Trends and cases

The gap between planning a n d i m p l e m e n t a t i o n in N i g e r i a n e d u c a t i o n John I. Nwankwo The z97os have witnessed a dramatic shift in the management of education in Nigeria. The control of education in Nigeria in the past was the business of three groups, often in disagreement: the voluntary agency (mostly- religious groups), the state and some enterprising individuals. But in recent years education in Nigeria has been considered an instrument for national development to come under the exclusive control of the state. Confirmation came in the recent Federal Republic of Nigeria National Policy on Education (z977, P. 3): Education in Nigeria is no more a private enterprise, b u t a huge G o v e r n m e n t venture that has w i t n e s s e d . . . Government's complete and dynamic intervention a n d active participation. T h e Federal Government of Nigeria has adopted education as a n instrument par excellence for effecting national development.

While we do not intend to pry into the controversy of the advisability or the risk of placing so much faith on the efficacy of education (here in fact 'schooling') for economic growth and national development, 1 it is apparent from the policy statement cited above that education in Nigeria is a serious and strategic government engagement. Correspondingly, education here is gradually moving from a state of sporadic and uncoordinated management to one of conscious planning and change. The awareness of the need for proper planning (especially at the national level), has tended to amplify more iar-

yohn L Nwankwo (Nigeria). Lecturer, Department of Educational Management, University of lbadan, Nigeria, and author of several studies on educational management in Nigeria and related questions.

ringly the gap between educational plans and their implementation. A cursory glance at the history of development plans in many ex-colonies (particularly from the time of their independence) shows that the gap between planning and implementation broadens as the countries drive further and faster from colonization into modernization. One major explanation for the apparent chronic gaps between planning and implementation in the developing countries might be related to the history of colonialism and the theory of colonial mentality. It has been suggested that with political independence most ex-colonies experienced a near frenetic drive for development and modernity. The drive to 'catch up' with the standards in developed countries may have led to the many gigantic development programmes (mostly fashioned after the colonial models) embarked upon by the countries. The colonial officials and experts tended to reproduce the models of their countries in the developing countries. Ironically, most of these are apparently politically motivated, but often economically misadvised development projects failed to reflect to a useful degree the reality of the existing socio-cultnral and economic milieux of the host countries. Naturally, most of these plans collapsed at the implementation stage, or at best exhibited clear gaps between the original intentions and what was implemented. Although many other factors have come to contribute to the continuing gap between planning and implementation in the developing countries, some of the factors have their roots on the vestiges of colonialism. In Nigeria, for example, none of the major national development plans between I955 and 221

Prospects~ Vol. X, No. z, I98o

Trends and cases

197o appeared m have been successfully implemented, due apparently to pre- and postindependence administrative and political coniticts. In education, a close examination of the plalmed and actual development programmes during those two decades reveals that even the quantitative goals could not be achieved (except perhaps for higher education). Also, the orders of priority implicit in broad statements of the plans were largely inverted during the process of implementation (Adesina, 1977). The mission of this essay is, first, to examine the rationale for the current emphasis on educational planning in developing countries; next, to take a retrospective look at some of the possible sources of gaps between educational planning and implementation in Nigeria; and, finally, to consider the prospects and strategies for narrowing the gap between planning and implementation. For these purposes, educational planning will be considered here on its broad level, encompassing aspects of policy-making and decisions about how to carry out policies and decisions. Also, the term implementation will be used here almost synonymously with execution or administration.

T h e r a t i o n a l e o f e d u c a t i o n a l planning

Educational planning, both as an institution and as a process in developing countries, has apparently been encouraged through fiscal and techrdcal assistance from world organizations and their agencies like Unesco, the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), (Phillips, 1976, p. 5; Meritt and Coombs, 1977, p. 25o). Unesco has, in recent years, organized many conferences and workshops on educational planning in Africa, Asia and Latin America. ~ Evidence of planning efforts in some developing countries are noticeable in the United Republic 222

of Tanzania's CEducationfor Self Reliance', and in the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programmes in Kenya and Nigeria. But in the main, much of the attention given to educational planning in the Third World regions appears to be a response to some political, economic, cultural and administrative pressures on the education enterprise. In most cases, these factors that pressurize countries to educational planning occur in combination, not singly. EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH There is, for example, a persistent belief that formal education holds the key to national development and economic growth. This belief was supported by the 'human capital' economists of the late 195os and early 196os, who justified the need for increased investment in education by demonstrating high correlations between expenditure in education, educational standards, school enrolment ratios, and the gross national product (GNP) per capita or level of economic growth as observed in industrialized societies (Blaug, 1966; Harbison and Mayers, 1964, pp. 35-7; Harbison, I973). Although controversy over the relationship between education and economic growth has provided the bases for several studies, radical thoughts, and some serious literature on educational policy and planning, evidence is increasing to show that there could be more to economic growth (or national development) than mere educational expansion. ~ The Chuman capital' economists had two main effects on educational planning. On the one hand, they provided political leaders with a rationale for plunging into massive expansion in education. In Nigeria, for example, as political independence approached, leaders of political parties in some regions (East, West and Lagos) embarked on Universal Primary Education, presumably as proof to the electorate of the party's commitment to progress. Ironically, some of the re-

Trends and cases

gional UPE programmes turned out to be too expensive (some were consuming over 4 ~ per cent of the regional recurrent budget) and had to be abandoned. In fact, the Eastern Region UPE experiment lasted from January to December 1957. On the other hand, the 'human capital' economists advanced the interest in the application of economic theories, concepts and quantitativy to education, which further enhanced the use of statistical analysis and models for educational problems and educational planning. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE SYSTEM Another factor that has made educational planning imperative in developing countries is the growing complexity of the education enterprise. The school population in developing societies tends to double every five to seven years. Table I shows that between 1965 and 1975 the student population in Nigeria (especially at the first and third levels) more than doubled. This growth trend in the school population is likely to be more dramatic in Nigeria in the near future when the UPE programme becomes compulsory from 198o on. T h e enrolment increase also implies significant expansion in the numbers, types, experiences, qualifications and corn-

petencies of staff. T h e system will also expand to include the organization of different types of schools, curricula and services. These structttral and contextual expansions create complexities that place serious limit on the degree of discretionary management that the educational policy-makers or administrators can undertake and also make formal educational planning unavoidable. T h e rising cost of education, complemented by growing inflationary spirals, has made educational planning essential to ensure a costbenefit, cost-effective and prudential educational financing. In Nigeria, education is the largest consumer of public funds, except for military expenditure. Table 2 shows government expenditure on education in 1972-77 . It was estimated that in most developing countries, the ratio of the educational expenditure to the G N P was 2. 4 per cent in 196o, and 3.8 per cent in I973 (in Nigeria, the figures were 2.3 and 3.9 per cent for the respective years) (Unesco, 1966, 1973 and I975). Most countries, faced with a commitment to educational development (this was echoed at the Lagos Conference of Ministers of Education of African Member States, February 1976 ) and often coupled with decreasing economic growth, are forced to look for planners, advisers and systems economists

TABLE I. Enrolments in Nigerian educational institutions, r965 to I975-80 Level

Population

1965

1970

1973

1975-801

First level (primary) Second level (secondary) Third level (higher education)

Students Teachers Students Teachers Students Teachers

2 9IX 742 87 074 250 9r7 14 r 32 9 378 I 350

3 5r5 8z7 IO3 r52 356 565 16 794 I5 560 9..

4 662 400 I36 r43 516 658 . .. 2 23 228 3 459

II 52I ooo 200 ooo 2 oIr ooo 20 700 53 ooo 999

I. The figures for I975-8o are projected (Source: Federal Republic of Nigeria Third National Development Plan, z975, p. 237). 2. Dots indicate data not available. Source: Unesco Statistical Yearbook, x976.

223

Trends and

cases

TABLE 2. Federal government recurrent and capital expenditure for education, I972-77

Year

Recurrent expenditure

Capital expenditure

1972./73 I973/74 I974/75 1975/76 I976/77

9 257 02,o I4 iio x98 9z 678 460 24o I96 68o 443 o58 678

2o 22,9ooo 67 593 80o 213 062 860 456 059 o3o 598 964 89o

Source: Federal Republic of lqigeria~ Report on Major Trends in Education, p, 5, Lagos~FederalMinistryof Edu-

cation, 1978.

to advise on how to make education less expensive. This often leads to the establishment of an educational planning institute or programme. Another recent phenomenon in education which has tended to stress the need for planning is the growing politicization of education. In Nigeria, as in many developing countries, education has ceased to be regarded as a purely 'domesticated organization' (Carlson, 1965, pp. 3-11) whose Support is assured by the public, whether or not it demonstrates its productivity or efficacy. Rather, schools are witnessing more and more government interest and control as well as increasing intervention by the legislatures and the courts. Furthermore, serious questions (or even attacks) have recently come from parents and the mass media demanding that the educational system should live up to its promise to produce 'good' and successful citizens. Also some of the areas where educational institutions enjoyed autonomy such as determination of input sources, appointment of heads of institutions and resource use have become issues of political or public concern. Many educational institutions are finding themselves in positions where accountability, demonstrable productivity and practical justification for their continued funding (in competition with other public institutions) are being demanded. Consequently, educational leaders and policy-makers have to resort to systematic planning, budgeting 224

and other analytical techniques in order to justify their decisions and convince their publics. Equally necessitating planning is the management complexity created by the increasing professionalization of educational personnel. Most of the staff in educational institutions (teachers, secretaries, bursars, supervisors, librarians, janitors, drivers, technicians, etc.) belong to different professional groups, observe different professional loyalties and enjoy certain professional immunities. This professionalization, perhaps the result of the growth of labour movements and the use of collective bargaining to force compliance on employers or administrators, makes it incumbent for school managers to employ certain modern management techniques to accommodate the various professional groups. This demands careful planning. Modern technological developments (radio, television, satellites, computers, electronic robots, radar devices, etc.) affect human activity in society and therefore in education. The rate at which information or knowledge is acquired and disseminated is so fast that it has been estimated that the total knowledge in the world doubles every five years (Candoli et al., I973, p. 6). Knowledge and information are no longer the exclusive preserve of the school system. The traditional roles of schools in educating people has been invaded by modern mass media, electronics and computers. There is also a growing threat to the conventional roles, boundaries, clientele, space, time, and process of education. Yet, the schools are expected to preserve, and propagate to some degree, the cherished culture of the people. Apparently, for the school system to survive, it has to resort to careful continuous self-development, updating, evaluation and selfprojection in order to be able to identify, select, absorb and disseminate the desirable progressive elements in the new technologies, while locating, preserving and amplifying those elements in the value culture that would be necessary to give the society a sense of purpose and stability. Therefore, if the education system

Trends and

cases

has to maintain the balance between a rapidly changing technological culture and the relatively static value culture, it must assume a dynamic equilibrium (growth in stability) which can be impossible without careful planning.

Sources of gaps between planning and implementation Perhaps some of the factors involved in plan implementation would be peculiar to specific plans and specific areas involved, yet there could be some general factors within and without the system that tended to create gaps between educational plans and the implementation of the plans, some of which follow. HISTORICAL

DEVELOPMENT

OF E D U C A T I O N A L A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

The European missionaries brought formal education to Nigeria following the Portuguese explorers of the early sixteenth century. The Methodist mission established the first known school at Badagry and named it the 'Nursery of the Infant Church'. 4 Education m Nigeria was thus intimately involved with early missionary activities. The main objective of the missions was not to build schools and educate Nigerians for their good, but rather to help converts acquire the ability to read the Bible and so facilitate the programme of evangelization of the 'pagans' (Ajayi, z965; Boyd, z96I, pp. 99-IOI; Fafunwa, 1974; Lugard, i965). The competition among the missions for adherents, coupled with the desire of the natives for more schools and education, led to the establishment of schools wherever and whenever space and some converts were available. This was the background of the planlessness that was to bedevil education in southern Nigeria for a long time. In the northern parts of Nigeria, where Islamic religion and jurisprudence had been established as early as the twelfth century, the story was

different, but the consequences were identical. Since Islam is a religion, a form of government and a system of education, the inseparability of" education from Islamic life, trade, religion and polity made separate planning of education both difficult and untenable in the Muslim north. Equally of historical significance is the fact that prior to z925 the British colonial government showed little direct interest in the education o f Nigerians. There was no clearly defined or conscientiously designed policy on education in the British African colonies. When the colonial government eventually intervened in education, it did so only indirectly through establishing separate government schools and giving grantsin-aid to the missionaries and individuals for the management of schools. The few attempts by the government to control the management of schools were unsuccessful because most o f the colonial administrators had acquiesced to the loose and improvised system of educational management in the colony. Therefore, educational planning in Nigeria is. a relatively recent development, which tends to be looked at as an activity outside the function of the educational system. Consequently, educational policy-makers and planners have tended to perceive their roles not as functions interwoven with the total educational system, but as activities separate from the operation of the system. The overall result is that most planners and planning agencies do not give adequate consideration to the problems of educational plans and the circumstances that would facilitate: or hamper the implementation process of the: plans (Weiler, I978) resulting in gaps between plans and their implementation. THE BLURRED VISION OF E D U C A T I O N A L P L A N N I N G

Closely related to the historical development above is the problem of a blurred vision of the: concept of educational planning in Nigeria. T h e idea of planning appears to have come into 225

Trends and cases

education from public administration as the government interest in education grew. Originally, educational planners were deployed from other ministries (such as the Ministry of Economic Development and Planning). These technical experts formed the nucleus of the planning division of the Ministry of Education. The planners saw their role in the Ministry of Education as that of data collection, preparation of statistics (mainly graphs, charts) on school population and materials, and construction of quantitative plans on idealized educational programmes for the minister or politician responsible for educational matters. Such educational plans and graphs were couched in broad and highly technical terms often unrelated to any specific educational issues or situations. When the plans were published by the government, the school administrators had problems finding equivalent or equi-potential parallels or issues to the assumptions in the plans. The planners and the administrators had unrelated, non-communicating functions. Therefore there tended to exist some conflict between the professional planners and the school administrators. In a situation in which planning and administration were regarded as parallel functions, where the planner was only responsible to the political interest group and had no direct involvement with the milieux in which education occurred, gaps inevitably occurred between planning and implementation. POLITICAL

INSTABILITY

T h e quality, stability or longevity of the political leadership tended to affect the implementation of development plans. The unsettled political conditions in Nigeria and the premature or forceful termination of governments had tended to affect the implementation of national educational plans between I95O and I97 o in Nigeria. Successive political leaders would suspend all existing development plans and formulate new ones only to be toppled a few years ~a6

later by another political group who would propose new plans and policies. This situation tended to nurture chronic gaps between planning and implementation. D I V E R S I T Y OF P L A N N I N G B O D I E S

In Nigeria, there existed several planning bodies at the federal level, none of which appeared t o be fully responsible for the preparation or execution of educational plans. The National Economic Council (NEC), the highest planning body (and more political than social), was mainly an economic organ for national planning and the co-ordination of national economic activities. Neither the NEC nor any of its general arms like the Joint Planning Committee and the Economic Planning Unit was responsible for educational planning, even though educational issues featured in their reports. Another national body is the National Manpower Board (NMB) which was concerned with manpower issues. It acted principally as a servicing agency or resource centre for the ministries connected with manpower development and use such as the ministries of education, economic development and labour. The Ministry of Education often relied on the NMB for information regarding federal scholarships (or loans), manpower trends and policies and staff turnover in the public sector. The NMB, apart from providing some services to some ministries through its secretariat, appeared to have had limited impact on national planning. There also existed the National Education Research Council (NERC) which was not directly concerned with educational planning but could provide services that could be used for planning purposes. The major functions of NERC was to collect, collate, and document data on educational research and possibly to draw up proposals for research in education. There was also the Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCC) which, as its name suggests, convened, on request, to make some suggestions to the government

Trends and cases

on specific educational issues. The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) was set up by a decree in February 1978 for 'the general control of the conduct of matriculation examinations for admissions into all universities in Nigeria' (JAMB Decree, 1978, p. 28). The above factors serve to show that several planning and development bodies related to education (in one way or the other) existed, but none of these bodies had responsibility for the planning of education. These bodies were summoned for consultation on a few educational issues and then disbanded. A majority of the members who constitute these committees were civil servants. In the introduction to the most recent National Policy on Education (I977, P. 8), it was stated that: T h e G o v e r n m e n t wishes to place on record its appreciation of t h e excellent work done by the m e n arid w o m e n of t h e Seminar as well as by the National Council for Education, the Joint Consultative C o m mittee on Education, the National Educational Research Council a n d the Federal M i n i s t r y of Education officials whose c o m m e n t s helped to improve the final r e c o m m e n d a t i o n . . . G o v e r n m e n t has therefore set

up a National Education Policy Implementation Task Force which will translate the policy into a workable blue print that will guide the bodies whose duty it is to implement educational policy. T h e above acknowledgement tends to reveal the transient nature and roles of the committees and bodies mentioned above. It also tends to indicate how separate educational planning and policy-making had been from implementation. INADEQUACY

OF C O M M U N I C A T I O N

Poor or inadequate communication among the various groups involved in education had created gaps between plans and their implementation. Our examination of the federal bodies involved on educational issues showed that they appeared to be segmented and isolated from one another. The nature of the educational planning offices in the ministries of education tended to segregate the 'civil servant' planners

from their educational publics. Therefore, the communication between the classroom teachers, t h e school principals (or administrators) and the educational planners, either in the ministries or at the secretariats of the general federal bodies, was at best inadequate, and this in turn affected the degree of efficiency in the implementation of educational plans. Another aspect of the communication problem was the potential communication conflict in the authority relationships between the federal and state ministries of education, the school boards and the Teaching Service Commission, particularly where, as in the former Eastern states of Nigeria, these four agencies existed in the same state. The Federal Ministry of Education has its inspectorate units in some states. Those same states have their State Ministry of Education in addition, in most cases, to their State School Board and Teaching Service Commissions (as in the Imo and Anambra states). In a state where the four bodies existed to cater for the management of the same geographical area, schools, teachers and students, there are many potential conflicts in communication and in some cases sluggish relationships among authorities. Efficiency can be seriously impaired if the subordinate (principal or teacher) is responsible simultaneously to several superiors (Simon, t976). Such conflicts hamper executive action and affect implementation. LOW Q U A L I T Y OF P L A N N I N G

The quality of plans can also affect their implementation. Several factors in Nigeria can affect the quality of educational plans. Some of these factors include the lack of relevant data from which vital analysis or decision could be made, the apparent tendency for planners to use outmoded or over-sophisticated models and designs (in accordance with the design sources available to them), and the scarcity of welltrained personnel in educational planning. Since the I95OS, Nigeria does not appear to have had 227

Trends and cases

TABLE 3. Archer-projected and actual enrolments for secondary grammar schools and universities in Nigeria, r963-7o Educational level Secondary grammar University (excluding

non=degree courses)

Archer Actual Archer Actual

1963

z 966

1970

83 045 9I 753 ... 1 4 622

I3z 080 155 o13 (5 950) ~ 6 847

194 169 254 642 9 4oo I2 387

i. Data not available. 2. z965. Source: Archer report, I96Z (Archer); Federal Ministry of Education, z963, z965, z966, 197o (actual).

an uncontested population census. 5 A goodquality educational plan would require a reliable statistical description of the population and the resources being considered. Universal Primary Education (UPE) in Nigeria was accused of underestimating the student population by up to 20 per cent in its plan; and the underestimation (perhaps a product of wrong census figures) may have reflected on the estimates for the several other input variables earmarked for the programme. Under such circumstances, the implementation of plans based o n such estimates would definitely collapse, unless a readjustment were made. Also, most of the educational plans in Nigeria from the late I95OS to the mid-z96os relied almost exclusively on foreign expert advice. But in most of the cases the excellent educational plans prepared by the experts tended to fall short of reality. For example, following the Ashby report (196o), enrolments in education in Nigeria were projected for z963 to I97 o by the Archer Committee Report (I96I). Table 3 presents Archer's projections and the actual enrolments for secondary grammar schools and universities for that period. The table reveals that the projections had been surpassed by I966; and there were up to 4o per cent differences between the projections and the actual enrolments. Undoubtedly some of the decisions on resource allocation based on such projections might have appeared short-sighted and would reflect on the implementation. 228

THE PROBLEM OF FUNDS

One of the most important sources of gaps between educational planning and implementation relates to the estimation, availability and use of funds. The financial constraints to plan implementation could arise from either (a) the underestimation of the costs of educational programmes and overestimation of expected sources and availability of funds for the programmes, or (b) the over-reliance on, and overoptimism over external aid. Educational plans in Nigeria, particularly before the mid-x97os, suffered from both constraints. For example, it is suspected that the current UPE programme is said to be running into serious difficulties related to inadequate funds, perhaps as a result of initial inaccurate input estimates.

S t r a t e g i e s f o r n a r r o w i n g t h e gap

The major focus of our suggestions for narrowing the gap between planning and implementation in education rests on making educational planning more public, so that all those affected by decisions on the education enterprise can participate at different levels in drawing up plans. This implicit democratic ideal presupposes that planning cease to be an exercise isolated from other educational activities. Educational planning thus conceived would demand public participation in activities such as:

Trends and cases

determining present problems, unmet projects and emerging needs in education; streamlining medium-term educational goals; identifying feasible alternative policies and strategies for meeting these goals; indicating workable alternatives; establishing priorities based on available resources; and indicating the procedures for the implementation, control, monitoring and evaluation of plans. Such a conception of educational planning in Nigeria implies the creation of a body specifically charged with the responsibility for planning and co-ordinating educational activities at all levels in the country. It also means, as already stated, that educational planning must become a public and participatory activity, that there must be a re-examination of the concept of educational planning, a clarification of educational goals and objectives, and the building of implementation and control mechanisms into educational plans. CREATING A NATIONAL PLANNING BODY The present organization of educational planning in Nigeria and the apparent absence of an identifiable planning body encourage gaps between planning and implementation. There is need for a body structurally affiliated to, but operationally independent of, the Ministry of Education. Such a body could use some of the services and resources of the Ministry of Education without being fettered by the bureaucracy of the Ministry of Education. Currently, provision has been made (Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Policy on Education, 1977, p. 39) for an Educational Planning Section as one of the divisions of the Federal Ministry of Education. Without proper clarification, such a "section' will tend to replicate the structural and operational inadequacies of the traditional planning division of the ministries. An independent educational planning board would perform three major operational roles. Firstly, it would act as an educational planning and policy analy-

sis centre. The board (at both the federal and state levels) would be able to examine and analyse policies and proposals on education, offer suggestions and recommendations based on their adequacy, or draw up educational plans on the educational policies in the light of the goals and the social, cultural, economic and political trends in the cotmtry. Secondly, such a planning board would serve as an educational services and resources centre or clearing centre. The board headquarters would be responsible for collecting, collating, coding, analysing, storing and disseminating educational information and/or resources at the various levels. Thirdly, the board would function to some degree as a social services unit. It would in such instances locate and carry out surveys and research in the area of the people's wants, problems, aspirations in relation to education, whether in the area of physical plants, the learning environment, curricula, materials, funds, personnel or evaluation. On the basis of findings, the board would draw up appropriate strategies and plans. Structurally, an educational planning board would (especially at the federal level) have several units dealing with research, analysis and information, statistics, planuing, etc. State branches would serve satellite functions. The major board planning and/or co-ordination sessions would be attended by permanent representatives of affiliated organizations and interest groups, such as: departments superior to the board such as the legislature, the courts and the ministries of education, labour, and economic development; outside bodies that have influence in education, such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), publishers and suppliers of educational materials, research institutes, universities; and organizations subordinate to the board, such as the state educational planning boards, the state schools boards, the teacher centres (to be discussed below) and the local education boards. The essence of involving these representatives from 229

Trends and cases

other organizations is not merely for consultations, but m ensure their participation and commitment, and therefore their contribution to implementation of educational plans to their respective capacities. PARTICIPATORY PLANNING

The issue of participatory planning, one of the central topics of this essay, is not new in serious discussions on education. In the preface to the report on an OECD conference (OECD, 1974, P- 7), it was advised that sophisticated analysis and forecasts by experts in planning would require examinations for their applicability and that: Such expertise, however, also constitutes a problem in that no group, however expert, should be allowed to 'colonize the future'. W h e n this proposition is recognized as a restatement of the democratic ideal, it underlines the need for broad participation in planning.

The implication of this (as mentioned earlier) is that all those who are involved in education (the planners, facilitators, implemcnters and consumers) must also be involved in planning. In that way, the educational objectives, the sources and use of resources, the processes and the type of expected products would be jointly determined by all segments of the society affected by the educational plan. The consumers of the products of education would also be satisfied in that they helped to design education in accordance with their needs. The calibre of participation sought here is not merely better representation through elected officials from high offices. Rather, the participation implied here goes beyond mere representation of specialists, to an active and direct involvement of a wider segment of the public (including community leaders, administrators, knowledgeable parents, teachers, enthusiastic and experienced retired public servants, employers and students) on a wider range of education issues (including objectives, curricula, resource allocation and

230

use, and the assessment and utilization of educational outcomes) (Coombs and Merritt, 1977). These participants may include financial planners, curriculum analysts, facilities specialists, evaluators, etc., who would assist in enlightening members from time to time, particularly on technically-related issues. Those who oppose participatory planning argue that involving a large group of nonspecialists or non-experts in a business as serious as planning education would make educational planning a meaningless mob activity. Such fears might be justifiable where membership in an educational planning board was based on election according to tribal, ethnic, political or other interest groupings, rather than on position in a critical social, political, economic or educational segment, commitment to the cause of education, humanity or progress, knowledgeability or experience. The argument concerning 'meaningfulness' of a plan appears weaker because if we agree with Berger (1976, p. xii) that 'every human being knows his own world better than any outsider, including the expert who makes policy', then meaningfulness would depend on what the consumers (some of the participafing planners) regard as meaningful to the situations. Therefore, 'to demand a highly informed public as a pre-condition thus dooms at the very outset any substantial expansion of participation in educational policy-making (or planning)' (Coombs and Merritt, 1977, P. 173)R E - E X A M I N I N G THE C O N C E P T I O N OF EDUCATIONAL P L A N N I N G

The proposition above for a more 'public' educational planning involving a broader segment of the society and a wider range of educational issues implies re-examining the traditional image of educational planning as a special central activity by a few experts and specialists. Current management practice and educational literature tend to conceive educational policy-making and educational plan-

Trends and cases

ning as clearly separate activities, and some authors have devoted considerable space trying to show the difference between them. Educational plans should explicitly portray the policies that buttress them in addition to the various strategies and steps for their implementation. The use of some relevant modern management techniques such as the planning, programming budgetary systems (PPBS), the programme evaluation and review techniques (PERT) and the critical path analysis should be increasingly encouraged in certain aspects of educational planning and implementation.

political functions, adult roles or values, ability or competence to produce specific goods or services, growth or development in a specific cultural context, or some technological competence. A clear definition of the goals and objectives o f a plan could enhance the ease of the production process, the evaluation of outcomes, accouutability and control of the programme, which are all important aspects in the implementation process.

CLARIFICATION OF EDUCATIONAL GOALS

The role of the classroom teacher in implementing educational plans cannot be overstressed. The success of most educational plans depends on their impact in the classroom. A well-informed, motivated and committed group of teachers can facilitate the implementation o f even a modest educational plan. One way in which teacher participation, motivation and commitment to educational plans could be ensured would be by creating teacher centres at the national, state and local levels. 6 Teacher ceutres cater for the needs of teachers in four main ways. First, they provide teachers with the materials and opportunity for curriculum development and construction of instructional materials in accordance with the teachers' needs, interests and perspectives. Second, teachers can be granted short leaves for orientation at the centres, which enhances in-service education and professional growth for teachers, irrespective of class or age of level of service. According to Devaney (1976, p. 413), 'the value of the teacher centre is that by offering teachers the opportunity to work on the curriculum o f their own classrooms, the centre elicits from teachers . . . serious professional inquiry and creativity'. Third, teacher centres serve as information centres for teachers in a particular geographical area, by providing newsletters, bulletins, data, books, facilities and other resources not available for individual schools.

The problems of precise educational philosophy and goals has long haunted Nigerian education. Several bodies set up at different times in history to examine and formulate a precise philosophy or set up concrete educational goals have, generally speaking, revamped existing vague and unrealistic general statements about education. The latest National Policy on Education (1977, Section I:5) appears a good effort at offering definite goals to Nigerian education. Yet some of the items (e.g. item 3, P- 5, 'the training of the mind in the understanding of the world around') contain the traditional vagueness in statement of educational goals. Some of the problems of inadequate plan implementation may lie in imprecise plan objectives. When an educational project lacks a clear philosophy or rationale, when a plan is devoid of identifiable and determinable objectives, or when educational policies are vague statements couched in political jargon, implementation, no matter how vigorously or dextrously pursued, will come to indefinite, if not frustrating, results. Educational policy or plans must indicate the outcomes or results anticipated. These anticipated outcomes can be (a) educational, such as types of knowledge, values, attitudes, behavioural changes or anticipated learner actions; or (b) social outcomes related to modernization,

ESTABLISHMENT OF T E A C H E R C E N T R E S

23I

Trends and cases

Fourth, the teacher centres could also serve as social centres where formal and informal group meetings and activities could take place. The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) was criticized for its remoteness from the ordinary teachers' social intellectual as well as professional needs. Teacher centres could afford the N U T and other teacher interest groups the avenues for more realistic contact with the teachers.

C o n s t r a i n t s on i n n o v a t i o n

T h e suggested strategies offered here for narrowing the gap between educational planning and implementation naturally contain some critical constraints. First, there is a continuing scarcity of personnel. Already the complaint is widespread among government and educational quarters in Nigeria that institutions lack the proper and adequate personnel for effective educational development. Unless there is a serious programme of preparing specialized staff for the services and programmes enumerated above, innovation in planning can come to little. Secondly, there is a problem of funds. Some of the strategies and suggestions in this essay require considerable additional and trained staff, creation of new departments and functions, new centres, equipment, facilities, programmes, etc., which would demand enormous sums of money in order to operate properly. Paramount among these new programme needs are, the setting up of a communication system for the education sector; the erection of at least one data bank supported by a computer centre to handle the variegated data and information in education, and the setting up of necessary infrastructure (building, offices, shops, equipment, etc.) for the new Educational Planning Board. The design, construction and establishment of these communication and information centres takes a long time. 232

A third constraint to the strategies is the need for an effective mechanism of co-ordination. This again relates to communication; but, in addition, the sizes, location, composition and predisposition of the various sub-boards and affiliated bodies may affect the degree of coordination in a new educational planning set up. The decentralization under a central body envisaged here could be ineffective where the sizes, composition and location of the sub-units are determined by political, ethnic or parochial considerations (which easily weaken coordination) rather than organizational needs issues. A fourth constraint is the fact that educational planners and implementers or executives have to operate within the limits of governmental powers. This sometimes places a limit on the degree of decisions or innovations the planners can undertake. These also depend on the political forces like the power structure, the leadership in the government and the type of government.

Notes 1. See OECD, Education, Inequality and Life Chances, Paris, OECD, Vols. I and II, 1955, for some of the arguments for and against education and economic returns to individuals and nations. 2. For example in Africa alone, Unesco has sponsored and co-sponsored several conferences on educational management including the Addis Ababa Conference on African Education, May 1961; the African Ministers of Education Conference in Paris, March 1962; the Tananarive Conference on the Development of Higher Education in Africa, September 1962; and the Regional Conference of Ministers of Education in African M e m ber States in Lagos, ]'anuary/February 1976. 3. For some of the criticisms on the education--economic progress hypothesis, see ]'ames S. Coleman, et al., Equality of Educational Opportunity, Washington, D.C., United States Office of Education, 1966; Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society, New York, Harper & Row, 1971; W. H. Belm et al., 'School is B a d ; W o r k is Worse', in: Carnoy M a r d n and Henry M. Levin, The Limits of Educational Reform, pp. 219-44, New York, David M c K a y Co., Inc., 1976. 4. For an in-depth historical analysis of the missionary activities, see: Michel Crowder, The Story of Nigeria (especially Chapter 5), London, Faber & Faber, 1962;

Trends and cases

and Babs A. Fafuawa, History of Education in Nigeria, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1974; Chapter 3 records how Mr and Mrs de Craft established the first school 'Nursery of the Infant Church' in Badagry. 5. There were national head-counts (censuses) in Nigeria in I91I, 192I, 193t, 1952, 1963 and 1973; and for some reason (mostly political), for each of the counts there were doubts or protests over its reliability. There w a s suspicion either that the figures were underestimated as a result of people dodging enumeration for fear of taxation or that the figures were inflated by political zealots. 6. Such teacher centres in Nigeria could encompass the activities of (a) the National Teachers' Institute located in Kaduna, which is expected to provide correspondence education to teachers through radio and television; and (b) the Teacher's Council, proposed in the new National Policy on Education (1977, p. 28).

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CA~OY, Martin; LEVlN, Henry M. The Limits of Educational Reform. I976. New York, David M c K a y Co. Inc. COOMBS, Fred S.; MERRITT, Richard L. I977. T h e Public's Role in Educational Policy-Making: An International View, Education and Urban Society, Vol. 9, No. 2. DZVA~r Kathleen. W h a t ' s a Teacher Center for? Educational Leadership, Vol. 33, No. 6, M a r c h 1966, pp. 413-16. FAFUNWA, Babs A. I974. History of Education in Nigeria. London, George Allen & U n w i n Ltd. FEDERALREPUBLIC OF NIGERIA9 1977. National Policy on Education. Lagos, Federal Ministry of Information; Printing Division 9 HARmSON, Frederic H. 1973. Human Resources as the Wealth of Nations. New York, Oxford University Press. HARBISON, Frederic H.; MAYERS, C. A. 1964. Education, Manpower and Economic Growth: Strategies of Human Resources Development. N e w York, M c G r a w - H i l l Book Co. JOINT AnMISSlONS AND MATRICULATIONS BOARD (JAMB). 1978. Decree z978 , I3th February 1978 (Supplement to O]Sicial Gazette, No. 8, Vol. 65, i 6 t h February 1978, Part A ) . Lagos, Government Printer. LEWIS, A r t h u r W. 1967. Reflections of Nigeria's Economic Growth. Paris, O E C D Development Centre. LUGARD, Frederic D. 1965. T h e Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa. London, Cass. M~ERRITT, Richard L.; COOMBS, Fred S. 1977. Politics and Educational Reform, Comparative Education Review. NATIONAL EDUCATIONALRESEARCHCOUNCIL (NERC). 1972. A Philosophy for Nigerian Education. Ibadan, Hieneman Education Books Nigeria Ltd. OECD. 1975. Education, Inequality and Life Chances. Paris, O E C D , Vols. I and II. 9 1974. Participatory Planning in Education, Paris, OECD. PHILLIPS, H. M. 1976. Educational Cooperation between Developed and Developing Countries. New York, Praeger Publishers. SELF, Peter. 1974. Is Comprehensive Planning Possible and Rational?, Policy and Politics, Vols. ~ and 3. London. SIMON, H e r b e r t A. 1976. Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision Making Processes in Administrative Organizations, 3rd ed. New York, T h e Free Press. U N E S C O . 1976. Unesco Statistical Year Book. 1976. Paris. WEILER, Hans N. 1978. Towards a Political Economy of EducationaIPlanning, Prospects, Vol. VIII, No. 3. 233