Head teachers want auditing system reviewed

Chairman Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association, KESSHA, John Awiti give his speech towards the upcoming mid-June annual National Conference. May 18, 2016. PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Head teachers have called on the Ministry of Education to overhaul the current auditing systems to improve quality of management in schools.

The school heads said the current systems are not only unreliable but also ineffective.

The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) Chairman John Awiti said auditors have been taking long to release audit reports to institutions. “It is sad that several boards of management of many institutions finish their tenure in office without seeing audit reports,” Mr Awiti told The Standard on Saturday, yesterday.

He noted that most of the issues that the management of institutions normally raise during the auditing process are never tackled because by the time reports are sent back to schools, there is a new board of management in place.

Jairus Onchoke, the Kisii county chairman of KESSHA echoed these sentiments saying there are only five auditors to serve the 361 secondary schools and the over 700 primary schools in Kisii County.

He noted that some of the auditors have opted to hire people who are neither qualified nor recognised by the ministry to assist them with auditing processes.

“There are very few auditors in this country and the ones in Kisii lack even a vehicle to transport them to schools located in various regions,” said Onchoke. The heads urged the ministry to move quickly and hire enough staff to ensure that there is accountability in the management of schools.

“The only way the government can ensure that there is proper management in institutions is by ensuring that there is an efficient auditing system in place,” said Onchoke.

He noted that a number of teachers are still not well versed with book auditing.