SPELL BROKEN
Education ministry submits financial reports on time for first time in nine years
Published:Friday | August 22, 2025 | 11:40 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
After nearly a decade of missed deadlines, the Ministry of Education has submitted its financial reports for the 2024–2025 fiscal year on time.
Dr Kasan Troupe, permanent secretary in the ministry, made the announcement on Thursday during the annual general meeting of the Jamaica Association of Education Officers in Montego Bay, St James.
“We have made some strides, and I want to let you know that for the first time since 2012, we have submitted our appropriation report to the Ministry of Finance and the accountant general,” she said. “Your 2024-2025 appropriation account, detailing how we spent the money, has been submitted.”
Troupe described the timely submission as a significant step forward, following years of delayed reporting that drew widespread public criticism.
According to the Auditor General’s Department’s 2023 report, the ministry failed to submit appropriation accounts for nine fiscal years – from 2012-13 to 2018-19 and again in 2021-22 and 2022-23. During that period, Parliament approved approximately $902 billion for the education sector.
Transparency and accountability
The backlog came under intense scrutiny in 2023 and 2024 when The Gleaner first reported, after watchdog group Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) provided the data at a press briefing, that several ministries, including Education, had failed to file reports accounting for a total of J$3 trillion in public funds.
Though government officials sought to clarify that the missing reports did not indicate missing money, the lack of documentation raised serious concerns about transparency and accountability.
“You saw it in the media when they said we got [nearly a] trillion dollars, and we could not account [for it]. I must let you know that since the 2012 report to now (2024-2025), we have submitted several of those reports. Your team members are working,” said Troupe. “It’s a lot that’s being done. We have made some strides.”
The education ministry has been under heavy criticism for years because it failed to table appropriation accounts – the official documents that show how much money was approved by Parliament and how the ministry actually spent it.
Appropriation accounts are required under the Jamaica’s Financial Administration and Audit Act. They are critical for parliamentary oversight since they show whether ministries spend money in accordance with the way it was approved in the national Budget.