School Boards Secretariat wants transparency in finances, management at institutions

The School Boards Secretariat has been stringently ensuring that all institutions within its remit are managed with full transparency, especially in relation to finances. There currently are 37 institutions governed by boards, including schools, technical facilities and tertiary institutions.
Director of the School Boards Secretariat, Deonarine Hardat, shared in this week’s Education Spotlight that heavy emphasis is placed on transparency and accountability. He outlined, “We know finance is a big thing; we want transparency. Within the Ministry of Education, anything being done is not done in privacy; it is very much transparent to the eyes of the public…,”
Continuing, he said, “We can liaise very quickly with the Board Chairs, and we can (have) meetings with them. We have a WhatsApp group (through which) they can be reached very quickly.”
Hardat has explained that the responsibilities of the Secretariat include: orientation and installation of new board members; appointment of junior and senior staff to fill vacancies; upgrading statuses of teachers; and transfers or secondments of teachers, among other roles.
Hardat underscored that the Secretariat plays an integral role in the effective administration and management of institutions governed by boards. Boards are subjected to laws and regulations as set out by the President’s College Act of 1990.

Director Hardat explained the process to appoint a board, “School boards are actually formed after documentation is …submitted by the school. There is a channel that must be followed: the principal would prepare the proposed list of members, (and the list is) dispatched to the Department of Education. It will then be sent to the Regional Executive Officer. Once that is done, it is dispatched to the School Boards Secretariat for processing.”
Each board is governed by a chairperson, and comprises no less than 12 and no more than 22 members. The principal and deputy principal are considered ex-officio members. From these boards, the Human Resource and Disciplinary Committee; Cultural Committee; Curriculum and Development Committee; and Finance Committee are formed.
In the future, more attention would be placed on having more institutions governed by boards in the country, Hardat shared. “It’s in discussion, and now being readily finalised. We have schools that are under construction currently that we’re looking to be board schools, so that they can be easily managed and governed,” he disclosed.
The School Boards Secretariat holds as much power and authority as the Teaching Service Commission. Boards have been given wide powers and concomitant responsibilities in keeping with the provisions of the PC Act of 1990. Specific objectives of school boards are: to promote a more supportive home-school-community environment; to make the school community more accountable for the delivery of education; to encourage the community to be more responsive to the education of its young citizens; to monitor and evaluate all aspects of school operations; and to make optimal use of all available resources.
Institutions governed by a board include the Bishops’ High School, St Stanislaus College, President’s College, Georgetown Technical Institute, Essequibo Technical Institute, and the Cyril Potter College of Education. (G12)