Bhojpur - After VDCs stopped financial assistance, 70 schools in the district run by communities are about to shut down. More than 24,000 students will be affected. The Local Development Ministry directed VDCs not to spend the budget for education. Through the Social Security Directives, the Ministry advised local bodies to spend the development budget only on productive activities with immediate results in a short time span. It strictly advised no expenditures on allowances, teachers' salaries, etc. Out of all the community-handled schools, only 10 are run through internal resources. After VDCs stopped paying, 150 teachers have not received salaries in the last six months. The Thotneri Proposed Lower Secondary School at Kulung VDC used to receive Rs 72,000 every year. "This year we haven't gotten a paisa and the four teachers here haven't been paid at all," says principal Dal Bahadur Giri. (Nepalnews.com Translation Service)