MoE Circular On Financial Management Of Schools
MoE Circular On Financial Management Of Schools
The Ministry of Education has released new financial management rules for educational institutions nationwide.
The Board of Management (BoM) was supposed to have approved budget estimates of revenue and expenditure for the institutions, along with a procurement strategy based on the approved budget, according to multiple memos from county directors to school heads regarding this information that the Education Board could see.
“A Board of Management of a public institution of basic education is required to prepare annual estimates of revenue and expenditure for the institution under its charge, in such form and at such times as the Cabinet Secretary shall prescribe, as per Section 16(1) of Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule of Basic Education Act, 2013,” one of the directors writes in a memo to school heads.
Furthermore, at the conclusion of each quarter of the fiscal year, school heads are instructed to write a report within 15 days of the deadline. Furthermore, the memo mandates that “your institution ensures that it prepares monthly trial balances and submits them to the County Director of Education (CDE) through respective Sub-County Directors of Education no later than 15 days after the end of each quarter.”
The Ministry has instructed the principals to make sure that monthly bank reconciliations are completed as quickly as possible at the end of each month, and that any cash survey to determine the correctness and completeness of cash on hand is undertaken and documented.
Additionally, no later than three months following the conclusion of each fiscal year, they must turn in the accounting for the money received and collected for audit. Furthermore, the circulars dated January 30, 2019, February 12, 2020, and any future circulars on the approval procedures for Transitional Infrastructure Grants (TIG) and Maintenance and Improvement Funds (MIF) have to be followed by the principals.
The directive was sent out only a few days after CS Machogu revealed that school principals will soon be testifying before parliamentary committees to address questions about the finance of their individual establishments.
Speaking at the KESSHA conference closing in Mombasa, Machogu said that schools are now considered an entity under government oversight, reporting to Parliament. “My friends, we live in a developing world.
Machogu said that since secondary schools are now audit units, he would no longer be responding to inquiries on your behalf. He stated that legislative committees will ask principals to respond to questions, as opposed to the current practice of having the Education CS or Principal Secretary answer on their behalf.
The CS threatened to summon the head teachers before the legislative committee if they persisted in enforcing fees that were not authorized. The CS has issued a stern warning with this.
