Ministry of Education realized corrective measures incorrectly
Press Release – September 7, 2007
Following the previous audit operation No. 02/31 entitled State budget funds earmarked for implementation of the State Informational Education Policy by Ministry of Education, the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) focused on auditing the execution of remedial measures at the Ministry of Education, controlling financial operations flow of the State Informational Education Policy (SIEP) from 2003 to 2006, and verifying SIEP accomplishments at various schools.
The audited bodies were Ministry of Education (ME), Ministry of Informatics* (MI), Institute for Educational Information, regional authorities of Liberec and Plzeň, and 42 chosen primary, secondary, and high schools, as well as some other educational facilities. (See the complete list of chosen schools enclosed to the audit report.)
“As a result of the previous audit outcomes, Ministry of Education took corrective measures which have not been implied thoroughly. For example, finance guarantee documentations for separate projects were incomplete, and on the contrary, programmes approved in 2001 were not included into the system for project funding. The ministry promised to investigate reasons for incorrect placement of the public orders but poor results were offered during the audit,“ said František Dohnal, president of SAO.
In 2004, the government authorized the Funding Conception for Communication Services at Schools After 2005. This concept postulated participation of MI and a distinct implication of the concerned schools that would share costs with multiple source of finance during the implementation of SIEP. “A positive change of attitudes towards SIEP pursuance was noticed at schools since 2004. However, sudden termination of the project will bring an additional charge, which most schools could not have taken into account,“ said Dohnal.
MI submitted an order to draw up a technical project for the educational system operation to an outside contractor, but the delivered design did not meet the defined requirements. In spite the draft has not yet been (or will ever be) used, the ministry took it over and paid for over CZK 1 million. Institute for Educational Information, an allowance organization of MI, spent over CZK 26 million when realizing the SIEP plans from 2003 to 2006. Regrettably, the educational segment of the portal had not been finished before the audit was finalized.
In some cases, the subsidies were not disposed in agreement with the regulations. Nevertheless, those regulations were frequently modified by ME and a narrow account was taken of them generally. Most audited schools expressed doubts as without state assistance they are incapable to maintain the present conditions or the onward development of their information and communication technologies.
The auditing operation was included into the 2006 Annual Audit Plan of SAO under No. 06/35. Eliška Kadaňová, Member of the SAO Board, controlled the operation and drew up the audit report as well.
Radka Burketová
Press Speaker
CR – Supreme Audit Office
* While the audit was still in-process, the Ministry of Informatics was dissolved on June 1, 2007, and other ministries were entrusted with its former competences.