Influence of School Governance Practices on Financial Management of Public Secondary Schools in Kericho County, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya allocates money to school and provides guidelines on how it should be utilized and managed. Nevertheless, public secondary schools auditors have continued to report imprudence in financial management, school underdevelopment, financial crisis, inadequate infrastructures and learning materials; weak auditing practices, poor budgeting practices, poor record keeping, and inconsistencies in the procurement practices. The aim of this research was to examine the influence of school governance practices on financial management and determine if the interaction between these factors is moderated by the internal capacity of the Board of Management (BOM) in public secondary schools located in Kericho County, Kenya. The particular objectives were to evaluate the influence of financial control, financial reporting, participatory decision-making, and governance documentation on financial management in government high schools within Kericho County. The internal capacity of BOM was also assessed to determine its moderating influence between governance practices and financial management. The study was informed by systems theory, the school-based management model, the financial control theory, and participative leadership theory. The study adopted concurrent nested design and utilized mixed methods research approach. The target schools in the study were 239 out of which 30% were sampled results to a sample size of 72 schools. The units of observation included all the 72 principals and 72 Bursars and 72 student presidents from the sampled schools; one County School Auditor, 24 chairpersons of BOM. A combination of stratified, purposive, and simple random sampling techniques were employed in the study. The research used questionnaire, interview guide. Validity of the instruments was established through contents and construct validity, and additionally, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was employed to determine the consistency and dependability of the instruments used in the study. The quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, while, Spearman correlation and ordinal linear regression were used in testing relationship. The qualitative data was analyzed by employing thematic coding technique. Information was presented using tables and figures. Results show that financial management in public secondary schools was significantly influenced by the school governance practices. The internal capacities of BOMs was found insignificant moderator between school governance practices and financial management. It was noted that effective financial management required adequate governance documentation, implementation of clear financial policies, participative decision-making process, employee training and professional development; good financial record keeping practices, educated and exposed BOM members, and sound financial control measures. Deficiency in accounting capabilities, weak implementation of financial management policies, weak involvement of stakeholders, inadequate adoption of ICT, and inadequate qualified staff were common drawback noted in several schools, while, effective financial management require concerted effort of all stakeholders. The study recommended the need for retooling of finance staff, adherence to public procurement regulations, adoption of financial reporting systems, improved staff remuneration, collaborative decision-making and proper governance documentations. Results have implications on staff professional development, policy frameworks, motivation of finance staff, stakeholders’ involvement in decision-making and effective governance practices