the main reason behind the dismal performance. Only four out of the total 41 students managed to pass the SLC exam from his school-Darbesa -based Mahalaxmi Secondary School-this year.

In Panchthar, the success rate has dropped from 26 to 14 percent and no students passed from 23 schools this year. DEO Gyanmani Nepal also blamed irregular classes, negligence of teachers as well as students for the failure. He, however, that 50 teachers tendered their resignation after his office started taking action against those who are involved in irregularities.

Meanwhile, in Sindhuli, only 10 students managed to score distinction marks in the SLC exam this year. Ananta Raj Shrestha, head teacher of the Lampantar Batase Secondary School, however, said that he has encouraged as 81 out of 101 students who sat for the exam managed to get through.

Meanwhile, the Khandbari-based Himalaya Higher Secondary School has become a model academic institution in the district due to its consistent performance for the past few years.

(With inputs from local correspondents)