PRINCIPALS’ BUDGET PREPARATION PRACTICES FOR ADMINISTRATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAYELSA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated principals’ budget preparation practices for administration of secondary schools in Bayelsa State. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Three thousand, nine hundred and fifty (3950) staff of secondary schools in Bayelsa State; comprising of one hundred and eighty-eight (188) principals and three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two (3762) teachers in the one hundred and eighty- eight (188) government owned secondary schools in Bayelsa State constituted the target population. The simple random sampling technique through balloting with replacement was used to select five (5) education zones out of the nine (9) education zones in the state. The result yielded a reliability index of 0.8537. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire. The data was collected with the help of three research assistants. The mean score and standard deviation were used to answer the research question while the t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Hence, seven hundred and Ninety (790) respondents constituted the sample size. The result of the data analysis showed that based on the result in table 1, the t-calculated value of 2.94 is greater than the t-critical value of 1.960 (2.94>1.96). This result implies that the H0 is rejected. The alternative hypothesis is therefore upheld; implying that there is a significant difference in the mean ratings of respondents in urban and rural areas on principals’ budget preparation practices for administration of secondary schools in Bayelsa State. It was recommended that principals should not prepare nidgets singlehandedly but should involve their subordinate in budget making.