MY SCHOOL by Dr .Nilesh Gopal das Joshi (beginner reading books for adults .txt) 📕

model institution according to its purpose. The plan may be for long or short duration according to need. It is based on the principle of optimum utilization of resources.

Institutional planning is the plan for the institution as a unit so that its targets are defined in the plan, its time-bound progress is determined, the rate of progress per unit of time is also determined, and the commitments are made in the plan which regulate and accelerate its working. It is a scheme for the efficient running, steady growth, balanced expansion and priority-wise expansion of an institution.

New Trends in Planning

Institutional planning is the product of new trends in planning which advocate making the process of planning a two-way process. Planning has been mostly coming from above, but new planning should commence mostly from below. Institutional planning starts the process of planning from the grassroots. There is a radical change and a movement to shift major emphasis towards planning at the base.

Our educational planning in the past had certain characteristics:

It had been a centralized affair, being prepared by a central agency and then sent down to sub-agencies for implementation. It had been carried out as a high-level planning; resembling an inverted pyramid. It had been purely expenditure oriented and not task-oriented or result-oriented. It did not involve the teachers in its preparation or even in implementation. It did not emphasize the implementation part and the full utilization of the already existing material and human resources. It did not attempt any planning at the level of institutions.

The new trend in the planning process involves:

Progressive measures of decentralization of educational planning. Emphasis on implementation, administration and methodology. Preparing plan from the institution point of view. Associating the local community actively.

The purposes of Planning are:

To ensure success of the institution Good method to solve problems Efficient and effective planning to keep pace with the time Needed to encourage initiative and creativity of teachers.

DEFINITIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING

According to M.B.Buch, “Institutional planning is a programme of development and improvement prepared by an educational institution on the basis of its felt and the resources available or likely to be available, with a view to improving school programme and school practices. It is based on the principle of optimum utilization of the resources available in the school and the community”.

 

W.Franklin, “Institutional planning is a milestone in the journey towards the improvement of education. The teacher is the kingpin in any educational effort. It is for the first time that the teaching community is being asked to act as the planner and executer of educational improvement”.

Meaning of Institutional Planning

It is an institutional mission to ensure high quality of teaching and training of young generation with efficient skill for contributing to the national development within the framework of present institutional management.

Institutional planning is a:

Plan for development as a whole Plan for improvement of the existing situation Plan for felt needs, necessity of the institution Plan for an effort to make a balance between available resources and planning An effort to find out to be available resources

Need and Importance of Institutional Planning

Institutional planning is a milestone in the journey towards the improvement of education. Institutional planning is need based because of the following reasons:

It ensures success of the educational enterprise. It helps in giving a proper direction to educational planning in the country. It encourages initiatives of teachers which in turn promotes developmental prospects of the school. It leads to optimum utilization of existing resources by reducing wastage at every stage of educational planning. It accelerates works among teachers and develops cooperation among them. It enables the teacher to experiment with the new ideas. It democratizes the process of planning.

It is essential to involve administrators, teachers, parents, students, educationists and social reformers in the process of educational planning, because democratic planning presupposes popular participation. Educational planning has to be decentralized to the district level and still further down to the level of institution.

By recognizing each institution as a unit, it is quite easy to develop District and State Educational Plans. In such a situation the individuality of an institution is not only preserved but promoted and becomes the centre of planning. There should be complete revolution in education starting from below. The institution will enjoy academic freedom in this arrangement. The teachers, administrators and even students will assume their rightful leadership in the process of educational reconstruction.

Characteristics of Institutional Planning

No two schools can be identical in their needs and requirements. Hence every school will have to prepare an institutional plan for itself independently. An ideal school plan will have the ceratin characteristics:

It is need based and not grant based.It should be prepared according to the needs of the institution and not on the basis of grants sanctioned. It is Based on present resources: It attaches more importance to the present human and material resources. Instead of going on with demands of more, it endeavors to make optimum utilization of the resources in hand. It should aim at the maximum use of the available human and material resources. It should limit itself to the total improvement of the school and should not suggest work for the district educational authorities or demand funds from the directorate of education for its implementation. It is specific for an institution. There cannot be a single plan for all the institutions. It is Task oriented: As it is written in the form of tasks, rather than the finance, it is task oriented. Scientific: It is scientific in nature. No waste: Institutional planning avoids all wastes. Grants received if not utilized are surrendered rather than wasted through hasty purchases of useless materials. Cooperative institutional planning: Planning is a cooperative effort undertaken by all the staff members of the school involving school staff, community, management, pupils, parents, etc. Apart from involvement, it results in motivation for students, teachers, management and the community. Prospective: Institutional planning is prospective. It spot-lights not only present needs but also future needs of the institution. It can be prepared as an annual and five-year plan. Goal oriented: It is purposive and goal oriented. It should be based on certain ‘predetermined objectives’ and goals and all activities planned should help directly or indirectly to achieve these ends. Inspection: It serves as the basis for annual inspection. Development: Inspection is designed for the development of the institution. It is continuously developing. An institutional plan cannot be rigid and static. It forms the basis for the District, State and National Plans. It should be a ‘plan of work’ and not a charter of demands. It must aim at utilizing what is available and not demanding what is not available. It at all it needs more finance, the same should be available from the local community which must be a party to the preparation of the school plan. The plan should have a well-defined and finely classified activities for the school improvement and school development. It should be flexible in nature so that at various stages of its implementation changes may be effected according to needs and requirements. It should only further the cause of education- its quality and quantity and should not criticize and condemn the approach of district authorities or the directorate of education. It should be in consonance with the district educational plan. It should neither be too ambitious to be implemented nor too modest to make any appreciable improvement. It should, therefore, be a working plan based on the capacity of teachers, the needs of the students and the local community. It should clearly indicate the time limit for its implementation. It can be a short term one or a long term one depending on the circumstances and needs of the school. It should have a plan of evaluation also, so that the result of the efforts could be evaluated after some intervals. It should have a balanced approach so that it does not tilt towards academics or out of class activities alone. The principal has to play a very important role as a co-ordinator.

ESSENTIALS OF INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING

Different levels of improvement programmes

We cannot insist on the same level of progress in different improvement approaches. Some programmes will progress at a faster rate than others depending upon their degree of simplicity or complexity and upon the ability of the teachers concerned.

Each school has its own individuality

No two schools are alike. Therefore, any two schools cannot be given the same plan to follow. A school should not borrow or import institutional plan for its improvement. It should evolve its own plan keeping in view its needs, priorities, problems and resources.

Involvement of all teachers of the school

In the process of preparing the school plan, the headmaster should take care to involve himself, as well as all the teachers of the school. Every member of the school population should be involved in the task of preparation and implementation of the school plan. Efforts should be made to involve the community groups as well as the students. Committees consisting of parents, teachers and students may be formed to prepare and carry out different aspects of the plan.

Forward looking plan

While planning for the current session, the experience of the past should be taken into consideration. At the same time, the plan should be forward looking, aiming at excellence in the near future.

AREAS OF THE INSTITUTIONAL PLAN

Every area linked with the school is an appropriate area to be covered in the plan. Some of the major areas are:

Academic

It is the most prominent area for the operation of institution plan. The plan will try to enrich the curricula and improve the instructional programmes. The immediate purpose may be to improve the school results both in the internal and external examinations. The efforts will be focused on reducing the wastage, stagnation, improving attendance, ensuring regularity in homework, assignments etc.

Co-curricular

The school plan will cover the areas like beautification of the campus, physical education, literary activities, inter-house competitions etc. The school environment will be made attractive and stimulating for the students through the plan proposals.

Maximum utilization of available resources

In many schools, available material and human resources remain unused and unharnessed for want of any specific plans and programmes. There are also schools which have surplus teachers who are not fitting into the school curriculum. In some schools, rare and useful equipments remain locked up in the almirahs. The planning would aim at utilizing the unutilized facilities so that the investment made in them does not go waste.

A good institution plan makes a thorough study of the physical and human resources available in the school and the community. Also they will see to it that these resources are put to a maximum use in the interest of the school and students.

School services

The school provides a large number of services. The plan has to make the best use of the available services like library, guidance service, clinical service, laboratory service etc. The services lacking in the school may have to be provided through yearly plans. The services like sanitation, drinking water, hygiene etc. need special attention.

Discipline

The plan will also be used as a medium of establishing and maintaining discipline in the institution. The specific causes of indiscipline in relation to the institution concerned will be discovered from the past experience and specific efforts will be made for their removal in the plan programmes.

Teaching-learning aids

This area relates to the supply of teacher’s guidebooks, reference books, library stock, maps, mathematical instruments, papers, boards, chalk pieces, charts, models, film strips, projectors, tape recorders etc. The plan should regularly enrich the material resources of the school and ensure that they are not stocked as show pieces only, but put to regular use.

Professional growth of teachers

The plan should also cover this area of professional growth and in-service training of each individual teacher. Adequate stress should be laid on the in-service training of each individual teacher according to his/her need. Orientation programmes of teachers, refresher courses, meetings etc. for the in-service education of the entire school faculty should be planned in order to improve their instructional work.

Scope of Institutional Planning

Planning must take the shape of an overall scheme for the improvement of the institution in respect of:

Time table and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities for pupils Curricular and syllabus in each subject divided into monthly and weekly units