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Lloyd Gumbo Harare Bureau
THE Auditor-General’s Office has unearthed massive absenteeism at schools after auditors found more than 160 headmasters, deputy headmasters and teachers absent from their workplaces without leave.

To that end, the AG’s office said there were high chances that this was prevalent in most schools which would see the State paying them for days they did not work.

In the 2015 civil service audit report, AG Mrs Mildred Chiri said the Government could be prejudiced of about $2,5 million per year through unsanctioned and undocumented absenteeism from workstations. “The audit exercise established that in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, school heads, deputy heads and teachers were away from their stations without official leave,” said Mrs Chiri.

“For example, there were no leave documents to justify the absence of 48 school heads, 10 deputy heads and 106 teachers on the day of the head count.

“This trend could be prevalent throughout the year and may be practised by an estimated 11,600 teachers with an establishment of around 166,000 teachers.

“Assuming that 10 percent of teachers absent themselves at least one day per month on average, it is possible to conclude that Government could be prejudiced of about $2,449,920 per annum through unsanctioned and undocumented absenteeism from workstations.”

Mrs Chiri said the 48 headmasters who were absent for a day cost the State about $11,000 per year while the 10 deputy headmasters who were absent per day cost about $2,200 per year.