WHILE the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) has not charged any school heads for misuse of school grants last year, it continues to receive complaints of abuse from members of the public and mostly from the Ministry of Education (MOE).
FICAC communications officer Nandni Vandhana said on certain occasions, MOE requested FICAC’s assistance to carry out investigations in relation to anomalies noted during audit of school grants.
“The school grant is not necessarily handled by the school head alone. In some schools, these grants are handled by the board, school committees or the bursar. These are the people who will be investigated when we receive a report on the abuse of the grant. In some schools, it is the school head,” Ms Vandhana said.
She said the abuse of grants could be categorised in many forms, such as the purchase of goods and services, travel, accommodation, entertainment and loans.
“The matters are referred to the commission from the MOE and from communities during FICAC awareness sessions, particularly from parents and teachers when they don’t see much benefit to the school from the grant that has been allocated. They often wonder where the funds are diverted to,” she said. “Obtaining records from where the grant was expanded is a challenge.”
The commission said schools must be reminded that abusing the grants could lead to the removal of future grants and criminal prosecution.
