FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated financial management practices and administrative effectiveness of secondary school principals in Anambra State, Nigeria. Three specific purposes, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 266 principals from the 266 public secondary schools in the state; which was used as the sample for the study. Structured questionnaires “Financial Management Practices Questionnaire (FMPQ) and Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (AEQ)” were used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts in Faculty of Education Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The questionnaires were trial tested using 20 principals in public secondary schools in Enugu State. Average internal consistencies co-efficient of 0.86 and 0.91 were obtained respectively using Cronbach Alpha statistical method. The researchers administered the instrument to the respondents with the help of five research assistants. Data were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The p-value was used to determine the significance of relationship at a significance level of 0.05 (5%). The findings revealed that there is relationship between principals’ financial management strategies (financial planning practice, financial budgeting practice, and financial disbursement monitoring) and administrative effectiveness in secondary schools in Anambra State. From the results of the hypotheses, significant relationship was established in all the variables of the study. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that secondary school principals need to be trained on financial planning practices as this will help them plan on how to spend school funds judiciously for school effectiveness. Principals should ensure that budgetary plans made and strictly adhered to in terms of implementation of the funds. Principals should always monitor how the funds allocated to various departments are expended to achieve school effectiveness.