How To Not Spend Millions

The Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands are having a difficult time implementing a multi-year, multi-million dollar teacher improvement project funded by the U.S. government. The problems are indicative of difficulties that smaller island nations often have absorbing-and putting to use-funding from outside donors.

Both the FSM and Marshall Islands have public education systems in desperate need of huge improvements. Although the problems vary in different islands from lack of trained teachers and administrators to problems with adequacy of curriculum, textbooks and classrooms, the experience with a teacher quality grant shows that both countries are challenged by the U.S.-provided funding.

In early March, a U.S. Department of Education official notified the Federated States of Micronesia that its teacher quality enhancement grant-with a balance of nearly $2.8 million unspent-was suspended because the FSM's national Department of Education had not filed an annual progress report for 2005, despite a one-month extension of time to the end of February. FSM officials indicated that the program manager had left the department for a new job at the College of Micronesia, and they were scrambling to get the funding flow turned back on. A U.S. Department of Education official advised FSM officials of his concern over the lack of reporting on the grant, advising that the grant was already extended for an extra year-2006-to allow for funding to be spent.

In the Marshall Islands, more than $1.3 million of $1.5 million under the teacher quality enhancement grant was not spent during fiscal year 2005, according to Ministry of Finance records. The goal of the grant in the Marshall Islands was to upgrade 270 teachers who had only high school diplomas to a minimum of two-year (AA) degrees from the College of the Marshall Islands by 2008. But slow progress forced Ministry of Education officials to reduce their goals, as a relatively high rate of teachers dropped out of their courses or were unable to meet academic requirements.

Ministry of Education officials in Majuro say that more of the grant was actually spent than showed because the ministry's records had not yet been reconciled with the Ministry of Finance. That these funds had not been reconciled more than five months after the end of the fiscal year on September 30th confirmed difficulties between the two ministries. Program administrators say, however, that there is no hold up in funding from the U.S. side and that they are working to complete the grant this year.

Marshall Islands Ministry of Finance Assistant Secretary for Budget Bruce Bilimon says that the ability to use donor grants is an issue for many ministries and agencies in the Marshall Islands. Bilimon says that this is one of the reasons that a working group of federal grant managers from all ministries and agencies was established last year and is meeting quarterly.

"Through consultation, we see improvement in work and collaboration," Bilimon says.