Thesis:

Influence of principals’ budgetary practices on financial performance of public secondary schools in Murang’a east sub-county, Murang’a county, Kenya

This study assessed the influence of principals’ budgetary practices on financial performance of public secondary schools. Principals’ budgetary practices were characterized by stake holders’ involvement, budget preparation, budget monitoring and evaluation and budget reporting; while financial performance was measured by reduced expenses, increased revenue, limited liabilities as well as level of employees’ satisfaction. Mixed methodology and descriptive design were employed. The study location was secondary public schools in Murang’a East Sub-County. A target population of 986 respondents that is 31 Principals, 1 County Finance Auditor, 31 bursars’ or accounts clerks, 300 Board of Management members and 623 teachers was used. By use of Yamane’s formulae, a sample of 295 respondents comprising of 9 Principals, 1 County Finance Auditor, 9 bursars’ or accounts clerks, 90 Board of Management members and 186 teachers was obtained. Questionnaires, Interview schedules and document analysis guides were used as data collection tools. Testing for validity of instruments was done by vetting by experts and reliability tested using test-retest technique using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) formulae and adjusted to increase their reliability coefficients to 0.70. Piloting in two public secondary schools in Kirinyaga Central Sub-County was conducted to check validity and reliability of tools. Both descriptive as well as inferential statistics were used for analysis. Analysis for qualitative data was done thematically then presented in form of narration while quantitative data analysis was done using percentages, frequency tables and use of chi-square to test hypotheses using Statistical Packages for Social Science Version 23 and results interpreted by use of percentages along with frequency tables. The study found that most public secondary schools in Murang’a East Sub-County rarely adhere to stake-holders’ involvement, budget preparation, budget monitoring and evaluation and budget reporting practices geared towards improving financial performance. Therefore, the study proposes that schools must adhere to well-laid budgetary practices procedures and consider factors such as strategic planning, finance availability and sources of finance. Principals should headhunt skilled personnel to be members of Board of Management in the budgeting committee and consider stake-holders’ involvement, budget preparation, budget monitoring and evaluation and budget reporting. In addition, schools should conduct continuous evaluation of attainment of budgetary plans while constantly providing budget reports after implementation. However, the Ministry of Education ought to make sure that there is timely and efficient disbursement of school funds to allow time for productive scrutiny of school budgets.