CBMP Analytical Report Part 1 - Transparency and Accountability ...

the study found out that there is no established mode of communication between the
teachers and the banks for the teachers to know whether their salaries are available at
the bank or not. As such, teachers themselves use the proxy indicator of ‘whether
those on cash system have received or not’. So once teachers ‘on cash’ have received
their pay, those ‘on Malswitch’ immediately leave for the banks to collect their own
salaries. This means that they have an extra day of delay to access their salaries
compared to those on cash. Furthermore, the study found out that the banks have
their own inefficiencies as they are not yet conversant with the system and it takes
another three days for them to make the money available to teachers. However,
almost all teachers come to the banks to check for their salaries, queuing at the banks
almost for the whole day and more often it happens that not everyone can access
their salary due to data related complications, network problems or some other
reason. Those that come from far away choose to find accommodation close to the
banks to try the following day while those from nearby schools go back and come the
following day. On average the study found out that teachers ‘on Malswitch’ visit the
bank four times before they receive their salaries. This leaves pupils without teachers
in various schools and hugely affects the teaching service delivery. In addition, the
system reported a number of anomalies such as missing data, no network as well as no
money. Once a teachers name shows no data, the teacher is referred to further bank
and education hierarchies to find out more about his salary. The frequent visits to the
bank as well as further reference to hierarchies is done at teachers’ own expense
decreasing teachers own monthly income, frustrating him/her further. On the other
hand, 78% complained that queuing at the banks sends a signal to the whole town
that teachers are being paid threatening the security of small sums of money
belonging to individual teachers. The implementation of the Malswitch System as of
today, does not conform to rural setting [without banks]. Many teachers in rural areas
are far from the banks and need at least half a day to travel to the bank. Thus, should
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