Managerial Principles: Its role in the Utilization of Capitation Grants in Public Secondary Schools in Muleba District, Tanzania

The decision to increase the quality and quantity of education, including in Tanzania, is crucial since education is essential for the development of human capital. In light of this, the government of the Republic of Tanzania introduced strategies to address the basic education supply and demands. Among the strategies is the Capitation grants’ policy. The aim of this study was to describe the role played by managerial principles in the utilization of capitation grants in public secondary schools in Muleba District, Tanzania. The study was guided by the Mintzberg’s managerial theory by Henry Mintzberg (1973). The study adopted convergent parallel research design under mixed research approach. The sample size of 85 was generated from a total population of 388 target groups. The quantitative data was collected through 70 questionnaires and analysed through descriptive statistic with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 and presented in table, frequency and percent. The qualitative data was collected through 9 interviews and analysed thematically and presented in narratives and quotations from the respondents. A synthesis of the findings revealed that managerial principles play different roles including prioritizing financial allocation; effective management of the financial resources available as well as ensuring effective utilization of the capitation grants. The study concluded that managerial principles have a role to play in the utilization of capitation grants provided in public secondary schools. Therefore, the study recommended that school administrators and managers should equip school heads with skills on the effective use of managerial principles in the utilization of capitation grants provided in schools in order to ensure effective management and utilization of capitation grants- for overall institutional efficiency and effectiveness.