Search Page

The ongoing Government audit of schools across the country has unearthed massive abuse of levies collected from parents and guardians purportedly to fund development of learning infrastructure. From the 1 800 (18 percent) schools audited so far, there are indications of massive doctoring of accounting records by the schools.

Ad hoc education fees have increased the last years. Many blame inadequate government input. However, even if ad hoc fees are levied, where does the cash end up? In Central China's Hunan Province, it is reported that an annually charged fee of 20 yuan (US$2.20) has been levied on every pupil for six years. The bureau also collected millions more from students for a sports facility fund but the sports centre was never built.

The governor of the northern province of Nampula has ordered an enquiry of financial mismanagement at the city's main secondary school. The governor ordered that the provincial finance department and the education inspectorate produce a report within a week on the use of about 100 million meticais (about 5,000 US dollars) that is allocated monthly for the maintenance of the school. The school is suffering from broken windows and a shortage of furniture in some classrooms, just four years after it had undergone thorough rehabilitation.

Four days of rioting by secondary school students in Libreville last week highlighted a growing frustration with education cutbacks. Corruption and mismanagement of existing resources have contributed to declining standards in public services. The European Union and the Islamic Development Bank had allocated funds for the upkeep of the free school bus service. A newspaper accused the government of reallocating this cash to other areas such as election campaigning.

A non-profit corporation that provides a high-speed computer network to colleges in New York State agreed last month to pay the federal government $1.4-million in a lawsuit alleging that it had misused a federal grant.