6 Reasons Why Educational Planning

is Important for Academic Institutions

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The developments taking place in and the increasing complexity of the educational system have made
educational planning an absolute necessity.
The nation today faces problems such as population explosion, increasing aspirations among different
sections of the society, man-power needs, mismatch between educational products and the demands of
the economy, dwindling resources, ecological imbalances and haphazard applications of scientific
developments.

These problems place demands on the system of education for solutions. In order that the system of
education meets these problems, planning becomes imperative and the competence to plan becomes
mandatory.

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Educational planning is an absolute necessity because:

(1) It ensures success of the institution. It takes into consideration the important issues, conditions,
constraints and factors in education. Its focus is on future objectives, vision and goals. It is proactive in
nature in that it emphasizes perception and ability to apply theory and profit from it in advance of action.
It clarifies goals and the means to achieve those goals. Thus it eliminates trial-and-error process, reduces
chances of failure and ensures success. In other words, it provides intelligent direction to activity.

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(2) The scarcity of financial and other non-material resources poses a challenge to education. Planning is
a response to such challenges and explores the possibilities of alternative uses and optimum utilization of
limited resources.
(3) Effective and efficient planning saves time, effort and money.
(4) It is a co-ordinated means of attaining pre-determined purposes.
(5) Education is a public service demanded by the public and supplied by the government. For any
government effort of such a large magnitude as education, planning is absolutely necessary.
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(6) Educational planning is one of the components of the overall national socio-economic development.
The over-all planning has to provide the objectives of education and the finances for educational
development for accomplishing these objectives.

5 Main Stages of Educational Planning

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There are five main stages of educational planning:

(1) Collection and Analysis of Statistical Information:
At this stage, relevant information about the system of education and concerned socio-economic factors
is collected so as to provide the quantitative basis for projections aimed at the future development of the
educational system.

Along with this, assessment in some allied fields is also necessary as education is an integral part of the
total plan and is closely inter-related with the economic development of the country.

(2) Evolving Policy Proposals:

The statistical information collected helps in identifying the gaps, weaknesses and shortcoming and
provides the planners with a clear idea of the existing conditions. This helps the planners in formulating
policy proposals aimed at accomplishing pre-determined objectives.

The formulation of the policy proposal requires an over-all view of the role of education vis-a-vis the
economic development and the over-all planning. It should also take into account the complexities of a
large country like India, the diversities of cultures within it as well as the regional aspirations.

These necessitate the introduction of a uniform educational system (e.g., 10+2+3 system) along with
scope for regional diversities in the curricula. It should also aim at evolving policy decisions concerning
rational norms of optimum class-size in terms of enrollment and student-teacher ratios at different levels
and types of education.

Besides, policies concerning admission criteria (except the compulsory primary education level),
promotion of students, fees to be paid on the basis of the principle of social justice, supply of text-books,
equipment, devising curricula, methods of teaching, teachers’ qualifications and in-service professional
development, methods of evaluation, medium of instruction, language policy and teachers’ salaries must
be taken into account.

(3) Projections, Programming and Project Analysis:

An effective plan necessitates projections of all the inputs of the educational system – students, teachers,
administrators, school buildings and classrooms, equipment and financial requirements.

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Projections have to be made of the future nature and size of the demographic composition of population
for a period of fifteen to twenty years. Since student is the focus of the educational process, projection
should begin with the school and the college age-groups drawn on a yearly basis in terms of enrolments.

There are two commonly employed procedures available for scientific projections:

(i)The enrolment ratio method which is based on the projection of past and present ratios of school
enrolment or school attendance into the future. It requires estimates of population by age and sex
regarding school enrolment and/or attendance data.
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(ii)The grade cohort method which is also known as cohort survival method. This method also makes use
of the past and current enrolment data by grade for every school level and for approximately seven-year
and ten-year data for primary and secondary levels respectively.
It also requires data on the number of new students, repeaters and those who pass on to the next higher
class for every standard/class. Projections are calculated from the survival rates of students after taking
into consideration demographic characteristics such as birth rate, mortality rate and migration rates.

Alongwith this, a minimum social standard of education needs to be postulated such as compulsory
schooling for every child for a certain number of years.

Besides, provisions should be made in the estimates for the changes made by students midstream (e.g.,
switching from science faculty to commerce faculty) and other forms of turnover, adult education, literacy
programmes, excess supply of products in a particular stream etc.

An assessment should also be made about the efficiency and effectiveness of the curricula, pedagogy
used and criteria of admissions and evaluation as well as the changes required therein.

This is followed by programming and operation. For example, if 800 technicians are to be produced, a
programme on the number of institutions, teachers, equipments, space, syllabi, courses, etc., is to be
worked out. Here, one institution is called a project programming and project analysis involves the
application of administrative and economic principles in order to assess a particular situation and
establish an operational programme.

(4) Costing Educational Plans:

Education is an activity wherein the institution and the society bear part of the cost and the learner bears
part of the cost. In order to improve the formulation and implementation of educational plans, it is
necessary to understand the methods of costing education and the problems associated with it.

The unit costs of different types of educational facilities need to be computed. These costs are to be
studied in terms of the availability of present and future financial resources. It should be ensured at this
stage that the real cost of education is not too high so as to be inconsistent with the attainment of the
overall plan objectives.

(5) Decision, Implementation and Evaluation:

A five year plan needs to be broken up into annual plans. Each annual plan is scrutinized, discussed and
criticized in relation to a review of previous year’s strengths, weaknesses and achievements. At this
stage, the necessary conditions for effective implementation of the programme need to be created.
Thereafter, the actual operations take place.

At the end of the plan, evaluation is done in terms of the extent to which the objectives of the plan have
been accomplished in an effective and efficient manner.

Educational Planning and Management - 2014 Trends

1. 1. Planning and Development School Planning and Management Trends 2014
2. 2. Trend #1: More Emphasis on MI Identical schools in terms of facilities do not equate to equal opportunity
for learners. This one-size-fits-all approach is disappearing. • Pro: Schools cater to learners’ specific needs
based on their unique skills and talents. • Con: Uncertainty in terms of enrolment, uncertainty in terms of
facilities needs, and uncertainty in terms of expenses.
3. 3. Trend #2: Technology in Instructional Delivery • Pro: Keeping abreast with the development in technology
and making the most out of it. • Con: Costly education; needs technology competent teachers.
4. 4. Trend #3: Labs over Classrooms There will be a preference of laboratories and learning centers over
standard academic classrooms. These are also offered for community/business use. • Pro: Multipurpose
classrooms • Con: Costly facilities; increased utilities expenses
5. 5. Trend #4: The Evolution of Instructional Materials Paperless instructions – more use of instructional
materials in digital forms on CDs, DVDs, or accessed via the Internet. • Pro: Paperless; interactive IMs •
Con: Electrical service, internet connection, computer networks, air- cooling system, soundproofing devices
needed in the learning environment
6. 6. How to Provide School Facilities that meets Current and Future Needs in a Community 1. Constantly scan
the environment. 2. Communicate regularly with educators, the community, businesses, and policy makers.
3. Stay aware of current educational, design, and environmental issues.
7. 7. Thinking beyond Today for Effective Planning • These questions must be asked on an ongoing basis: • 1.
What is emerging in educational practice that may affect school design tomorrow? • 2. What is happening
with the demographic composition of my community that may change how education must be delivered or
what taxpayers are willing to support? • 3. Does quality research exist that indicates education can be
delivered in a more efficient, effective manner?
8. 8. Only if such questions are addressed can we hope that the school facilities of tomorrow will adequately
support the educational programs of the day. Thank you for listening! Reporters: Ma. Angelica Maghinang-
Domingo Roxanne M. Delos Reyes Reference: Mt. Lebanon School District: http://www.mtlsd.org/district/