Complete Book PDF (4.12MB) - World Bank eLibrary

86 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
this study suggested that any such risks are perceived by local stakeholders
to be low, due in part to the monitoring role played by active
parent-teacher associations (PTAs). This view is countered, however, by
other reports of significant concern that funds allocated for capital
works are not ending up in the bricks and mortar for which they have
been contributed.
The lack of a capital budget at the woreda level influences the
nature of such risks. At the village level, the lack of funding sharply
limits planning and budgeting in schools. Only 14 percent of the total
education budget is allocated to capital works, and 92 percent of the
recurrent budget is spent on salaries. 11 This constraint places a large
burden on schools to mobilize additional funding from the community—through
either in-kind support or actual collection of funds.
That these community funds are not subject to the same level of auditing
and monitoring as the public funds raises concern because the
WOFED does not audit school-generated revenues. This lack of oversight
is potentially important, given that, according to responses from
school-level staff, PTA fees represent a significant source of school
development funds.
One other issue arising from the research is that if the WEO representative
does not properly defend the education budget, the sector will
get a smaller budget. New WEO officials are considered to be particularly
vulnerable—suggesting that the allocation process is not entirely
objective and may be unduly influenced by personality and political
connections.
Summary of planning and budgeting risks. Although the scope of this
study does not include a detailed analysis of the planning and budgeting
process, a clear pattern differentiates it from education systems in other
low-income countries:
• The national planning and budgeting processes are unlikely to be a point
of leakage or diversion of funds. Government systems are sound, and the
policy commitment to education protects the sector from a systemic
loss of funds. The budgeting process at the national level is transparent.
• The resource allocation to the region is transparent and subject to predetermined
criteria. The region-to-woreda allocation, however, is a
higher area of risk.
• At the woreda level, the planning process is subject to more risk, though
a transparent process ensures a fair degree of integrity and accountability.