BOG of schools charged to make judicious use of school funds

Tema Manhean, July 01, GNA - Mrs. Akosua Adu, Greater Accra Regional Director of Education has called on THE Board of Governors (BOG) of educational institutions to make judicious use of funds be it from the government or parents to the benefit of the schools. She said with the passing of the Financial Administration, Procurement, and Internal Audit Agency Bills the boards are to ensure that schools' management abides by all rules and regulations governing the use of funds, especially in the procurement of goods and services. She was inaugurating a 13-member BOG for the Tema Manhean Secondary Technical School on Thursday at Tema Manhean.

In this direction, Mrs Adu entreated the boards to ensure that the schools prepare reasonable budgets, which could be operated within resources available to the school. "In recent times audit reports on some higher institutions in the region have revealed weaknesses in expenditure control and this has resulted in the institutions incurring huge deficits on the General Expenditure".

To this end, the Regional Director impressed upon the board to examine the causes of these weaknesses if they exist and plug the loopholes. There is the need for accountants of schools to equally prepare quarterly trial balance for their scrutiny; "this will help you, at a glance to know your income and expenditure pattern for the period". She called on the board and management to explore avenues, which could help the school to generate funds to supplement grants from government and fees paid by parents.

Mrs Adu said though the job of board members is sacrificial they should tackle it with commitment to uplift the image of the school and they were at liberty to co-opt professionals to their meetings to advise on technical issues.

Nii Adjei-Kraku II, Tema Mantse called on students of the school not to feel intimidated when they meet their counterparts from the well- endowed schools but rather bring out the potential in them in order to build confidence. He called for unity among the board members to ensure effective management of the school. The headmaster, Mr Joseph Amua said the school is faced with constraints and appealed for an urgent attention like selecting it to become a model school for the municipality. He stressed the need for the school to have a marine engineering institution that would focus, among other things, on equipping students with practical skills that would enable them to service outboard motors and other simple marine equipment. Mr Seth Adjetey, an Accounting Consultant, who chaired the occasion, expressed dissatisfaction with the feet dragging of the Tema Municipal Assembly to protect the school land, which is being encroached upon, as well as getting the school to become a model institution.