About 200,000 student records found duplicated, Education Ministry forms probe committee

The Ministry of Education and Sports has formed a 5-member study and monitoring committee to investigate duplicate student records. An informal study found that the records of more than 200,000 students are duplicated in the Integrated Educational Management Information System (e-MIS) for school education.

The committee was formed by a ministerial-level decision on Thursday. Shiva Kumar Sapkota, joint secretary of the ministry's Sports and School Education Division, is the committee's coordinator.

Bhakta Bahadur Godar, director at the Department of Education; Binod Neupane, computer engineer at the ministry; and Nikita Dahal, law officer, are members. Shiva Prasad Regmi, deputy secretary at the School Education Section, is the member-secretary.

It is suspected that the duplicate records have allowed misuse of benefits and services such as grants, scholarships and day meals. The committee will study whether the large number of duplicate records resulted from technical shortcomings or deliberate wrongdoing.

The committee has also been tasked with establishing the facts and recommending action against those found responsible.