Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has ordered Gulu District Education department officials to stop the practice in which head teachers are required to channel 10 percent of UPE into an account held in the name of association of head teachers.
MP Reagan Okumu (Aswa), who is the Chairperson of the committee, revealed on Friday that they had discovered that head teachers are being ordered to remit 10 percent of UPE fund into an account at Crane Bank, Gulu branch.
MP Okumu says such remittance is not only irregular but is also against the UPE set guidelines.
The Aswa legislator noted that UPE fund is not donor money that should be paid to an association.
He adds that PAC received reliable reports from some of the head teachers that they don’t pay the 10 percent, they are harassed by district officials for their failure to remit the cash.
According to Okumu, as a punishment, some of the teachers have been punished with transfers.
The committee ordered that the account number and the name should be availed to them for forensic investigation to be carried out.
The acting District Education Officer (DEO), Caesar Acellam, when tasked to explain admitted that head teachers are indeed being tasked to pay 10 percent into the said bank account after they resolved to use the money to support co-curricular activities.
Akena noted that for close to six years, the head teachers, through their association in a meeting agreed to contribute towards co-curricular such as athletics especially when athletes are going outside the district.
But he distanced himself from the whole arrangement saying his predecessor, Rev Vincent Oceng Ochen who is now the acting DEO for Omoro is better placed to give an explanation about the matter.
MP Peter Ocen (Kole South, said the DEO’s explanation was lacking and said the practice of remitting the 10 percent was an abuse of UPE funds.
The UPE guidelines spell out that; 35 percent of UPE fund should be spent on instructional materials, 20 percent for co-curricular activities and 15 percent for school management.
Others are; 20 percent for contingency fund and 20 percent for administration.
Dorothy Ajwang, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), said she was unaware of the whole arrangement.
Ajwang described it as shocking saying it was the first time she was hearing about the 10 percent UPE fund being remitted into an association account.
Under the UPE program, government pays each pupil between 7,000- 8,000 depending on the grade of the school.
