The study sought to explore the state of budgeting at school level in a selected District in Zimbabwe. Freeman’s (2010) Stakeholder Theory guided this study. The theory focuses on, engagement, stakeholder value, accountability, collaboration, and the identification of interested parties. The study employed pragmatic paradigm, mixed methods research approach and sequential explanatory research design to collect data from a population of 570 school officials in charge of school financial management. Data were collected using close ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews and document analysis. There were 61 respondents to close ended questionnaires including 8 school heads, 8 school deputy heads, 8 school senior teachers,8 heads of departments, 8 School Development Committee chairpersons, 8 vice-chairperson and 8 school treasurers, 1 district schools inspector, 1 district accountant, 2 provincial internal auditors, and 1 provincial accounting assistant. The quantitative data were analysed with SPSS (Version 20) and presented in the form of descriptive tabular summaries. Qualitative data were examined thematically. The study found that not all secondary school heads and School Development Committee members in the selected district in Zimbabwe knew how to draw a school budget. School budget preparations in the selected district were found to be affected by low levels of education of parent members of SDCs, teachers and SDC members’ lack of interest to draw school budget, inflation, non-payment of fees by parents and guardians, and lack of education on school financial management. To address these gaps the study recommends, capacity building programmes, standardised budgeting guidelines, decentralised budgeting and integration of technology in school budgeting. The findings highlight the importance of contextualised budget models, technology enhanced school financial management, and Education 5.0 aligned budgeting practices. These recommendations aim to improve policies and practices on, budgeting efficiency, transparency, and accountability in all Zimbabwean schools. This ultimately supports sustainable development and quality education for all.
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