Managing finance and educational facilities in technical/vocational education for the achievement of sustainable development goal four in Imo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The thematic trust of the study was managing finance and educational facilities in technical and vocational education for the achievement of Sustainable Development goal Four (SDG4) in Imo State. Descriptive survey design was adopted. Two research questions and two corresponding hypotheses guided the study. Population of the study consisted all the four (4) government – owned senior technical/vocational colleges spread across the six (6) educational zones in Imo State. A sample size of 128 respondents, presenting 100%, was chosen through the purposive sampling technique to include all the population of the study due to its size. The instrument for data collection was titled, “Managing Finance and Facilities in Technical/Vocational Education for Sustainable Development Goal 4 Scale” (MFFTVESDGS). The face and contents validities were ensured. Cronbach Alpha was used to test its reliability, and 0.87 reliability index was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while 2-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed among others that, to achieve SDG4, management of TVCs uses budget estimate, allocates funds carefully and uses appropriate accounting packages to manage financial resources. Also, management puts the custodial staff in charge of the daily upkeep of facilities, and promptly discards non-usable facilities to maintain an aesthetic environment. Based on the findings, the study made the following recommendations; there is need for good knowledge of accounting principles by school finance handlers to give financial management in technical/vocational colleges the required professional attention and management should use Facility Policy Statement to direct users on the use and upkeep facilities.