Quantifying School Manager Practices and Procedures for Assessing Financial Accountability in Zambian Public Secondary Schools

This paper discusses a study that assessed school manager practices and procedures for accountability in managing school finances in public secondary schools of the Copperbelt province of Zambia. The research used a quantitative approach, collecting data from 92 respondents (46 school managers and 46 accounts assistants) from 50 public secondary schools. Data collected through questionnaires and document review were analyzed through descriptive statistics and regression analysis (Pearson Product Moment of Correlation and inferential statistics). The study reveals high levels of transparency, financial control, and adherence to procedures. This demonstrates strong managerial accountability in core financial areas of transparent and consistent record-keeping; effective control and monitoring mechanism and adherence (84%) to financial procedures. Notwithstanding, gaps persist due to professional delinquency, where instances of professional misconduct undermine full financial accountability; insufficient knowledge and low competence among school managers in addition to weak and inconsistent supervisory structures allow cracks to form in monitoring and compliance enforcement. In order to improve realistic accountability, the study recommends developing and implementing tailor-made training for school managers in financial management, regularizing supervision and tightening accountability practices and procedures at end-user points.