strategic planning in education

Strategic Planning in Education

Cristopher C. MideaReporter

Planning

is a process whereby a direction is mapped and then the ways and means for following that direction are specified.

is the product of the planning process and can be defined as a set of decisions about what to do, why, and how to do it.

Plan


Reasons for Strategic Planning

• First, one may wish to plan and carry out all the activities that people deem necessary, but without achieving the ultimate goals and results.

• Furthermore, more resources do not necessarily stand for the best results. The way one uses these resources can lead to different levels of benefits and results.

• Thirdly, it has become more and more difficult to plan everything one would wish to do. One ought to make choices, often tough ones, through a balanced decision-making, tradeoffs across the education system and through a consensus building process.


The Strategic Management CycleStrategic Planning in Education

teachers

instructional materials

equipment

buildings

INPUTS

throughput

Input mix

Move along to achieve the result

PROCESS RESULT

enrolments graduates learning achievements

benefits for students families society

OUTPUTS

OUTCOMES

FEEDBACK

The Strategic Management Cycle

EVALUATION

PLANNING

ANALYSIS

IMPLEMENTATION

AppraisalOperational

Monitoring & Review

Feedback

Definitions of Planning

OperationalPlanning

StrategicPlanning

Focus Routine activities Achieving goals

Purpose Achieving the best use of available resources

Planning the best courses of action

Rewards Efficiency, stability Effectiveness, impact

Information Present situation Future opportunities

ProblemSolving

Relies on past experience Finds new ways and alternatives


1.

2.

3.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS

ACTION PLANNING

POLICY FORMULATION

Three Stages of Strategic Planning



1. SYSTEM ANALYSIS

Sector analysis consists of conducting data collection on and critical analysis of how the education system functions (internal dynamics) and examining various contextual factors (the environment of the system).

Aspects to be considered in ESA

• Macro-economic and socio-demographic frameworks

• Access to and participation in education

• Equity

• Quality and relevance of education

• External efficiency

• Costs and financing in education

• Managerial and institutional aspects


2. POLICY FORMULATION

Critical analysis of the educational system undertaken during the sector analysis leads to questions about what the education sector must do in order to address the major issues, challenges and opportunities. These questions include what overall results (strategic goals) the system should achieve and the overall methods (or strategies) to implement policies.


Access- access, participation, including gender and equity issues

Quality- quality, internal efficiency, relevance and external effectiveness

Management- governance, decentralization, resource management

Threefold Dimensions in Education Policies

Access to and participation in education Equity and the reduction of disparities in terms of genders,

regional, rural/urban and social disparities Quality and the relevance of education at different levels of

education The place that the private sector and local groups occupy in

the organization of education Regulation of student flow Institutional aspects such as governance, management and

planning Partnership and communication between actors and

partners, the level and forms of participation and communication

Cost control in reccurent and capital expenditure Mobilize resources in connection with decentralization

Indicatives in an Educational Policy and the implementation Strategies:


3. ACTION PLANNING

Action planning is a process whereby one translates the policy directions into executable, measurable and accountable actions. In a broader sense, action planning includes specifying objectives, outputs, strategies, responsibilities and timelines (what, what for, how, who and when).
