FINANCIAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SKILLS REQUIRED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN EBONYI STATE

Abstract

This study focused on financial resources management skills required by secondary school principals in Ebonyi State. The study investigated the skills needs of secondary school principals in two specific areas namely budgeting process and auditing of school accounts,. Two corresponding research questions and null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Comprehensive related literature was reviewed not only to serve as a guide to the research but also to give insight into what has already been done by other researchers in the related areas of the study. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of two hundred and twenty-one (221) principals of secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The entire population was used in the study and as such there was no sampling. The researcher’s developed questionnaire tagged Financial Resources Management Skills Required by Secondary School Principals in Ebonyi State (FRMSRSSPQ) was used to elicit responses from the subjects. The instrument was validated by three experts, one expert from Science Education Department and two experts from Educational Foundations Department, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.  The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha technique which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.78. Mean (x) and standard deviation (SD) were used to answer the research questions while t–test statistics was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from the data analysis showed that principals of secondary schools highly needed skills in: budgeting process and auditing of school accounts. There was also no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female principals on skills needs of principals in the two areas studied. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommended among others that the Ebonyi State government, under the State Ministry of Education, should regularly organize intensive workshops, seminars, and conferences on skills requirements of principals in financial resource management in secondary schools.