The Northern Network for Education Development (NNED), a civil society organisation, has urged the government to monitor the Capitation Grant to check the misappropriation of funds by head teachers and school authorities.
The Acting Coordinator for the NNED Mr. Gaskin Bongnaliere Dassah, said a survey conducted by the NNED in 60 schools in the Northern and Upper West regions had shown poor record keeping and inconsistencies associated with the capitation grant, giving a lean way for school authorities to abuse the grant.
Mr. Dassah was addressing a day's workshop in Tamale on Thursday that brought together stakeholders in education at the community and regional levels to discuss and make commitments to the issues coming out from the implementation of the project's activities.
The NNED, through sponsorship from the Rights and Voices Initiative (RAVI), has undertaken the tracking of educational resources in five districts in the Northern and Upper West regions through its educational resources advocacy project.
The project aims at contributing to the utilization and management of education resources through tracking of the capitation grant.
Mr. Dassah said although the capitation grant had been increased from GHc 3 to GHc4.50 it was not enough for government to leave the funds to school authorities but to take measures to monitor how such monies are being utilized else the expected results would not be achieved.
He said there was no transparency in the use of the grant because everything was left to the discretion of the head teacher who could mismanage the fund.
In the situation of a transfer of such a head teacher, records are usually missing making it difficult to check how much has been spent.
Mr. Dassah said although the grant had increased school enrolment and improved school facilities, the major issues regarding the management and implementation of the capitation grant needed to be in public domain for the sake of accountability and probity.
Some of the participants also expressed their reservations about some perceived corruption associated with the implementation of the capitation grant and want such practices be checked to improve schools.