School headmaster misusing TFF funds

I HOPE to get the attention of the PNG Teaching Service Commission (PNGTSC) commissioner Samson Wangihomie through this article.
This article reports a misuse of Tuition Fee Free (TFF) funds by Marorogo Primary School headmaster in Erave, Southern Highlands.
This report reacts to recent calls by the TSC and the Education minister asking parents and community members to report abuse of school fees subsidies by school headmasters.
Though innocent until proven guilty, the school headmaster had on several occasions exploited more than K20,000 in school fee subsidies by forging the signatures of both the school’s chairman and treasurer to draw funds under false pretence in Mt Hagen and Mendi BSP branches.
The letter was identified when the school chairman and treasurer were suspicious with the headmaster’s regular trips to Mt Hagen and Mendi without informing the board or even the teachers.
This triggered the board to check the Mendi and Mt Hagen BSP branches.
They found that TFF subsidies earmarked for Marorogo Primary School were allegedly looted.
It was verified by a completed sign-on withdrawal slip presented by the bank teller when the chairman accused bank tellers for collaborating with the headmaster for a commission.
Three consecutive withdrawals were allegedly made in a single day.
The Southern Highlands education board (SHPEB) were alerted thereafter but after three months, they remain silent over the matter despite evidences of bank transactions being presented to them and the provincial TFF coordinator.
SHPEB failed to pursue the case and lay criminal charges for false pretence, money laundering and misappropriation under the Financial Management Act.
The school chairman registered a formal complaint with Mendi police (OB # 8660-20019,) on Aug 26, 2019, including details of his written statement with the copies of bank statements and withdrawal slips for the various transactions.
This is a work an illegally appointed headmaster allegedly appointed by crook education officers in the province.
The headmaster is inexperienced and never taught in SHP, a graduate of a substandard Simbu Teacher’s College in 2015 and taught for two years in a remote school in Gulf.
The headmaster does not have a legal release letter from the Gulf PEB, had never gone through any formal inspections for the last two years to qualify for a promotional transfer and lacks experience in senior positions.
To date, he is not on the Education Department’s payroll because he was allegedly appointed using a corrupt system.
A system only popular in SHP where district education officers and appointment officers run the office like a private organisation, dishing teaching positions with price tags.
This has been a common predicament in the school by past headmasters.
On behalf of the remote Marorogo children and parents living on the borders of Gulf (Kikori) and Southern Highlands, we hope TSC and the Education Department investigate the matter.
Quality Education Advocate.

Last Papua