School-Specific Budget: A New Direction for Local Authority, Transparency and Performance

By Abdul Salam

Improving Sindh’s public schools is not simply a matter of constructing buildings, buying furniture or providing basic facilities. A persistent challenge has been the administrative distance between what a school needs and where financial decisions are made. A shortage of desks, a damaged washroom, an unreliable water supply or a classroom requiring minor repairs may appear to be manageable problems. Yet they can remain unresolved for months when schools lack the authority or resources to respond directly.

The School-Specific Budget, commonly known as SSB, is an attempt to reduce this gap.

The idea behind SSB is straightforward. Schools do not have identical needs, so their spending priorities cannot always be determined through a uniform approach. A rural school may need furniture and drinking water, while an urban school may require repairs to classrooms, a science laboratory or computer facilities. Another school may urgently need improvements to its boundary wall or washrooms.

SSB gives schools resources to address such needs at the local level. More importantly, it gives head teachers a greater role in deciding where available resources should be used. This reduces dependence on lengthy administrative processes for relatively small but necessary improvements.

The scale of the programme shows its growing importance in Sindh’s education system. During the 2025-26 financial year, around Rs18.67 billion was allocated under SSB for 34,106 government schools across the province.

The allocation was increased substantially for 2026-27. The School-Specific Budget rose from Rs18.67 billion to Rs22.64 billion, an increase of about 21 per cent. The allocation for furniture and fixtures saw an even sharper rise, doubling from Rs3.81 billion to Rs7.62 billion.

These figures indicate a clear financial commitment to improving facilities at the school level. But a larger allocation alone cannot be treated as success. The real test lies in the results produced by that spending.

A budget becomes meaningful when it improves the daily experience of students and teachers.

This is where the role of the head teacher becomes particularly important. Public administration requires more than the provision of funds. Authority must be accompanied by responsibility, transparency and accountability.

In March 2026, 31,633 school heads in Sindh were given Drawing and Disbursing Officer, or DDO, powers. This was an important administrative change. It expanded the role of school heads beyond academic and routine administrative management and gave them greater responsibility for financial decisions.

The principle behind this approach is decentralisation. Decisions are often more responsive when they are taken closer to the point where a problem exists. A head teacher sees the condition of classrooms every day. He or she knows whether students urgently need desks, whether a washroom requires repair or whether another facility deserves priority.

Local authority, however, works only when those exercising it understand their responsibilities.

Giving head teachers financial powers must therefore be accompanied by adequate knowledge of procurement procedures, record keeping, billing, auditing and other financial rules. Without this capacity, even well-intentioned school heads can struggle to make timely use of the resources placed at their disposal.

This issue became particularly visible during a review of SSB utilisation in July 2026. At that stage, around 34 per cent of the Rs18.671 billion allocated to 34,106 schools for 2025-26 had reportedly been utilised.

The figure raises an important administrative point. Low expenditure does not necessarily mean savings. It can also indicate procedural delays, limited financial capacity, slow processing of bills or uncertainty about the rules governing expenditure.

Efforts were subsequently made to improve utilisation through training for school heads, digitisation of financial records and stronger compliance with Standard Operating Procedures. District treasury offices were also directed to clear properly submitted SSB bills within seven days.

Such measures matter because decentralisation loses much of its value if a school has funds available on paper but cannot use them when they are actually needed.

Transparency is equally important.

Information about School-Specific Budget allocations has been made available online, allowing allocations to be viewed at division, district, taluka and individual school levels. QR-based access has also been introduced to make information easier to obtain.

This gives parents, teachers and local communities a greater opportunity to see the resources allocated to their schools. It also strengthens accountability because financial information is no longer confined to government files.

The impact of SSB should ultimately be visible inside the school.

If money has been spent on furniture, students should have usable desks and chairs. If funds have been used for washrooms, their condition should improve. Spending on repairs should result in safer and more functional classrooms. Investments in science or computer laboratories should create facilities that students can actually use.

This distinction is important. Spending money and achieving a result are not the same thing.

The Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority has taken this idea further through its “SSB: Transforming Schools of Sindh” initiative. The online system allows head teachers to document improvements made through SSB funds in areas such as infrastructure, washrooms, renovation, boundary walls, science laboratories, computer laboratories, desks, furniture and plantation.

The inclusion of before-and-after photographs is particularly useful. Financial records can show that money was spent. Photographic and physical evidence can help show what that spending achieved.

This moves the discussion from expenditure towards performance.

That shift has become particularly relevant ahead of World Teachers’ Day, observed annually on October 5.

World Teachers’ Day provides an opportunity to recognise the contribution of teachers and the wider responsibilities they carry within education systems. In Sindh, linking the occasion with recognition of effective SSB utilisation gives the day an additional administrative significance.

The School Education and Literacy Department has invited head teachers who have used SSB funds transparently and effectively to register and document the improvements made in their schools. School heads demonstrating exceptional performance in the use of these resources are expected to be recognised at the World Teachers’ Day programme on October 5.

This is important because the role of a head teacher extends well beyond routine administration.

A capable school head manages teachers, students, resources, parents and day-to-day institutional challenges. When financial authority is added to these responsibilities, leadership becomes even more important. A head teacher who identifies the right priorities, follows financial rules, maintains proper records and converts limited resources into visible improvements provides a practical example of effective public management.

Recognising such performance can have value beyond an individual award.

Good work in the public sector often receives little attention. Public recognition can encourage other school heads to examine successful practices and adapt them to their own circumstances. A school that demonstrates effective use of SSB funds can therefore become a practical example for others.

The recognition process itself, however, should maintain the same standards of transparency expected from SSB spending.

Awards should not be based merely on the amount of money spent. Spending 100 per cent of an allocation does not automatically mean that the money was used effectively. Assessment should consider whether the expenditure addressed genuine needs, followed financial rules, produced verifiable improvements and benefited students.

This is where performance-based monitoring can strengthen the programme.

For every school, three basic issues matter: the amount allocated, the purpose for which it was spent and the result produced. Linking these elements would make it easier to distinguish routine expenditure from effective financial management.

The Rs22.64 billion allocated for SSB represents a significant public responsibility. Used with careful planning, transparent procurement and proper oversight, these resources can address many basic deficiencies across thousands of government schools in Sindh.

The opposite is also true. If spending becomes an exercise in exhausting funds before the end of a financial year, the purpose of the programme will be weakened.

SSB should therefore be viewed as more than a budgetary arrangement. It has the potential to become part of a broader governance reform in school education. It brings together local decision-making, financial responsibility, digital transparency, public accountability and recognition of performance.

The October 5 recognition programme can reinforce this approach by highlighting school heads who have turned public funds into visible improvements.

Sindh’s education system certainly needs adequate funding. It also needs a system in which every rupee is connected to a genuine need and a measurable result.

The School-Specific Budget provides an opportunity to build such a system. Its success will depend on whether authority at the school level is matched by responsibility, whether expenditure remains transparent and whether the resources ultimately improve the learning environment for children.

Recognising high-performing head teachers on World Teachers’ Day would carry an important message. Responsible leadership and careful use of public money deserve recognition. More importantly, the true measure of SSB will remain visible in the schools themselves, in functioning facilities, better learning environments and public resources that reach the students for whom they were intended.