EDUCATIONAL PLANNING
General Consideration Educational Planning to be really effective has to be done in a coordinated fashion at five different levels in any state: secretariat, directorate, regional, district and institution. But at present in U.P., as in most other states, educational planning is done generally at the secretariat and directorate levels except the involvement of panchayati raj institution to some extent. The idea of district and institutional planning has been emphasized for some time now. But very few district plans have been prepared and even the theoretical aspects of the problem have not been examined adequately in our country.
Planning at the Secretariat Level The formulation of perspective, five-year and annual plans, and their timely and effective im- plementation and evaluation are done at the secreta- riat level on the recommendations of the state directorate of education and in the light of the guide- lines laid down by the state planning department. On receiving the directive from the Planning Commission and the state planning department, the education department at secretariat level asks the director of education to submit proposals for the plan within the ceiling fixed. The proposals are examined and scrutinized in the education department and then sent to the planning depart- ment for approval. Whenever considered neces- sary, matters are sorted out at meetings of the officers concerned.
The procedure and arrangement for imple- mentation of the educational plan starts from the issue of the government order indicating the physical targets and financial outlay. This is done by various sections of the state education secretariat where plan schemes are dealt with. Regular evaluation of those schemes is done at the meetings of the officers under the chairmanship of the state education secretary from time to time. Specific evaluation of some schemes is done by the state planning institutions.
The co-ordination of educational planning with the educational sector of the state is the responsi- bility of the deputy secretary in the education secretariat who is assisted in this work by a section officer and an upper division assistant. He is also responsible for co-ordination with man-power planning and with Planning Commission at the central level. It has been suggested that for plan coordination at the secretariat level and its evalua- tion and implementation there should be provi- sion of specially trained personnel.
Planning at the Directorate Level There is no specific machinery for the work of planning at the directorate of education level. The plan co-ordination work in the directorate is being looked after by the deputy director of education (camp) in the directorate office at Lucknow. Taking into consideration the needs of the field and overall financial targets fixed by the government, the plan schemes are prepared and submitted to government for fixing the plan outlay. As soon as the plan outlay is decided by the government, the directorate sends proposals of specific schemes. Such schemes are prepared on the basis of require- ments of various sectors of education. Plan is then finalised and targets proposed on the basis of availa- ble resources.
Soon after submission of proposals to govern- ment, district educational authorities are appraised of details of the schemes and are requested to make
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preliminary arrangements so as to implement the same on receipt of government sanction to avoid delay. At the directorate level, the progress of plan schemes is reviewed from time to time and bottle-necks, if any, are removed through personal consultation and contact. So far as the work of co-ordination at the directorate of education level is concerned, it is effected through correspondence, meetings and personal contacts with the officials at regional and district levels.
In the directorate of higher education also there is no separate machinery for planning work. That work is done by various sections of the directorate and is routed through the assistant director and joint director of higher education. Plan proposals relating to collegiate or university education are formulated on the basis of needs of the field and financial allocation indicated by the state govern- ment.
Planning at Field Level As indicated earlier in this chapter, little work in educational planning as such is done in the state at levels lower than the secretariat and the directo- rate. This means that the regional deputy director of education and the district and lower functionaries in education including the heads of institutions as well as their teachers have little involvement in the process of formulation of educational plans in the state. The institutions and other field authorities are required to send their proposals as and when asked for by the directorate of education. Similarly, the parents and the community at large also do not have opportunities to participate in programmes of educational expansion and improvement. A few selected educationists and public workers, however, get this opportunity through their membership of some of the advisory, consultative and other bodies referred to earlier in chapters II and III.
The educational set-up in the field, particularly the regional deputy directors of education, district inspectors of schools and heads of educational insti- tutions are mainly responsible for implementation of specific schemes duly approved and incorporated in the plans. Such implementation includes ex- pansion of educational facilities and establishment and development of school complexes. The scheme to boost enrolment of pupils is concentrated on children of the age group 6-11. On the basis of the first and second educational surveys, new pri- mary and middle schools are required to be established depending upon provisions in the plan, so that primary schooling facilities are available within a walking distance of 1.5 Kms. from the home of every child. Similarly, new middle schools are to be planned and established in such a manner that middle school facilities are available to every child within a distance of five kilometres from his home.
The role of the regional deputy director of education is to supervise the work relating to imple- mentation of the educational plan. Actual implementation of plan schemes is done by the district inspectors of schools and zila basic shiksha adhikaris on the basis of the advice and guideline provided by the education and planning depart- ments. In Garhwal region, there is a planning committee at the regional level with commissioner of the division as chairman and district magistrates, regional officers of all departments including the regional deputy director of education, chairmen of zila parishands, managing director of the Hill Development Board and deputy development commissioner as members. This committee for- mulates guidelines for preparation of plan schemes and schemes of regional importance, coordinates the planning work of different departments and periodically evaluates the progress made in the. plan schemes. It ordinarily meets four times in a year.
At district level, the education data and statis- tics are collected and processed in the district inspectorate. Schemes and plans for opening new government high schools or for upgrading them into intermediate colleges or opening new sections in the existing institutions are worked out for those areas which are still unserved and where local initiative is wanting or lacking for opening privately managed institutions. Special stress is given on the areas which are undeveloped and where sche- duled tribes and castes reside predominantly. As far as local endeavour and enterprise for opening private institutions are concerned, it is not indica- ted in the proposals for reasons of uncertainty. The planning for the establishment of pre-primary, primary and junior high schools in a district is done by the district basic shiksha adhikari.
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It has been expressed that the planning and implementation of education at the district level can be improved through (i) involving district and lower level functionaries in education more intima- tely in the formulation of plans and programmes, (ii) encouraging participation of teachers particu- larly (iii) training the field level functionaries in educational planning including collection of statis- tics, their tabulation and analysis, and (iv) encouraging the field authorities in education to develop insight into the norms for establishing schools and their buildings, ways to secure public co-operation and methods of involving local people in strengthening physical facilities of educational institutions and in enriching their programmes.
Manpower Planning The state government of Uttar Pradesh has a directorate of manpower planning located at Lucknow. The deputy secretary, incharge of planning and posted in the education secretariat of the state, is responsible for coordinating educa- tional planning with manpower planning. This matter was discussed in a training seminar on modernisation of educational administration organised in 1974 by the National Staff College for Educational Planners and Administrators for the benefit of district and higher level educational authorities in the state. One of the suggestions made by the seminar relates to co-ordination of education and manpower planning. The specific suggestion is as follows :-
"The Seminar realises that human resource development and manpower planning is one of the most important tasks of educational planning which has not received due attention in the Five Year Plans of the State in the past. At the same time, it was noted that (i) the manpower forecasts available at the moment were limited to a few highly skilled professions, like engineers, doctors, etc., and (ii) there was a considerable scope to improve the manpower forecasting techni- ques. The seminar, therefore, suggests that it is high time that the manpower planning is linked up with educational planning and is made an integral part of the overall socioeconomic plan- ning.
"Education as an investment has to be one of the guiding principles of developing economies. The seminar, therefore, recommends that steps should immediately be taken to improve the techni- ques of manpower planning and to expand their scope to cover middle level workers also, so that the programme of vocationalisation of secondary education could be built around manpower require- ments. The seminar notes that there is already a Directorate of Manpower Planning under the Government of Uttar Pradesh and recommends that suitable steps should be taken to bring about better co-ordination between the Directorate of Manpower Planning, Lucknow and the Directorate of Educa- tion.
"The seminar also feels it necessary to devise suitable training programmes and to undertake special studies in the area of interrelation of educa- tion and employment."
Educational Institutions and Plan
Formulation The educational institutions in Uttar Pradesh were asked to report which among them were appro- ached by the state government in connection with the formulation of the state's fifth plan of education. As far as the schools are concerned, it has come out that out of 77,214 recognised schools, other than pre-primary schools, in the state as on 31st December 1973, only 20,200 were contacted either for supplying some information or for giving suggestions or for reporting about their needs and problems or for any other aspects of the plan for- mulation. Their distribution according to levels of institutions and their management is given in the table.
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Table
Distribution of Heads of Institutions Involved in Formulation of Fifth Five Year Plan
Total Number out of Those in Column (4) Involved in
Stage of Management Total No. Number
Educa- of Heads Involved Collection of Being Asked Enquiry Any
tion of Institu- Information for Suggestions About Need Other
tions & Problems Aspect
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
Primary Government 57,240 16,027 11,493 5,390 2,978 327
Local Body 1,010 314 200 156 87 6
Private 3,999 513 314 183 121 9
Middle Government 6,742 1,742 1,237 639 369 44
Local Body 168 46 20 27 12 2
Private 1,619 641 330 238 190 11
Secondary Government 405 86 41 43 44 10
including Local Body 117 17 2 12 9 1
Intermediate Private 3,843 814 3,312 438 306 29
All stages Government 64,387 17,855 12,771 6,072 3,391 380
Local Body 1,295 377 228 195 108 9
Private 11,532 1,968 986 859 614 49
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