The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has abruptly stopped the eighth edition of Kantipur-HISSAN Education Fair, which started on Thursday with permission from the Ministry of Education. Around 75 educational institutions jointly organised the four-day event with an objective to inform the students and their parents about their queries on admission to grade 11 or bachelor's level.

The organisers Higher Secondary Schools’ Association Nepal (HISSAN) said they had informed the district administration office and the KMC about the event that was inaugurated by Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire on Thursday.

They said they planned the event estimating the participation of around 200,000 students and their parents.

But a team led by the municipal police chief Raju Pandey on Thursday suddenly reached the venue to stop the educational fair.

The education department of the metropolitan office has said the event had to be stopped since it was organised before the publication of the results of School Education Examinations (SEE) and grade 12.

Sitaram Koirala, chief of the department, said they directed the officials to stop the event “as organisers were taking admissions and offering scholarships to students”.

However, event convenor Tanka Raj Acharya, who is also vice-chair of HISSAN, said they were only providing information as sought by the students and their parents about the courses and colleges.

According to him, it was still not clear whether the event will continue on Friday. “We are still waiting for the KMC's response. We have not even been able to talk to the mayor [Balendra Shah],” Acharya said.

KMC’s Education Department chief Koirala said they will discuss the matter and decide whether to allow the event on Friday.