ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was to appraise the financial management strategies of State Colleges of Education in South Eastern Nigeria. The five State Colleges of Education namely: Abia State College of Education Arochukwu, Enugu State College of Education Technical Enugu, Nwaforizu College of Education Nsugbe, Anambra State, Ebonyi State College of Education Ikwo and Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri, Imo State formed the area of the study. The study specifically appraised the extent of implementation of financial management strategies with regard to: budget preparation; budget implementation; regulations relating to fund management; alternative sourcing of funds; and cost saving measures. The study answered five research questions and tested five null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study used descriptive survey design. The population consisted of 279– made up of 108 accounting staff of the bursary departments and 171 heads of Units. The entire population was used because of its smallness. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviation for the research questions and t-test for testing the hypotheses. The findings of the study showed that finance officers adhered to the strategies for budget preparation, adopted the strategies for budget implementation; and comply with fund management regulations to a very great extent. The findings also revealed that the finance officers implemented the strategies for alternative sourcing of funds and cost saving measures to a lesser extent. The t-test analysis revealed that no significant differences existed between the mean opinions of bursary staff and Heads of units on strategies for budget preparation/implementation, compliance with fund management regulations. However, there was a significant difference in the area of alternative sourcing of funds, as well as cost saving measures. The recommendations include that auditors device a more effective method of monitoring the finance officers, and stringent sanctions imposed on any fraudulent staff to serve as a deterrent to others, college authorities should increasingly explore alternative sources of funding and control the abuse of college facilities.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Colleges of Education are tertiary educational institutions established to give professional training for the production of highly qualified classroom teachers. These institutions are of paramount importance in the production of teachers for the primary and secondary educational systems. They belong to the higher education system which is constitutionally in the concurrent legislative list. The implication is that both Federal and State governments have responsibilities in this sector.
Colleges of Education owe their origin to the three year training programme for teachers established in 1932, at the Yaba Higher College, Lagos (Ogbonnaya, 1988). They were first established in Nigeria as Advanced Teacher Training Colleges (ATTC’s). The products of the Yaba Higher College were grade one non-graduate teachers, trained to teach in the Junior Secondary Schools and Teacher Training Colleges in Nigeria.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) in its National Policy on Education, outlined some general objectives which form the basis for teacher education at this level in Nigeria. These objectives include: to produce highly motivated, conscientious and effective classroom teachers for the primary and secondary school systems; to encourage further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in the teachers; to help teachers to fit into the social life of the community and society at large, to enhance their commitment to National objectives; produce teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment and to make them adaptable to any changing situation not only in the life of their country but in the world at large.
The above shows that Colleges of Education are specially designed to: develop, pursue and improve regular and liberal courses of study for the training of various categories of teachers; and promote the advancement of learning and educational research, especially as it applies to local conditions (Enugu State of Nigeria Gazette, 2006). The Colleges of Education can be categorized into three, on the basis of the type of teachers they produce:
Regular: for conventional disciplines in Arts, Sciences and Languages; Technical: for conventional Technical education; and Special: for producing Teachers of special needs persons. The National Commission for Colleges of Education regulates the activities of State Colleges of Education by way of ensuring minimum standards for accreditation of their academic departments for the NCE programme. On their parts, the State owned Colleges of Education were established by various edicts or laws of relevant State legislatures. These laws gave the various State Ministries of Education supervisory functions over the State Colleges of Education. The State Ministries of Education are responsible for the monitoring, and supervision of the general administration, including the financial management of these colleges, in accordance with stipulated guidelines. These guidelines are usually contained in accounting systems manuals or financial regulations produced by the ministry. The State Ministry of Finance with the office of the Accountant General is responsible for direct disbursement of funds to the State Colleges of Education.
The products of Colleges of Education are awarded the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) at the successful completion of their training. The Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) has become the minimum qualification for entry into the teaching profession. Since 1976, when the Universal Primary Education programme (UPE) was first introduced in Nigeria, there has been an astronomical rise in students’ enrolment into all levels of the educational system. Indeed, education has become, for the great majority of Nigerians, the bedrock of any meaningful human development. As Aminu, (1986) rightly observed, millions of Nigerians today see higher education as a sine-qua-non for individual and national development.
The above factors have given rise to the establishment of more and more Colleges of Education by the Federal and State governments, as well as by various religious organisations nationwide. For instance, the number of Colleges of Education in Nigeria rose from 40, with a total student enrolment of 55,983 in 1984, to 61 Colleges with a total enrolment of 189,949 in year 2000 (NCCE Kaduna: Statistical Digest, 2001). This trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future and may create a lot of challenges for good management.
According to Drucker (1989) “Management” is the exploitation and harnessing of the available human and material resources to achieve the desired objectives. Management goes beyond this definition as stated by Johansen and Page in Nwankwo (1987), who defined management as the effective utilization and co-ordination of resources such as plant, land, materials, finance and labour to achieve defined objectives with maximum efficiency.
The nature of the management process involves rational decision making. This means the purposeful choice from a set of alternative courses of action, in the light of the desired objectives. The management process involves planning, implementation and control. Planning is the ability to decide on the objectives and the means for their attainment. Control on the other hand, means the use of feedback for the evaluation of the level of implementation (Oko, 1990). For any organization to achieve her aims and objectives, she needs to be guided properly. This guidance is usually provided by management. Therefore, management is central to every organization’s existence and affects every facet of its operation. The basic purpose of management is to provide focus and consistency regarding the action programme of the organization which includes the financial aspect.
Financial management then is that aspect of management which is concerned with the raising of funds in a most suitable manner and using those funds as profitably as possible (Sheard, 1968). Pandy (1995) refers to financial management as such activities concerned with the planning and judicious control of an institution’s financial resources.
The success of any venture depends to a great extent on the financial management. Hence, for efficiency in the management of resources, the rational use of funds is as important as its sourcing. Funds are needed for the salaries of all categories of staff, to erect new buildings, to purchase furniture and equipments, for classrooms, laboratories and offices, for the libraries, for security and research. Funds are also needed for the maintenance of the facilities and for a myriad of other needs. The achievement of these numerous needs in the face of limited resources at their disposal calls for effective financial management.
Effectiveness means producing the desired results. Effective management conveys a sense of quality and competence or efficiency in the process of management. It is a question of value addition, of how much tasks can be performed and of the quality of leadership. In assessing effectiveness of management, input in time, money and other resources (otherwise called costs) must be compared to the output (Hollings-Worth 1986). In the educational system the output is measured in terms of teaching, research and public service. On the other hand, ineffective financial resource management negatively affects the achievement of the basic goals of any organisation.
Colleges of Education in Nigeria like any other institution face the challenge not only to survive but also to attain the level of sustainable development necessary for them to achieve the objectives for which they were established. The attainment of these goals depends not only on the right type of personnel but also on the availability of adequate material and financial resources; hence, the need for adequate funding of our Colleges of Education. More importantly too, there is need to ensure effective financial management of the available resources of these institutions. However, there are reports of financial mismanagement with the impending danger of crippling the very existence of these establishments. Allegations of financial mismanagement, extravagance and fraud on the part of the college administrators have compounded the problems of the State Colleges of Education and evidences on the ground show that many Colleges of Education have been experiencing gross incidents of financial mismanagement (Okafor, 2004). Eze (2006) also observed that the financial problems of the Colleges of education are increasing because of financial mismanagement, embezzlement and fraud.
The problem of misappropriation of funds as has been discovered in a number of State Colleges of Education at various times is often the result of poor quality leadership. It may be due to extravagance rather than outright fraud or embezzlement. Use of funds in the form of diversion from one sub-head to meet other commitments is also considered as mismanagement, since it does not conform to established norms. If this trend of financial mismanagement is allowed to continue unchecked, it may not only lead to the lowering of academic standards but the collapse of the entire educational system in Nigeria.
