University of Nigeria Management Practices in... · University of Nigeria ... management practices of unity schools in Enugu and Ebonyi States. It was found ... provision of infrastructural

University of Nigeria Research Publications

ANYAEGBU, Comfort C. Au

thor

PG/Ph.D/04/35647

Title

Financial Management Practices in Federal

Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi State

Facu

lty

Education

Dep

artm

ent

Education

Dat

e

February, 2008

Sign

atur

e

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COLLEGES !N

. ENUGU AND EBONY1 STATES

ANYAEGBU, COMFORT C. PGlM.Edl04135647

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS FACULTY OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

NSUKKA

FEBRUARY, 2008

TITLE PAGE

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COLLEGES IN ENUGU

AND EBONY1 STATES

A RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS,

cI FACUTLY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA,

NSUKKA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS

DEGREE IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND PLANNING

ANYAEGBU, C.C. PG/M. Ed/O4/35647

SUPERVISOR: PROF. N.O. OGBONNAYA

FEBRUARY, 2008

OF EDUCATION, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNlVERlSTY OF

NIGERIA, NSUKKA

* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Prof. G.C. Unachukwu EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Dr. J.13. Orneje INTERNAL EXAMINER

. . .

n war ENT

CERTIFICATION

Anyaegbu Comfort C., a postgraduate student in the

Department of Educational Foundations and with Registration No.

PGlM.Edl04135647 has satisfactorily completed the requirement

for course work, and research work for the Masters Degree in

Educational Administration and Planning in the Department of

Educational Foundations.

The work contained in this project is original and has not

been submitted in part or full for any Diploma or Degree of this or

any other university.

DEDICATION

This my project report is dedicated to God Almighty to whom

all knowledge belong and to my husband and children who

encouraged me to go in for further education

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my profound gratitude to my thesis

Supervisor, Professor N.0, Ogbonnaya, whose advice,

support and untiring efforts inspired more interest in me

with which I finished the work. I remain grateful to him.

Special thanks are expressed to the various unity schools'

principals and teachers, who demonstrated their kindness

and interest in responding to my questionnaire items.

. I am very grateful to a number of people who in one

way or the other have been instrumental to the success of

this work. In this respect, I wish to thank Dr ( M r s ) A.I. . , . 'i '

Oboegbulam, Dr (Mrs) Onwura, Engr J.B. Duru, Mr Isaac / /

Okehi, Mrs Nonye Obichukwu, Mrs V.I. Okpomo (My ,I

Principal), Mrs N. Ogbo and Osuji Chinedu. They have

been a source of inspiration to me and have given me

every necessary encouragement. They deserve more

gratitude from me than I can express here.

vii

Special thanks to my colleagues in my department

(C.R.K.) for their encouragement and understanding

during this research work. My thanks to Mrs Theresa A.

Okeke of the School of General Studies, University of

Nigeria, Enugu Campus, who typed the thesis, and any

other person who was helpful to me in the execution of

this work, but who has escaped being mentioned, I am

indebted.

Finally, I wish to appreciate the efforts and

encouragement of my husband, Dr S.N. Anyaegbu, and

my children, Ekene, Ejike, Chidiogo and Chisom, whose

, prayers and understanding sustained me to a successful

end. .. ,,. ..,. + . . . r l * .

ANVAEGBU C.C. (MRS)

January, 2008

ABSTRACT

One of the greatest challenges facing some principals is in the

management of resources whether limited or abundant (Obi, 2003).

Hence, the situation in Federal Government Colleges today is, just

as in most other facets of national life, frustrating to say the least.

Items like computers, typewriters and scientific laboratory materials

are insufficient to cope with the explosive population of students.

Some principals of unity schools have been accused about

how funds provided to schools are managed. At times principals

divert school funds to private use, building houses in the cities.

Hence, financial management practices of principals in Enugu and

Ebonyi states have come to public notice and need to be

investigated. . ,. . "1. 7 . "+ '

The main purpose of this study is to find out the financial

management practices in unity schools in Enugu and Ebonyi States. , I . ..

Four research questions and four null hypotheses were

formulated for the study. A twenty-eight item questionnaires were

administered on 4 principals, 4 bursars and 561 teaching staff of

unity schools in Enugu and Ebonyi States. Mean scores and

standard deviation were used to answer the four research

questions, while t-test statistics was used to test the four null

hypotheses. From the analysis of the data and discussions, the

opinions of the teachers and bursars were found. The researcher

found that something is wrong with the present state of financial

management practices of unity schools in Enugu and Ebonyi States.

It was found out that there was lack of adequate training of

teachers and bursars before and after appointment in financial

management practices, good budgeting principles in budget

preparation, the modalities for release of fund/disbursement, the

attitudes of the federal pay office officials in demanding gratification

from the principals before they do their jobs, hinder financial

management practices in the federal schools. The researcher in the

light of the findings recommended that teachers and bursars should

be armed with financial management manual and handbook on

budget preparation and.implem.entation, that the Federal Ministry of

Education should from time to time organize seminars and

workshops for teachers and bursars. Federal Government should

make funds available to schools on time, teachers and bursars

should be given incentives for effective teaching and learning, and

that the officers of federal pay office should attend to schools

promptly and should not demand gratification from schools before

they do their duties.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE . ~. . . . . . . . . * I

APPROVALPAGE ... . . . - . . . . - . " . ~ . = I I

CERTIFICATIION . " . . . . . . . s . . ... * . . Ill

DEDICATION .. . . . . . . . . . " ... . . . IV

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT " . . . . . . " . , . . . . , V

ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . , ~ . . ~ V I

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... . . . ... " . . . . ~ X

Chapter One ... ... ... " . " . . . ,.. . . .

Introduction . " . . . n . . . . . ~ - . - . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Background of the Study

Statement of the Problem .. . " . . . . ~ . . " . . . ., ,? , . -1. 4 ' , , 44 .

. . . . . . Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . .

Significance of the Study ... .., . . . . . . . . .

Scope of the Study . . . ... . . . . . . . . . .

Research Questions ... . . . " . . ... ... . , .

Hypothesis ... . . . ... . . . . . . ... . . .

... ... ... Chapter Two ... ... 14

Review of Related Literature ... ... ... ... 14

... ~heoretical/~onceptual Framework ... 14

Concept and Importance of Financial Management in

Educational Institutions ... ... ... ... 15

Sources of Funds for the Management of Federal

Government Colleges ... ... ... ... ... 24

Basic Procedure of Managing Funds in Federal

... ... ... Government Colleges ... ... 32

Modalities for release of Funds/Disbursement to

... Federal Government Colleges ... ... 33

Problems of Financial Management in Federal

Government Colleges ... ... ... ... ... 36

Review of Related Studies ... ... ... ... 40

... Summary of the Literature Review ... ... .l "t

45 . < . . . a ..

... ... ... Research Method ... ... 48

... ... ~ d s i ~ n of the Study ... ... ... 48

... . . a . a . ... Area of the Study ... 48

... ... Population of the Study ... ... 49

... Sample and Sampling Technique ... ... 49

... ... ... Instrument of Data Collection 50

Validation of the Instrument ... ... ... ... 50

... . a . ... deliability of the Instrument ... 51

... ... ... Method of Data Collection ... 51

... ... ... Method of Data Analysis ... 52

... ... ... ... Chapter Four ...

... ... Presentation and Analysis of Data ...

Chapter Five ... ... . .

Discussion of Findings. Implications and

... ... ... ... Recommendations ...

... ... ... Discussion of Findings ... ...

... Educational Implication of the Findings ...

... Limitation of the Study ... ... ...

... Suggestion for Further Studies ... ... . . . . .

... summary and Conclusions ... ... ...

... ... References ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ... Appendices ...

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education is the most effective instrument that can be used

to bring about change. It is the most profitable investment that a

nation can make for the quick development of its economic, socio-

political and human resources; its success is hinged on adequate

funding.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria in her national Policy on

education (2004) acknowledged education as an instrument per

excellence for effecting national development. This implies that

education is an indispeirWBle' instrument or tool for solving the

social, economic, political or sociological problem of the country.

The policy document spelt out .the objectives of every level of

educational system. The objectives of secondary education

include preparation of the youths of this country for useful living

within the society and preparation for higher education. And the

achievement of these objectives requires funds. The funds are

necessary for the payment and employment of staff, for

procurement of instructional materials, for the day-to-day

administration of the school, for organizing seminars, conferences

and workshops (Ogbonnaya, 2000).

The aim of establishing Federal Government Colleges is to

bring together teenage children in their formative years to study in

the same environment for inculcating national consciousness and

national unity. There are at present 102 Federal Government

Colleges distributed all over the 36 states of the federation,

financed by the Federal Government.

Federal Government principals are the chief

executiveslaccounting officers of their respective schools. They

are r&ponsible for assignment of responsibilities to bursars,

teachers and other personnel, initiating and supervising the

implementation of the curricular programmes of their schools,

management of phys,is~b. facilities and equipment and more

importantly, financial management. Federal Government College

principals are supposed to generate funds internally to run their

schools as well as ensure 'that *funds provided by the Federal

Government are well managed. School fees are a major source of

income and are used by the principals to run their respective

schools. There are of course other sources of fund to the schools.

These include: ParentsITeachers Association (P.T.A.) levies,

3

donations (during inter-house sports competitions) sale of farm

proceeds, hiring of school hall, donation from old boys and girls

associations, sales of uniforms and badges.

In spite of all these sources of funds available to Federal

Government College principals, some school activities and

programmes are not being effectively handled because of lack of

adequate funds. This fact is corroborated by Eze (2005) in his . study of Federal Government Colleges in the Eastern States of

Nigeria. This lack of funds or inadequate funds affects the

provision of infrastructural facilities, and some equipment like

chairs, tables, office equipment and stationeries. It also affects the

provision of instructional instrumental materials including audios-

visual equipment and laboratory materials. Lack of these

materials, of course, militates against effective teaching and ..,

management. The question at this juncture is, what is financial

management?

Financial management is concerned with procuring,

expending, accounting and maintaining the financial and material

resources of organizational objectives (Ogbonnaya, 2003).

Financial administration is therefore the fundamental element on

which the success of any organization, including a school,

depends. No institution or organization has ever succeeded in

achieving its set objectives without proper utilization of is financial

resources (funds).

Financial management has also been described as the

administration of funds under the guidance of a body of knowledge

and a disciplined way of proceedings (Obinna, 1985), This

implies that financial management is a process of planning,

controlling and disbursing . . fgn& , mapped out for specific projects.

Financial management aims at securing funds and utilizing such i funds effectively on the projects mapped out.

, I . . Effective financial management is the fundamental elements

in which the success of any organization depends (Ogbonnaya,

1999): It is for this reason that educational institutions lay hands

on financial experts who not only plan the procurement and

utilization of the resource of the institution, but also for the

accurate recording and control of income and expenditure.

The success of any school programme depends very much

on the way the financial inputs are managed and this in turn affects

the over all performance of the school. In fact without good

financial management, the programme of Federal Government

Colleges will not be properly implemented. For Onu (1984), a

financial manager has to be a technocrat in the management

endeavour and takes management as a way of life.

Some of the principals are accused of lacking the necessary

training required of a financial manager, while still others are

accused of imposing illegal levies on students. Parentsrreachers

Association in Federal Government Colleges has a lot of money in

their account. Hence parents and teachers campaign to be

elected into the executive . ,, . . vl. for, yt iptance from 1998 to 2005 newly

admitted students and students on transfer from other schools to

the Federal Government College, Enugu paid N7,000.00 each as

Parents./Teachers Association ''levies. This was stopped on1 3th

September, 2005, when the Director, primary and secondary

education issued a circular of approved fees in Federal

Government Colleges in which ParentsITeachers Association levy

was pegged down to N500.00 (five hundred naira) per student.

The presmt economic situation requires that the managers

of schools sho~tid ensure that school funds are prudently spent

and accounted for. This is in contrast to what the situatio-n was in

the 70's and 80's when the government did not lay emphasis on

accountability. As a result, most sectors of the economy, including

the educational sector, was poorly funded.

Financial management has always been a nagging problem

in the administration of Federal Government Colleges with

particular reference to Federal Government Colleges in Enugu and

Ebonyi States, because the financial management practices of the

principals have been fraught with accusation and public

disenchantments and therefore need to be investigated into.

Research studies indicate that a lot of constraint militates against

the principals' effort to run an administration free of financial ills.

Constraints such as., ,qmrr!~\h~d of disbursement of fund, non-

paymentllate payment of school fees, lack of traininglinadequate

training of bursars and principals. No research work has been

carried out on financial hanaiernent practices in Federal

Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi States.

It is against this background, that this study is designed to

investigate the financial management practices in Federal


Statement of the Problem

The importance of funds to educational institutions cannot be

over-emphasized (Ezeako, 1996). Again, the importance of

prudent financial management of funds in educational institutions

cannot. be under-estimated. To operate any system or project

without adequate fund is quite an up-hill task which could lead to

either non accomplishment or frustration on the job (Ezeocha,

1997). It then follows that those placed in charge of the

management of school funds should be prudent in handling such

funds in order to achieve the objectives of the institution.

One of the grealsf"cha'l!en'ges facing some principals is in

the management of resources whether limited or abundant (Obi,

2003). Hence, the situation in Federal Government Colleges today I I

is, just as in most other facets of national life, frustrating to say the

least. Items like computers, typewriters and scientific laboratory

materials are insufficient to cope with the explosive population of

students.

Braille machines are not enough for the blind students. Most

books in the library are obsolete. Magazines and journals are

hardly available. The medical doctors in health clinics are usually

inexperienced national youth corpers deployed to these institutions.

This arises from inadequate fund usually said by our government

even in the midst of oil boom which should ensure adequate

revenue to this nation.

Some principals of unity schools have been accused about

how funds provided to schools are managed. At times principals

divert school funds to private use, building houses in the cities.

Hence, financial management practices of principals in Enugu and

Ebonyi States have come to public notice and need to be

investigated.

Purpose of the Study + * q " " ' - " ' "' '

The main purpose of the study is to find out the financial

management practices in unity schools ,in Enugu and Ebonyi States. I I

Specially, the study will:

1. Identify the sources of funds for the management of Federal


9

Identify the procedures of budget preparation in Federal


Find out the items of expenditure by the principals and

bursars in Federal Government Colleges in Enugu and

Ebonyi States.

Establish how funds are managed by the principals,

bursars and teachers in Federal Government Colleges in

Enugu and Ebonyi States.

Significance of the study

Financial management is the process of ensuring the

availability of financial resources and that these resources are

effectively and efficiently utilized. It may also be described as

making decisions on financial matters and facilitating and

reviewing their execution. . --I. +. . . l a . principals are chief accounting officers in their respective

schools and the responsibility of being in charge of funds lies on 11

their shoulders. As such sound knowledge of financial

management should be their watch words to enable them achieve

the objectives of secondary school education.

The study is highly significant because it is essentially an

empirical enquiry into the financial management practices in

~ederal Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi States. The

study when completed will create awareness to the Federal

Government, officers of Federal Ministry of Finance, office of the

accountant general of the federation and Federal Pay Office

(F.P.O:), the procedure in which budge preparation in Federal

Government Colleges constitute delay in the release of funds.

It will be useful to ParentsJTeachers Association and other

general public who has continued to render financial assistance

towards the sustenance of the schools and who anticipate that the

funds mapped out for projects are properly utilized and accounted

for.

The findings will equally be of immense help to the office of

the accountant general.,of.,fbe..federation and officials of federal

ministry of finance and federal pay office (F.P.01.) so that they

should improve on their

schools to check delays

educational programme.

methods of disbursement o f funds to , . .

that hamper the implementation of good

Researchers on financial management

and other areas of school administration will benefit from the

findings of this study as it will broaden their knowledge since it will

serve as a reference material. The research is also significant

because it will enable the policy makers of various schools to

reconsider their stand in the realization, acceptance and utilization

of the service of financial experts, since without them, successful

financjal decision can hardly be taken or implemented.

Scope of the Study

The study will be limited to Federal Government Colleges in

Enugu and Ebonyi States and its focus is on the financial

management practices iri Federal Government Colleges in Enugu

and Ebonyi States with specific focus on:

1. Sources of funds for the management of Federal


2. The procedures of budget preparation in Federal

Government Colleges.

3. ' Items of exp,[email protected] .by the principals in Federal


4. How funds are managed by the principals in Federal

Government college&:

Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study.

What are the sources of funds for the management of

Federal Governtnent Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi

States?

What are the procedures of budget preparation in Federal

Government Colleges?

What are items of expenditure by the principals in Federal


How are funds managed by the principals in Federal


Hypothesis

The following hypotheses have been formulated to guide the

study. . , , , . . * I . , * ' . I ? '

1. ' There is no significant difference between the mean

ratings of the bursars and teachers with regards to the

sources of funds for th'e financial management in Federal


2. There is no significant difference between the mean

ratings of the bursars and teachers on the procedures of

budget preparation in Federal Government Colleges in

Enugu and Ebonyi States.

There is no significant difference between the mean

ratings of the bursars and teachers on the items of

expenditure in Federal Government Colleges in Enugu

and Ebonyi States.

There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of

the bursars and teachers on how funds are managed in

Federal Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi

States.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LlTERATURE

The review of literature related to this study was carried out

under three main sub-headings namely:

(a) Conceptual framework.

(b) Review of empirical studies.

(c) Summary of literature review.

Conceptual Framework:

This will treat:

Concept and importance of financial management in

educational institutions.

Sources of funds for the management of Federal

Government Colleges. - ,, . * I . ,*' r t *

Basic procedure for managing funds of Federal Government

Colleges.

Modalities for release11 of #undsldisbursement to Federal


Problems of financial management in Federal Government

Colleges.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework:

Concept and Importance of Financial Management in

Educational Institutions

Finance as defined by (Ogbonnaya, 2000), is a body of facts,

principles and theories dealing with the raising and using of funds

by business firms, educational institutions and government bodies.

Webskr's Dictionary (1994) defined finance as the money,

resources, and the income of a nation, organization or an

individual.

Finance is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica (1964) as

the act of providing means of payment. Sheall and Herlsy (1977)

defined finance as a body of facts, principles and theories dealing

with raising and using of funds by individual, business times and

government. Finance according. . , ,, . . . . ,* to Webster Encyclopedia Unabridged Dictionary of English language is the management of

public revenue, the conduct or transfer of money matters

especially those affecting the public.'' Hornby (1974) defined

finance as the issue of management of money especially public

money

The term management in general usage implies the process

by which a corporate group directs action towards achievement of

goals. Peretomode (1991) sees management as the social or

interactional process involving a sequence of coordinated events -

planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling or leading in

order to use available resources to achieve a desired outcome in

the fastest and most efficient way.

Management is defined by Nwachukwu in Mgbodile (2004),

as the coordination of all the resources of an organization through

the process of planning, organization, directing and controlling in

order to attain organizational objectives. Sherleker (1984) sees it

as the. guidance, leadership and control of the efforts of people

toward some common objectives. Koontz, 0' Donne1 and

Wechrlck (1980) present management as a set of activities which

is primarily concerned with planning, organizing, staffing,

controlling and coordinating.

Ndu, Ocho, OKeke (ed) (1997) opined that management of . ,, ..l. 4 , .' schools deals with that phase of school administration that is

concerned with procuring, expending, accounting, organizing and

maintaining fiscal and material 'resources in an effective manner.

From the above definitions of management, one can deduce

that management is a social process which has goals to achieve, it

involves planning, organizing, staffing, leadership, directing,

controlling and coordinating of the efforts of people towards the

achievement of goals. Management is also the guidance or

direction of people towards organizational goals or objectives.

Financial management is therefore a procedure, an art or

manner of handling public or private resources tactfully in order to

achieve set goals and objectives of an institution or organization.

It is the application of innovative procedures in handling public

funds or resources with the aim of achieving goals in mind.

Ogbonnaya (2000: 13) opined that "financial management is

concerned with decisions on how to procure, expend and give

accounts of funds provided for the implementation of programmes

of an organization." Dandy (1 979) defined financial management

as that managerial activity which is concerned with the planning

and controlling of a firm's financial resources. It has a no unique

, body of knowledge of its own, and it draws heavily on economic for

its theoretical concepts. . ,, . . "I. 7 . , "a .

Farrant in Onye (1999) referred to financial management as

embracing financial planning which involves budgeting, auditing,

capital expenditure, external aids, grants-in-aids, purchasing and

salary payment. According to Obinna (1985) financial

management means the raising and administering of funds under

the guidance of a body of knowledge and a disciplined way of

proceeding. According to Oliobi (1990), it deals with the resources

of funds, their efficient uses and minimization of costs or less for

the greater profitability of the business and in ministerial

department, in post primary institutions for enhancing the welfare

of students and staff.

Financial management is directly concerned with decision

making on the proper use of available fund in any public

organization, a policy which is continually directed towards making

the best use of funds for prudence and accountability. For

Ogbonnaya (2003) financial management "policies" refer to

general guide to action adopted by the government or educational

institution for the procurement, utilization and control of funds.

It follows that those functions of the chief executives that

involves taking decision on how best to secure the required funds,

the judicious expenditure of the funds on embarked programmes,

and rendering of accurate . , , 4 . ."I. .* .accounts , after implementation are

financial management. Basically, it could be simply put that

financial management deals with the determination of expenditure,

income as well as collection, handling and disbursement of public

funds:

Oguchime (1995) opined that financial management must be

based -on sound financial planning. Aguchime (1 995) summarized

financial management as involving:

(a) The sourcing of funds for education or other

organizational programmes,

(b) Finances and capital resources and their disbursement;

and

(c) Rendering an up-to-date account of the funds.

In addition to raising of funds, financial management is

directly concerned with decision-making on or the proper use of

available funds, it must be appreciated that financial management

is the utilization of all available financial resources to accomplish

the organizational goals. An organization needs to structure itself

into a hierarchy of levels 'bf 'management. For example, in a

schooE system, we have the principal, vice principals, dean of

studies, heads of department, sectional. heads and bursars. All

these hierarchies play a vital role in school financial management.

The basic function of financial management, according to

Dalton (1992) is planning. He proposes seven levels of financial

management in school system. They are:

Planning of the needs of funds.

Budgeting the use of funds.

Obtaining funds required (i.e. funding).

Accounting for the receipts and use of funds.

Reporting - that is to check on the use of the funds by

looking at the receipts.

Auditing the school account and

Reviewing, that is to report to the state executives.

According to Ezra (1 ., 969),. ,, .. FQme important routine financial

management approaches are:

(a) Supervision of cash receipts and payment and ,(

safeguarding of cash balance.

(b) Custody and safeguarding of securities, insurance,

policies and other finance related documents.

(c) Record keeping and reporting.

Every prospective educational administrator and planner or

practitioner therefore requires to be conversant with financial

management terminologies, concepts, and financial management

principles in order to practice as chief executive of institutions or

organizations. According to Ogbonnaya (2002)) the knowledge of

education finance helps to provide proper and adequate

information to accounting officers like vice-chancellors of

universities, rectors of polytechnics, provosts of colleges of

education and principals of secondary schools on when to apply

for grants, which capital projects to embark upon or to discontinue

or when to seek financial assistance from individuals,

organizations and governments.

According to Aghenta in Adesina and Ogunsaju (1984), he

commented that the greatest problem secondary schools have

about financing the ~chb(il '~piog?ahne is wastage, the money

available is never carefully used. In his view, it has been alleged

by many peo.ple that the money the government votes for running 11

the schools, that much of it does not get to the school and the little

that goes there is normally wasted by those whose responsibility is

to manage the schools. He explained that it is important to plan for

school revenue, plan how to use it wisely when it comes and work

your plan carefully when you are faced with the actual situation.

Suffice it to say that, the knowledge of financial management is

important for school administrators to avoid wastages and for

making wise use of the funds available for the achievement of

objectives.

For the school administrator to be able to carry out his

functions as the school financial manager, he needs some training

on school business management. The study carried out by Anozie

(1991) revealed that it is necessary to train the school

administrators on financial management through workshops on

financial management skills to improve their skills in the area of

financial management.

From the above assertions, the importance of managing

funds for effective implementation of educational programmes . ,,.."I..*. . . I + .

cannot be underestimated. It is the fund allocated to the

educational sector and programmes that determines:

The number and quality of personnel to be employed,

their status, payment of their salaries and allowances.

The provision of instructional materials such as books,

science equipment, games equipment and stationery.

T5e prov;si:~n rrlade for students and staff welfare.

The paymerit of Sills ( e y . NEPA, P.M.B., and other

n?iscellaneous expenses. UIIVZJ;(SIMI

Ule~mj Suffice it to :jay that administrat~is should ensure that the

gcnarated revenue has to be spent judiciously so as to achieve the

objectives of the school. Oshisami. (I 992) opined that financial

managcrnent is the process which assures that financial resources

are obtained econcmically and used efficiently and effectively in

the accm-rplishment o? desired goals. Hence, the success or ., ,, . . - 3 . ,I. , .,* '

failure of ihe school system depends to a great extent on the skills

in schsci financial inar~agement.

Sources of Funds for the Management of Federal Government C

Colleges

The achievement of educational goals depends on adequate

financial support. The federal government of Nigeria is aware of

this fact; hence, she provides funds to federal institutions

throughout the country. For example, the federal government,

through the National Universities Commission (NUC) provides

funds to all federal universities to meet their capital and recurrent

expend'itures. The federal government also funds its own

polytechnics, colleges of education through the National

Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE). She also funds

unity schools. The federal government is aware that money is

needed to pay staff, maintain the school plant, and keep service

going. Education is universally accepted as a form of investment

in human beings, which'~'))lkllas'"economic and social benefits or

returns both to the individual and to the society as a whole, hence

it has become an expensive enterprise, which requires a well

planned funding approach.

According to Mgbodile (2003) the main sources of funds

available to educational institutions include, school fees,

government grants, proceeds from school activities, community

efforts, donations from individuals and charity organizations;

endowment funds, external aids, Petroleum Trust Fund. However

government grants constitute principal source of funding

education.

Adesina in Mgbodile (2003) stated that government grants

fall under two categories of capital and recurrent grants. Capital

and recurrent grants represent a major source of funds to unity

schools for erection of new buildings, major repairs of old ones, the

purchase of hardware, school equipment and payment of staff

salaries and allowances, Oguchime (I 995) referred to these grants

as government subsidy or aids. In the recent past, this grant or

subsidy from the government is no longer always sent in the form

of physical cash. Rather, the federal government sends materials

desks.' Federal government

physical infrastructures such

staff quarters in schools.

reconstruction and modern

like instructional materials; textbooks for the school library; games . ,. ."l. 4 . r "'+ .

equipment, laboratory equipment; classroom chairs and reading

is also involved in construction of

as classroom blocks, libraries and

It also provides funds for repairs,

ization of school structures and

equipment. In the same vein, the federal government makes funds

available for the payrnent of both tutorial and non-tutorial staff

salary and other benefits. In addition, it sponsors seminars and

workshops for the improvement of teaching and learning.

Another major source of funding unity schools is through

school fees. In the view of this, Ogbonnaya (2000) observed that

school'fees constitute one of the major sources of funds for the

Nigeria educational system. The school fees is the sum total of

the amount of money paid by the students at the beginning of each

term or academic year. Other fees which are paid include:

boarding fee, drugs, academic data result sheet (ADRS),

stationery for exam, workshop, laboratory and agricultural

equipment, sports equipment, . reports booklet folder,

parentslteachers association (P.T.A.) levies, and other fees that

may be imposed.

However, Director, Primary and Secondary Education, on . , , 4 1 . I *

behalf of the Honourable Minister on 13th of September 2005,

issued a circular to all the principals of federal government

colleges on the approved fees payable in all the federal

government colleges. These fees include: Boarding N4000.00,

Equipment Nl00.00, Sports N150.00, Stationery N200.00,

Vocational subjects N300.00, Medical N200.00, Caution N500.00

(New 'students only), Identity card N200, Parentsneachers

Association (PTA) N500.00.

The circular directed that any other P.T.A. contribution/levy is

voluntary and must be approved by the ministry before

implementation. The circular further noted that tuition is free in all

the unity schools. These fees are payable per term. This circular

was issued as a result of arbitrary fees paid in federal government

colleges. These fees are paid into the school bank account. The

monies realized are for repairs and upkeep of the school. The

schools render account to the headquarters monthly; including the

subventions received and internally generated funds.

Another source of fund for the management of unity schools

is fund gotten through support from ParentsiTeachers Association

(P.T.A.) and the community. According to Eze (2000), the . ,, , .*I. ". , .'+ '

secondary school is part and parcel of the community in which it is

located because about ninety percent of the students are the

children of the members of that community. With an establishment

of good support and cordial relation between the school and the

community, the members of the community are lured and

persuaded into having deep sense of concern and commitment for

the welfare of the school. This is sequel to the fact that one of the

2 8

major objectives of the schools is to educate the children so that

they can become useful citizens in the community. Educating the

children will then bring about progress and development in the

community. This is in line with Ezeocha's (1992) observation that

The main purpose served by the school is to educate the individual so that he can be a useful and adjusted member of the community. The children are the bridge between the school and the community because he belongs to both. It is the school that given the children or the community formal education.

A good school administrator should therefore always involve

the community in the school activities like the annual inter-house

sporting activities, the speech and prize-giving day, the orientation

of the new students, debates, educative film shows, quiz

competitions, endowment funds, launching for the development of

the school and the commissioning ceremony of a new building . ,. . . " I . .. .,+ '

structure in the school.

Obi (2003) opined that from the practical point of view, it

appear? that the bulk of the eff&s of the P.T.A. are generally in

the areas of collection of levies for the sustenance of the schools

and for the provision of some basic needs of the schools.

Ezeocha in Obi (2003) reports that P.T.A. has become so

identified with fund in some states today that the mention of the

association has come to be synonymous with school levy.

Principals can also generate funds internally. Although the

federal government impose very stiff stringent measures on the

unity schools' principals on what they refer to as "collection of

illegal levies", the principals resort to some meticulous and tactful

generation approaches. Aguchime (1995) identified them as

follows: proceeds from the school uniforms, badges, handbooks,

magazines and physical education outfits and cash donations, gifts

from benevolent individuals during prize-giving days and inter-

house sports. Schools can also generate funds internally from

gate-taking during organized drama and educative film shows,

sales from the good art work and crafts from the students of the

fine art department, dividends from outings of school cultural 4 f

troops, hiring of sch~ol~hat ls and other items for special occasions

like meetings and weddings, money accruing from the issuance of

testimonials, transfer certificates and statement of results to the I I

outgoing students of the school Ogbonnaya, (2000).

However, Nwanna (1997) rightly pointed out that money from

the internally generated funds contribute immensely towards the

amelioration of the school's financial problems. It is from this

money that the sundry and exigent school expenditures are made.

This augments the funds given to the principals by the federal

government.

Another major source of funds to schools is donation from

philanthropic organizations and benevolent individuals. According

to Ozigi (1992), it is very difficult, if not impossible to cite any

educational institution or establishment, no matter how small that

has lived and succeeded without external aids from organizations

and philanthropic individuals. As postulated by Ukeje (1989), rich

citizens can assist education by means of endowments. These

are funds

resources,

made available by individual citizens who have the

specifically for the advancement of education.

It is germane to note the contribution of the Old Boys and

Girls' Association towards financing their Alma matter. Members

, 4 4 % > ,*' of the Old Boys or Glr~s' Association hold meetings and

discussions on how to enhance the ego of their Alma mater

through voluntary donation? and even the erection of

infrastructures like classroom blocks. As Ezeocha (1 992) rightly

pointed out Old Boys or Girls Association has been a strong force

in recent years encouraging competitive activities among old

members of particular schools for the development of

infrastructural facilities as well as helping their old schools to

sustain their academic and moral balance. Financial contribution

of the Old Boys or Girls Association need not to be over-

emphasized. For example, in the year 2000, when one of the old

boys of Federal Government College, Enugu visited with his

entourage, the present Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Ahmed

Makarifi, he donated over N5,000,000 (Five million) for the up keep

of the school.

Another source of fund is through endowment funds,

Mgbodili (2003) opined that endowment funds represents money,

property, etc given to a school or an educational institution to help

it solve some of its pressing financial problems. Donations and

endowments have been made to secondary and tertiary levels of

education by rich Nigerians, such as late Chief Moshood Abiola,

Chief Gabriel Igbinedi~n','-Dr K4.T. Mbu, just to mention a few. One

source of encouragement as Ekpo (1992) noted is that endowment

funds are very highly progressive though they depend on the good I I

will of the donors. If well planned, endowment funds can increase

the revenue base of our educational institutions. They should be

used for capital projects not spent on frivolous things.

Having x-rayed a number of existing sources of funds for our

educational institutions, it must be appreciated if new avenue could

be explored for sources of funds for schools. This would n o doubt

enhance the financial situation of unity schools and also improve

efficient and effective schools administration and academic

excellence.

Basic Procedure of Managing Funds in Federal Government

Colleges

In Federal Government Colleges the principals are the chief

accounting officers. As the chief accounting officers of their

schools, the responsibilities of the principals include:

1. Preparing annual account and budget and transmitting I

same to the Federal Ministry of Finance. . , , , . . . , . . * . , , . I 8 .

2. Keeping records of funds allocated to the school,

including donations.

3. Keeping accurate accounts of money received and

expended.

4. Authorizing all expenditures and demanding receipts to be

used during accounting or auditing.

The basic procedure for managing fund in Federal

Government Colleges starts with budget preparation.

Modalities for release of Funds/Disbursement to Federal

Government Colleges

Budgeting:

The processes and procedures for the release of funds to

unity schools start with the budgeting process.

Budgeting Process:

Before the budget is prepared, the ministry of education . , 4 . . . .'

issues circular in which the unity schools and all other departments

in federal ministry of education are told to submit their

requirements in form of a budget for the proceeding year. To

effectively carry out this exercise, the principal of the college

requests that the various heads of departments submit their

budget estimates to him both capital and recurrent.

The estimates of the various departments and sub-units are

compiled by the principal as the school budget estimates and sent

to the budget office of the federal ministry of education. The

budget office is under the finance and supplies department. The

principals are required to defend their budgets/proposals. The

budget estimates of the unity schools are then included in the

budget of the ministry which is sent to the National Assembly for

scrutiny and approval. At the National Assembly, the committee

on education peruses the document and makes any necessary

amendments. When the different committees of the National I

Assembly have finished with the budget estimates of their

ministries and parastatals, they report to the committee of the

whole house which approves the budget and sends same to the I

president for his assent. After the president's assent, the budget is

then moved to the office' W'thG* minister of finance. The finance 1

ministry (budget office) prepares and raises warrant tot the

Honourable Minister of Finance. The minister approves and signs I t

the warrant and sends same warrant to the office of the

Accountant General of the Federation (AGF). The Accountant

General of the Federation (AGF) processes the warrant, prepares

mandate and sends the same mandate to the Central Bank of

Nigeria (CBN).

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirms the mandate to

know if the ministry has such money. If confirmed, the CBN

applies and credits bank account of line ministries, agencies and

parasatals in the ministrylgovernment. The agencies, parastatals,

colleges etc. make payment of salaries and costs through authority

to incur expenses (AIE) which of necessity must be cash backed.

The Federal Pay Office then pays same amount to the college or

the relevant body.

lkpeama (1998) remarked that for effective accounting, the

schools are expected to keep financial record of all the fees and

levies collected in the school. The principals must ensure that all . ,,,. " t . . I ' , '

cash books are correctly written and kept up to date. However,

proper financial management is very necessary in educational

institution for effective and efficient management of schools. This

ensures the smooth running and attainment of the desired goal of

the institution.

Problems of Financial Management in Federal Government

Colleges

The problem of managing fund in federal government

colleges from information gotten are numerous and varied. These

include:

i. Non-paymentllate payment of school fees.

ii. Method of disbursement of the allocated fund.

iii. Lack of trainingtinadequate training of bursars and

principals in financial management.

iv. : Problems emanating from some parentstteachers

association executive members.

v. . Mismanagement of funds.

Non-paymentliate payment 'of school fees is one of the

problems experienced in unity schools, especially as it pertains to

students from the Northern States who claim that they are on

scholarship from their various state governments. Also late

payment of school fees from some of the parents. Again, some

students' device tactics to evade payment of fees and other

approved levies. Some students are often unwilling to pay

approved levies and could go to any length in order to achieve

their aim. They display some tricks aimed at causing confusion

that will make them evade payment of such levy. They could claim

to have paid when they actually have not. The principals have

often had to deliberate on alternative means of collecting approved

fees and levies from students. One of such means now resorted

to, is to collect such levies during class tests or examinations. A

more iecent approach in school fees collection involves the direct

banking system, of collecting school fees directly into some

designated commercial bank draft of the amount paid, submit the 1

bank draftlteller to the school bursars. Parentslstudents however,

waste precious hours at

days (Onyike, 2000).

Another problem

the

of

banks during the exercise on school

managing funds in our federal

government colleges is the issue of method of disbursement of . , 4 ..,,.*- . ' a

allocated funds by the federal ministry of finance. The monthly

posts delay in the payment of staff salaries and other allowances.

Due to delays in the payment of salaries, many form teachers

usually embezzle money they collected from the students with the

intention of paying back when salaries are paid. When such funds

are required from the form teachers before salary payment, the

form teachers often ask bursar to deduct it from their salaries

during payment as the oniy alternative. Return of such collections

for use alter the previous plans and wait for salary payment.

Regular payment of staff salaries and allowances is one of the

major avenues for motivating staff. Hence, motivation of staff

brings about the maintenance of staff morale, reduction of friction

and dissatisfaction among staff in the school (Mgbodile, 2004).

Another major problem is lack of traininglinadequate training

of bursars and heads of institutions. This constitutes a problem to

prudent financial management in schools, According to

Ogbonnaya (2001), most school heads and bursars do not acquire

requisite training in financial management. As a result, most

principals and bursars are not conversant with such finance

terminology like accounting, audit, imprest, cash management,

authority to incur expenditure, bank statements, virement, unit

costs per capital and.fjpan,cial,control. Most of them do not also

attend seminars and workshops on school finance management.

All these make it difficult for them to manage funds properly or ,I . ..

account for school funds effectively and accurately. Furthermore,

Parentsrreachers Association (P.T.A.) executives constitute

another cog in the wheel of progress of funds management in our

schools. The members of ParentslTeachers Association

executives are elected to supervise the collection and utilization of

39 .'

the P.T.A. levies and to wcxk with the principals. Some members

of the executives often dcvelop much interest on the funds that

accrue. to the scbool throi3h the accounts books of P.T.A. levies

that they hatch plans on how to mismanage the funds. They could

start by demanding very high sitting allowances and other

compensations after each meeting. Some could advocate for soft

loan to the executives, which they will promise to refund when the

proposed projects) would take off. Refusal to comply to such

demands often breeds friction between the administrations and the

P.T.A. executives and could even lead to misunderstanding,

transfer of the principal or the removal of the P.T.A. chairman if not

settled on time.

Mismanagement of funds constitutes another problem to

prudent financial management in our schools. Some federal

government school principge Q~1'1Sezzle part of the school fees and

more so Parentsrreachers Association levies in their schools to

the extent that some of them have be.en indicated by audit reports. 0 . ..

Some principals divert funds earmarked for the erection of

classrq+oms or some repairs in schools into games and sports.

According to Adesina and Ogunsaju (1984), the greatest problem

secondary schools have about financing the school programme is

-r L v~tstage. r money a:Al;lble is never used judiciously, it has

been alleged by many i.wple that, of the rnoney the federal

government votes for running the unity schools, much of it does

no: yet to these schools and the little that gets there is normally

wasted by those whose responsibility it is to manage the school.

Most of the problems mentioned above confront unity

schools' administrators in their funds management practices.

Some of these problems could be solved by discussions as to

reduce frictions and victimization of the school heads. Prudent

resource management stands as yardstick to effective financial

management. and goal attainment (Mgbodile, 2004).

Review of Related Studies

This section reviews%u'cEres that are related to the topic

under investigation.

A research study was conducted by Ogbonnaya (1995), in I

which he explored problems of financial management in secondary

schools. The study specifically focused on secondary schools

within the then Enugu education zone. All principals and bursars

of secondary sl;hools within the zone were used for the study.

Data for the study were collected using a "financial management

constrains assessment scale1'. The instrument which is a 20-item

lik2r-t-type rating scale was administered to all the principals and

bursars in the area study. Data collected were analyzed both on

individual item basis and on a collective basis using mean,

standard deviation and t-test of difference between means of

sam9les.

Summary of data analysis reveal that major problems of

financ'ial management in secondary schools is constrained by a

number of administrative problems which range from poor

experience to administrative conflicts between school bursars and

principals. Another problem that confronts financial management

in secondary school is poor record keeping and lack of regular

auditing of school account. dased on this finding, the researcher

recommended that adequate in-service training be organized for ., ,, " 4 " 3 . 4. . .

effective financial management.

Another research study was conducted by Anyim (2004) on

constrainsto financial manageherit 'in secondary schools in Afikpo

Education Zone of Ebonyi State.

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the

constraints to financial management in secondary schools in

Afikpo Education Zone of Ebonyi State. Based on the study, three

research questions and two null hypotheses were used. The

population for the study comprised all the principals and bursars in

Afikpo Educational Zone of Ebonyi State. The sample involved is

small and warranted the inclusion of all the members of the

population. All the 40 principals and the 30 bursars including the 6

zonal board finance officers were involved in the study.

Based on the research questions, twenty item questionnaires

were developed. A total of 70copies of the questionnaires were

distributed and analyzed using distributive statistics. Some of the

findings of the study revealed that the principals could not explore I

various ways of raising or generating funds for the running of their

schools and are deficient in good record keeping habits with

proper accountability.

The study also revealed that constraints to financial

management in Afikpo .,Edy.~afi~n . Zone include the provision of

insufficient funds, bureaucratic practices and delay in the release

of funds by the board officials. These constituted constrains to ( I . .

financial management in the schools.

Another research study was conducted by Azuma (1990) on

fund raising strategies of secondary schools principals in Enugu

Education Zone. Three research questions were used. The

population for the study comprised the 128 principals of all the

secondary schools in the zone, all the 4,002 teachers and all the

56,547 students. The researcher used all the principals, and a

total number of 600 teachers and 1200 students randomly selected

from the 30 schools in the zone.

Based on the research questions, 47 item questionnaires

were developed. A total of 1928 copies of the questionnaire were

distributed and analyzed using frequency distribution and

percentages.

Some of the findings revealed that fees and levies of various

kinds have been found to be strategy that is mostly used by

principals to raise funds in their various schools. The findings also

revealed that school principals raise their funds too from sales of

farm products while the least used strategies were exhibition and

annual bazaars with 16.7% and 3.3% responses respectively. The

finding also revealed that proceeds from sporting and cultural ,, . 4 .

Based on the study, seven research questions were

formulated. The population of the study consisted of all the

Parentsrreachers Association (P.T.A.) and members of Alumni

(Old Students) of the two hundred and forty eight (248) public

secondary schools in Enugu State. For the sample multistage

sampling technique was used to select fifty schools out of the two

hundred and forty eight public secondary schools in Enugu State.

From research questions, 99 items questionnaires was designed

for the principals, bursars and teachers and 8 item questionnaires

was designed for the P.T.A. and Alumni. The questionnaires were 1

distributed and analyzed using mean scores and standard !

deviation.

Some of the findings of the study revealed that funding of the

secondary schools in Enugu State is the responsibility of the state

government. The finding also revealed that the Federal .,,,.. "l.+' > ' < ' F

Government Endowment, P.T.A., Alumni, appeal fund, rentage of

school property, launching of school programmes and organizing

parents founders day, can all"be used as alternative means of fund

raising in Secondary Education programme in the state.

Another major revelation by the study is the fact that the

system of allocation demands that principals and bursars travel to

the headquarters to get their share of the funds and that the

system exposes them to the danger of thieves. This study further

shows that the pattern of revenue allocations is not based on the

needs and populations of the schools.

Summary of the Literature Review

Financial management practices in federal government

colleges discuss the factors that hinder prudent use of funds

allocated to schools from achieving the set objectives and

educational goals.

It could be seen from the review of related literature that

effective and efficient funding is very vital for achieving he

objectives which 'an institution set for itself. This is no less

important in unity schools under the study since variety of

programmes and organization of the implementation of such

programmes need to be adequately planned, funded and . , ,, . . , t. ,P' . 08 .

accounted for to achieve their desired objectives.

Adequate funding is very vital for an institution to achieve its

objective. In federal government Colleges, money is needed for

building classrooms, payment of teachers and non-tutorial salaries,

repairs of school pmperty, organizing seminars and workshops for

teachers' academic and professional growth, purchase of

instructional materials, etc.

Financial Management in education is concerned with the

provision and prudent use of funds for the efficient implementation

of educational programmes. In federal government colleges, the

principal performs the task of a financial manager which involves

determination of expenditure, income as well as procurement of

funds, and handling and disbursement of funds, budgeting and

accouding. Prudent financial management helps to limit wastes

and ensure that scarce resources are carefully used for attainment

of the institution's desired goal.

It is pertinent to note that some of the problems of financial

management in federal government colleges today are as a result

of non-paymentllate payment of school fees; methods of

disbursement of the allocated fund, lack of traininglinadequate

training of bursars and principals, management problems * , , . . " I . + ' ,

emanating from some parents teachers association executive

members and mismanagement of funds. These factors affect the

smooth running of the school prbgrammes.

From the reviewed literature it is observed that no research

studies have been carried out on financial management practices

in federal government colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi States. In

view of this gap, the study is aimed at investigating the financial

management in federal government colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi

States.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHOD

In this chapter, the following issues o&SL discussed,

namely, research design, area of study, population of the study,

instrument for data collection, validation of the instrument,

methods of data collection and data analysis.

Design of the Study

The study is a descriptive survey designed to investigate

financial management practices in federal government colleges in

Enugu and Ebonyi states. Descriptive survey design according to

Uzoagulu (1 998) is a design in which data are usually collected,

organized and analyzed and then described, as they exist (natural

setting) without interfering with them. .,,,... l .* ' . . 4 C '

Area of the Study

The study was carried out in federal government colleges in

Enugu and Ebonyi states. Unllty schools in Enugu are two; one is

located within Enugu, the state capital and has boundaries with

Ugwuaji and Independence layout, while the other is located at

Lejja in Nsukka. It has boundaries with Aku in lgbo Etiti by the

South, Ohodo in West, Ngwuru in the North and Edeobala in the

East. In Ebonyi State. we have two unity schools. namely, Federal

Government Girls College, Ezzamgbo and Federal Government

College, Okposi. Federal Government Girls College, Ezzamgbo is

within Abakaliki in Ohaukwu Local Government Area, while

Federal Government College, Okposi is located at Okposi in

Okwu.

Population of the Study

The population of this study comprises all the principals,

teachers and bursars in federal government colleges in Enugu and

Ebonyi States. This comprises principals, 4 bursars and 561

teaching staff. Source: Federal Ministry of Education, Department

of Secondary and Primary . a * . w q . School .t , .'* Education (DISTE) Abuja.

Therefore, the population for the study is 569.

Sample and Sampling ~ e c h n i ~ u b

The population involved in this study is small, 569, and this

means that no sampling of the population was done.

Instrument of Data Collection

The major instrument of this study was questionnaire titled;

Questions on Financial Management in Unity Schools (QFMUS.).

The questionnaire was made of two sections. Section A

dealt with personal data of the subjects, such as the name of the

respondents, institution, Rank (whether principal, bursar or

teacher) and years of experience. Section B was made-up of four

clusters A, B, C and D. Cluster A dealt with sources of funds for

the management of Federal Government Colleges. Cluster B dealt

with the procedures of budget preparation in federal government

colleges. Cluster C dealt with the items of expenditure in federal

government colleges. Cluster D dealt with how funds are ,

I managed in federal government colleges.

1 I

The instrument was built on a four point rating scale of

Strongly Agree (4 points), . , , , Ac~ree,k3 I . d . points) Disagree (2 points) and

Strongly Disagree (1 point).

( 1 . . Validation of the instrument

The instrument was first validated by three experts at the

University of Nigeria, Nsukka, two experts in Educational

Administration and Planning and one expert in Measurement and

Evaluation.

Reliability of the instrument

In order to ensure the reliability of the instrument, a test

retest exercise was carried out with the principal, bursar and

eighteen teaching staff of Federal Government Girls College,

Owerri. The cronbach Alpha (a) was computed based on clusters

A, B, C and D. The reliability co-efficient was computed to be

0.68, 0.73, 0.99 and 0.86 respectively. These high index of

reliability confirmed that the instrument was highly reliable for the

study.

Method of Data Collection

The procedure adopted for data collection was direct delivery .' $ 4 . 4 " 7 . ,t' ., .3+ '

and retrieval method. The administration of the questionnaire to

the respondents involved the researcher and three trained

research assistants. The researcher with her assistants I' . .

administered the instrument and collected same on the

Method of Data Analysis

For the data analysis, the researcher used mean scores and

standard deviation to answer the Research Question.

The cut off point was 2.5 which invariably mean that a mean

score of 2.5 and above was acceptable, while any item whose

mean is less than 2.5 was considered rejected.

The null hypothesis was tested using the t-test statistics.

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter deals with the analysis of data collected. The

data analysis was done with reference to the four research

questions and four hypothesis formulated in line with the objective

of the study. The analysis was done using statistical package for

social sciences, (SPSS).

RESEARCH QUESTION ONE

What are the sources of fund for the management of Federal


The data for answering the above research question are , . 4 , . . . I ? '

presented on table 1 below.

TABLE I: Mean ratings of Teachers and Bursars on the sources

of fund for the management of Federal Government

Colleges.

LS

DEC.

S A

ACHERS

SD

0.3 0.49

0.76

0.60 0.70

0.57

0.88 0.76

0.89

JRSA

SD

0.50

DEC.

SA SA

D

D D

SA

D SA

D

Federal Government Grants School Fees

I Inter-house sports Donations 13 Boyslgirls Philanthropic Organizations and

I Parents Teachers

/ hiring of school hall and 1 Education trust fund 1 Proceeds from school '"" I farm ~roducts

From the data presentbd in'table I, it is seen that Teachers

and Bursars are of the same opinion that the major sources of fund

for the management of Federal Government Colleges in Enugu

and Ebonyi States are grants from Federal Government, school

fees, Parentsrreachers Association Activities, and Education Trust

fund with the following paired mean scores, (3.81, 3.75), (3.76,

3.75),. (3.40, 3.75), (3.35, 2.50). However, teachers and bursars I

disagreed with the notion that donations from (old boys/girls,

philanthropic organizations and individuals), endowment fund, fund

realized from hiring of school hall and equipment with paired mean

ratings of (2.00, 2.00), (1.95, 2.00), (2.32, 2.00). Bursars agreed

that inter house sports donations and proceeds from school farm

products with mean rating (3.50, and 2.50) are sources of funds for

management of federal government colleges, while teachers

disagreed with mean ratings of 2.31 and 2.36 respectively.

HYPOTHESIS ONE (Hol)

There'is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the

bursars and teachers with regard to the sources of funds for the

financial management in federal government colleges in Enugu ., ,,. 4 W l . .+' , ' . ' J

and Ebonyi states.

Table 2 presents the result of t-test analysis of the difference

in the mean ratings of bursar3 an.d:teachers on the sources of

\

funds for the financial management of federal government colleges

in Enugu and Ebonyi state.

56

Table 2: Summary of t-test for Ho,

/ Variable 1 X / Bursars / 2.86

SD N Prob- df t-calculated t-critical level

In table 2, columns 2, 3, and 4 have the Cluster means,

standard deviations and number of observations respectively for

the two variables (teachers and bursars). Column 5 presents the

level of significance which is 0.05. The degree of freedom (df) is

presented in column 6, while columns 7 and 8 have t-test value

and on'e-tailed t-critical with values 0.147 and 1.96 respectively.

Since the t-value of 0.147 is less than t-critical (1.96) the null

hypothesis is accepted at 0.05 level of significance. This implies

that there is no significant difference between the mean ratings of

teachers and bursars with regard to the sources of funds for the * * I . .P' .,.'?

financial management practices of federal government colleges in

Enugu and Ebonyi states.

11

RESEARCH QUESTION 2

What are the procedures of budget preparation in federal

government colleges? Table 3 presents the data for answering the

above research question.

Table 3: Mean ratings of teachers and bursars with regards to the

procedures of budget preparation in federal government

colleges.

ITEMS

Before the budget is prepared the ministry represented by the . . ! ~pi:; j , : - i tc~ar c::-zjjs For . ~, " .. 3 . , , , $ r:;!"; i?;

. - ..... - , ~ .... -- - .. Principals prepare their budget single- handex&. --- Principals involve their staff in budget

/ called upon to t k i r i E:!dypropossl

I pass r i l i ~ugh the accountant general of 'the federation

TEACHERS

DEC.

BURSARS

DEC.

(AGF) who processes the warrant, prepares mandate and sends to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

From the data presented on table 3, teachers agreed that,

before-the budget is prepared, the ministry represented by the

minister calls for circular, principals prepare their budget single-

handedly, principal involve their staff in budget preparation,

principals are called upon to defend their budgets before approval,

The budget has to pass through the accountant general of the

federation (A G F) who processes the warrant, prepares mandate

and sends to the central Bank of Nigeria (C B N) with the following

mean ratings 3.31, 2.56, 2.74, 2.74, 3.28, and 3.65 respectively.

Likewise, bursars accepted all the items listed above expect that

which says that the principal~grepare . " . 'their budget single

handedly. The mean rating for the disagreed item is 1.25.

( 1

HYPOTHESIS 2 (Ho~)

There is no significant difference between the mean ratings

of the bursars and teachers on the procedures of budget

reparation in Federal Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi

States.


between the mean ratings of bursars and teachers on the

procedure of budget preparation of Federal Government Colleges

in Enugu and Ebonyi States.

Table 4: Summary of t-test for Ho2

one-tail t-critical

Variable

Bursar

Teachers

Column 7 in table 4 has the value of t-statistic which is 0.261.

Prob- level

Column 8 has one-tail t-critical (1.860) at 0.05 level of significance

x -

3.25

3.11

with 8 degree of freedom.

df

+ ,< ."I..*... ) *

The t-test value of (0.261) is less than that of t-critical

(1.960). In view of the above, the null hypothesis is accepted at

SD t-calculated

1.28

0.20

0.05 level of significanceLl This means that there is no significant

N

difference in the mean ratings of bursars and teachers with

5

5

regards to the procedure for budget preparation in Federal


0.05 8 0.261

RESEARCH QUESTION 3

What are the items of expenditure in Federal Government

Colleges?

he data for answering the above research question is

presented in table 5 below.

Table 5: Mean ratings of teachers and Bursars with regards to

the items of expenditure in Federal Government

Colleges.

[ ~ e p a i r of school / I i i I buildings Af 1 3.58 I 0059 I SA 1 3.50 I 0.58 I SA 1 P*rrvi~mn

\

From the data presented in table 5, teachers are of the

opinion that repair of school building, provision of office furniture,

provision of instructional materials, provision of classroom

furniture, organization of sports activities, printing of question

papek, travel expenses, and payment of part time staff with mean

ratings of 3.58, 3.68, 3.43, 3.34, 3.34, 3.48, 3.24, 3.22

respectively, constitute the major items of expenditure in Federal

Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi States. Likewise,

Bursars agreed with teachers on repair of school buildings,

provision of office furniture, provision of instructional materials,

provision of classroom furniture, printing of question papers, travel

expenses and payment of part-time staff with mean ratings 3.50,

3.00, 3.00, 3.00, 3.00 3.50 and 3.50 respectively. Bursars

disagreed with organization of sport activities as an item of . ,,.,* t . , P . " . . . X ? .

expenditure in Federal Government Colleges with mean rating of

2.00. This decision is in line with bursars' previous agreement that

inter-house sport donations,, is :a source of fund to Federal


.

HYPOTHESIS THREE (Ho~)

There is no significant difference between the mean ratings

of the bursars and teachers on the items of expenditure in Federal



between the mean ratings of teachers and bursars with regard to

the items of expenditure in Federal Government Colleges in

Ebonyi and Enugu States.

TABLE 6: Summary of t-test for Ho3

From the table, the value . ,, ... qf,,.the :,-.statistic is -1.907, and that of t-

critical is 1.761 at 0.05 level of significance and 14 degrees of

freedom. The t-test value of -1.907 is less than t-critical 1.96.

SD 0.25

0.03

N 8

8

~ar iab ie Bursars

Teachers

Hence the null hypothesis is accept& at 0.05 level of significance.

- X

3.06

3.41

This implies that there is no significant difference between the

mean ratings of bursars and teachers with regard to the items of

Prob- level

0.05

expenditure in Federal Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi

t-calculated

-1.907

df

14

States.

one-tail t-critical

1.96

RESEARCH QUESTION 4

How are funds managed in Federal Government Colleges?

The data for answering the above question is presented on table 7

below.

Table 7: Mean rating of teachers and Bursars on how funds are

' managed in Federal Government Colleges.

Funds are spent in line with planned objectives 3.02 Receipts/vouchers are raised from all monies

with approval from the principals before they .

,, . . "

From the results in table 7, all the respondents (teachers and

bursars) are of the opinion that funds are spent in line with planned

objectives, receipts/vouchers are raised from all monies expended,

all payments are made with approval from the principals, principals

as chief accounting officers render financial reports of their

expenditure to the Federal Ministry of Education, Bursars keep

records of all items of expenditure, payments are classified under

capital and over head with the following paired mean ratings (3.02,

3.75), (3.28, 3.50), (3.97, 3.50), (3.70, 3.50), (3.54, 3.50), and

(3.24, 3.50).

HYPOTHESIS FOUR (Ho~)

There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of the

teachers and bursars on how funds are managed in Federal . , . "1. , " + ' Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi States.

65

Table 8: Summary of t-test for Ho4

Variables X !I t-statistic One-tail T T l t-critical

Fiom table 8, the calculated t-test value is 1.299 while t-

critical is 1.812 at 0.05 level of significance with 16 degree of

freedom. From the result, the completed t-test value of 1.299 is

less than t-critical 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. Hence, the

null hypothesis is accepted. This implies that there is no significant

difference between the mean ratings of bursars and teachers with

regards to how funds are managed in Federal Government

Colleges.

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSSION OF FINDINGS, IMPLICATIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS.

his chapter presents the discussion of the findings of this

study,. the implication of the findings, recommendations, the

limitations of the study, suggestion for further studies and

conclusion.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

The findings of this study have been organized and

discussed following the order of the four research questions and

four hypotheses that guided the study. I

., , , % 4 " 1 . ,*' . >.'*

RESEARCH QUESTION 1

What are the sources of funds for the management of federal , I

government colleges?

From the analysis of (data I ) the result indicate that teachers

and bursars agreed that the major sources of funds for the

management of federal colleges include federal government

grants, school fees and ParentsITeachers Association activities.

This is in agreement with the observation of Ogbonnaya (2005),

who stated that the sources of funds for the management of

secoridary schools include government grant, school fees and

ParentslTeachers Association activities.

However, there are areas of discrepancy between the

teachers and bursars. Bursars agreed that inter house sports

donations are a source of fund with the mean rating (3.50) while

teachers disagree with the rating (2.31). Teachers disagree that

proceed from school farm is a source of fund with the mean rating

(2.36) while bursars agree with the mean rating (2.50). The

discrepancy between the teachers and bursars is as a result of

lack of adequate knowledge of the source of fund for the

management of Federal Government Colleges.

. . , , . * 1. .I' ',* RESEARCH QUESTION 2

What are the procedures of budgets preparation in Federal

Government College? ,, _ .

The result of this research question (2) indicated that budget

making practices of principals could hinder good financial

management in schools when there is lack of sound budgetary

principles and practices and non-inclusion of staff in budget

preparation. From the analysis of the finding, bursars agreed with

teachers in all but disagree dxcept that which says that principals

prepare the budgets single-handedly with the mean rating (1 -25).

This discrepancy between the teachers and bursars view

concerning this item may be because of the inadequate knowledge

of teachers concerning budget preparation. Similarly, the view

expressed by teachers confirmed the opinion of Ognonnaya (2000)

who stated that heads of schools do not include their staff in

budget preparation

RESEARCH QUESTION 3

What are the items of expenditure in Federal Government I Colleges?

The result of the above question (table 3) shows that both

teachers and bursars agreed with all as items of expenditure - ,, * " l . % V . d.'*

except that bursars disagreed with the organization of sports

-activities as an item of expenditure in Federal Government

Colleges with the mean rating of (2.00). This decision is in line with

bursars' previous agreement that inter-house sports donations is a

source of fund to Federal Government Colleges.

RESEARCH QUESTION 4 -

How are funds managed in Federal Government Colleges?

* The result of this research question indicated that there was

no discrepancy between the teacher and bursars as regards to

how funds are managed in Federal Government Colleges.

This shows that both teachers and bursars are abrassed with

the management of funds in the school.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION OF THE FINDINGS

The findings of this study have some important educational

and financial management implications.

For effective financial management practices in Federal

Government Colleges in Enugu and Ebonyi States, teachers and

bursars should be given adequate training before and after .,,, ."l..*' ',?

appointment in financial management practices. This is because if

left untrained bursar, principals and teachers will not be conversant

with the skills in financial manqgem-ent.

However, when some principals who are supposed to be

financial controllers start to embezzle and divert the funds under

their care, it is the school and the society at large that will face the

wrath.

Another finding of the study is that good budgeting is

essential

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