Background Information

on Planning
1. Basic Ideas and Concepts of Planning
2. Importance of Planning
3. Basic Principles of Planning
4. Concepts of Educational Planning

5. Types of Educational Plan

6. Approaches to Educational Planning
7. Foundations of Educational Planning
Basic Ideas and Concepts of Planning
Planning is the process by which an individual or
organization decides in advance on some future course of
action. (Omran, 2002)
Planning is the process of determining hw the organization
can get where it wants to go. (Certo, 2000)
Planning involves selecting from among alternative future
courses of actions for the organization as a whol and for
every department or section within it. (Cook, 1999)
Basic Ideas and Concepts of Planning

Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do

it, when to do it and who to do it. It involves anticipating
the future and consciously
According to Haimann, Planning is the function that
determines in advance what should be done.
 Nature of Planning
Planning is goal-oriented
Planning is a primary function
Planning is all-pervasive
Planning is a continuous process
Planning is forward-looking
Planning involves choice
Planning is directed toward efficiency
Importance of planning
Focuses attention on objectives and result
Reduces uncertainty and risk
Provides sense of direction
Encourages innovation and creativity
Helps in co-ordination
Guides decision-making
Provide efficiency in operation
Uses of Educational Planning
Identification of Objectives and strategies:

By this we mean that educational planning helps in identifying

and defining the objectives and the strategies, programs,
procedures, policies and standards which education needs to be
more effective and efficient. Through educational planning we are
able to clearly identify and define educational objectives, identify
and also clearly define various activities which are to be carried
out to achieve the educational objectives.
Uses of Educational Planning
Proper Distribution of Scarce Resources.

By scarce resources, we mean the limited resources which are

available to satisfy our wants (needs). Educational planning helps
in seeing to it that the limited resources are properly or wisely
allocated to provide the needed level and type of education to the
citizens of the country. In order to help in wisely allocating the
limited resources, alternative courses of action are compared and
then the one that has great benefits for the citizens are allocated
more resources
Uses of Educational Planning
Educational Planning aids decision making:

Educational Planning helps decision maker war all levels to reach

a better and well-informed decision. This is because through
educational planning, adequate date are collected on the
particular level that we wish to plan for and on the basis of such
information available. It is also easier to arrive at better decisions.
Educational planning therefore helps to promote speedy and
effective administration of the system since the administrators of
the system are provided with necessary guidelines to work with.
Furthermore, with educational planning, it becomes easy to
Basic Principles of Planning
Educational planning is a detailed and systematic
process: it just does not happen by chance.
It sets out in advance. It is a forecast of what
duties, assignments and tasks (operations) are to
take pace in the future.
It must identify strategies, policies, procedures,
programs and standards: all these are necessary
in order to chart the course of action that is
required.
Basic Principles of Planning
It is goal-oriented: it is directed at
achieving a set educational objectives.
planning must take into consideration
knowledge of the system for which the
plan is to be make, the part of that system
on which the plan is to be made and the
available resources in that system.
Concepts of Educational Planning
Political dimensions.

The political objective of the educational planning should relate to

the promotion of justice, peace, law order and good governance.
The opinion of the religious groups, teachers, organizations and
traditional rulers should also be considered. No planning process
is known to be incongruent with political considerations.
Economic Dimensions:
The economic consideration in educational planning
should lay emphasis on the need for individual to live
happily.

Educational plan should include labor and employment

aspects. Educational plan should tend towards preparing
people for gainful employment, development of gifts of
nature and production of goods to satisfy human wants.
Scholars had held the view that there is a causal
relationship between education and earnings.
Science and Technology
Dimension
Education for technological advancement
should be well planned, financed and
implemented for the development of
individuals in the technological society.
Legal Dimensions
Educational planning requires specific legal framework.
The legislative, courts and the judiciary have important
roles to play in education of a nation. There is need for
legislative support for educational planning. The
implementation of educational planning should be
within the ambits of the nations constitution, status and
education law.
Demographic Dimensions
Educational planning should take special notice of
the structure and characteristics of the school
going population and the population around the
schools. Educational planning without sufficient
demographic data results to failure at achieving
the educational objectives. The growing population
and the work force should be considered while
planning the education of a nation.
Cultural Dimensions
Linguistic and cultural groups influence the operations of
educational planning generally and also the implementation of
polices on education. The national development objectives
should be culture oriented because of the social value system
as it affects education.
Sociological Dimensions
Educational planning should be able to consider
the close relationship between the structure of
the society and schooling. The society and the
school engage in stratification and
differentiation.
Approaches to Educational Planning

Social Demand Approach

This approach relies on private demand for
education and stipulates that all those that
demand for education should be given the
opportunity provided that they are qualified.
ASSUMPTION OF THE SOCIAL DEMAND APPROACH

The social demand approach makes a number of assumption:

a) that education is the birth right of every individual and that it must
be made available to all individuals to the limits of their requests.
b) that all children of school age will demand for education that is
meant for their ages.
c) that the demand for education will continue to be greater than its
supply;
d) that the unit cost of education will remain fairly constant;
e) that expanded education opportunities will add significantly to
social and economic growth
MANPOWER REQUIREMENT OR
FORECASTING APPROACH

The term Manpower denotes the attempt to

develop a nations human resources to meet the
demands of her economy. The Manpower
requirements approach is applied purposely to
aspects of skilled manpower in the labour force.
MANPOWER REQUIREMENT OR
FORECASTING APPROACH
This approach emphasizes the need for planners to reflect on the
manpower needed areas of the society using this as a basis for planning
the educational system.
The objective therefore would be to satisfy present manpower needs as
well as to forecast future needs. Emphasis is placed on forecasting and
training appropriate manpower relative to the dictates of the labor market.
Exponent of this approach determine areas of need through surveys.
Needed manpower levels and kinds of educations are thus estimated and
the educational system is charged with the responsibilities of producing
them (Nwankwo, 1981, Thompson, 1981).
MANPOWER REQUIREMENT OR
FORECASTING APPROACH
The belief of this school of thought is that in order to increase
the national income, more skilled manpower must be produced
and supplied to economics.
For example, using this approach, if you are a proprietor of a
health center and you want to ensure that more patients receive
attention at the center, you will decide to employ more nurses and
doctors. In this case, what you are assuming is that with
increased number of nurses and doctors, more patients would
be attended to. This means that it is realized that a shortage of
trained personnel will present a major set back to economic
growth, and this you do not want.
ASSUMPTION OF THE MANPOWER
REQUIREMENTS APPROACH
There is a direct relationship between increase in skilled manpower and productivity.
That is, the more the skilled manpower, the greater the output to be produced.
Future changes in the distribution of educational personnel are associated with
growth and changes in the production of goods and services;
Education can be used to transform skills and competencies of the citizens;
The economic system depends on the educational system and vice versa.
The economic system provides educational system with human, material and
financial resources which the system utilizes to provide for the students who will
after their training, be release to the economy to work in various factories and
ministries.
Increase in the demand for different forms of educated manpower can be predicted
on the basis of the prediction of future increased output.
Cost Benefit Analysis/Rate Of
Returns Approach
This approach holds that in order to be
able to decide whether a particular
venture is worth investing on or not, we
need to calculate the cost of the venture
and also calculate the benefits to be
derived from it.
Then, the two (costs and benefits) are then
compared. If it is such that:
the cost is greater that the benefits, then it is advisable that you
do not invest your resources on the project, since loss is involved.
the cost is less than the benefits, then it is advisable that you
invest your resources in it since you will make profit: and
the cost equals the benefit, then you may have to consider some
other factors such as whether you want to embark on the project
so as to gain some popularity, or not.
After considering such factors, you will be able to, in this case,
decide on what to do.
Cost Benefit Analysis/Rate Of
Returns Approach
The emphasis of this approach is that all investments in
education like other sectors of the economy must be cost-benefit
oriented. Educational planners adopting this approach evaluate
the rate of returns or benefits of education to both the individual
and the society, before investments are made (Thompson,1981,
Nwankwo,1981).
The Synthetic (Eclectic) Approach
This approach is a synthesis of the various
approaches. It draws on the benefits of the other three
approaches. This approach was developed by Professor
Frederick Harbison.
It calls for the integration of the education with the
general economic and social development planning. This
approach affords educational planners the benefits of
each of the approaches earlier mentioned.
Institutional Planning
According to Prof. M.B.Buch (1968) an institutional plan is
a programme of development by an educational institution
on the basis of its felt needs and the resource available or
likely to be available with a view to improving the school
programme and school practices.
It is based in the principal of optimum utilization of the
resources available in the school and the community. The
plan may be for a longer duration or a shorter duration.
Objectives of Institutional Planning
To bring improvement in the structure of educational institution
To give proper direction to functioning of educational institutions
To develop a comprehensive programme of improvement of
educational system in all its parameters by optimum utilization
of existing resources within its reach
To provide opportunities to the members of the local community,
staff and students to treat educational institutions as a joint and
coo operative venture and to bring improvement in education
institutions
Objectives of Institutional
Planning
To give adequate freedom to teachers think to innovative
and creative ideas for the improvement of institution and
other programs in the institution.
To impart realism and concreteness to educational planning
To shift the emphasis from expenditure orientation to the
effort orientation and proper utilization of the resources.
To create democratic environment to enable every teacher,
administrator, parent and students to take part in the
formulation and implementation of the plan.
IMPORTANCE OF INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING
FOR BETTERMENT AND IMPROVEMENT
All institutions have some plans. All the heads of institutions
make plans and each teacher also plans. In fact each
headmaster and teacher does plan but this planning my not be
systematic adequate and clear. This planning may not exist in a
definite or regular form.
Planning may mostly be routine planning of the syllabus time
table and examination etc. and it may not exist in a definite or
regular form and it may be repeated from term to term and from
session to session without much thinking.
TO GIVE PROPER DIRECTION TO EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Institutional planning will give you right direction to the

educational planning in the country i.e, the upward
direction from bottom to top. In the normal trend followed
today the direction of planning is from top to bottom.
Institutional planning is the recognition of the role of
administrators teachers, parents, students,
educationists and social reformers in the process of
planning of education in the country.
FOR MAXIMUM UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES

Institutional planning leads to optimum use of the

existing resources. As a nation we face a great
scarcity of resources with increasing needs and
demands from every quarter.
Therefore we must plan for maximum utilization
of scarce resource.
FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Educational planning must fit into the over all
national planning for developmental purposes.
As such it gets importance from the need for
collective efforts of the people. Since the
implementation of plans and programs is as
important and vital as plan formulation. Institutional
planning has a special contribution to make in
national development
TO ENCOURAGE INITIATIVE OF
INDIVIDUAL TEACHER
Institutional plan encourages initiative
freedom and creativity of the teacher makes
the individual teacher effective.
It motivates them too strive harder for
achieving excellence.
It draws out the best of the teachers.
FOR DEMOCRATIZATION OF PLANNING
Institutional planning democratizes the
process of planning because it takes into
confidence the students the teachers the
parents and the head of the institution.
Benefits of an Institutional Planning
it involves the teachers the process of planning thereby making
planning more democratic in nature
the preparation of the plan adopts the down to top approach where
first hand knowledge about the strengths , weakness and the
problems arising in the classroom
processes and situations is available from teachers
it is more realistic because I it is based on the data available from
then stakeholders namely students a, teachers and parents
it avoids wastage as it is founded on knowledge about real needs of
the students and the community
it is more scientific , rational , effective and efficient rather than trial
and error methods or traditional approach development.
Benefits of an Institutional
Planning
Each institution has a unique personality or climate and the plan
prepared in the light of this climate will be more realistic and effective
it is goal based and there fire is more efficient involving teachers in
the process of planning motivates them , channelizes their
energies towards achieving the goals , arouses enthusiasm in them ,
making its implementation easier
it reduced emphasis on expenditure orientation and enhances goal
orientation
it provides ample opportunities fro creativity, innovations, initiative ,
freedom and experimentation to those who are involved in preparing
and implementing the plans