As a Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal, we have observed a disturbing increase of cases of misappropriation of schools' funds by school principals. Currently, as a department we are dealing with over 30 cases of schools principals that are being investigated for embezzlement of funds.
Our observation is that many of our principals live above their means, thereby becoming susceptible to corrupt practices. As a department we take this very seriously and are going to take drastic actions against all those principals who are found guilty of this malpractice.
We would therefore like to urge School Governing Bodies to play a meaningful role in ensuring that school funds are protected at all cost. They need to establish strong finance committees that are going to ensure that all schools deal judiciously with school funds. The department is also going to ensure that principals as managers of schools get sufficient training on school management.
On the same issue of school management, we have noticed that there are schools (1 560 schools) whose norms and standards have not been transferred because of non-compliance by school principals. This has serious implications on teaching and learning, buying of Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM) and even paying of services. It militates against our motto of having classroom as a centre piece of all our activities.
To this end, very soon I am going to launch a spirited anti-corruption campaign that is going to vigorously fight all these malpractices. School principals are very key in driving education and ensuring that we deliver quality education to our children and as such, if we are to become the best that we intend to be, our principals need to come on board and play a meaningful role.
For more information:
Muzi Mahlambi
Cell: 082 219 1420
Sihle Mlotshwa
Cell: 072 207 2018
