The minister for education admitted education funds to a
tune of K50 million went missing without trace during education leaders meeting
in Lae recently. It is ominous though, a very important department has put K605
million (this year, 2015) in its pocket only to have realised K50 million has slipped
out a hole.
Is education department on the back foot trying to find out how
the hole was created or who created it? No. There is complete silence after
education leaders meeting.
So, no news about any investigation would mean such theft is
likely to continue? Surely the department has to look for ways to stop losing millions
of kina to fraudsters and idiots who keep stealing from the children.
Obviously, people within education system and those outside
of it have been able to intercept huge chunk of money easily. Whether they have collaborated
at national or provincial levels can only be ascertain if an investigation
is conducted.
Any baseless arguments (put forward by senior education officials)
that ghost students or ghost teachers or ghost schools are to be blamed are
baseless allegations. These allegations can be seen as smear campaigns to divert
from catching the thieves, if the ministry of education (NEC included) are mum
on this issue.
Papua New Guinea Teachers’ Association wanted the government
to find out how the K50 million went missing. Opposition Leaders, Don Polye,
clearly mentioned that an independent investigation into missing education
funds must be carried out. Same sentiments are equally shared among education leaders as evident in recent media reports.
NEC, having sacked education secretary, must now investigate
the missing funds. K50 million is a lot of money. There will be traces to
follow to either recoup the money or put a stop to such wastage.
Education department should not make guesses about how
funds marked for the children of Papua New Guinea have gone missing. There are
no ghosts within the education system.
What is important is justice for ‘our’ children. Therefore
it is rightful to find out how the money went missing – and fix it – and punish
those who stole from the poor children. This is the right thing to do.
The #PNG Teachers Association has called on the PM to investigate claims that K50 million in education funds had been stolen from the gov't.
— RA Pacific Beat (@RAPacificBeat) June 28, 2015
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