Contract management in infrastructure projects in education sector: a case of selected secondary schools in Central region

Abstract

Contract management or contract administration is the management of contracts made with customers, vendors, partners, or employees. Contracts and partnerships are an essential part of today’s high speed, multilateral business culture both in the public and private sector. Contract management includes negotiating the terms and conditions in contracts and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions, as well as documenting and agreeing on any changes or amendments that may arise during its implementation or execution. It can be summarized as the process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution, and analysis for the purpose of maximizing financial and operational performance and minimizing risk (Kate. B and Higgins. K, (2009).

Infrastructure projects in education sector are explained by defining building performance in three areas; infrastructure, programme and people. Infrastructure should be able to inherently perform well. This includes ensuring that buildings are weather tight, structurally sound, have low operating costs, and are spatially and resource efficient. Infrastructure should effectively support the activities that it is required to accommodate. For instance, school buildings should accommodate the current curriculum and preferred modes of teaching and learning. Infrastructure should allow users to be comfortable, healthy and productive and should meet users’ basic needs. It should also guarantee that human rights are respected (Benyon, 2007).

The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports is committed to pursuing excellence in the construction and maintenance of schools’ infrastructure, with a focus on innovation, the environment and the community’s social objectives. Essential to meeting this commitment is the promotion of best practices in tendering and contract management, together with the establishment of the highest ethical principles. In other words, effective contract management is essential if organizations are to benefit from good procurement actions and processes.