DECENTRALIZATION OF FINANCES IN EDUCATION

This project aimed to analyze the degree of implementation of the decentralization process in education, as well as to highlight the challenges faced by its implementation. It was also intended to achieve awareness of schools to execute their legal responsibilities as a condition for more efficient implementation of this process in practice.

The aim of the project was to establish a relationship of accountability and oversight between the municipal administration of education, schools and citizens in 15 municipalities of Kosovo. During the implementation of the project, all schools involved in the project have collaborated with KEC officials to analyze their annual budgets, to examine the possibilities for savings of expenses and more rational use of school budgets. The schools involved in the project have collaborated with municipal education officials to make a more efficient planning of their school budgets, as well as to control on a periodic basis the realized costs. This has led to the DKA and schools building a two-way surveillance and accountability ratio. During the cooperation, the NSD managed to supervise schools during planning and spending their budgets, while schools have accounted for their demands and realized expenses. Also, organizing roundtables and participating in various radio shows have been some of the activities that have contributed to the awareness of schools to increase their cooperation with the DKA in order to mobilize them for fair and transparent allocation of school budgets.

The main activities and achievements of the project were:

• Distribution and collection of questionnaires from the schools involved in the project

• Introduction and processing of data • Review of municipal budgets of education and the way of allocation of budgets to schools

• Tracking every two months of financial statements of the schools’ expenditures included in the project • Organizing semi-structured interviews with different officials

• Preparation of final report

• Organizing tables Roundabout in 7 regions of Kosovo

• Participation in two radio shows

• Dissemination of the report with recommendations to all relevant structures.