NOVICE SCHOOL HEADS’ FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ON MAINTENANCE AND OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES
Juvelyn L. Esteban, EdD
Managing the finances of a school is a very intricate skill an educational leader should possess. It is apparently a subtle matter to discuss because the school needs to be improved, teachers need to be upskilled, learners need to have extra-curricular events, and the administrators need to make ways to enhance their potentials and the potentials of their subordinates. All these recalibrations are predicated towards finances and all these expenses should be managed properly.
In a survey made in Tarlac City Schools Division, 35 novice school heads answered a questionnaire assessing their self-rated effectiveness in managing their schools’ Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) funds. The study was descriptive in nature and it was intended to extract reliable and concrete information on how these school leaders manage the expenses of their schools.
The upshot of the study revealed that the school heads follow the guidelines stipulated in DepEd order no. 16, s. of 2016. Hence, all the managing techniques they used in using the funds are all congruent to what the department has mentioned in its order. Thus, it could be deduced that the school heads managed their schools’ expenses well.
This claim could be supported in another result which shows that the school heads are very effective in budget preparation, monitoring and recording of allotments, disbursement of maintenance and other operating expenses fund, and preparation and submission of monthly liquidation reports. This implies that school heads, although managing school expenses is complex, made probable ways for them to use the funds to improve the school and its other aspects while practicing integrity, transparency, and leniency.
These skills were enhanced and were polished probably because of another datum that shows that these school heads think that trainings and seminars relevant to managing their schools’ MOOE are very important. Hence, these school leaders are open for upskilling. However, one datum also shows that they have a problem in attending substantial and related trainings. So, it could be implied that the higher authorities should provide more trainings for them. They also encountered problems as to using their personal funds and vehicles to pay for supplies and materials and that the preparation of documents to prove their transparency and integrity is too exhaustive.
Wrapping up the points and propositions of the study, it could then be said that managing school expenses and following guidelines are the topmost priority of the school heads in using the schools’ MOOE; however, perfection is far from the denotative platform and that not all the purposes and the willingness of the school heads in providing quality service could be fully accomplished because at the end of the day, everybody, including the department, the administrators, the teachers, and other stakeholders, continuously improves as the changing world demands for higher means, better products, and best quality of educational endeavors for the betterment of the nation.
The author is Principal
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III at Tibag High School, Tarlac City