The Ministry of Education is currently developing a School Management Handbook for government schools. Permanent Secretary Selina Kuruleca informed the Parliamentary Committee during a public session regarding the 2022 Audit Report on the Social Services Sector that all other types of schools already have a School Management Handbook in place.
Ms. Kuruleca stated that with the scheduled re-implementation of the Board of Governors for government schools in April 2024, the Ministry aims to create this handbook with specific sections detailing the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Governors. The objective is to complete the draft by the fourth quarter of the 2024-2025 financial year, followed by stakeholder consultations before the handbook’s implementation.
Currently, there are 13 government schools, including 11 secondary and two primary schools. When asked about the ministry’s actions to ensure that all government schools submitted and scrutinized acquittal reports, Ms. Kuruleca clarified that government schools are not obligated to submit these reports.
At present, government schools follow the School Management Handbook from 2020 designed for non-government schools, along with the ministry’s finance manual, due to the absence of a specific handbook for government schools. The submission of acquittal reports for free education grants is not a requirement for the release of funds, so government schools do not provide these reports. Instead, they submit monthly bank reconciliation statements.
The ministry has established a process to verify and check all submitted reconciliations from government schools. Free Education Grants are provided to government schools that meet the payment conditions, including the submission of bank reconciliations and the completion of class audits.