Employees of the Gumilyov Eurasian National University (ENU) have accused the institution's management of major financial irregularities.
According to Orda, university staff claim that a whole tradition of "skimming" funds has developed at ENU from the money allocated each year by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
The sums mentioned are as follows: from 54–90 million tenge in grant funding and up to 70 million – 3 billion tenge for targeted programme funding over three years.
According to the university employees, the fertile ground for these violations has been the contract system used to pay participants in scientific projects.
This concerns the standard employment contract, which entails a tax rate of about 40%, as opposed to the relatively low 20% in the case of a civil law contract (CLC).
Project supervisors at ENU state that wages are paid under the standard employment contract. However, no agreements are actually signed with the project leaders or participants.
Grant recipients submit reports every month, which form the basis for certificates of work completed. This allows savings on taxes, paying 20% instead of 40%.
These savings can amount to significant sums, especially given the annual number of projects.
The university's employees are demanding transparency and legality in the management of financial resources.
The ENU action group believes it is necessary to conduct an independent inspection and audit of all grant-funded projects.
The university's management, for its part, was quick to assure that the implementation of all scientific projects is carried out strictly within the framework of the law.
"All research expenses are initially included in the grant application and undergo verification for economic feasibility. The application is then reviewed by the National Scientific Council, which decides whether to approve or reject the project's funding", reads the official response from ENU.
Grant funds are typically spent on wages, business trips, scientific laboratory services, conference attendance, equipment purchases, and so forth, Orda quotes the letter as saying.
According to the university, leaders of research groups responsible for the appropriate use of funds are informed about legal norms and the potential consequences of their violation.
Furthermore, regular internal audits are conducted, the university management assures.
Regarding the research group's wages, it is noted that payment depends on the project's leader.
Moreover, payment is only made after a report on the volume of work completed, submitted by the project leader.
Be that as it may, it is worth saying that the serious accusations made by employees of the country's leading university against its management certainly do not help to strengthen trust in the national education system as a whole.