| dc.description.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 | en_US |
