Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis says the Ministry of Education (MOE) has failed to present its appropriation accounts for the seven-year period 2012-2013 to 2018-2019. This she says can result in fraud, unauthorised withdrawals, and significant bank errors which can land the ministry into further financial problems.FRAUD ALARM

Education ministry under fire as report cites millions at risk in accountability breakdown

 

12 Jan 2022/Edmond Campbell/ Senior Parliamentary Reporter

AUDITOR GENERAL Pamela Monroe Ellis has issued a stern warning to the Ministry of Education, declaring that it runs the risk of falling victim to fraud, unauthorised withdrawals, and significant bank errors because of its failure to prepare its bank reconciliation statements in a timely manner.

The auditor general contended that seven years of outstanding appropriation accounts revealed a systemic breakdown in accountability, heightening the risk of breaches of the Financial Administration and Audit Act and regulations governing the management and use of budgetary resources.

She pointed out that this risk had materialised in the audit of the appropriation accounts for 2019-20.

“We found evidence of several instances in which Ministry of Education breached the Financial Administration Audit Act Instructions,” the report said.

In recent times, the education ministry has been dogged by controversies starting with the Caribbean Maritime University scandal, the Nutrition Products Limited connected party fiasco, and the unaccounted-for $124 million paid to the Jamaica Committee on Tertiary Education.

In an alarming revelation, the auditor general divulged that the ministry has failed to present its appropriation accounts for the seven-year period 2012-2013 to 2018-2019.

The approved budgetary allocations for the ministry over that period amounted to $642.6 billion.

The appropriation accounts for 2019-2020, however, have been completed.

In her 2021 annual report that was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, Monroe Ellis said an audit of the accounting records and financial transactions of the education ministry uncovered a regulatory breach in the preparation of the appropriation accounts.

The ministry’s failure to submit the appropriation accounts prevented the independent assessment by the auditor general.

She argued that Parliament, through the auditor general’s report on the appropriation accounts of the ministry, has been denied the opportunity to assess

the ministry’s stewardship over the use of public resources.

The auditor general explained that bank reconciliation is one of the most important components of an effective system of internal control and is necessary in preventing and detecting fraud.

It was reported that the education ministry did not reconcile the bank accounts for teachers’ salaries, general salary, and deposit accounts over the period 2012-13 to 2020-21.

Monroe Ellis divulged that the absence of monthly reconciliation would have also exposed the ministry to irregularities, as demonstrated by the $30-million fraud that occurred on teachers’ salary bank accounts between June 2017 and August 2018.

Despite requests, the auditor general said that the education ministry has not provided a full list of the bank accounts it maintained for the financial year 2019-20.

The ministry submitted a list of only six bank accounts and presented the related bank reconciliation statements.

“Of note, these bank reconciliation statements were prepared, reviewed, and signed off on the same date, July 13, 2021, during the period of the audit,” the auditor general highlighted.

 

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