Education sector spent 39 million Rufiyaa in contravention to Financial Regulations, says Audit Report

The Auditor General’s Report on Ministry of Education has stated that schools in atolls spent some 39 million Rufiyaa in contravention to the regulations on spending public money.

The Report published a few days ago said that a sum of RF 39,071,220 allocated for the year 2009 was taken off the record into the year 2010, and was deposited in accounts opened in the names of Education Units in various provinces, in breach of various provisions of the financial regulations. The money was then spent for such purposes as building new classrooms in schools, buying machinery and furniture, and paying overdue bills, according to the Audit Report.

The Audit Report says that the permission to spend the money in the said manner was given by the then Education Minister Dr. Musthafa Luthufy.

The Report also noted that advance deposits for budgetary expenses were recorded as spent, while the money was not in fact spent, in a number of instances.

These details were not mentioned in the Financial Statement of the Ministry of Education, according to the Audit Report.

The Auditor General concludes his Report saying that the Ministry of Education failed to spend the money allocated for it for the year 2010 in accordance with the provisions of relevant financial regulations in place.