The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) report on the Ministry of Education has revealed that due to the unnecessary illegal
financial requirements imposed on children by school authorities, most children cannot go to school as they are not able to
meet these requirements.
The report also revealed that school authorities levy extra-charges which brings huge financial burden on parents even though
these payments are in most cases counter-productive as it limits the enrolment and retention rates in schools, especially for
pupils who come from poor homes.
The report also stated that greater percentage of schools and colleges levy illegal charges by either paying for pamphlets,
extra lessons, incentives for volunteer teachers in the rural areas, payments for school feeding conditions etc has caused
normal school classes as becoming an embarrassment to government because teachers concentrate on extra lessons outside of the
normal workday and demand illegal charges from students and parents.
In the report it was also revealed that there is no codified guideline in the utilization of fees subsidy and because of this
some heads of schools are misusing the fund allocated to cover administrative and development cost.
In the area of teacher recruitment, promotions and transfer the report revealed that intending teachers present false
documents which do not reflect their educational qualifications as certified teachers, this does not only affect the Ministry
of Education but it also undermines the quality of teaching in schools.
It is revealed that there are instances where teachers are requested to deliver their services without any appointment by the
Education Ministry, while on other occasions most teachers are not privy to the recruitment process especially the stage of
approvals.
The local council in collaboration with the Ministry of Education do procurement of teaching materials, but there is no
policy document guiding the use of these teaching and learning materials.
Some schools have poor storage facilities and as such, head teachers keep learning materials in their houses and this often
leads to the damage and pilfering of these materials as most of them find their way to the black market.
By Betty Milton
financial requirements imposed on children by school authorities, most children cannot go to school as they are not able to
meet these requirements.
The report also revealed that school authorities levy extra-charges which brings huge financial burden on parents even though
these payments are in most cases counter-productive as it limits the enrolment and retention rates in schools, especially for
pupils who come from poor homes.
The report also stated that greater percentage of schools and colleges levy illegal charges by either paying for pamphlets,
extra lessons, incentives for volunteer teachers in the rural areas, payments for school feeding conditions etc has caused
normal school classes as becoming an embarrassment to government because teachers concentrate on extra lessons outside of the
normal workday and demand illegal charges from students and parents.
In the report it was also revealed that there is no codified guideline in the utilization of fees subsidy and because of this
some heads of schools are misusing the fund allocated to cover administrative and development cost.
In the area of teacher recruitment, promotions and transfer the report revealed that intending teachers present false
documents which do not reflect their educational qualifications as certified teachers, this does not only affect the Ministry
of Education but it also undermines the quality of teaching in schools.
It is revealed that there are instances where teachers are requested to deliver their services without any appointment by the
Education Ministry, while on other occasions most teachers are not privy to the recruitment process especially the stage of
approvals.
The local council in collaboration with the Ministry of Education do procurement of teaching materials, but there is no
policy document guiding the use of these teaching and learning materials.
Some schools have poor storage facilities and as such, head teachers keep learning materials in their houses and this often
leads to the damage and pilfering of these materials as most of them find their way to the black market.
By Betty Milton