By: Kebba AF Touray
The Finance and Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly (FPAC) has had an intense scrutiny and consideration of the 2019 and 2020 reports of the University of the Gambia (UTG), regarding the total difference of D74 Million between the revenue recognized in its portal and its general ledger.
The difference was raised by auditors during their findings for the year 2019, based on what the UTG management realized as revenue and recorded in their portal and general ledger.
The difference between the two which is D45 million for 2019 and D29 million for 2020 respectively, is what formed the basis for the query by the auditors.
During the consideration of the reports of the UTG, members of FPAC told the UTG management that tuition was their main source of revenue and the D45 million discrepancy was exclusively for 2019, adding that having D29 million in 2020, does not mean that the value in revenue was coming down but said instead on aggregate, it was going up.
FPAC said tuition received in 2019 was fully recognized in the books of the UTG management, and thus asked them to explain how the tuition received in 2019 was moved to 2020.
Responding to the issue, the UTG management told members of FPAC that the tuition received in 2019 was not transferred.
“So if it was not transferred, then how do you say that last year it was D45 Million (2019) and this year (2020), it was D29 Million, this would show that there is a reduction since the two are not the same,” FPAC members queried. The lawmakers told the UTG Management that the difference of D45 million was the difference between the portal and the general ledger exclusively for 2019, while the difference of D29 million was the difference between the portal and the general ledger exclusively for 2020.
“The two on aggregate gives a total of D74 million,” members of FPAC told UTG Management, adding that all that amount was earned in 2019 and that was D45 million, and 2020 was a fresh start.
This was expressed by FPAC as a concern, stressing that the same issues continue to come up. They reiterated to the UTG management that their tuition fee comprises almost 80 percent of their revenue base. According to FPAC, such differences cannot be based on a trial and error basis.
In their response, the Management replied that the revenue is recognized for and during the periods, and said the issue of medical and graduate schools is still relevant. They explained that the fact that the revenue recognized is from the portal, and some of the sums from the graduate and medical school have not been added together, is what constitutes the difference. They added that the difference in 2019 was reduced because they were getting more of their students registering online on the portal.
“So these are the issues that have made the issue gradually converge between what we are getting from the portal and what we have recognized in the general ledger because we are taking revenue that is outside the portal as part of our revenue because they are actual revenue,” the UTG management disclosed.
UTG Management added that the fact that they are not registered in the portal, does not mean that it is not revenue collected and that is where the problem is.
