Special autonomy in education is regarded as a great blessing for the
Papua people. They have high expectation that Special autonomy funds
allocated for education will elevate their living quality including
school provisions and living standard. The population of the research,
however, perceived that such wishes and expectations did not match with
the reality. It is assumed that there had been mismanagement of the
funds. The study is aimed at reviewing special autonomy financial
performance and its management accountability. The study is performed
through a qualitative approach with a phenomenological strategy--a study
which is conducted at particular setting in a real live (natural
setting) to investigate and understand phenomena. The data were
collected from government employee, NGO officers, the target population,
and other resources by observation, in-depth interviews, and library
reviews. The results show that local government officials lack of
capacity in handling the funds and there had been poor budget management
as indicated from four management functions--planning, executing,
reporting, and monitoring of educational funds--which were not
implemented appropriately. A concept as a set of law and regulation that
shapes Special Autonomy fund management of Papua Province is needed.
Therefore, an integrated mechanism of building compliance and control
system of educational funds management is necessary to reach the Value
for Money (effectiveness, efficiency, and economics) of education
budget. It is recommended that knowledge building and understanding on
the financial performance as mandated in Special Autonomy Article will
strengthen the achievement of the target as stated in the vision,
mission, and objectives which supported by a construct culture of
transparency, frankness, accuracy, and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM
AUTHOR]