Stakeholders are now calling for the immediate transfer of Grace Macharia, the principal of St. George’s Girls High School, following revelations of mismanagement of school resources by the Auditor General

 


Parents and stakeholders of St. George’s High School in Nairobi are expressing their outrage towards Principal Grace Macharia.

They are demanding her immediate transfer, accusing her of authoritarian behavior, intimidation, threats, and coercion against those who hold differing opinions.

The frustrated parents are appealing to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Ministry of Education to facilitate Macharia's transfer by the end of this term and to appoint a new principal in January.

Macharia has been at the school since January 2023, and over the past three years, she has not demonstrated any significant development.

She is known to pressure the Parents Association and the board to endorse illegal actions, particularly concerning unauthorized levies that have not been approved by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, as mandated by law.

Academically, the school’s mean grade has not shown improvement and has remained stagnant since 2021, fluctuating between 6.0 and a peak of 6.9 in 2024. When Macharia took over, the mean was 6.8, and she has only managed to raise it to 6.9.

The report highlights several instances of financial mismanagement, prompting stakeholders to urge the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate the financial mismanagement allegations against Macharia.

The financial statements for the year ending on June 30, 2024, indicate an accounts receivable balance of Kshs. 36,769,518. Included within this balance is an amount of Kshs. 10,917,185 pertaining to uncollected fees from students who have completed their studies and received their academic certificates.

However, there was no documentary evidence available to demonstrate the actions taken by Management to recover the long-standing receivables. In this context, the accuracy, completeness, and recoverability of the receivables amounting to Kshs. 10,917,185 could not be verified.

It was noted that the School had 2,059 students enrolled during the review year, with 33 classrooms, resulting in an average of 62 students per class, which exceeds the standard requirement of 40 students per class as stipulated by the basic standards for the registration of educational and training institutions set by the Ministry of Education.

Consequently, Management was found to be in violation of the basic standard requirements established by the Ministry of Education. A review of the records indicated that the School Management had not formulated a risk management policy, and risk assessments were not conducted during the audit review period.

This situation contravenes Regulation 165(1) of the Public Finance Management Regulations (National Government), 2015, which mandates that each national government entity develop risk management strategies and a risk management system.

Moreover, there was no disaster recovery plan or business continuity plan in place to ensure that the school could restore its operations following an unplanned incident or disaster. In light of these circumstances, Management was unable to identify, rank, and prioritize critical risks, nor could they allocate resources effectively to mitigate the identified risks.

Ultimately, this may adversely impact the utilization of resources and the quality of service provided.

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