PUBLIC EXPENDITURE TRACKING SURVEYS: LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE

   By Muriel Poisson, IIEP

 

PETS are an important tool decision-makers can use to ensure government funding reaches the classroom. But what are the conditions for their success?

Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) are audits of financial flows that aim to measure the proportion of government resources actually benefiting schools. They make it possible to determine whether resources reach their intended destination, or if there are leakages along the way. The scope of PETS can vary according to the type of expenditures tracked and of the number of levels of public administration involved.

Over the past decade, IIEP has helped build the capacity of a number of national teams to design and implement PETS in a range of countries, including Cambodia, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda. More recently, it provided technical support to the national team in charge of carrying out a PETS in Burkina Faso at the request of UNICEF. Here are some of the conclusions drawn from all of these experiences.

AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF SUPPLY 

PETS allow planners to get an accurate picture of education supply, especially in contexts where public accounting systems function poorly or provide unreliable information. They provide invaluable indications to planners regarding:

"THE MAIN CHALLENGE TODAY IS TO GET POLICY-MAKERS TO CONSIDER PETS AS A VALUABLE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR ALONGSIDE OTHER EXISTING TOOLS."

  • The detection of leakage points and the identification of distortions in the use of resources;
  • Estimates on the rate of leakage in flows of teacher salaries, school grants, supplies, textbooks, food (they can vary from 10 per cent of rule-based funds in the case of Tanzania to more than 70 per cent of food distributed to schools in the case of Peru);
  • The understanding of how leakages vary according to school size, location, student poverty levels, funding modalities, etc.;
  • More globally, the availability and reliability of financial data at various tiers of government.

KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR PETS SUCCESS

Criticism of PETS has emerged over time, emphasizing the scarcity of successful experiences beyond the first PETS exercise undertaken in Uganda at the end of the 1990s. Key requirements for a PETS success have indeed often been overlooked and can be summarized as follows:

  • Consulting with ministries of education at each stage of the process, building ownership and ensuring that recommendations

are followed;

  • Avoiding multiplication of the number of flows analysed or combining a PETS with other investigations (e.g. teacher absenteeism);
  • Mobilizing a national team to perform the survey, both to develop the necessary national expertise and to promote a better understanding of risks;
  • Using a rigorous survey methodology (paying particular attention to sampling methods) in order to counter those who could be tempted to challenge the results of the investigation.

PETS CAN HELP REDUCE LEAKAGES

Another important condition for success is to consider PETS as part of a broader strategy aimed at empowering communities to claim their entitlements. The Ugandan experience illustrates that the release of tracking survey results through mass media can significantly contribute to reducing leakage by promoting social ownership. However, reducing leakage over the longterm requires a number of measures, such as sensitizing head teachers and parents about their entitlements; publishing monthly transfers of public funds to districts and schools; and setting up penalties for distorted behaviors.

HOW TO INTEGRATE PETS INTO SECTOR DIAGNOSIS?

The main challenge today is to get policy-makers to consider PETS as a valuable diagnostic tool in the education sector alongside other existing tools, and to use them in a recurrent manner. PETS should be considered by planners as one of the key tools used to measure the efficiency of public spending at the sectoral level. By casting light on problems of opacity in financial flows at various administrative levels, PETS can substantially contribute to improving financial transparency and accountability.

Visit the ETICO resource platform for more information on PETS. 

 

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