A study of head teacher's role in managing financial resources

Date of Award

8-1-2000

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Master of Education (M. Ed.)

Department

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Abstract

Financial resources play a significant role in meeting school needs, however, headteachers cannot manage these resources without adequate autonomy. Literature on school financial management reveals that delegation of responsibility and authority of managing financial resources to headteachers helps them to manage financial resources effectively in order to meet the school needs. The study aimed to explore and understand the existing practices of managing financial resources in the context of a private school in Pakistan with a particular focus on headteacher's role. Since the nature of study determines the research design and methodology, case study was used as the main method within the qualitative design. Different research techniques including interview, observation, videography, writing memos and reflective journal were used in order to gather relevant information for developing understanding about the headteacher's role in managing financial resources. The research findings reveal that the responsibility of allocating, utilizing and monitoring financial resources was delegated to the headteacher, which empowered her to match the financial resources with the educational needs of the school. However, headteacher's role in generating financial resources was not found to be significant, as it was the responsibility of the senior managers. The study also suggests that the headteacher faced challenges in maintaining balance between her academic and financial management roles. Accordingly, the study further proposes recommendations such as further devolution of authority and power to the headteacher, professional development of the stakeholders, involvement of the headteacher in generating financial resources and greater involvement of teachers and parents in managing the financial resources in order to manage the school effectively.

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