Some employees of Education Ministry were paid more than their salaries and allowances: Audit Report

The Audit Report of Ministry of Education for 2011 has revealed that the ministry had spent state funds in violation of the law.

The report published today by the Auditor General states that in general, the Education Ministry did not spend the budget assigned in 2011 in accordance with the Public Finance Act.

The report highlights that the ministry spent MVR 12,765 to pay some employees in excess of their salaries and allowances.

In this regard, some employees were paid salaries and allowances for days they were absent from work, while one employee was paid one month’s salary and allowance even though he did not return to work after a holiday.

The report noted that the reason behind this is the negligence of the employees responsible for the payment of salaries and allowances.

The auditor general recommended requesting the employees who had been paid extra to repay the money to the government.

The report also states that the time spent traveling by employees of former Education Development Centre (EDC) to the atolls were counted as time spent at work, and they were paid overtime allowance for those hours.

This resulted in MVR 7,629 being spent in excess from the ministry’s budget for 2011 as overtime allowance.

The Civil Service Regulation states that employees shall not be paid for more than eight hours during official trips to the atolls, and if they are to be paid overtime, it should be for hours worked after they reach their destination.

The report highlighted several activities undertaken by the ministry in violation of the Public Finance Act.