By Yusufu S. Bangura
IGR boss, EU Rep, AVSI Rep & Minister Sackey launching the cashbook
As part of their efforts to enhance financial transparency and accountability in schools , the Institute for Governance Reforms (IGR), together with its partners, has launched the Cashbook Management System in 200 schools in five districts.
The launching ceremony which took place at the Country Lodge Hotel, Hill Station in Freetown brought together the leadership of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School, school management committees in districts and partners involved in education development.
Giving overview of the project, IGR Executive Director, Andrew Lavalie stated that the whole essence of the project supported by the European Union is to bring citizens’ energy into education planning process and education delivery process.
“The most important way for us to escape poverty is when we have education in our families. I’m only standing in front of you because someone imparted knowledge in me, and that’s why it’s very important, because the shortest way for any Sierra Leonean family to escape poverty is education. Education promotes inclusivity,” he stated.
He said 52% of the budget for education is provided by households, and that they believe that agencies need to be brought on board to improve education.
The objectives of the project is to ensure that school management committees do their work effectively by ensuring that there is teacher and pupils attendance and proper management of the school resources in order to avoid corruption in schools.
The IRG boss said government has done a lot in the education sector in terms of providing learning materials, but cited that there are challenges in managing those resources.
He said the project is to build the capacity of those institutions, to see how they can properly manage the resources.
Lavalie called on the government and EU to introduce incentives into SMCs and teacher performance, to make strategic conversations with other development agencies working in the education sector, to see every school has a proper cash flow management system.
The eight parameters that IGR and partners were working on include capacitating school management committees, teacher retention, teacher attendance, student retention, development plan, wash facility, cashbook management and zero bribe policy all are working towards ensuring that they achieved what is in the free quality program.
Nikola Kutin, EU Team Lead stated that education is one of the most powerful drivers of national development and the government’s free quality education programme strives to ensure that every child in Sierra Leone has access to learning opportunities.
“Therefore, we must also ensure that resources meant for education are properly managed, transparently used and effectively monitored. This is where the cashbook system discuss comes in because financial transparency is key to ensuring that schools receive and utilize their funds efficiently,” he said.
He said a well-maintained cashbook provides clear record of income and expenditure, helping school administrators to manage resources effectively and prevent mismanagement.
“This is why the European Union firmly believes in the power of civil society to strengthen education governance,” he said.
Kutin stressed that schools do not operate in isolation, but rather they are part of a broader system that includes teachers, parents, local authorities and civil society organizations.
He said the European taxpayers, through the new delegation in Sierra Leone decided to fund the initiative.
“The total amount is 1 million euro, equivalent to 25 million new Leones. One of the core objectives is to encasing financial accountability in schools by facilitating school management committees and school leaders to effectively manage education funds,” he highlighted.
He continued that keeping an accurate record of schools income and expenditure in the cashbook is important to ensure that subsidies and other funds are properly tracked and used for the right purpose, reduces opportunities for financial mismanagement and corruption, enables school administrators to plan and allocate resources more effectively, increases transparency and build trust between schools, parents and local authorities.
“However, for cashbooks to be effective, school administrators and community stakeholders must be well equipped to use them correctly. This is why training and capacity building efforts are central to this project,” he said.
While officially launching the Cashbook, Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education, Conrald Sackey, stated that the government is committed to improving quality education in the country that’s why 25% of the budget is allocated to the education sector.
He went on to thank EU, IGR and it partners for implementing the cashbook management system, adding that the cashbook is a significant step towards addressing financial mismanagement and accountability in schools in the five districts.
He said he was pleased to see the raised in pupil attendance because it rime with the ministry data service, so he pleased that the variance is not huge, but it still a challenge for them, adding that one of the school leaders mentioned that traditional practice is a challenge where communities take kids out to engage in societal activities which is bad but promised to address it.
