Relationship between principals' level of training and financial management in public secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

The ever-rising demand for financially efficient schools by educational stakeholders and the general public the world all over can not be overemphasized. Financial management in public schools is one of the key functions of the school principal and revolves around the sourcing and the utilization of all school funds in order to meet the school goals. This study established the relationship between principals' level of training and financial management of public secondary schools in Makueni County, Kenya. The article is an extraction study that was carried out in Makueni County and anchored on the Agency Theory as postulated by Jensen and Meckling. The study used a descriptive survey and a target population of 391 public secondary principals, 391 bursars, 391 Parents Association (PA) chairpersons, and 7 school auditors. Data was collected using questionnaires for both principals and bursars, observation checklists for PA chairpersons and interviews guides for sub-county school auditors. The collected data was analyzed using ATLAS-ti software. The quantitative data analyzed was presented using frequencies, percentages and tables to give it meaning while qualitative data was interpreted in the form of themes and narratives. The results of the study established that there is a strong positive relationship (of r (85) =0.879, p<0.05) between principals' level of training and financial management of public secondary schools. The study concluded that training for principals led to improved school financial management and that lack of training for some principals who had not attended any in-service training on financial management led to poor management of finances in some schools. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education (MoE) should provide continuous in-service training on financial management for all principals so as to equip principals with the requisite financial management skills for improved schools.