Internal Controls and Accountability in Ministry of Education in Rwanda

ABSTRACT 

The study was to examine how internal controls impact on accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda. This promote the researcher to gather the information in relation to the research objectives that is to determine how record keeping and internal audit affects accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda, to determine how segregation of duties affect accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda, to establish if there is a significant relationship between internal controls and accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda. In section it was all about the literature on internal controls and accountability and the information got was used to review the relevance of internal controls on accountability in organizations. The chapter looked at the theory, conceptual framework, examined the objectives one by one and finally gave the related literature. Under methodology quantitative and qualitative design to establish the relationship between internal controls and accountability since the kind of research is an outcome, cross sectional survey design which required the researcher to administer the questionnaires to the respondents and collect the data once and for all. Basing on the results, the null hypothesis was rejected since the calculate Chi- square for all the variables was greater than the prob>Chi- square = 0.000. Therefore, the null hypothesis stated earlier i.e. effective internal control has no significant impact on the financial accountability in Rwandan Ministry of education was rejected. Thus, the alternative hypothesis was accepted i.e. effective internal control have significant impact on the financial accountability of Rwandan Ministry of education authority in Rwanda. In conclusion and recommendation therefore the research revealed that there are internal control systems in ministry of education- Rwanda in particular the accountability in general. However, Rwandan government through national auditors should increase their effort to ensure proper and highly effective internal control system are in place within the Rwandan Ministry of education to enhance financial accountability. Appropriate policy measures should be designed by Rwandan Ministry of education commission to mandate compulsory implementation of internal control system at the Rwandan Ministry of education level. Internal control system should be addressed with strong compliance of ethical conduct; therefore, any breach ofthis ethical conduct should be appropriately penalized.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

APPROVAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT jjj

DEDICATION iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES viii

ABSTRACT ix

CHAPTER ONE 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.0 Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1 .1.1 Historical perspective

1.1.2 Theoretical perspective 2

.1.3 Conceptual perspective 4

1.1.4 Contextual perspective 7

1.2 Statement of the problem 8

1.3 The purpose of the study 8

1.4 Specific objectives 9

1.5 Research questions 9

1.6 The Research Hypothesis 9

1.7 Scope of the study 9

1.7.1 Geographical scope 9

1.7.2 Content scope 9

1.7.3 Theoretical scope 10

1.8 Significance ofthe study 10

CHAPTER TWO 11

LITERATURE REVIEW 11

2.0 Introduction 11

2.1 Theoretical review 11

2.2 The conceptual framework 12

2.3 The effect of record keeping and internal controls on accountability 13

2.3.1 Effects of record keeping on accountability 13

2.3.2 Effect of internal audit on accountability 14

2.4.1 Effect of authorization on accountability 19

2.4.2 Effect of approval controls on accountability 20

2.5 Accountability 22

2.5.1 Principles to effective accountability 22

2.5.1 Cash management 23

2.5.2 Time management 24

2.6 Relationship between internal controls and accountability 26

2.7 Related studies 28

2.8 Research gaps 31

CHAPTER THREE 32

METHODOLOGY 32

3.0 Introduction 32

3.1 Research design 32

3.2 Research Population 32

3.3 Sample Size 32

3.4 Sampling Procedure 33

3.5. Data collection instruments 33

3.6 Validity and Reliability ofthe Instruments 34

3.6.1 Validity of the instrument 34

3.6.2 Reliability ofthe instrument 35

3.7 Research Procedure 36

3.8 Data Analysis 36

3.9 Ethical Considerations 37

CHAPTER FOUR 38

DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 38

4.0 Introduction 38

4.1 Quantitative data presentation and discussions 38

4.1.1 Gender characteristics of respondents 38

4.1.2 Education characteristics of respondents 39

4.1.3 Description of the Positions of respondents in the Institution 39

4.1.4 Description of age groups of respondents 40

4.1.5 Longevity of service 41

CHAPTER FIVE 67

DISCUSSIONS, CONLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 67

5.0 Introduction 67

5.1 Discussion of Findings 67

5.1.1 How record keeping and internal audit affects accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda 67

5.1.2 The effects of segregation of duties on accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda. 67

5.1.3 The relationship between internal controls and accountability in ministry of education in Rwanda. 68

5.2 Conclusion 68

5.2.1 How record keeping and internal audit affects accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda 68

5.2.2 The effects of segregation of duties on accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda. 69

5.2.3 The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between internal controls and accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda 69

5.3 Recommendation 70

5.2.1 How record keeping and internal audit affects accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda 70

5.2.2 The effects of segregation of duties on accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda. 70

5.2.3 The objective ofthe study was to determine the relationship between internal controls and accountability in the ministry of education in Rwanda 71

5.3 Limitations of the study 71

5.4 Areas for further study 72

REFERENCES 73

APPENDICES 78

APPENDIX IA 78

TRANSMITTAL LETTER FROM CHDR 78

APPENDIX I B: TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR THE RESPONDENTS 79

APPENDIX II 80

INFORMED CONSENT 80

APPENDIX III: QUESTIONNAIRE 81

APPENDIX IV 86

TIME FRAME 86

APPENDIX V: BUDGET 87

APPENDIX VI: THE MAP OF THE STUDY AREA 88