Auditor General's Findings
In 2019, the Auditor General’s Department produced a Performance Audit Report on “Procurement Management at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information” (MOEYI). Recognizing that an efficient inventory management system would support procurement management, the Auditor General’s Department expected MoEYI to ensure that schools maintain an efficient inventory of textbooks, which would allow the Ministry to track their usage across schools, to prevent under or over supply and avoid waste.
During site visits to 18 secondary schools in Region One, they observed that schools did not maintain adequate inventory records to account for textbooks and could not provide information reconciling the amount of textbooks issued as against stock.
The failure to maintain an efficient inventory system contributed to schools having large quantities of unused textbooks in some subject areas, while other schools had short supply of textbooks in the same subject areas. This occurred despite MoEYI establishing a protocol for the monitoring of textbooks in schools through its Media Services Unit (MSU).
Permanent Secretary (current): Maureen Dwyer
Breach Category: Procurement & Contract Management
Permanent Secretary (at breach): Grace McLean
Breach Type: Failure to Conduct Timely Quality Checks
