The Impact of Financial Controls on Financial Efficiency of Free Secondary Education Funds Among Secondary Schools in Murang’a County

Abstract

Education plays an important role in human empowerment; towards achieving this Government of Kenya introduced the FPE in 2003 and five years later the FSE. This study was conducted with the objective of establishing the impact of financial controls on the financial efficiency of FSE funds in Murang’a County. In order to achieve this objective, primary data was collected from 32 random stratified selected respondents using questionnaires. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics including mean, frequency and percentages were used to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the borrowers. A regression model was used to analyze the determinants of loan repayment. From the research findings, it was established that 40.0 percent of the schools had below 500 students, 32.0 percent of them had 509 to 999 students and 28.0 percent of them had 1000 to 1499 students. This suggests that most schools in Murang’a country have a small number of students. Murang’a County secondary schools should also remove the loopholes under purchasing since these controls were found to have a negative impact on financial efficiency. The study also recommends training for school heads together with their deputies on financial management. The study concluded that, even though all financial controls are perceived as critical, there were some controls that had a positive impact while others had a negative impact on financial efficiency. Financial efficiency goes hand in hand with the performance of schools.