Zambia: The teaching fraternity of the Luwingu District have asked the Ministry of Education to employ qualified accountants and procurement officers. These officials would help in the effectively manage the le grants that schools are receiving.
The talent and effectiveness will also help in preventing audit queries. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officers conducted sensitization meetings. The team is currently in Luwingu district.
The exercise featured a number of school pupils, teachers, ward development committees and the general public. They learnt a great deal regarding the management of financing in the schools and educational institutions of the country.
The teachers have expanded on the need to hire talented individuals to manage the finances of the country. The members of the teaching fraternity have said  handling the grants has proved to be expensive.
They shared that they are not allowed to use part of the funds on transport. They have to use transportation to collect supporting documents such as quotations and other items from the shops.
They said teachers always use their personal funds for transport to run errands which is very expensive on their part. The teachers stated that it would therefore be imperative for the government to employ accountants.
The  procurement officers would be able to do this work effectively and more efficiently. They said procurement officers will be in charge of school procurement.
Meanwhile the accountant will manage all funds affectively. The hiring decision will also allow the teachers to do the other noble work of teaching the learners.
Meanwhile, ACC Senior Provincial Education Officer Iwell Phiri noted that there were a lot of audit queries involving various schools, especially in remote areas.
Phiri appealed to school authorities not to engage in foul play but follow financial regulations such as obtaining three quotations from different shops when procuring school requisites such as chalk, pens, pencils, reams of paper among others.
The teachers would also be able to work better for the benefit of their students.