An assessment of local financial management and its implications for schools in Swaziland.
Date
2014-03-24
Authors
Phiri, Joyce Penelope
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Abstract
This paper analyses the findings of a survey conducted in eight schools in Swaziland on financial management in secondary schools. The paper sets out, as its framework, the Priority-based budgeting as well as strategic management, as useful perspectives on how finances should be managed at school level. It does not, however, claim that priority-based budgeting is the only best strategy, but claims that since majority of schools in Swaziland operate under limited resources, this approach is appropriate. This study does acknowledge that individual schools have individual priorities and the fact that priorities change, therefore the PBB approach should act as a basic framework for setting out budgets. The paper also acknowledges that schools have unique features that make up an organization. These features include the culture of that organization. Such features will determine how that organization will choose to run its activities,in particular, financial management.
The aim of the study is not to make school heads experts in financial management, but to provide a greater understanding of both the underlying concepts and practical application of the basic skills and processes of local financial management, and how these skills can be integrated in schools in Swaziland. The study therefore questions the skills that school heads have in controlling finances, and argues that school heads should be equipped with the necessary skills" to handle the complex operations of financial management. It also suggests that schools in Swaziland should integrate the concept of local financial management as proposed by the 1988 Education Reform Act of England and Wales.