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The government has uncovered a total of 65,198 ghost students in primary and secondary schools across the country, thus saving 931.3m ‒ which would have been allocated for the phantom students for 2016/2017 fiscal year. The Minister of State, President's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government said that out of 65,198 non-existing students, 52,783 have been framed in primary schools and 12,415 in secondary schools.

The report focuses on the discovery of thousands of ghost teachers and pupils in Columbia, which came to light during the annual audit by the Ministry of Education. This state audit was carried out in 36,000 education secretariats across the country. 

Afghanistan’s government says at least 8 million children are enrolled in school, but activists allege that up to 70 percent of the schools on official lists are alleged to be bogus, or only have a fraction of the students they claim.

A senior US official has called for independent verification of Afghan government figures on the use of US education aid following claims by Afghan ministers that the previous government had provided data on US-funded school and higher education projects that were flawed, tempered and exaggerated, and had interfered with university entrance exams. These allegations suggest the existence of ghost schools and teachers that are being paid for with US aid money.