Effective use of Budgeting as a Tool Towards Financial Management in Schools in Lejweleputswa District

Abstract

In South Africa, public schools are expected to do their utmost to improve the quality of education. However, a notion exists that for a school to improve the quality of education, enough resources should be available. Although this notion is critical, it is the argument of this article that school financial management capacity is also a challenge in most of the public schools in South Africa. In this regard, the study, attempted to establish the effectiveness of budgeting in the public schools to ensure that quality education is promoted; and whether parents in the SGBs are knowledgeable enough to prepare the school budgets. In order to realise these objectives, an empirical study was undertaken, following the literature study which formed its basis. The findings confirmed that knowledge of budgeting as an aspect of financial management is lacking or inadequate in some schools. This is demonstrated by the level of contradictions of schools in meeting their basic needs, such as procurement of books and other materials. Consequently, it was
recommended that capacity building endeavours should focus on financial planning, communication, decision-making, organising, delegating, coordinating, leading, and controlling in order to bring about effective financial management in public schools.