PRINCIPALS’ FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR EFFECTIVE SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study examined principals’ financial management practices for effective administration of secondary schools in Anambra State. Two specific purposes and two research questions guided the study. Two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 534 respondents (267 principals and 267 bursars) in Public secondary schools in Anambra State. Census sampling technique was adopted for the study. A questionnaire structured by the researchers and titled “Financial Management Practices of Principals for Effective School Administration Questionnaire” (FMPPESAQ) was used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts. Two experts from the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one expert from the Department of Educational Foundation (Measurement and Evaluation) all in the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Internal consistency co-efficient for two clusters of the FMPPESAQ were 0.89 and 0.76 obtained using Cronbach’s Alpha method. Data were analyzed using mean and t-test. The findings of the study revealed that principals adopted all the budgetary control and inventory management practices for effective secondary school administration in Anambra State. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that the Government of Anambra State and educational authorities, particularly the State Post Primary School Service Commission (PPSSC), should organize regular workshops, seminars, and in-service training programmes on modern financial management practices.