Pre-tertiary institutions were owed GH¢121,998,406.17 in 2021, according to the Auditor General.
The total debtors in the books of the audited institutions as of 31 December 2021 comprised debts owed by past students, staff, and others.
Per the report, debts owed by students accounted for 61% of the total debt stock.
According to the report, the management of the institutions explained that a directive from the Ghana Education Service for Heads of institutions not to expel students for non-payment of fees accounted for the significant debts owed by past students.
These debts totaled GH¢74,732,574.45 representing 61.26 percent of the total debtors.
“Retrieval of the debts has therefore become a challenge to the institutions,” the report noted.
The Auditor General recommended that the institutions consult the Ghana Education Service for the necessary action.
“We also recommended that the institutions should vigorously pursue recovery of the staff and other debtors for the avoidance of bad debts which could lead to losses.”
For the 2021 financial year, the report noted that 752 out of the 806 audited institutions submitted their financial statements for audit as required by Section 80(1) of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, 2016 (Act 921).
Even though 54 institutions defaulted in submitting their financial statements for audit, their financial transactions and related activities were subjected to transactional audits, and irregularities noted were included in this Auditor-General’s report for Public Accounts of Ghana, Pre-University Educational Institutions
The 752 audited financial statements recorded a total income of GH¢3,302,118,593.45 as against a total expenditure of GH¢3,345,628,183.64 resulting in a deficit of GH¢43,509,590.19.
