Accountability in Education Management: The Efficient Use of Fiscal Resources in Tanzania

This study investigates accountability, a subset of New Public Management technique and its facilitation in efficient management of school fiscal resources in Tanzania. Key issues include factors contributing to the applicability of NPM in Tanzania, the applicability of NPM in education sector, the way accountability facilitates rational use of school funds and factors towards misuse in schools. The NPM model and some other strands in rational choice perspectives and the new institutional theories particularly the public choice theory, were used. The empirical study included interviews, focus group interviews and documentary reviews. It included 56 participants.
It was found that the factors influencing applicability of NPM in the education sector in Tanzania include international policy transfer and policy changes within the education sector. The findings reveal that socioeconomic challenges led the government to formulate a series of education policy reforms in the 1990s. Several international aid agencies have also contributed to the application of NPM in the education sector.
The findings also revealed several factors influencing rational use of school funds in Tanzania. These are the nature of accountability and the way the key players are guided by a number of legislative frameworks in order to implement procedures in the management of school financial resources. Other factors are financial procedures involved during the flow/allocation and during utilisation. More findings revealed that factors attributed to misuse in schools are generally related to personal gain, weaknesses in organisational structure and weak financial procedures.
Overall, the study concludes that NPM reforms in Tanzania are relevant and have improved considerably the public sector in general and education sector in particular. However, it was also found that even though NPM is relevant in Tanzania, it has not been effectively implemented as compared to the five essential pillars commonly identified in the international literature. There is still a long way to go in terms of accountability. Accountability is affected by factors such as low levels of accounting standards and poor legislation which makes financial management systems in schools dysfunctional. As a result, fiscal resources are misused and children are denied their right to access quality education. Therefore, to improve this situation the study suggests a number of measures to remedy existing weaknesses, including public sector reforms, accountability and policy reforms in the education sector.