Meaning and Concept of Educational Planning PDF

Meaning and Concept of Education  Educatio n Education is the key that unlocks the door for the development of any nation. It is the instrument that facilitates political, economic, social and technological development of a country. For education to play its...

Meaning and Concept of Education  Educatio n Education is the key that unlocks the door for the development of any nation. It is the instrument that facilitates political, economic, social and technological development of a country. For education to play its key role on the transformation of a nation, it needs to be adequately and effectively planned because a faulty educational planning can jeopardize a country's development for decades. Therefore the importance of educational planning cannot be overemphasized. Concept of Education The literature on the concept of education reveals that the word “education” is derived from three Latin words namely:  Educatum – the act of teaching or training of an individual or group of individuals. Educare – to bring up or to raise. Educere – to lead forth or to come out (Wikipedia, n.d). Importance of Education Education is the key that opens the doors for development, modernization, civilization and industrialization of any nation. It is the means, through which a nation can harness her numerous resources, develop her manpower and improve the quality of the life of her citizens. In any country of the world, education is the backbone of scientific and technological development. It enhances self-reliance for an individual and the nation. A nation that is self-reliant does not depend on foreign goods for survival and self-reliant people do not depend on government for the provision of employment. The individual can gainfully employ himself/herself and be able to attend to his/her critical needs.  In this way education reduces the level of poverty in a nation. Thus, quality functional education contributes to national development in this direction.  Education liberates the people from ignorance and promotes socio-economic and political development of a nation. It is on the basis of this that Nigeria adopts education as an instrument par-excellence for national development. Education is very vital in every human existence and societal development. It facilitates the rate of development and improves the standard of living of the people.  A well educated person acquires knowledge for critical thinking and can use the knowledge and skills acquired through education to create wealth especially now that we are living in a knowledge driven-economy.  Education helps a person to understand the society better and contribute positively to its development and become more useful to the society in which he lives. It is through education that the task of processing human resources into well trained human capital needed in any country of the world can be achieved. Thus, education is an investment in human capital development  Education is the sure way to sustainable development of a country’s economy.  The world of today is technology- driven especially information technology. Therefore education is this area is important for the future economic development of developing nations. Similarly, education is a promoter of national interest. A good educational system produces people with critical intelligence and wisdom. These people can work independently and come out with independent results and conclusions from given facts. Such conclusions stand to benefit the nation and the people. Education helps to produce global citizenship that works for the benefit of humanity. Such educated people exhibit humility, have moral integrity and are wise and tolerant. They work for the common good of man. Thus, the development of all aspect of national economy depends on the manpower development through education. It is on the basis of this that educational planning becomes imperative. POLICY & PLANNING Policy Policy is a statement of aims, purposes, principles or intentions, which serve as continuing guidelines for management in accomplishing objectives.  Planning Planning is the formal process of making decisions for the future of individuals and organizations. Planning involves dealing on aims and objectives, selecting to correct strategies and program to achieve the aims, determining and allocating the resources required and ensuring that plans are communicated to all concerned. Plans are statement of things to be done and the sequence and timing in which they should be done in order to achieve a given end. Concept of Planning Planning is fundamental to the achievement of set goals. Planning is a deliberate effort to determine the future course of action for accomplishing predetermined goals and objectives. Planning as the process of examining the future and drawing up or mapping out a course of action for achieving specified goals and objectives. It involves working out in broad outline the things to be done and procedures for doing them in order to accomplish set purpose. It is a process of making rational and technical choice Planning is a systematic, conscious and deliberate process of deciding ahead of time, the future course of action that a person wishes to pursue in order to reach set goals. This definition suggests that planning is part and parcel of every man’s endeavor politically, socially, economically and academically. Similarly, UNESCO (2003) describes planning as a process that makes it possible to work out a systematic outline of activities to be undertaken in order to meet the developmental objectives of a country within that country’s possibilities and aspirations. These definitions depict that planning is both futuristic and goal-oriented. It is intelligent preparation for actions that will lead to the achievement of predetermined goals and objectives. It involves a conscious, careful and systematic process of arranging a future course of action directed at goal accomplishment.  Planning therefore, provides the direction in relation to objectives, activities, procedures, strategies, and cost implications, sources of fund, responsibilities and duration or time frame for attainment of set objectives. It spells out what is to be done, who to do it, when it should be done and how it should be done in order to reach set target.  Concept of Educational planning  Educational planning involves a systematic and scientific set of decisions for future action with the aim of achieving set educational goals and objectives through effective use of scarce resources. It provides the tool for coordinating and controlling the direction of the educational system so that educational objectives can be realized.  It is a process of identifying and classifying educational needs of a nation and the direction education should take and the strategies for implementing decisions concerning educational development.  Educational planning should reflect the state of development of a nation including the needs and readiness to execute the planned objectives.  Thus, educational planning must take into consideration the population growth of children of school age in relation to access to education, educational opportunities and the demand for education. Educational planning as the application of rational systematic analysis to the process of educational development with the aim of making education more effective and efficient in responding to the needs and goals of the learners and the society. This means that educational planning should take into account the needs of the pupils/students in terms of learning facilities and equipment, textbooks, classroom spaces and qualified educational personnel. In meeting the needs of the society, educational planning should take cognizance of the manpower, cultural, social and communication needs of the society (nation) as well as the economic changes   Importance of Educational Planning  It helps in identifying educational goals and objectives.  It helps in even or effective distribution of scarce resources.  It aids decision making in education.  It is necessary for administrative decision making in education.  It enables a nation to make her choices clear in terms of educational needs.  It enhances optional utilization of resources and so eliminates imbalance and waste.  Effective planning makes provision for quality education, sustainable national economy.  Effective educational planning enhances investment in human capital which leads to rapid national economic growth.  Educational planning reduces exigencies in the educational sector. Problems are anticipated in time and dealt with appropriately.  It enables stakeholders in education to gain economic insight in the use of scarce educational resources. Well planned education enhances literacy and reduces ignorance among citizens. Planning gives direction and guidelines for a country’s educational system  Characteristics of Effective Educational Planning  A good and effective educational planning should have the following features:  It should be dynamic: We are living in a society and environment that are not static and changes occur daily. Educational planning should be dynamic in order to keep pace with changes in the society.  It should be comprehensive: Planning should take the overall view of the entire educational system. If planning is concerned with national educational system, the overall view of the national educational system must be done in order to have adequate information for planning. If the planning is for one level of education, for example, secondary education, an overall assessment of the secondary educational system must be carried out.  Educational planning should be integrated: This implies that educational planning should aim at maximizing output through the use of limited resources. Efforts should be made to link the various planning operations and the focus should be to improve the outcome of educational services provided.  Educational planning should be iterative: Planning should require redefining educational goals and objectives because of serendipity and unforeseen obstacles. The planning should be flexible to give room for adjustment.  Planning should provide for exploration of alternatives: This would enhance choice of possible alternatives, in terms of methods, strategies and approaches for effectiveness and efficiency.  Educational planning should be goal-oriented: It should focus on achievement of set educational goals and objectives. Planning should be based on clearly defined goals that are simple and easy to understand.  Educational planning should be future-oriented: It should focus on the improvement of future educational development.  Educational planning should be pragmatic: This means that the plan should be good and effective. The pragmatic nature of educational planning can be evaluated by how good the plan is and how well it is implemented.  Planning of education should be a continuous process that takes into consideration current changes in the society.  Educational planning is a deliberate action It does not happen by accident.  Educational planning is a formal activity. It has a structured plan and some procedures in a written form to follow. Flexibility: - there is no rigid procedure, techniques and approaches used in this service since it takes into consideration of principle of individual difference.  Cause and effect: - it accepts that problems have causes and inter-related, so a deep knowledge of causes is essential. Counseling services aims at identifying the cause which leads to the present problem so that services can be rendered to the student to alleviate the problem.  Development of insight: - By accurate guide for his problems.