Recently, a claim has been circulating on social media that Nepal’s newly elected Prime Minister Balendra Shah has shut down all private or non-government schools in the country.
See such posts circulated on Facebook Here (Archive), Here (Archive), Here (Archive), and Here (Archive).
Nurul Haq Nur, State Minister for Labour and Employment, as well as Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, also shared the post with the aforementioned claim on his personal Facebook profile. See the shared post Here (Archive).
See a post circulated with the same claim on Instagram Here (Archive).
See a post circulated on YouTube Here (Archive).
Fact-Check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team reveals that neither the Nepalese government nor the country’s Prime Minister has announced the closure of all types of private or non-government schools. In reality, the claim has been propagated entirely baselessly without any reliable source.
In investigating the discussed claim, no such information was found in any Nepalese media or reliable sources. Furthermore, a review of the website of the country’s Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers yielded no information about such a decision being made. An examination of the website of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology also found no truth to the discussed claim.
Subsequently, a report by the country’s fact-checking organization, Nepal Fact Check, was found regarding this issue. According to the report, when they contacted the Ministry’s Information Officer, Madhu Prasad Ghimire, regarding the claim in question, he confirmed to Nepal Fact Check that the government had not made any such decision.
Therefore, the information circulating online claiming that an announcement was made to close all private or non-government schools in Nepal is false.
Sources
- Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Website
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Website
- Nepal Fact Check Website: Govt has not taken decision to scrap private schools, says viral claim