Financial control practices of heads of public second cycle institutions in cape coast metropolis of Ghana

Masters Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Pedagogy - School System, Educational and School Politics, grade: LEVEL 800, University of Cape Coast (INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION), course: EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, language: English, abstract: This paper investigates financial control practices in public second cycle institutions in order to check whether there are possible financial irregularities in the use of school funds in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The study adopted cross-sectional survey with mixed methods design. The findings from both the questionnaire and interview schedule showed that the school administration purchased food and used fuel very often and therefore could not maximize the resources available due to price hike. The internal controls of information technology, information and communication, control activities, and monitoring contributed positively but had weak relationships. These distortions and weaknesses may lead to misapplication, misappropriation and embezzlement of school funds. Due to limited knowledge of the heads they delegated budget preparation to the accountants. It is recommended that auditing and monitoring is routinely conducted to ensure that financial regulations are followed to avoid embezzlement, corruption and misapplication of school funds.