Management of funds allocated to special education units in selected primary schools of Chongwe district.

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate how funds allocated to special education units in selected primary schools in Chongwe District are managed. The study sought to: ascertain usage of the funds allocated for special needs education in public primary schools to evaluate awareness of financial management guidelines in the management of school funds allocated to special needs among primary school managers and to establish the challenges faced by the special education units when accessing and using of funds allocated to special education units in selected primary schools in Chongwe District. A case study research design was adopted for the study. The sample size was 4 head teachers, 4 Special Education Coordinators, and 4 Cashiers of special education units in primary schools. All participants were selected through judgmental purposive sampling method. The data collection instruments used was semi structured interviews. The data collected through interviews was analyzed using thematic analysis where data was sorted, coded and interpreted. The study findings revealed that there were no clear guidelines guiding the usage of funds allocated to special education units in primary schools and this enabled special education units to opt to use funds on matters more to do with administrative works than matters to do with learner support. The study findings also revealed that schools with special education classes had no stand - alone financial management guidelines on the utilisation of funds on special education programmes and special education units spent funds without following any laid down guidelines. The findings of the study revealed that finance scarcity was posing a very serious challenge in special education units because there were inadequate funds allocated to special education units in primary schools. The research further concluded that the lack of training of financial management committees in financial management has a negative influence on the ability of head teachers to effectively and efficiently manage school funds which are allocated to special education needs; the task requires basic level competency in accounting and book keeping. Finally, the study recommends that the Ministry of Education should also intensify awareness campaigns on the financial management guidelines they issue to assist primary school managers make informed financial decisions; ensure that school committee members are actively involved in the management of school funds to reinforce their overseer and supervisory functions in the utilization of school funds.