adminLeonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
SCHOOLS have been urged to follow procurement procedures that are based on approved budgets when purchasing assets to avoid abuse of funds.
Addressing school heads during the National Association of Primary School Heads (NAPH) 26th annual conference that ended in Victoria Falls last Friday, the Government chief internal auditor, Mr Nicholas Shuva, bemoaned what he termed “corporate cannibalism” which occurs when school heads connive with SDC members to milk schools.
“Statutory Instrument 171 of 2002 mandates every school to have a procurement committee which should be chaired by the deputy head. The committee can co-opt other staff members such as senior teachers and heads of departments than to have finance committees chaired by the school head, that’s not allowed,” said Mr Shuva.
He said some school heads have been charged or dismissed because of misappropriation of school funds and the abuse of funds can be avoided through the establishment of procurement committees whose duties includes producing detailed minutes and reports of every financial activity and taking stock of everything at a school.
Mr Shuva said at one school they discovered an ‘unbelievable’ scenario where a school ended up using a school bus to pirate as a way of trying to raise money to pay back a debt after procuring an unbudgeted for bus.
“As we carried out audits, we found one rural school whose SDC was made of elderly people. The SDC and parents were made to accept a deal to purchase a 62-seater school bus valued at $175 000 at zero deposit without a budget for it. Now the school is in serious debt of nearly half a million dollars and that’s a sign of administration paralysis in our schools,” he said.
“The school ended up using the bus to pirate to Harare but still the incestuous financial dealings between the school head and SDC members were manifest because the SDC chair was the conductor of the bus and no money was banked at the school. That’s what is called corporate cannibalism.”
Mr Shuva encouraged schools to craft budgets and send them for approval before undertaking any financial projects.
He said the audit exercise being undertaken in schools had revealed ‘serious’ abuse of funds by school heads and SDC members.
Mr Shuva also said according to Government policy, schools are discouraged from selling school uniforms but should buy from approved suppliers.
Each school must also have a credit management policy to guide it in handling debtors since a majority of parents owe schools in unpaid fees.
Mr Shuva said available options include engaging traditional leaders, encouraging parents to make payment plans or institute litigation. –
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