Nepal's 'ghost schools' hide large-scale corruption

Kathmandu

THEY started appearing across Nepal's poorest districts several years ago - partially built schools meant for local children and funded with public money.

The schools never opened. But many continued to receive funding from the government - and possibly overseas donors - in a long-running scandal uncovered by Nepal's anti-corruption watchdog.

"In some cases, we found a building, but no people. In other places there was nothing to see, the school only existed on paper and nowhere else," said Keshav Ghimire, a spokesman for the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority.

"Headmasters, government officials, everyone was involved. We found so ma…