Budgetary risks of educational bodies in Mozambican Districts

Abstract

This research focuses on risk analysis in the budget execution process in Mozambican district education bodies. Budget execution is contingent on the availability and reimbursement of public funds from central bodies. This technical situation creates and originates budget management problems at the school unit level in local communities, since the availability of public funds to education bodies at the district level conflicts with and obstructs local plans and priorities for the teaching and learning process. The investigation of this political, educational, economic, and financial objective, associated with demographic expansion and other local dimensions, was supported by zero-based budgeting theories, as well as behavioral theories and approaches, aligned with a qualitative methodology, supported by documentary and bibliographic research, complemented by a set of semi-structured interviews with key informants, carried out in districts of the Republic of Mozambique with a population sample of six (6) districts, two (2) districts from each region of the country. The management of public funds by district education administrations is subject to interference from central government directives. However, district education administration bodies, in communication with District Governments, seek to mitigate weak operational mobility, although this is not feasible, as justified by the lack of guidance from the central body. Mozambican district education bodies represent the axis of social evolution and the engine of human development in the country. And, in observance of the normative principles of the State, and in parallel with the local education bodies of SADC, and based on data collected in the districts, the effective decentralization of education services is expected, as outlined in the legal instruments for local bodies.