Al-Istiqlal University’s Work in 2021

Episode No. (6)

●      One would wish not to read or hear that an academic-security edifice in Palestine, such as Al-Istiqlal University, does not adopt a system, standards, and foundations of an acceptably professional and transparent level in carrying out the responsibilities and tasks of some of the university’s departments and its financial, administrative, and educational activities (as suggested by the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) report on the works of Al-Istiqlal University for the year 2021), even though the university responded to the Bureau’s report and expressed its readiness to take its recommendations.....And I say here that there are observations and recommendations that the Bureau had written about in previous annual reports which were not acted upon, and here they have been repeated..!

●      We hope that the university’s new Board of Trustees, which the President appointed on 8-8-2022, will assume its responsibilities and use its authorities, the most important of which are: preserving the university’s mission, including supplying the Palestinian security sector with scientifically and academically qualified expertise; discussing and approving the annual budget draft; discussing and approving internal regulations related to financial and administrative matters; and ensuring that the university’s executive administration applies the regulations and laws approved by the Board of Trustees. ..and it appointed a President of the university (where they, on 10-1-2023, approved the appointment of Dr. Nour al-Din Abu al-Rub as President of the university)...etc.

●      The current Board of Trustees of Al-Istiqlal University consists of sixteen members, chaired by General Haj Ismail Abu Jabr - Chair of the Board of Trustees of Al-Istiqlal University, Dr. Ahmed Majdalani - Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Al-Istiqlal University, Major General Zakaria Musleh - Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Al-Istiqlal University, and the membership of 13 other figures..

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●      Returning to the Bureau’s report, the report of the General Control Department affiliated with the Bureau on the judgment (civil and security) regarding Al-Istiqlal University for the year 2021 unveiled substantive observations, some of which were as follows:

1- Board of Trustees: The Board of Trustees was not constituted in 2021 after the expiry of the legal term or its extension, in accordance with the law, where the Board of Trustees was appointed in 2015; furthermore the Board did not meet regularly every 6 months during the period 2019-2022.

2- The report also showed that the Board of Trustees did not perform some of the tasks and powers defined by law, including for example: no annual final financial statement for the university was approved, there is no Board approval for investing the university’s funds in projects, there are no approvals for buying and selling immovable property, and the university’s financial instructions were not approved..etc.

●      The university’s financial administration:

-        The report stated that the university and its financial administration did not carry out the following responsibilities and tasks:

-        They do not prepare financial statements and final accounts for the years 2019-2021, and the financial accounts have not been closed since 2017; accounting entries, receivables, and payment and receipt vouchers are adjusted up to the date of the audit. It is noteworthy that there is no reasonable assurance of the correctness of balances and bank reconciliations for some of the university’s bank accounts, since the banks did not provide bank confirmations to the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB)..!

-        The report, stated that fixed assets and university property did not appear in the trial balance for 2021, as there is no fixed assets register in which assets are recorded along with their specific depreciation and purchase date.

-        The report stated that the procurement committees formed at the university are limited to only four employees for all periods since 2019-2022.!

●      Regarding expenditures, the report pointed to examples, noting that there is no specified ceiling for mobile phone allowances per employee, that a hazard allowance was paid to kitchen staff from the petty cash fund, and that medication invoices and treatment expenses were paid without authorization for payment....etc.

-        The report on the financial administration’s review of Al-Istiqlal University for 2021 indicated that not all supporting documents for some expenditures that were paid are attached... as shown by the report.

-        Concerning the salaries of contract employees at the university, it appeared that the financial administration does not subject these salaries to income tax, and income tax is also not calculated on assignments for military personnel that are paid monthly to military employees.

-        The report on the financial administration at Al-Istiqlal University showed that there is a loan from Arab Bank amounting to 3 million dollars for a period of 48 months, without the approval of the Board of Trustees.!

-        As for the revenue item, the report showed that Al-Istiqlal University receives a contribution from the Higher Education budget as support for universities in the amount of 1,200,000 shekels monthly.

●      As for student registration revenues, the report referred to the Deans’ Council decision at the university dated 14-10-2017 that the students’ annual contribution be 500 dinars starting with the 2017-2018 cohort.. From the start of that cohort, fees were recorded as direct revenue to the program and outstanding amounts were not invoiced!

●      There are receivables owed by university employees enrolled in the master’s program that were not deducted from their salaries!

-        Regarding projects, the report stated that workday allowances were paid from a project account at the university to employees working at the university as if they were project employees, knowing that they receive salaries from the university, and those amounts were not disclosed in income tax, ....etc.

●      As for administrative affairs:

-        The report revealed that there is no proportionality between the number of students and the numbers of employees and faculty at the university, where the number of employees at Al-Istiqlal University is 747 employees, while the number of enrolled students at the university is 927 students across all majors and colleges, at a ratio of 1.24 : 1 student per employee.!

-        Thirty-three positions were included under the permanent appointment item through the 2021 staffing table, for the purpose of converting contracts to the university’s payroll, and they were appointed without going through the legal procedures and transparency required for hiring under the contracts item.

-        An academic staff member was promoted to Associate Professor and was granted a job nature allowance at a rate higher than the actual rate, by 50%.

-        Some employees who hold administrative titles at the university were exempted from stamping the attendance timecard.

●      As for the academic load:

-        The report showed that several employees did not appear to teach any academic courses at the university (carry an academic load), despite their job title being “academic”; their number is 13, and 4 of the deans of colleges did not achieve the required teaching load of a total of 12 teaching hours during the academic year, etc.

●      As for admissions to the university:

-        The report explained that 125 students out of 616 special-case students were admitted, where they are selected because they are children of employees in the security institution..!

●      As for vehicles and fuels:

-        The report indicated that there is no effective follow-up on vehicles that were handed over to university employees, and that some fuel coupons issued by the station have no vehicle numbers or names of beneficiaries on them..etc