Hindrances in Educational Planning

Kifayat Ullah

Planning

Planning is an act of preparing a set of options or choices for future action in such a way that the available resources (men, money and material) are properly used to achieve the desired goal(s). It is a conscious effort and a comprehensive activity of reconciliation between the goals and the resources through most desirable procedures to avoid waste.

Planning differs from policy, decision making and administration. Policy is a general statement to guide decision-making. Decision-making is about choosing from among alternative courses of action. Administration means using appropriate procedures to carry out decisions already made in the light of policy statement.

Planning covers both

What is to be done, when, by what means, by whom.And for what objectives.So that maximum out put is achieved with minimum inputs and resources.

A planner must know ;

What the goals or objectives are.Identify and analyse the needs (Demand).How they are to be met (Supply).What it will take to meet the needs (Costs).The hierarchy of the needs (Priority).Whether the cost will be regarded as investment or consumption and resources for producing change (Growth).

Types of Planning

i. Short Term Plans = (Span over some months)ii. Annual Plan = (Span over one year)iii. Roll-on Plan = (Span over 3 years)iv. Five Year Plan = (Span over 5 years)v. Perspective Plan = (Span over 15-25 years)

Need for Planning

To achieve the desired goals of development there is a need for planning because ;Planning is always goal oriented. It follows lines of action (policy and decisions), the steps or stages go through (execution techniques) and the methods properly used. All these activities minimize, if not totally reduce, waste.

Planning helps us visualize the future we want to predict and it sets up methods, resources etc for helping to achieve that future. Planning shows step by step procedures towards a goal and reveals where and when we go wrong.Planning brings higher rationality and order in organization. The plan co-ordinates the activities of various executing agencies towards the definite goal.

Hindrances in Educational Planning

Shortsighted and poor visualization.Poor goal definition or ambitious targets.Lack of co-ordination.Poor information (Data, Statistics etc.).Scarcity of resources, and Inadequate/incompetent administrative structure for planning monitoring and evaluation (lack of planning accentuation) and unrealistic, under estimated expectations/targets.

A Good Planning

Planning should be goal oriented. These goals should be realistic and be defined clearly after careful analysis and predicted future.Plan should be simple and viable within the available resources.The actions, decisions and operations should be carefully programmed. The expected standards/norms should be clearly indicated.

Plan should be flexible and adjustable with alternate policy, choices and targets.It should be balanced and should take into consideration all possible factors, constraints and contingencies.It should ensure the best approaches and judicial use of resources.Vi innovative approaches may be applied where traditional approaches fail to achieve the targets/ goals due to resource constraints etc.

Phillip. H. Combs, the author of ‘What is Educational Planning’ says ;

“Whatever educational planning is, it certainly is not a miracle drug for ailing educational system nor conversely, is it a devils potion that breeds only evils. Educational Planning, in its broadest generic sense, is the application of rationale and systematic analysis to the process of educational development with the aim of making more effective and efficient response to the (present and future) needs and goals of the students (learners) and society.”

Policy and Plan

Coming from policy to plan, educational plans are ultimately derived from the policies. It is a step next to policy making, decision making and administration. Educational plans consist of a series of process culminating in a document for providing information to decision makers on how best the educational system can accomplish its goals through carefully calculated and determined resources, programs, projects or schemes.

Educational policies;

1. All Pakistan Education Conference, 1947.2. Education Conference, 1951.3. National Commission on Education, 1959.4. Commission on students problems and Welfare, 1966.5. Proposals for a New Education Policy, 1969.6. Education Policy, 1972.7. National Education Policy, 1978.8. National Education Policy 1998-20

Concerns of good plans

Establishment of clear objectives/goals and targets.Preparation of alternate courses of action/decision in the form of projects and schemes.Indicating various facilities or services required for each action/decision.Determining the human resources, the physical facilities, the financial resources and the involvement of various agencies; and Over all social implications in the context of the plans.

Details of Educational plans

1. First Five Year Plan, 1955-60 = 4.8%2. Second Five Year Plan, 1960-65 = 4.4%3. Third Five Year Plan, 1965-70 = 4.3%4. Non Plan Period, 1970-78 = 4.6%5. Fifth Five Year Plan, 1978-83 = 3.7%6. Sixth Five Year Plan, 1983-88 = 2.1%7. Seventh Five Year Plan, 1988-93 = 2.2%8. Eighth Five Year Plan, 1993-98 = 2.4%9. Ninth Five Year Plan, 1998-2000. = 3.0% =

Promised

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

First (1955-60)

Second (1960-65)

Third (1965-70)

No Plan (1970-78)

Fifth Five Year Plan,1978-83

Sixth (1983-88)

Seventh (1988-93)

Eighth (1993-98)

Ninth (1998-2000)

Process of Educational Planning.

Planning is a cyclical process. It takes re-start where it ends. It is generally divided into the following six stages :-

Pre-planning ;It is concerned with formation of objectives based on the identified needs.Planning ;It includes diagnosis of existing conditions in terms of adequacy, relevance and resources.Plan Formation ;It is based on the results of the diagnosis and the planning, to highlight, analyse the problems and propose steps and policies for solving and overcoming them.

Plan Elaboration ;It is concerned with details of objectives, resources, procedures for execution and implementation etc.Plan Implementation ;It concerns the form of budgeting, the management process, execution organization framework and monitoring and supervision net work etc.Plan Evaluation ;This stage of the process is concerned with the formative and summative evaluation of progress of the plan to determine when it is to be revised, completed or terminated.

Hindrances in Educational Planning.

Educational Planners have to face hindrances in the process of formulating and implementing the plans. Some of them is highlighted here;

Financial ResourceIt is a common hindrance. This forces the policy makers to review their plans and revise priorities by cutting targets.

General ResourceNon availability of suitable space/land for establishment of an educational institution or expansion of the existing institution.

Human ResourceShort supply of personnel with required professional knowledge, technical skills, experience and managerial capacity also becomes a constraint in preparing, executing and operating the plan/projects.

Material ResourceNon-availability of equipment, machinery and supplies at the appropriate time and place, lack of sufficient financial resources, shortage of funds etc. Which are needed for the implementation of the project, also hamper the projects.

Demographic Constraints.Higher population birth rate, population influx from rural to urban, disparity between dependent and active population age group, etc are some of the demographic constraints which affect during the process of plan formulation.

Time hindranceUnnecessarily delayed projects, at any stage (formulation, implementation or operation) always give set back in the achievement of objectives/returns or benefits. It also cause increase in financial resources due to escalation.

Political FactorsHigh commitments and promises in political manifestos, political instability, interference at lower levels and trade unions also create disturbance/obstacles in the plan formulation as well as in its implementation.Complicated codal formalities , and some times delayed release of funds also hampers the implementation of the project

Social FactorDisparities in educational opportunities, imbalances between male & female, rural & urban, cultural pressure groups, resistance to accept change etc some times jeopardize the plans.

Religious FactorRepugnance to co-education, religious pressure groups, changing to old traditional systems are some of the constraints which affect plans.

Natural and Operational Barriers.Sometimes legal organizationas, procedural intricacies, feudal and local contentions become barriers in the implementation process. Similarly, weather inclemencies, floods, land erosions and inadequate infrastructures are the common barriers which are beyond one’s control and they hamper the plan.