FINANCIAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SKILLS REQUIRED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN CROSS RIVER STATE

Abstract

This study focused on financial resource management skills required by secondary school principals 
in Cross River State. The study investigated the skills needed 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.. The population of the 
study consisted of two hundred and twenty-one (221) principals of secondary schools in Cross River 
State. The entire population was used in the study and as such there was no sampling. The researchers 
developed questionnaire tagged Financial Resources Management Skills Required by Secondary 
School Principals in Cross River State (FRMSRSSPQ) was used to elicit responses from the subjects. 
The instrument was validated 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 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 Cross 
River 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