E40M UNACCOUNTED FOR IN 14 SCHOOLS

MATSAPHA - Currently, out of all schools which have been audited in the past two years, 14 have been referenced to have a staggering E40 million unaccounted for.

In fact, Sibongile Mtshali, who is the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education and Training, said government needs the about E40m which appears to have been mismanaged by the 14 schools by Monday, May 27, 2019.
The PS revealed this during the Eswatini Principal Association’s (EPAs) leadership seminar on the fourth industrial revolution and mismanagement of funds. The one-day seminar was held at Esibayeni Lodge yesterday.

She said her office was happy that the seminar was attended by the Auditor general’s (AGs) Office and it would enlighten the schools’ administrators about the thorny issue of mismanagement of public funds.
However, the PS said in some instances, it happened that the money was not mismanaged but that there were challenges in providing supporting documents. 

She said if the referenced schools had supporting documents for their expenditures, these should be submitted to clear the air.
On the other hand, the PS said if the heads of the schools failed to produce the supporting documents, they should either pay the money at revenue offices and submit the receipt or make a payment plan.
“If the head teachers fail to do the above, the money will be deducted from their gratuity upon retiring,” she said.

According to the PS, some schools ended up being referenced for mismanagement of public funds because some head teachers reward hardworking teachers.

Performed

For example, she said they heard that some teachers had been taken on a trip to Cape Town, South Africa because their pupils had performed well in their external examinations.

“Teachers are paid to work hard, so there is no need for a head teacher to reward them with public funds,” the PS said. Furthermore, she said the ministry had learnt that in some mission schools, the grantees took money to the church. On that note, she said such schools and their grantees should submit supporting documents to prove that the transactions were legal.
Again, she said some schools were operating as stationery shops as learning paraphernalia were kept and sold within the institutions. She warned head teachers against such by stating that businesspeople who wanted to sell stationery should rent office spaces in town.

“Some schools have been turned into churches as they are renting out classrooms to churches,” she said.
On the same note, officers from the AG’s Office said in schools, they usually found expenditures which had nothing to do with education.

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