Head teachers, school boards on the spot for pocketing FPE millions

Head teachers and school management boards have been put on the spot for the loss of millions of shillings in fraudulent activities in an investigative report on use of free primary education (FPE) funds.

Among the malpractices in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) report is the falsification of enrolment records to obtain higher allocation of FPE funds, head teachers advancing themselves loans from the money and purchase of irrelevant text books.

The FPE programme was introduced in 2003 in a bid to have all children gain primary level education with the government catering for all expenses through disbursements managed by head teachers.

Education secretary Fred Matiang’i Wednesday said the government will unveil a cloud-based systems from next year in which all details about enrolment and disbursement will be uploaded to curb the fraud.

“Parents will be able to check on how much has been allocated to their school every year,” said the CS adding that the government has not audited more than 30 per cent of resources that are allocated to schools yearly.

More than Sh100 billion has been pumped into the FPE programme since its inception and the weak audit on the use of funds could have cost taxpayers a substantial chunk of these funds.

READ: EACC report pokes holes in schools textbook storage

The report further reveals that school heads are lending FPE funds to parents, especially those serving as members of school management committees and school instructional materials selection committee.

The FPE funds are also being used to pay sitting allowances and overseas trips for school committee members yet they are supposed to serve on voluntary basis.

The report also revealed that some head teachers were withdrawing large amounts of money and keeping the cash in their offices even when there was no immediate need for payment.

“These is an opportunity for embezzlement and loss of the funds,” states the report.

The EACC chief executive, Halakhe Waqo, said that in many schools, particularly where books were procured on credit, there was a tendency to buy story books in big numbers terming it an avenue for retailers to move dead stock.

He added that the assessment revealed that there were no books and other materials such as atlases in most schools. The government has been struggling to realise a 1:1 pupil-book ratio in public schools since the inception of FPE with the current estimates standing at 5:1.