The Role of School Administrators in Promoting Ethical Practices through Moral Audits in Public Secondary Schools of Southern Punjab

Abstract

Routine school monitoring can confirm whether registers are complete and personnel are present, but it may reveal little about the fairness of decisions, the safety of complaint mechanisms, or whether corrective action changes conduct. This study examines how administrators understand the transition from compliance inspection to moral audit in public secondary schools in Southern Punjab. The qualitative strand comprised semi-structured interviews with 66 administrators: three chief executive officers, three district education officers, and 60 school heads. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke (2006, 2021). Four themes were developed: ethical leadership as operational stewardship; limitations of compliance-centred monitoring; sociocultural negotiation and unequal voice; and a three-level, learning-oriented architecture for moral audit. The analysis conceptualises moral audit as a structured governance process that establishes ethical standards, triangulates documentary and experiential evidence, protects confidential reporting, provides remedies, and verifies change. Administrators reported that their role was important but constrained: they could explain and document fair decisions, yet lacked effective assessment instruments and follow-up mechanisms, while fragmented responsibilities and informal influence weakened accountability. The findings indicate that adding ethical indicators to existing inspection processes is insufficient unless protected reporting channels, clear case ownership, context-responsive criteria, and independent verification are also established. Accordingly, the study proposes a practical division of responsibility across school, district, and system levels. It offers a context-sensitive account of moral auditing as a process of accountability and organisational learning rather than a punitive checklist.