The deputy director of school education (DDSE) of Kamle district, Likha Togur, has made a startling revelation by alleging that many schools in the district were claiming fake stipends by faking the enrollment of students. In several schools the stipends were paid to students whose names existed only on paper and not in reality. This is the first time that an officer of the education department has made public the matter of fake enrollment. However, such allegations have been made several times in the past, too. Across the state, especially in the interior areas, allegations of fake enrollment are rampant. The school management committees (SMC), in connivance with some teachers, run such rackets.
Using bogus enrollments, they loot money from the midday meal and stipend schemes. The nexus among teachers, SMCs and DDSEs is the root cause of this problem. The education department should take a cue from the Kamle incident and launch proper investigation to check such fake enrollment. This is a massive scam in which a few corrupt people are eating away the money meant for the poor students. A majority of the students studying in the government schools are from poor economic backgrounds and depend on the government stipends to fund their education. No one should be allowed to siphon off the money of the students in this way. The state has a new education minister in Taba Tedir, and the people will hope that he initiates urgent action in this regard.