If public money is used, it has to be done properly. The State Court of Auditors has uncovered deficiencies in the funding of school camps. What consequences are taken?
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - After criticism from the state audit office, the Ministry of Education wants to realign the funding of school camps. Even if school camps are not school facilities, they make an important additional contribution to school education, said a spokeswoman for Minister Eva Feußner (CDU) on request. They are currently working on a new guideline on the granting of grants for educational projects.
According to the state audit office, there are currently seven camp schools in Saxony-Anhalt. With the 2017/2018 double budget, project-related grants to school camps were made possible for the first time since 2002, the auditors recently criticized. This is not understandable. "Neither was the considerable state interest justified, nor was an economic feasibility study carried out in advance."
The State Court of Auditors found several deficiencies and violations in the grant procedures. In one case, personnel expenses for three employees were approved as fee expenses in the grant notice. However, this is ruled out by the funding guidelines. In another case, the purchase of 70 seminar chairs was approved, but the purpose of the grant was "outdoor school trips". "The chairs could not be shown during our test," the examiners complained. In another matter, there were violations in the award of a contract.
Last year, projects in school camps were funded with a total of 36,500 euros. The Ministry of Education announced that there were currently no applications. No statement can currently be made about the amount of the planned funding for this year.
