| dc.description.abstract | The study sets out to investigate budgeting process and financial management in
public secondary schools in Thika district. The study covered the five administrative
divisions namely, Gatanga, Kamwangi, Gatundu, Kakuzi and Thika!Ruiru which
make up Thika district. Specially, the investigation was on the degree to which
teachers, bursars!accountants and B.O.G members are involved in the budgeting
process and its effect on financial management.
The research design used was descriptive survey. The sample size consisted of II
principals, II bursars!accountants, 33 teachers and 22 B.O.G members.
Random sampling was used to select respondents from a population of 112 principals,
112 bursars, 3920 teachers and 1344 Board of Governors. Proportionate sampl ing was
used to select the sample of II public secondary schools out of the 112 public
secondary schools in the district and purposive sampling was also used In the
selection of the B.O.G members.
The researcher gathered data using four questionnaires, the principals', bursars',
teachers' and for the Board of Governors. These questionnaires were administered by
the researcher through individual visits to the respondents. These instruments were
validated using the results of the pilot study. The reliability of the study 0.93 for the
teacher, 0.89 for bursars, 0.78 for the principal and 0.85 for the board of governors
using the Pearson correlation co-efficient and spearman Brown prophesy formula.
These computational results indicate that the questionnaires were reliable. The data
collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).The
results were quantified using tables showing frequencies and percentages.
The research findings revealed that the principals exercised complete control over
financial matters and the amount of participation allowed in the schools was not
sufficient to give teachers, bursars and board of governors a chance to practice
democratic skills. It was also found out that the principals minimally involved
teachers, bursars and Board of Governors in the budgeting process.
The study recommends the following:
I. All stakeholders should be involved in the budgeting process and financial
management for transparency and accountability.
2. Financial management should form one of the main components of Bachelors of
Education degree programme and in all Teacher Training Colleges.
3. An open forum or system through which principals are enlightened on the
importance of involving all stakeholders in budgeting process and financial
management.
4. Sensitizing the Board of Governor on their roles as the school manager and
encourage them to attend Kenya Educational Research Institute (K.E.S.I)
. I fi l. I . serrunars to earn more on .mancra management Issues.
5. Continuous in-service training of the principals to keep them abreast with the
democratic and participatory administrative changes that are taking place in the
education system of the world.
6. Participatory management practices such as budgeting and financial management
should be encouraged in schools so as to enhance stakeholders trust and .
confidence on the principal.
I. A similar study should be carried out elsewhere on budgeting process and
financial management to elicit more accurate information.
2. A study to investigate whether teachers' involvement in the budgeting process
affects students' acadern ic performance need to be carried out.
3. There is need to carry out a study on the perception of the educational planners
and other stakeholder on the teachers' involvement in the budgeting and financial
management in publ ic secondary schools.
4. A comparative study could be undertaken to establ ish the extent to which
budgetary and financial management are participatory in public and private
secondary schools. | en |
