CAUSATIVE FACTORS OF FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IMO STATE

Abstract

The study investigated causative factors of financial mismanagement in public secondary schools in Imo State. Six research questions guided the study, and six hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 790 respondents, made up of 395 principals and 395 bursars in the 395 public secondary schools in Imo State. A census or total sampling technique was used for the study, since the entire population of 790 respondents is relatively small and manageable. A researcher-developed instrument titled "Causative Factors of Financial Mismanagement Questionnaire (CFFMQ)" was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts who were lecturers, two from the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one from the Measurement and Evaluation Unit of the Department of Educational Foundations, all from the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Using Cronbach's alpha for test of internal consistency, the coefficients for clusters I, II, and III of CFFMQ were 0.82, 0.78, and 0.80, respectively, with an overall coefficient of 0.80. The researchers, together with four research assistants, collected data for the study using the direct approach method, and a 98% return was recorded. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while the t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The results of the study showed, among others, that the financial planning, accountability, and monitoring factors cause financial mismanagement in public secondary schools in Imo State. Further results showed that there is a significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and bursars on the financial planning factors that cause financial mismanagement in public secondary schools in Imo State. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the Imo State Secondary Education Management Board should create a portal for principals to compulsorily write and submit the reports of their financial transactions on a termly basis to promote financial accountability for regulating financial mismanagement in secondary schools.