PROJECT TITLE:
Investigating the Impact of Poor Financial Management on School Operations
Learning Area: Business Studies
Level: Advanced Level
STAGE 1: Problem Identification
1.1 Description of the Problem
At many schools, including Gloag High School, financial resources are critical for daily operations and
development. These include paying staff, maintaining buildings, buying learning materials, and running
feeding programmes. However, when financial management is poor — such as through lack of planning,
weak record-keeping, or misuse of funds — school operations can suffer greatly.
Reports from Gloag High School have shown delays in paying suppliers, shortage of learning materials,
and incomplete infrastructure projects. These signs suggest that the school may be experiencing
problems linked to poor financial management, such as weak budgeting, late disbursements, or poor
accountability. This leads to dissatisfaction among staff and learners, and may even affect the school’s
public image and performance.
1.2 Statement of Intent
This project aims to investigate the impact of poor financial management on school operations at Gloag
High School. The focus will be on identifying areas where poor handling of funds has disrupted activities
and proposing ways to improve financial efficiency and accountability.
1.3 Design / Project Specifications
The project will:
Identify signs and causes of poor financial management in the school.
Examine how poor budgeting, lack of transparency, and delayed payments affect daily operations.
Collect views from key stakeholders (e.g., administrators, teachers, and learners) through
questionnaires.
Present the results using summaries, tables, and charts.
Suggest ways to strengthen financial control and improve resource allocation.
STAGE 2: Investigation of Related Ideas
In this stage, I investigated existing ideas and examples related to financial management and its
influence on school operations. I focused on how poor handling of school funds can negatively affect
service delivery, development projects, and teaching and learning. Three related ideas were selected,
examined, and compared.
2.1 Related Idea 1: Budget Mismanagement in Schools
Description:
Some schools create budgets that are not realistic or detailed enough. Funds are allocated without
proper planning or priorities. As a result, essential needs like textbooks, classroom repairs, or staff
incentives may be overlooked, leading to frustration and inefficiency.
Merits:
Highlights the importance of budgeting in school operations.
Shows how poor planning leads to misuse of limited resources.
Encourages schools to link spending to actual needs.
Demerits:
Budget problems may also be caused by delays in funding from authorities.
Sometimes financial challenges come from low revenue, not mismanagement.
2.2 Related Idea 2: Lack of Financial Transparency
Description:
When schools fail to share financial records or consult stakeholders on how money is used, it creates
mistrust. Parents and teachers may lose confidence in the administration, leading to tension and
reduced cooperation.
Merits:
Emphasises the need for accountability and open communication.
Promotes stakeholder participation and trust.
Can prevent corruption or hidden spending.
Demerits:
Some financial data may be sensitive or confidential.
Not all stakeholders understand accounting details.
2.3 Related Idea 3: Late or Misused Funds from External Sources
Description:
Some schools rely on government grants or donor support. When these funds are delayed, misused, or
redirected to non-priority areas, key projects stall. This includes incomplete construction, unpaid bills, or
cancelled programmes.
Merits:
Shows how poor financial timing affects operations.
Encourages better cash flow monitoring and control.
Highlights the role of external funding in school success.
Demerits:
School heads may not always control when funds are received.
Dependency on external funds reduces long-term self-sufficiency.
✅ Conclusion of Stage 2:
These ideas helped me understand that poor financial management in schools can arise from weak
budgeting, lack of transparency, and mismanagement of external funds. All of these can negatively
affect school operations such as learning, development, and staff morale. This knowledge guided the
generation of my own practical solutions in Stage 3.
STAGE 3: Generation of Ideas / Possible Solutions
After analysing related ideas in Stage 2, I generated three possible methods for investigating how poor
financial management affects school operations at Gloag High School. Each idea was considered based
on practicality, effectiveness, and ability to gather useful data.
3.1 Idea 1: Interview School Bursar and Senior Staff
Description:
This idea involves arranging interviews with the school bursar, school head, and other senior staff
members to gather insights into the school's budgeting, record keeping, and financial decision-making
processes.
Merits:
Provides first-hand information from people involved in financial management.
Allows for deeper understanding through follow-up questions.
Reveals internal challenges that may not be known to the public.
Demerits:
Access to key staff may be limited or delayed.
Some financial matters may not be openly shared.
3.2 Idea 2: Distribute Questionnaires to Teachers and SDC Members
Description:
This method involves giving questionnaires to selected teachers and School Development Committee
(SDC) members to understand how financial decisions affect teaching and development. Questions
would focus on delayed payments, material shortages, and resource allocation.
Merits:
Covers multiple perspectives in a short time.
Encourages honest responses through anonymity.
Can be easily summarised using tables and graphs.
Demerits:
Some participants may not return the questionnaires.
Misinterpretation of questions may affect accuracy of responses.
3.3 Idea 3: Observe and Record Effects of Mismanagement
Description:
This idea involves visiting different areas of the school and recording signs of poor financial decisions,
such as stalled projects, broken equipment, and lack of resources in classrooms.
Merits:
Shows real evidence of the effects of poor financial management.
Simple and does not require direct interviews.
Can be supported with photos or sketches.
Demerits:
Observations may not reveal the cause of the problems.
Some areas may not be accessible to students.
✅ Conclusion of Stage 3:
All three methods could provide useful information. However, Idea 2: Distribute Questionnaires to
Teachers and SDC Members was selected as the most suitable. It covers different views, protects
privacy, and allows for easy comparison of responses. The selected idea will be developed further in
Stage 4.
STAGE 4: Development of the Final Idea
In this stage, I developed and implemented the idea of using questionnaires to gather information from
teachers and School Development Committee (SDC) members about the effects of poor financial
management at Gloag High School. The objective was to identify real examples of financial
mismanagement and its consequences on teaching, development, and administration.
4.1 Description of the Final Idea
The idea involved designing structured questionnaires to be completed by selected stakeholders. The
questionnaires included questions about delays in funding, shortage of materials, incomplete projects,
and how these issues have affected their duties or learning environment. The target respondents were
10 teachers and 5 SDC members who were actively involved in school operations.
4.2 Steps Followed During Implementation
Step 1: Drafted a questionnaire with 8 short, focused questions using simple language. Questions
included:
Have you experienced delays in receiving required teaching resources?
Have there been any school projects affected by lack of funds?
How does poor budgeting or fund misuse affect your duties?
Step 2: Printed and distributed 15 copies — 10 to teachers and 5 to SDC members.
Step 3: Collected the questionnaires after three days and reviewed the responses for consistency and
clarity.
Step 4: Categorised the data into themes: resource shortages, incomplete projects, staff motivation, and
communication failures.
Step 5: Prepared summaries and converted results into graphs and percentages to show the impact
visually.
4.3 Business Concepts Applied
4.4 Observations Made
Several teachers reported that lesson plans were affected due to lack of materials like chalk, paper, and
textbooks.
SDC members stated that some projects (like toilet renovations and classroom painting) were started
but never completed.
Both groups mentioned that delays in decision-making and lack of consultation affected morale and
cooperation.
Some respondents believed that records of income and expenditure were not shared or updated
regularly.
✅ Conclusion of Stage 4:
The questionnaire method proved effective in gathering direct and honest feedback. The responses
revealed that poor financial management leads to shortages, delayed projects, mistrust, and low
performance. The data will be fully presented using charts and analysis in Stage 5.
STAGE 5: PRESENTATION OF FINAL SOLUTION
In this stage, I analysed and presented the data collected from questionnaires distributed to teachers
and School Development Committee (SDC) members. The aim was to find out how poor financial
management affects various aspects of school operations such as resource availability, infrastructure
development, staff motivation, and communication.
5.1 Respondent Summary
10 Teachers
5 SDC Members
Total Respondents: 15
Each respondent answered 8 questions focused on:
Availability of learning and teaching materials
Delays in school projects
Payment of service providers or staff allowances
Communication and consultation on financial decisions
5.2 Data Summary Table
5.3 Bar Graph Interpretation
Most
teachers
reported issues with resource shortages and delayed payments.
SDC members strongly noted incomplete projects and lack of transparency.
All four financial issues were reported by both groups, showing the impact is broad-based.
5.4 Pie Chart Interpretation
Each issue made up roughly 25% of the total problems reported.
This shows that poor financial management affects all areas of school operations equally — from
teaching resources to infrastructure and stakeholder trust.
5.5 Key Observations
Delayed payments affected delivery of supplies and service provider trust.
Incomplete projects included a classroom block without roofing and a broken borehole pump.
Resource shortages led to some teachers using personal funds for materials.
Poor communication made stakeholders feel excluded, leading to mistrust.
✅ Conclusion of Stage 5:
The results clearly show that poor financial management at Gloag High School affects operations across
the board — teaching, facilities, decision-making, and morale. These effects are supported by visual
evidence and stakeholder feedback, and will be addressed through proposed solutions in Stage 6.
STAGE 6: EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Evaluation of the Final Findings
The investigation showed that poor financial management at Gloag High School affects several critical
areas of operation. Based on questionnaire responses from 10 teachers and 5 School Development
Committee (SDC) members, the most reported effects included resource shortages, incomplete
infrastructure projects, delayed payments, and poor communication.
Graphs presented in Stage 5 showed that all stakeholders had concerns about how funds were being
used. Teachers reported having to teach without proper materials, while SDC members highlighted
unfinished projects due to lack of funding or delayed payments to contractors. Both groups mentioned a
lack of transparency, which led to mistrust and reduced cooperation.
The use of questionnaires allowed the collection of honest feedback. The responses were easy to group
and analyse. The use of bar and pie charts made the findings easy to present and interpret. Overall, the
project successfully met its objectives by linking real experiences to the concept of financial
mismanagement.
6.2 Strengths of the Project
The topic was realistic and relevant to current challenges faced in many schools.
Stakeholders were willing to participate and provided valuable insights.
Data was well-organised and supported with clear graphs.
Business concepts such as budgeting, accountability, and resource allocation were applied correctly.
6.3 Challenges Faced
Some respondents were cautious and gave short or vague answers.
A few questionnaires were returned incomplete.
It was difficult to access actual financial records due to confidentiality.
Despite these limitations, the data collected was enough to support meaningful conclusions.
6.4 Recommendations
Based on the findings of this project, the following recommendations are made:
1. Improve Financial Transparency
School leadership should provide regular financial reports to stakeholders (e.g. termly updates during
SDC meetings) to build trust and accountability.
2. Strengthen Budgeting and Planning
All expenses should be aligned with a clear, realistic, and approved school budget. Prioritisation of
essential needs is necessary.
3. Timely Payments to Service Providers
Delays in paying suppliers and workers should be avoided to prevent disruption of services and project
delays.
4. Train SDC Members in Financial Management
Workshops or short courses should be organised to ensure that committee members understand how to
oversee and monitor school finances.
5. Engage Stakeholders in Decision-Making
Major financial decisions should be made in consultation with key stakeholders to avoid tension or
resistance.
6.5 Final Reflection
This project helped me understand how important good financial management is to the success of a
school. I learned that when money is handled poorly, it affects not just buildings and materials, but also
trust, morale, and the quality of education. I also improved my skills in planning, data collection,
analysis, and presentation. The use of real stakeholder input gave me a better view of how Business
Studies applies in real-life situations.
