adminto investigate abuse of levies by headmasters and School Development Associations.
Four school heads from Gutu District have so far been charged with fraud and have been sentenced to 18 months in jail each.
The headmasters are for Chimedza Secondary, Matombo, Zengeya and Munjera Primary Schools.
A head at a Bikita school is on the run after stealing $14 000 from the school (name supplied).
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart, on Wednesday confirmed the auditors had begun work at most of the schools countrywide.
Those found guilty will be prosecuted, said Minister Coltart who declined to disclose the names of some of the schools so far investigated.
Names of headmasters and the schools they defrauded will be disclosed after the national audit.
Other school heads who allegedly misused school funds are reportedly leaving their workstations in a huff in fear of arrest.
“A variety of issues, mainly mismanagement of funds, came to my attention and as a ministry we have no option except to institute probes into those allegations.
“The audits are covering the whole country and anyone caught on the wrong side of the law will be prosecuted and we have a lot of examples where people have been arrested and jailed for abusing public funds, most of which come from poor parents,” he said.
Minister Coltart’s deputy, Dr Lazarus Dokora, said Government had formed audit units specifically to deal with mismanagement of school funds.
He said when approached by the audit teams, headmasters and SDC officials should co-operate.
“During this blitz, the auditors are just pouncing on the schools without notice and we expect anyone confronted by the auditors to be very co-operative because they have been given the powers to do so.
“The auditors simply want to correct the way public funds are used and accounted for,” he said.
Dr Dokora added: “Most school heads are not following normal procedures when buying certain items for the school.
“In the audits, you will discover that most misdemeanours are as a result of SDC members who are pushing our heads into the corner and in some cases it is our heads who are over-enthusiastic.”
Most school officials loot funds by generating invoices with inflated prices of goods and learning materials they buy.
In some cases, the school administrators use fake quotations.
The school administrators work in cahoots with suppliers who pay them the difference after schools make their payments.
Some of the companies that schools purported to be dealing with were briefcase firms.
Some teachers have gone on strike protesting non-payment of incentives and mismanagement of school fees by headmasters.
The payment of incentives to teachers by parents has also contributed to the increase in corruption cases at schools. Minister Coltart said the new regulations Government was crafting were meant to reduce cases of embezzlement of school funds.
The new regulations will also ensure compliance with existing procedures in raising fees and levies.
He said the new regulations would distinguish between the role of school development committees and school authorities.
Online Reporter