Aligning the Awry Crutches: Exploring the Role of School Council in Non-Salary Budget (NSB) Utilization for School Improvement

Abstract

The study aimed at exploring the active participation and concerns of school council members in non-salary budget (NSB) utilization through the procurement process as proposed by Punjab Education Sector Reform Program (PESRP) II, Pakistan. It also throws light on the current status of school council in non-salary budget utilization for school improvement with respect to procurement and financial guidelines. The study was mixed method in nature and convergent parallel research design was used for data collection. The sample was selected on convenience basis. Two types of research instruments i.e. a semi-structured interview schedule, and a five-point rating scale questionnaire were used. Data were collected from 300 school council members of different categories i-e heads/chairperson, parent members, general members, and teacher members. The data were analyzed by applying both descriptive and inferential statistics. From the study, we came to realize that the council members don’t understand procurement and financial guidelines properly and it is very difficult for the school council to make a school-based action plan as the allocated Non-Salary Budget (NSB) is less than what the school needs. School council makes an action plan on time according to all received NSB and implemented it timely. School council uses the non-salary budget to improve the infrastructure of schools and facilities. Further, our study facilitated us to understand that late disbursement of NSB also causes hurdle for the school council to accomplish school-based action plan timely and political interference from school council members also causes hindrances in the suitable utilization of funds. Moreover, incompetency of the school council members causes difficulty in applying procurement and financial guidelines. This research is helpful to develop insight to understand the school council capacity to manage allocated funds and competency to monitor the whole procurement process, and to find out the difficulties faced by school council members which emphasizes the government to take initiative to minimize the problems for the improvement of procurement rules and guidelines for school education department.