Financial Management Skills as Catalysts for Improved Educational Outcomes in Public Secondary Schools: Evidence from Participatory Budgeting, Accountability, and Strategic Resource Alignment.

This article explored the use of financial management skills as drivers of better educational results in state secondary schools, especially in participatory budgeting, accountability and alignment between strategic planning and finances with the school. The ongoing fear over the ineffective utilisation of resources and poor financial management of schools influenced the research, particularly in the rural and semi-rural settings where issues of limited finances are highly evident.

Brief theme: The study focused on how budgeting, record-keeping, financial decision-making, and capacity-building practices influenced teaching and learning conditions in public secondary schools.

Main Aim: The main aim of the study was to identify financial management skills that yielded improved educational outcomes in public secondary schools.

Methodology: The research approach used in the paper was a qualitative approach in the form of multiple case study. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews on thirteen respondents who were selected in four high-level schools in the Amathole East District (principals, School Governing Body representatives, teachers, and student representatives). Thematic analysis was used to showcase recurrent trends and meanings of financial management practices.

Main findings/Results: The results indicated that good budget preparation and resource distribution, clear record keeping, unremitting financial education, learner-based decision making, and budget-school improvement plan congruency considerably promoted accountability, stakeholder confidence, and access to learning materials. The skills of financial management were seen to work synergistically and turn a small amount of financial input into significant outputs in educational processes.

Conclusions/Contribution: The research added to the literature by placing financial management skills as strategic facilitators of educational enhancement instead of administrative compliance devices, especially in under-resource public school settings.

Recommendations: The recommendations in the study included institutionalised participatory budgeting, sustained financial capacity-building of the School Governing Bodies, and policy-based convergence between financial planning and educational objectives.