An evaluation of the current budgetary process at the education division within the Ministry of Education

Abstract

A good budget requires the supply of a coherent budgetary process composed of four stages: budget planning, formulation and approval, execution and control, and evaluation. Public interest in the government's budget is steadily gaining ground, putting greater pressure on public sector entities to have a budgetary process that maintains fiscal discipline, allocates scarce resource efficiently, attains operational efficiency, and promotes accountability and transparency. The main objective of this study is to critically examine the budgetary process implemented at the Education Division, a government department within the Ministry of Education, highlighting merits or weaknesses in its budgetary stages and drawing remarks and recommendations as appropriate. This evaluation aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness with which the budgetary process is maintained by the Education Division, so as to achieve greater success in meeting the general public demand for accountability and adequate financial management. The results obtained from this analysis revealed that participative and medium term planning, incremental budgeting, rigorous internal controls and management controls, as well as solid performance evaluation systems are the backbone of the Education Division's budgetary process. Furthermore, it can be concluded that within the Education Division there exists a reasonable understanding of the prerequisites for an effective budgetary process, resulting in the maintenance of a satisfactory budgetary planning and control system, with some room for improvement.