Influence of Board of Management Skills on Financial Management in Public Primary Schools in Tharaka South Sub-County, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya.

Abstract

Proper management of financial resources in public primary schools is imperative to performance and academic productivity. Prudent school management has resulted to improved performances in financial management over the past years worldwide. However, there arose financial challenges characterized by failed education trainings for empowerment to assist in effective finance management. This study intended to investigate the influence of the Board of Managements’ on financial management in public primary schools in Tharaka South Sub-County, Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya. Various studies have been done globally in support to financial management in public primary schools however the current study was to cover Tharaka South Sub County. This study was guided by the following objectives; to investigate the influence of School Board of Management on budgetary process, financial planning process and audit process. The study used Correlation Research Design. The target population was 2801 comprising of 2464 Board members 336 Head Teachers and one Sub County. A sample size of 338 was considered composing of 296 Board members, 41 Head Teachers and one Sub County Director of Education. The instruments used were; Board of Management Questionnaire, Head Teacher Questionnaire and Sub County of Education Interview Schedule. Pilot study was done in the neighboring sub county of Tharaka North which had similar characteristics with the location of the study. The researcher purposively sampled 26 Board of management members and 26 Head Teachers has respondents who were thought to have useful information on financial management. Questionnaires’ reliability was estimated using Cronbach Alpha and estimated at 0.852 for Board members and 0.826 for head teachers. The instruments were found reliable for data collection because the reliability was above 0.700 and hence accepted for the study. Data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25.0. The instrument’s face and content validity were ascertained by the experts of Faculty of Education of Chuka University. The data was analyzed and presented in percentages, frequencies, figures, tables and means.The study established significant relationship between the variables and predicted the influence of Board of management members on financial management. The findings of the study established that financial management was important undertaking that lead to school development and eventual academic achievement. The study also established that trainings for Board members empowerment was on high demand in the area under study. It was recommended that the: BOM members should be involved in regular financial training and budgeting to overcome the ever increasing economic challenges and changing trends in financial management. Head Teachers should involve BOM in the Planning to provide cost effective educational programs that meet children’s needs. The school administrators should be accountable as far as expenditure within the budget is concerned and should show a high degree of transparency and accountability.