KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Education has directed the Department of Education to initiate action against the schools that got nil results in the School Leaving Certificate Exam.

A recent ministerial level decision has given 45-day deadline to the DoE to take action against the schools that got worst results in the SLC exam. The MoE has also directed the DoE to initiate action against the teachers who failed to perform their duties honestly and responsibly due to which their students could not make through the SLC exam.

The MoE has asked all concerned, particularly DEOs and schools, to prepare a ‘Result Improvement Work Plan’ and implement it seriously in the schools where the results have been below expectation level. It has asked the DoE to prepare the work plan to improve the overall education system of the country and ensure that the schools teach for 220 days, which is the total number of days students should be taught in a year as per the Education Act, 1971, despite the one month-long holiday due to the April 25 earthquake.

Hari Lamsal, MoE Spokesperson, said, “The directive from the MoE will be strictly implemented in all districts to improve SLC results in future.” A total of 405,338 students had appeared in SLC exam with 47.43 per cent passing the exam.

Meanwhile, community schools have fared better in the SLC exam this year. The pass percentage of community schools was 33.18 while it was only 28 per cent last year. According to Bishnu Bahadur Dware, Examination Controller, Office of the Controller of the Examinations, a total of 195 community schools and 26 institutional schools had nil results in SLC exam.

Khagendra Nepal, DoE Spokesperson, said it has already sent a circular to all 75 District Education Offices to identify the schools and teachers who failed to deliver satisfactory results. “The respective DEOs will begin the process of taking action soon,” he said.