EDUCATIONAL FINANCING, FUNDS MANAGEMENT AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF POST-SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKWA IBOM STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated educational financing, funds management and the effectiveness of postsecondary schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design. 188 
respondents comprising Deans of Faculties, Heads of Departments, Directors and student union 
leaders of the 6 tertiary institutions in Akwa Ibom State constituted the population/sample for the 
study “Funds Management and School Effectiveness Questionnaire (FMASEQ), developed by the 
researchers was used for data collection. The FMASEQ was validated by experts and reliability was 
established through cronbach alpha, with a reliability coefficient 0.86, which was esteemed to be 
reliable. Frequency counts and Percentage analysis was used to provide answers to the research 
questions, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics was used to test the only null 
hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that the nature of funding in post-secondary 
schools in Akwa Ibom State is inadequate and the school heads of post-secondary schools in Akwa 
Ibom State are ineffective in management of available funds. The study further revealed no significant 
relationship between fund management practices and effectiveness of post-secondary schools in Akwa 
Ibom State. The study concluded that post-secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State are ineffective due 
to inadequate financing and poor funds management among the school heads. Recommendations were 
made that the public should be involved in evaluation of school expenditure to ensure that funds are 
used according to educational priorities as well as encourage accountability, honesty and 
transparency, among others.