Financial control and growth of private primary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Proper management of finances in private primary schools is very imperative to their operations. There are, however, serious financial challenges in these private schools in Kenya as characterized by unprecedented high fees charged on students. The objective of this study was to assess the role of financial control in the growth of private primary schools in Kenya. The study was guided by the Cash Management Theory that gives emphasis to reasonable ways to deal with organizational finance management and efficient utilization as well as the Endogenous Growth Theory which stipulates that, in the long-run growth rate depends on a stable business environment. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative study design, which targeted 7,418 private primary schools in Kenya. Accessible population constituted of 3,431 heads of schools in four regions of Kenya namely: Nairobi, Central Kenya, Northeastern, and the Coastal regions. A random sampling method was used to draw a sample of 320 respondents who were either the principals’/Head teachers or deputy principal of the schools. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Structural Equation modeling using Analysis of Moment Structures was used to analyze the data. The fitness of the hypothesized structural and measurement models was tested using the Normed Fit Index and the Root Mean Squared Error. The overall path coefficients obtained were positive and significant at a 0.05 level of significance. The study established that financial control positively and significantly influenced the growth of private primary schools. The study recommended that private primary schools should have effective budget management mechanisms and strong financial controls.  

Keywords: {'name': 'Financial Control, Private Primary Schools, Growth, Cash/Budget Management'}

Authors & affiliations

Julius Muthike Njiiri
Affiliation not supplied

Dominic Mwenja
Affiliation not supplied

Kellen Kiambati
Affiliation not supplied

Levi Mbugua
Affiliation not supplied

Deposited references

Supplied references, not a list of publications citing this article.

Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA, 2016)

DOI: 10.5860/crl.78.3.314

DOI: 10.1093/jae/ejt014

DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-10-2013-1505

DOI: 10.4102/jef.v11i1.154

Chelanga, J. K. (2016). Administrative Strategies Adopted By Private Primary Schools To Improve Academic Performance In Marakwet East And West Sub Counties, Kenya (Doctoral Dissertation, Kisii University).

Correia, C., Flynn, D., Uliana, E. & Wormald, M. (2013). Financial management. 6th ed. South Africa: Juta.

DOI: 10.1177/016146811711900702

DOI: 10.1080/00220671.2016.1160358

Hair, J., Black, W., Baln, B., and Anderson, R. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis. London: Maxwell Macmillan.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2013.01.002

DOI: 10.1109/COMST.2015.2394307

DOI: 10.1108/MF-07-2014-0209

KIPPRA (2016). Kenya economic report 2016: Fiscal decentralization in support of devolution. Technical report, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), Nairobi, Kenya.

Lim, J., Joe, S. H., Kim, S., ... & Han, C. (2012). The reliability and validity studies of the Korean version of the Perceived Stress Scale. Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, 20(2), 127-134.

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.10.001

Dixon, P., Tooley, J., & Schagen, I. (2013). The relative quality of private and public schools for low-income families living in slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Low-fee private schooling: Aggravating equity or mitigating disadvantage, 83-104.

Oketch, M., & Somerset, A. (2010). Free primary education and after in Kenya: Enrolment impact, quality effects, and the transition to secondary school.

Olembo, J. (1985). Financing primary school buildings in Kenya. Transafrica.

DOI: 10.5296/ijld.v2i1.1326

DOI: 10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y

Pere, A., & Buseni, S. E. (2013). The impact of public financial management on local government administration in Bayelsa State of Nigeria. Financial Management Discussion Paper, National Open University of Nigeria.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.02.006

Piper, B., Schroeder, L., and Trudell, B. (2017). Oral reading fluency and comprehension in Kenya: reading acquisition in a multilingual environment. Journal of Research in Reading.

Salmon, W. J. (1993). Crisis prevention: how to gear up your board. Harvard Business Review, 71(1), 68-75.

Susan, R., Nigel, S., Ana I. C. (2014) Management Research: Applying the Principles Routledge ISBN-10: 9780415628129. ISBN-13: 978-0415628129, ASIN: 0415628121

Tooley, J., & Longfield, D. (2015). The Role and Impact of Private Schools in Developing Countries: A response to the DFID-commissioned" Rigorous Literature Review". Open Ideas.

DOI: 10.1080/15582159.2011.548234

DOI: 10.25300/MISQ/2013/37.1.02

Wayong’o, S. N. (2018). Physical Education Safety Precaution Practices In Private Primary Schools In Nairobi City County, Kenya (Doctoral Dissertation, Kenyatta Un?vers?ty).

DOI: 10.1177/014920638901500208