Educational Planning Essays

Educational Planning Essays Educational Planning Essay Educational Planning Essay teachers etc. As far as functioning of the system is concerned the elements to be taken into account include administration of education at the system level, managing the educational process at the institutional and classroom level. For analyzing the quality and outcomes of the education system the efficiency of education and the pass percentage and graduation rate etc. are important. Target Setting Targets are translation of objectives in clearly defined quantitative terms. What the plan intends to achieve during the plan period when specified in quantitative terms is known as target. Targets are statements which state clearly and unambiguously what is to be achieved and are in measurable terms and have definite time frame. In order to develop education plan the targets may be set for access, enrolment, retention and achievement level of children. However it is desirable to undertake the target setting exercise in a disaggregated manner. Secondly in a medium and long term plan the targets should be set in a phased manner which means that targets should not only be set for the total plan period but should also be set for all intervening years. This may not only help to see the progress of implementation of the plan on year to year basis but may also facilitate in reviewing the implementation strategies and perhaps revising the targets for the coming years. The gender and social disparities in the field of education are common features in developing countries. These disparities may be in enrolment, retention or even in achievement also. One of the important objectives in the education plan will be to reduce these disparities. It is therefore important to set the targets on enrolment and retention separately for boys and girls as well as for different ethnic groups that are educationally backward. Over a period of time the gap between boys and girls and between various ethnic groups and others may be reduced. The target of reducing this gap may depend upon the gaps between these categories in the base year of the plan. Several demographic and enrolment indicators can be used in setting enrolment targets. These are growth rate of population; growth rate of school age population or share of school age population to total population; share of girls in total child population; share of under age and over age children in total enrolment at a given level of education; Net Enrolment Ratio; growth rate of enrolment in the preceding year; and Net Intake Rate (NIR). It is important to note that plan targets for all major interventions need to beset at the lower level administrative unit. For example, in the national plan state (i. e. province) wise targets may be set or while planning at the state level district wise targets need to be set. Further the plan targets should be expressed both in terms of absolute figures as well as in terms of performance indicators, where ever applicable. Intervention Strategies and Activities After setting the targets the next step in planning is to evolve strategies to achieve the targets and therefore evolving intervention strategies to achieve the targets is another important aspect of plan formulation. The effort may be to highlight the interventions that will help to overcome the problems and constraints identified in the plan so as to ensure that the targets set are achieved. However, it is to be noted that the strategies evolved will have to address the identified problems and issues. While evolving the strategies important points to keep in view are: (i) in a decentralized planning any single strategy may not be uniformly operational or applicable indifferent areas and that is why probably for addressing a single problem one may have to envisage a set of strategies for a given context. ii) Many a times a single strategy may not be enough to address an issue or a problem and there will be a need to work out multiple strategies for addressing a single problem. (iii) All the problems and issues identified during the planning exercise must be tackled and intervention strategies should be worked out accordingly and there should thus be a linkage between the problems/issues identifie d and the intervention strategies developed for addressing them. Translating the strategies into programs and activities is the next step in the plan formulation. It is to be kept in view that a specific intervention strategy may require a number of programs to make it operational and effective. However a program may be an aggregation of various activities. It is therefore necessary to translate each and every strategy into activities and tasks. For example for improving access the strategy can be ‘opening of new schools’. However one of the activities under the strategy of opening new school may be ‘construction of school building’. But the activity of construction of school building has many tasks that are to be undertaken. These tasks may be (i) identification of school-less habitations; (ii)identification of habitations qualifying for opening schools; (iii) listing and prioritization of habitations; (iv) deciding about the number of schools to be opened;(v) identification of habitations where schools are to be opened; (vi) deciding the location/site of the school; (vii) acquiring site/transfer of land; (viii) identification of agency for construction and supervision; (ix) actual construction work; (x) monitoring and supervision of construction work and (xi) finishing and furnishing of school building. Next step in plan formulation is the sequencing and phasing of these activities and the tasks. It may be noted that some activities / tasks can be undertaken only in a sequential manner whereas some activities/tasks can be started simultaneously. For example, construction of school building and recruitment of teachers are the activities which can be undertaken simultaneously while actual construction of school building can not be done before deciding the site of the school, acquiring site, transfer of land and identification of agency for construction and supervision. Costing and Budget Preparation An important step in the plan formulation exercise is the costing and estimation of financial requirements to implement the plan. Translating the physical inputs into financial requirements is essential for funding purpose. All the activities and tasks identified, which have financial implication, are to be cost properly and budgeted adequately. Various steps that are involved in estimation of financial requirements are: (i) listing of all the activities to be undertaken (ii) classifying all these activities into two categories i. . activities having cost implications and activities which do not have cost implications; (iii) classifying the activities which have cost implications into recurring and non-recurring heads; (iv) working our the is another important aspect of plan formulation. The effort may be to highlight the interventions that will help to overcome the problems and constraints identified in the plan so as to ensure that the targets set are achieved. However, it is to be noted that the strategies evolved will have to address the identified problems and issues. While evolving the strategies important points to keep in view are: (i) in a decentralized planning any single strategy may not be uniformly operational or applicable indifferent areas and that is why probably for addressing a single problem one may have to envisage a set of strategies for a given context. (ii) Many a times a single strategy may not be enough to address an issue or a problem and there will be a need to work out multiple strategies for addressing a single problem. iii) All the problems and issues identified during the planning exercise must be tackled and intervention strategies should be worked out accordingly and there should thus be a linkage between the problems/issues identified and the intervention strategies developed for addressing them. Translating the strategies into programs and activities is the next step in the plan formulation. It is to be kept in view that a specific intervention strategy may require a number of programs to make it operational and effec tive. However a program may be an aggregation of various activities. It is therefore necessary to translate each and every strategy into activities and tasks. For example for improving access the strategy can be ‘opening of new schools’. However one of the activities under the strategy of opening new school may be ‘construction of school building’. But the activity of construction of school building has many tasks that are to be undertaken. These tasks may be (i) identification of school-less habitations; (ii)identification of habitations qualifying for opening schools; (iii) listing and prioritization of habitations; (iv) deciding about the number of schools to be opened;(v) identification of habitations where schools are to be opened; (vi) deciding the location/site of the school; (vii) acquiring site/transfer of land; (viii) identification of agency for construction and supervision; (ix) actual construction work; (x) monitoring and supervision of construction work and (xi) finishing and furnishing of school building. Next step in plan formulation is the sequencing and phasing of these activities and the tasks. It may be noted that some activities / tasks can be undertaken only in a sequential manner whereas some activities/tasks can be started simultaneously. For example, construction of school building and recruitment of teachers are the activities which can be undertaken simultaneously while actual construction of school building can not be done before deciding the site of the school, acquiring site, transfer of land and identification of agency for construction and supervision. Implementation Schedule and Monitoring Mechanism One of the important stages in planning exercise is detailing out the implementation plan. When planning at the lower levels, e. g. district level planning, implementation is part and parcel of planning activities. A plan document is incomplete if it does not contain detailed plan for implementation of the programs and projects that the plan contains. It thereby means that planning for implementation should be inbuilt in the plan document. A failure in the achievement of plan targets in the education sector is generally attributed to the lack of detailed planning for implementation. Planning for implementation facilitates the process of implementation of programs and projects by providing a sound mechanism of monitoring in the form of implementation schedule and it also increases the efficiency of the system by minimizing the costs of implementation of a given program or project. Planning for implementation makes it possible to critically analyze the activities of a given educational program and to develop an implementation schedule which can be used for monitoring the progress of implementation. There are certain steps that are necessary in planning for implementation of educational programs or projects. These are; listing of activities that make up the program; thinking through each of these activities; establishing inter-relationships between these activities; establishing a network; setting activity duration; determining material, equipment and human resource needs; deciding about time duration for the program implementation of each activity; identifying identical activities of the program which can not be overlooked without affecting the duration of the average cost of recurring activities and unit cost for non-recurring activities (v)estimation of costs separately under the recurring and non-recurring heads. While estimating the financial requirements for the Education Plan the recurring costs estimation may be on items such as salaries, training, maintenance of building, equipment, furniture, infrastructure, travel costs; stationary and consumables, contingencies, rents etc. Similarly the non-recurring cost estimation may be on items such as: construction of school building, additional classrooms, toilets, compound wall, equipments, furniture; infrastructure; vehicle etc. The aggregation of costs of all the activities and tasks under various strategies will give the total financial requirements of the plan. Allocation of resources to education is based on the budgets. Budgets are prepared annually to facilitate the resource allocation process. This implies that these activities are to be classified according to the year of beginning and completion of the activities. This may help in preparing the annual budgets. The budget should correspond to the activities indicated to be completed in that particular year. While estimating the cost requirements for the plan it is of utmost importance to keep in view the financial parameters fixed by the higher level decision making bodies with regard to Education Plans to be formulated at the lower levels. The costing of the plan must adhere to the ceilings on various items and other financial parameters prescribed by the approving body which may be the national (i. e. central) government and/or the provincial government. Negotiations, Appraisal and Approval The plans developed are draft plans till they are discussed and finally approved by the approving authorities. Since resources are to be allocated for implementation of plan, the negotiation process is very important. Many proposals in the plan may require financial allocation from the higher authorities. Hence the plan may become final only when they are discussed and finally approved by the authorities by approving budget and allocating funds as per requirements. The approving authorities look into the desirability of proposals and the feasibility of implementation of the plan. This is the process of negotiation between those who formulate the plan and those who have to finally approve the plan and budget. It is generally found that some cut in the proposed resource requirement is done by the authorities and in such case the plan need to be revised in the light of discussion. Based on the resources assured by the approving authorities, plan proposals are to be prioritized. After such re-prioritization so as to establish a link between what is proposed and the extent of resources available, the plan is finalized. In order to approve the plan the authorities, who have to approve the plan and budget, do generally like to do comprehensive review of the various aspects and components of program proposals. It is therefore seen whether the plan is technically sound, financially viable and justified and administratively feasible. This is done with the help of a team of experts who discuss the plan proposals at length with the planning team. This process is known as the appraisal of plan. Thus an important aspect of plan negotiation is appraisal through which the opinion of the experts is sought about the soundness and feasibility of plan proposals before it is finally approved for implementation. Negotiation is a process by which one can bargain for more resources. If the proposals made in the plan document are justified and the planning team is able to convince the authorities it is very likely that they may get more resources. However, if the plan proposals are weak and unconvincing the chances are that they may get less amount of resources. The soundness of the proposals which constitute a plan is an important consideration influencing the amount of resources allocated