Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the practices and challenges of decentralized
school management in government secondary schools of DamotWoideWoreda in Wolaita
Zone. To conduct the study, descriptive survey method and a mixed approach researchdesign
with multistage sampling technique was employed. The sample size was 95 teachers, 45
school leaders, 2 cluster supervisors, 16 Parent Teacher Student Association and3 Woreda
education office experts with the total of 163participants out of 272 study populations. The
data gathering tools employed wasquestionnaire, interview, focus group discussionsand
document analysis. The quantitative data was analyzed usingpercentage, standard deviation,
mean score and independent samples T-test and the qualitativedata was analyzed by
narration. The findings indicated that the implementation of decentralized school
management was insufficientlyimplemented. Furthermore, the community participation on
the implementation of decentralized school management on the areas like providing material
and financial resources, appraising the teaching and learning, assessing students’ academic
performance wasinadequately implemented. The implementation of decentralized school
management was affected byinadequacy of man power, shortage of material and financial
resources, lack of awareness among the school communities, lack of skilled accountants andlack of transparency on budget expenditure Based onthis, it is recommended to give relevant
in-service trainings for leaders, the community and Parent Teacher Student Association on
the implementation of decentralized school management and Woreda education officeand
zonal education department with other stake holders to fulfill necessary educationalfacilities
and budget for the effectiveness of decentralized school management implementation
