financial management in secondary schools

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ABSTRACT

Despite the efforts of the Kenyan Ministry of Education to enhance principals performance and the

existence of guidelines in the form of a chapter on financial management in the Manual for Principals

of Secondary and High Schools, financial management capacity is a concern in Lesotho secondary and

high schools. This article reports on findings emanating from in-depth personal interviews with school

principals on financial management practices in their schools. Qualitative content analysis was used to

analyse the narratives. Identified themes were juxtaposed with the Kenyan Ministry of Educations

policy guidelines on financial management. The study highlighted the deficiency of, as well as

problems regarding the implementation of the policy: (1) there is a noteworthy discrepancy between the

policy and school financial theory. (2) Despite the policy documents extensive directives on financial

planning and organisation, problems regarding budgeting, the collection and recording of school fees,

as well as a lack of administrative support abound. (3) The absence of a clear policy directive on

financial leadership and control is reflected by unsatisfactory financial leadership and arbitrary auditing

practices. Findings of this study repudiate the argument that the existence of a financial policy will

inevitably lead to sound financial management in Kenyan schools, and consequently quality education.

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CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The chapter starts by detailing the background of the study with an aim to eventually building a

case for the study before highlighting the statement of the problem. Further, research questions,

objectives and the hypothesis of the study are stated. It also gives a brief description of the study

area, justification and the scope of the study.

1.1 Background of the Study

In Kaloleni, as in all other districts of Kenya, principals have to administer and manage their

schools. Among other things, principals have to carry out the financial management of their

schools. According to Section 21 of the Education Act of 2010 (MOE 2010), the principal

is the chief accounting officer of the school and is responsible to the management committee or

school board for the control and use of school funds;

Shall maintain or cause records of income and expenditure of the school to be maintained;

Shall prepare an annual budget for a school and submit it to the school board for its approval;

and

Shall within three months of the end of each school year, submit a financial statement of the

school to the school board for its approval.

A schools financial management is the execution by a person in a position of authority of those

management actions (regulated tasks) connected with the financial aspects of schools and having

the sole purpose of achieving effective education (Niemann 1997: 372). Similarly, Joubert and

Bray (2007) describe a schools financial management as the performance of management

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actions connected with the financial aspects of a school for the achievement of effective

education.

The common factor in these definitions of financial management is that a connection is made

between the management tasks and the financial aspects of a school. The implication is that the

management of school finances involves the task of planning (budgeting), organising

(coordinating), leading (communicating and motivating), as well as controlling (auditing)

(Clarke 2007).

The above authors are also in accord that a schools financial management is imperative because

it enables the school to achieve effective education.

In Kenya, the payment of school fees is different at different levels of education. Academies are

primarily privately owned and parents have to pay fees of varying amounts. In public schools, at

primary level, this is from Standard 1 to Standard 8, education is free. In secondary schools, this

is, Form 1 to Form 4, parents are obliged to pay school fees, which vary from school to school.

The principals in Kenya have to carry out financial management. Parents have to be assured that

the finances are managed properly at the schools under their custody, since payment of school

fees is obligatory at all secondary and high schools. According to MOE the income of the

school shall consist of all fees charged by the school. Although the Kenya Government

remunerates the teaching staff, additional funding for secondary and high schools depends solely

on school fees. It is obligatory for principals to ensure accountability and prudence in the

utilisation of school funds.

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Principals in Kenya are appointed on the basis of their teaching experience, as well as their

academic and professional qualifications. Training in or even having a working knowledge of

financial management is not considered a prerequisite for appointment to the position of

principal. Consequently, principals in Kenya often lack the necessary management skills and

specifically financial management skills. Several attempts have been made by the Ministry of

Education to redress the incompetence of principals with regard to management. These include,

inter alia, workshops for principals designed to improve their skills, attitudes and knowledge. In

1995, workshops were strengthened with the introduction of the Secondary Education Support

Project which focused mainly on workshops and school visits. Inspectors also made several visits

to schools and advised principals on what to do to improve school leadership practice, including

the schools financial management.

The Ministry of Education also called upon the Institute of Development Management and the

Public University of Kenya to offer courses in management skills to practising heads of schools.

The Government of Kenya, through the MOE, with the assistance of the British Governments

Overseas Development Administration developed a Manual for Principals of Secondary and

High Schools in 1995. This document was reviewed in 2006 and is supposed to be of assistance

in providing knowledge of and guidance in the school management and administration in a

concise and clear form (MOE 2006). It comprises, among other things, a chapter on finance. It,

inter alia, provides guidance and information on a schools financial management which

principals of secondary and high schools in Kenya are expected to use.

Despite the efforts that have been taken to enhance the principals performance, schools still

experience problems of poor management. Studies on principals of secondary and high schools

indicate a number of deficiencies in the performance of their duties (UNESCO 2000). Some

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studies specifically identify the lack of financial management capacity as a common concern in

Kenya secondary and high schools (Mosoeunyane 1999; Kotele 2001).

The mismanagement of funds by principals often leads a shortage of critical resources in schools

as money is not available for the purchasing of the necessary books, equipment and so forth. This

often results in the unsatisfactory performance of teachers and students (UNESCO 2000). The

negative impact of a scarcity of resources on student performance was pointed out in study by

Lekhetho (2003). It was furthermore reported by Wanjau (1990) that teachers and students of a

high school in the County of Nyeri in Kenya went on strike in 2006 because their needs were not

being met by the principal. It appeared that students were given poor quality food and there was

lack of maintenance of buildings and facilities such as printing machines because the schools

finances were not properly managed.

We thus argue that if quality schooling is to be achieved, inter alia the finances of schools should

be managed well. This highlights the need for a sound financial system, informed by a distinct

financial policy. In Kenya such a policy exists in the form of a chapter on finance in the Manual

for principals of secondary and high schools(FCPM).

The policy appears not to have had the required effect on the education system. This could be as

a result of deficiencies in the policy as identified by Wanjau (1990) or as a result of problems

regarding the implementation of the policy, or both. A critical policy analysis of the

aforementioned chapter in the FCPM has shown that it is fraught with silences, contradictions

and assumptions, consequently impeding the implementation of the policy guidelines (Wanjau

1990). The problem is engorged by the fact that schools neglect to draw up their own financial

policy they uncritically use the FCPMs guidelines.

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In the light of the foregoing, the following problem question needs to be explored: What are the

realities with regard to the implementation of the FCPM in Kenya schools? In the quest to

answer this question this paper will report on findings from a qualitative study on the perceptions

and experiences regarding financial management of school principals in the Kaloleni District.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1.3 Research Objectives

The purpose of this study was to establish the impact of on-job-training on employee

performance in organizations. The specific objectives of the study were:

1. To identify the effectiveness of budgeting in financial management in secondary schools.

2. To examine the effectiveness of accounting in financial management in secondary

schools

3. To identify the effectiveness of auditing in financial management in secondary schools.

1.4 Research Questions

The research was guided by the following research questions:

1. How effective is budgeting in financial management in secondary schools?

2. How effective is accounting in financial management in secondary schools?

3. How effective is auditing in financial management in secondary schools?

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1.5 Research Hypothesis

The following hypothesis was tested in this study:

H0: There is a relationship between financial management and school performance

H1: There is no relationship between financial management and school performance

1.6 The Study Area

This study was conducted in the Kaloleni County of Kenya. Kaloleni is one of the forty seven

counties of the country and is situated in the coastal part of Kenya. This study focused on the

schools in Kaloleni town. The researchers interest in the Kaloleni County was prompted by the

lack of research on educational issues on this area.

1.7 Significance of the Study

The study is significant in that it will give recommendations to the Ministry of Education on the

management of finance in secondary schools. The Principles in the schools of study will gain

from learning on how to manage finances in their institutions so as to improve educational

performance. Other researchers too might borrow a leaf from my research and get reference

points.

1.8 Scope of the Study

There are many secondary schools in Kenya. The Counties in Kenya are forty seven but the

study will be limited to the secondary schools in Kaloleni County. The study concentrated on

assessing the financial management practices of secondary schools in the Kaloleni County.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

One limitation of this study was that the sample size was not adequate and that complete

assessment was only done in only the secondary schools in Kaloleni County where a sample of

the Principals who have managed finances was selected. While some input were available from

the one county, the findings might not be fully representative of all the counties.

Also, inaccessibility to highly classified information that is only accessible to principals such as

bank statements, financial reports and recommendations inhibited the researchers access to

information that could have been vital to this study.

1.10 Theoretical framework

There is no single all-embracing theory of educational management. This reflects the diversity of

educational institutions, the varied nature of problems encountered by educational institutions,

and the multifaceted nature of theory in education and the social sciences. Bush (2004) classified

the main theories of educational management into six major models of educational management:

formal, collegial, political, subjective, ambiguity and cultural. This study uses a formal model as

the researchers assume that schools are hierarchical systems in which principals use rational

means to peruse agreed goals.

Principals possess authority legitimized by their formal positions within the schools and are

accountable to school governing bodies for their activities (cf. Bush 2004). Formal models give

prominence to official structures, rational processes, the authority of leaders and accountability.

These may be linked to the school management tasks identified by Clarke (2007), namely

planning, organising, leading and controlling. The administration of a schools finances is an

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integral part of effective school administration (Mestry 2004; Ntseto 2009). Each of the

aforementioned tasks will briefly be considered regarding financial management.

Planning is a vital component of effective school financial administration (Du Preez et al. 2003).

The planning of school finances usually begins with the drafting of a budget (Kruger 2005).

According to Bisschoff (1997), a budget is the mission statement of the school expressed in

monetary terms. McKinney (1995) argues that budgeting is an ongoing and dynamic process that

is typically marked by regular phases, such as, planning, needs assessment and priority setting.

Budgeting is a forward-looking process which should be guided by the schools vision for the

future and a realistic assessment of the risks (Clarke 2007; Du Preez et al. 2003). Bisschoff

(1997) summarises the purpose of a budget as assisting systematic planning; quantifying

objectives and identifying priorities; coordinating activities and communicating plans within the

organisation; motivating and increasing the accountability of middle management; authorizing

expenditure and activities; controlling, monitoring and analysing expenditure; and evaluating

performance.

In an education organisation its financial administration activity means bringing all possible

input from staff, parents, students and the community together to render the service of quality

education (Bisschoff 1997). In this respect, organising of school finances should include aspects

such as drawing up a school financial policy; setting up a structure within the school to handle

administrative and financial matters; delegating certain functions to clerks, class teachers and the

treasurer; and coordinating activities (Kruger 2005).

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Leadership in financial administration involves three aspects: sound relationships,

communication with all stakeholders and internal as well as external and motivation of all the

people concerned with school finances (Bisschoff 1997).

Bisschoff (1997) notes that harmonious collaboration between academic and administration

staff is a prerequisite for successfully achieving financial objectives. Niemann (1997) believes

that financial activities are dealt with most effectively when both the administrative and

academic personnel are involved in the process. Communication is the basis for establishing

relationships and for providing motivation (Niemann 1997). Bisschoff (1997) argues that good

communication will ensure that each staff member who is involved in school finances would be

informed about authorisations for various expenditures, is knowledgably about the financial

procedure for expending money, and knows to whom the results of the expenditure should be

reported. Bisschoff (1997) emphasise that all staff members should feel that they have a role to

play in all of the schools activities, as this will motivate them to work hard and consequently

achieve effective and efficient financial administration.

The financial planning of school finances and its control are interdependent and closely linked

with each other. It can be deduced that the same relationship exists between the budget and

control since a budget is a planning instrument (Bisschoff 1997). This means that financial

planning is about budgeting and in this regard Wanjau (2001) argues that a budget is a financial

control technique as well as a plan.

Berkhout and Berkhout (1992) collaborate this view: budget systems cannot function without

effective and appropriate control

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CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter will review literature sources relating to financial management in secondary schools

and will concentrate on the three major financial functions in education: budgeting, accounting,

and auditing. Literature will be collected from books, journals, theses and relevant websites.

2.2 Main Review of Related Literature

The three major financial functions in education - budgeting, accounting, and auditing - are

separate, discrete operations, but they are nonetheless closely interrelated. They are required

activities in providing reliable fiscal information, guidance, and accountability in the use of the

money raised and expended in public education in the Kenya. Budgeting is a process and plan

for determining how money is to be raised and spent, as well as a document - the budget -

developed and approved during the budgeting process.

Money is organized and spent according to an accounting system, using a general ledgerthat

standardizes each spending category and accounts for its use. The National Center for Education

Statistics published the Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems, commonly

called Handbook II, Revised (1990), by William J. Fowler. Handbook II, Revised is an

accounting system with line codes for each category and function to make it easier for external

agencies to analyze and audit school spending to ensure the legal and appropriate use of public

funds.

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Budgeting

William Hartman, author of School District Budgeting (1999), defines education budgeting as a

"working tool" for the successful operation of states and local school districts, and as a

"significant opportunity to plan the mission, improve their operations, and achieve their

education objectives". As such, the budgeting process allows various levels of government to

"make better financial and program decisions, improve operations, and enhance relations with

citizens and other stakeholders".

In more technical terms, a budget is a statement of the total educational program for a given unit,

as well as an estimate of resources necessary to carry out the program and the revenues needed to

cover those expenditures. A vertical budget includes the various income and expenditure

estimates (by line item, function, object, and cost center) in a given fiscal year, while a horizontal

budget will include current estimates for a given fiscal year, compared to prior audited income

and expenditures, and a projection of costs into the future. Hence, the budget is a statement of

purpose and a review of income and expenditures by function - with a timeline to explain past,

current, and future financial practices.

Education agencies, like businesses and other enterprises, have experimented with various forms

of budget organization: line-item and function/object budgeting is basic to all systems; and

planning-programming-budgeting systems, zero-based budgeting, and site-based budgeting are

attempts to link the budget to goals and objectives while devolving the budgeting process to the

school level.

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Line-item budgeting

Barry Mundt et al. define line-item, or "traditional," budgeting as "a technique in which line

items, or objects of expenditures - e.g., personnel, supplies, contractual services, and capital

outlays - are the focus of analysis, authorization, and control". While helpful in tracking costs,

line-item budgeting is virtually useless for planning or management, since the functions of the

expenditures are not explained and the particular need, school site, and type of students being

served are lost in spending aggregatedby "line." Thus, teachers' salary, for example, is a budget

line-item; but which teachers, at which schools, teaching which types of students (e.g., bilingual

special needs) is not explained.

Function/object budgeting.

Most counties use function/object budgeting, since it organizes spending around the basic

functions of the system, such as instruction, student support, operations, administration, and

transportation. In addition, functions are subdivided (e.g., into elementary instruction, high

school operations), while the object being purchased (e.g., elementary textbooks, high school

cleaning equipment) is also specified. Personnel services or salaries and benefits may be handled

by function; that is, for instructional, support, or plant maintenance staff, for example.

While these broad categories, objects, and processes are generally the same for education

budgeting across the country, a strategic attempt has also been made to determine the most

effective and efficient uses of resources. These efforts have led to such innovations as zero-

based, program-planning, and site-based budgeting, which attempt to be more mission-driven

and constituent-friendly than traditional types of budgeting in education.

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Zero-based budgeting (ZBB).

Popular in the 1950s and 1960s, ZBB began with the assumption that the school system starts out

yearly with a "clean slate." Thus, each function, program, and agency has to justify its

expenditures annually, relating all costs to system goals and objectives to avoid habitual

spending. Because so many costs, such as tenured teachers' salaries and benefits, are "fixed"

across annual budgets, and because the programs are so complex, zero-based budgeting becomes

more an exercise than a practical reality. As Hartman(1965) explains, "ZBB forces

comparisons of and choices among programs and activities that are often difficult to compare

adequately". In addition, most programs are not "up for grabs" on an annual basis, since, for

example, schools cannot eliminate their elementary school classes, making such a requirement

difficult to justify.

Program-planning-budgeting systems (PPBS).

It seeks greater efficiency by attaching spending to particular programs. While rarely used in

education, PPBS would require schools to spell out their mission and goals, lay out alternatives

to reach these objectives, attribute costs to each choice, analyze the costs, select the best option,

and then build the budget around this outcome, and finally feed data back to adjust the costs to

the results. While this method sounds ideal, it often becomes so complex, and the programs so

numerous, that school districts and states cannot readily sustain this approach.

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Site-based (school-site) budgeting (SBB).

SBB is concerned with who will do the budgeting and where in the organizational hierarchy the

decisions will be made. In attempts to bring the budgeting process closer to "end-users" - the

teachers, parents, and school administrators - SBB encourages, if not requires, decision-makers

in each school to examine their programs and to set their budgets to meet their particular needs

as part of the process of shared decision-making. Allan Odden et al. explain that school reform

may require greaterdecentralization, a step "in which teams of individuals who actually provide

the services are given decision-making authority and held accountable for results". Under site-

based budgeting, districts must determine who will serve on SBB committees; which decisions

and resources are devolved to schools - and using what formulas; how much autonomy is granted

to spend for local school needs; exactly how to analyze the budget at each school; and what

training and support are needed to make SBB work effectively.

In practice, school districts or divisions thereofwill utilize variations of many, if not all, of the

above methods in compiling their budgets. For example, a school principal may require teachers

to justify their individual budget requests (zero-based) in the development of a school (site-

based) budget. A component of the district's budget may include a proposal for a new

educational program, including all anticipated expenditures, revenues, and cost savings

(program-planning budget). The entire district budget may be compiled onto a state-mandated

format that requires line items to be categorized by fund, function, program, and object

(function/object budgeting). Once the fiscal year begins, the budget is transformed from a

financial plan into the initialbaseline datafor a working, dynamic financial accounting system.

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Accounting

Related to budgeting is the accounting system. If a school's budget is a financial reflection of its

educational mission, goals, and philosophies, then the accounting system becomes the method by

which a district can assess the overall effectiveness of the financial plan. In fact, the accounting

structure (line items, spending categories, costing and spending procedures) is reflected in the

budget, and will later be used in auditing the system for legal, appropriate, and responsible

spending.

David Thompson and Craig Wood (1996) explain five purposes for the use of accounting in

schools. The first purpose is to "set up a procedure by which all fiscal activities in a district can

be accumulated, categorized, reported, and controlled". The second function is to assess the

alignment of the district's financial plan (budget) with the district's educational programs. An

accounting system allows the district's management to assess whether a district has the financial

resources to meet the needs of its programs.

The third function relates to the government reporting requirements to which schools must

adhere. Governments have the constitutional authority for the provision of education, and, as

such, they bear the final responsibility for fiscal accountability. Likewise, state funds are

distributed to regions - through the counties - and require adequate accounting and reporting

procedures. These reporting requirements have led to the development and adoption of uniform

budgeting procedures and accounting standards. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board

(GASB), operating under the auspices of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya

(ICPACK), is responsible for the establishment and revision of Generally Accepted Accounting

Principles (GAAP) for local and state governments.

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One significant difference in the utilization of GAAP for school and GAAP for private business

is that schools utilize fund accounting that classifies spending into three broad fund categories:

governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary. Governmental funds represent those activities typical

of district operations such as instruction, special revenues (grants), and debt service funds.

Proprietary funds include those activities that are similar to private enterprise, such as food

service and transportation funds. Fiduciary funds are utilized when the district is acting directly

for a third party, including private trusts (scholarships), pension trusts, investment trusts, and

agency (payroll) funds.

Budget preparation is the fourth purpose of accounting. By accumulating accurate baseline data,

accounting provides the budget with the information necessary for a horizontal comparison (prior

year, current year, and future annual revenues) of actual vertical (line-item) expenditures and

budget performance. The fifth and final purpose of accounting, as proposed by Thompson and

Wood, is to provide proper fiscal controls and accountability, which, in turn, build public trust

and confidence.

Critics of the current system of accounting utilized in public schools have claimed that the

collection and reporting of financial data no longer provides adequate information to

policymakers. Jay G. Chambers asserts that the desire forprogrammatic cost information, the

need for data compatibility, and the importance of understanding the relation-ship between

educational inputs and outputs all point to the need for improving the standards for organizing

and reporting educational resource data. To measure resources adequately in education,

Chambers proposes a system that is related more to economics rather than accounting.

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The resource cost model, which Chambers recommends, "places paramount importance on

measuring productivity and the cost-effectiveness analysis, the economist's stock in trade". This

financial analysis model allows expenditure data to be reported on a school-by-school basis and

actually tracks money spent on the classroom for "classroom instruction." The reporting program

allows policy-makers to "explore the equity, efficiency, and effectiveness of spending"(Cooper et

al. 2001, p. 28) between schools as opposed to school districts.

Accounting is thus the tool by which school district management can structure, organize, and

operationalize the school's financial plan (the budget). Accounting also provides the roadmap by

which fiduciary entities, such as board of education members, public citizens, and state

government officials can evaluate a school's financial status. In addition, school district

accounting provides the necessary procedures and data to enable an independent, certified public

accountant to conduct the school's annual financial audit.

Auditing

Since schools are public agencies, their raising and spending of money must be reviewed and

audited on a yearly basis - and on an as-needed basis, as determined by the governing body. In

addition, an effective management system would include internal reviews and audits on a

continuous basis to ensure accuracy and prevent fraud. Thus, two broad categories of audits -

external and internal - are important in holding schools accountable for the use of public funds.

An external audit is an objective, systematic review of resources and operations, followed by a

written or oral report of findings. Robert E. Everett et al.(1995) define three basic types of

external audits. Financial compliance audits address the "fairness of presentation of basic

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financial statements in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)".

This type of audit is most commonly associated with the annual independent audit that most

states require: namely, a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) to be prepared by the

school district that conforms to standards developed by the Governmental Accounting Standards

Board and state reporting requirements. It is the auditor's responsibility to render an opinion of

the financial statements contained in the CAFR, based on their audit of district records.

A program compliance audit is a review of a local education agency's adherence to the

educational and financial requirements of a specific funding source, such as a discretionary

federal grant. The third type of audit is a performance audit, which addresses the "economy and

efficiency of the local education agency (Everett et al., p. 4), examining a local education

agency's internal controls for weaknesses, which would expose possible mismanagement or

fraud.

Internal audits, on the other hand, are usually incorporated into a district's internal control

procedures, a system of checks and balances designed to ensure ongoing accountability by

requiring certain members of the organization to perform a financial audit on an individual or

department. For example, board of education members perform an audit each month on the

financial statements submitted to them for their approval. The requirement of multiple signatures

for the approval of a purchase order constitutes an internal audit of purchasing. The accounting

orbookkeeping department may also perform an audit on the general ledgerprior to closing the

financial statements at the end of each month.

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Future Trends

The school finance system, with its budgeting, accounting, and auditing sub-systems, was

designed to support the operation and improvement of public education. When a public budget is

aligned to the needs and programs of the state, county, or school; when the accounting structure

is clear and well constructed to reflect the way money is collected and spent; and when the

auditing process determines that money was managed legally and appropriately, then school

should have the tools to use funds effectively, efficiently, and productively. With new

technologies, a popular drive to improve the funding of education, greater interest in schools as

the decision-making unit, increased privatization of education, and the growing influence of

government agencies in determining accounting and budgeting principles, the nation faces an

interesting and challenging future in school finance.

2.9 Summary

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CHAPTER THREE

3.0 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses the study design and methodology used in collecting and analyzing data

on the assessment of financial management in secondary schools by looking at the target

population, sampling design and procedure, data collection and instruments and, procedure

validity and reliability of instruments and data analysis.

3.2 Research Design

This research was adopted as descriptive case study research design. The design is preferred for

it is fact finding and descriptive in the capacity of establishing the truth. Neuman (2000:74)

infers that descriptive research had the capacity to describe the present status of phenomena,

determining the nature of the prevailing conditions, practices and attitudes and seeking accurate

descriptions of activities. This study seeks to assess the financial management in secondary

schools.

3.3 Target Population

The study targeted the schools in the county of Kaloleni. The unit of analysis is the principals

and teachers of the secondary schools in the area.

3.4 Sampling Design and Procedure

A sample is a small proportion of a population selected for observation and analysis (Best and

Khan, 2004). Sampling on the other hand means selecting a given number of subjects from a

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definite population as a representative of that population. A sample procedure is a definite plan

determined before any data is collected for obtaining a sample from a given population.

Simple random sampling technique is to be used to select a sample from the principals and

teachers who are involved in financial management. A sample of 50 was selected.

Table 3.1 Sampling Frame and Size for the study

Category Population SamplePrincipals 30 15

Teachers 70 35

Total 100 50

3.5 Data Collection Instruments

Data was collected by use of open and closed ended questionnaires. The questionnaires consisted

of questions, which had both multiple choice and structured questions. The researcher is to

personally administer the questionnaires to ensure a high return rate. Interview schedule will also

be administered to the principals. Financial records are used to obtain data on the performance of

the organisation.

3.5.1 Data collection procedure

Data used was from primary and secondary sources. The production records were used to source

secondary data. The main research instruments used to collect primary data was the

questionnaires and interview schedules. The researcher administered the questionnaires to the

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selected respondents and also interviewed he supervisors and management in the respective

departments to verify data that was obtained.

3.6 Data Analysis

Data collected is to be processed, coded and analyzed to facilitate answering the research

objectives and questions. This was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The

descriptive analyses, included frequencies, percentages, tables and cross-tabulations, was used to

summarize, organize data and describe the characteristics of the sample population. Inferential

statistics was used in making deductions and generalizations about the whole population using

sample data. A chi-square test was used to establish whether there exists an association between

financial management and performance in schools. If a relationship is established, Spear man

rank order correlation is to be calculated to establish the nature of relationship. This was done

with the aid of a computer program - Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5

for windows.

financial management in secondary schools

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