The General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) has just published its management control report for the National Pedagogical University (UPN), covering the period from 2015 to May 2023. This report highlights disastrous financial management within the university, highlighting practices such as non-declaration and non-payment of taxes owed to the state on bonuses and snacks paid to staff, including for regular and normal tasks.
Among the other irregularities noted, we can cite the fragmentation of the financial management of the university, with the multiplicity of points of collection of illegal fees, thus escaping the control of the management committee. In addition, the UPN Internal Audit Department has remained inactive since 2020, giving way to opaque management and a lack of revenue monitoring. Unjustified outflows of funds were also noted, as well as the collection of illegal fees that did not comply with the law.
Faced with these alarming findings, the IGF made several recommendations, including the immediate suspension of all members of the management committee and the initiation of legal proceedings against them. The General Directorate of Taxes is also asked to tax the UPN in order to ensure transparent management and payment of taxes due. The Ministry of Higher and University Education is also called upon to appoint competent officials and to comply with the legal provisions in force.
In addition, further investigation is recommended regarding a loan taken out by the UPN from a bank suspected of complicity in the embezzlement. It is therefore essential to shed light on this situation and to involve justice in punishing those responsible.
This report highlights the importance of transparency and compliance with financial rules within educational institutions. It is essential to promote rigorous management of public resources in order to ensure optimal development of higher education and to guarantee the quality of services offered to students.