PLANNING NIGERIA EDUCATION



ABSTRACT
It traces the formulation of educational policies right from 1914 (when Lord Lugard amalgamated the Lagos colony, Southern and Northern protectorates, and his wife named the region Nigeria) up to 2004: the current moment. The British colonial administrators introduced an indirect rule policy in her colonies in West Africa. Indirect rule was an administrative system, which Lord Lugard introduced into Nigeria.
It was a system of administration, which the tutelary power recognized the existing traditional, structure and used such for the administration of the Lagos colony and Southern and Northern protectorates. The policy restricted the spread of both Christianity and Western education to the Northern protectorate. This accounts for the gap in the level of educational development between the North and the South. This has implications for both planning and policy formulation in education. The colonial administrators adopted British form of education in Nigeria. The colonial educational policy did not address adequately the aspiration of Nigerians. Hence, the 6-3-3-4 educational policy was introduced. The policy sought to introduce a functional technology – based education, which could sustain the economy. The Nigerian experience has a lot of implications for planners, who should be conscious of our local peculiarities, particularly the heterogeneous nature of the Nigerian society and the gap in level of educational development amongst the different segments of the society. It is essential for policy formulators to begin to initiate policies that will promote unity, equity and even development of education in the country.

INTRODUCTION
Planning is seen as a peep into the future. It is an integral aspect of policy making which helps decision makers and policy formulators function effectively. It is an administrative strategy which makes conscious effort and attempt to control the future in the desired direction through careful estimates and budgeting. It is a continuous and on-going process concerned not only with where to go but how to get there and by what best route.
It is as a result of these fundamental issues about planning that makes it inevitable in education and indeed in all human endeavour, a view that is also supported by Adeniji (2003) when he asserts that, "planning is a crucial fulcrum in every human endeavour". Meanwhile, education is a continuous process in life. It begins right from one's birth and ends at death. It starts from homes and continues even after school to adulthood. It is the process of training and developing the knowledge, sk i l l , mind and character of people. It can as well be seen as the process by which the latent abilities of individuals are developed so that they may be useful to themselves and the society. Government and individuals according to Babalola (2003) have seen education as beneficial and as such they express their willingness, readiness and ability to participate in a given educational programme through active supports for the system. It is also known that education inculcates skills, imparts knowledge, provides job ethics and social attitudes conducive to production and civilization, serving also as a screening device for selecting or identifying talents in the most efficient manner. Through screening, education ensures that the best people are made available for the world of work and at times, politics and leadership. It can therefore be seen that the functions performed by education towards development of a nation in totality (especially in developing countries to which Nigeria belongs) are multifarious and unique especially when it concerns touching people at the grassroots. The focus of the paper is therefore to look at the problems encountered by educational planning or planners in the bid to get the local level through education or better s t i l l , to expose the constraints militating against the effective planning of education at that level especially given the high rate of illiteracy in Nigeria. This is necessary to avoid or reduce some of the bottlenecks likely to be encountered in community development.

UNDERSTANDING BASIC CONCEPT OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING
Planning is the process of preparing a set of decisions for action in the future. Dror (1973) defines planning as a process of preparing a set of decision for action in the future, directed at achieving goals by preferable means. Salami et al. (2003) see it is the process of obtaining and analyzing statistics and systematically using them to make projections of future development in particular estimates of human, physical and financial resources needed to achieve proposed development. From all these definitions, it could be understood that planning is future-oriented; it has a focus-goal which is development and it has a process which is continuous. Since planning in the general sense gives birth to all other types of planning, educational planning can therefore be defined along the same line with general planning. Educational planning is therefore a set of decisions for future actions pertaining to education. According to Salami (2009), educational planning is the application of rational and systematic analysis to the process of education development with the aim of making education more effective and efficient in responding to theneeds and goals of its students and society. It involves the application to education of what educators seek to instill, in an approach that involves identifying objectives and available resources, examining the implications of alternative courses of action and choosing wisely among them, deciding on specific targets to be met within specific time limits, and finally developing the best means of systematically implementing the choice made. Fadipe (2001) posits that educational planning can be described as the logical response to the general trend towards planning for over-all development. Educational planning or planning of education may be said to be as old as education itself. A review of educational process of ancient societies reveals that planning was embedded or entrenched in their educational system. For example, the Spartans about 2,500 years ago planned their education to fit their well defined military, social and economic goals and objectives. Also, Plato proposed a well-articulated educational plan w hich w ould take into account the political and leadership needs of the Athenians. Furthermore, John Knox in the sixteenth century prepared a plan of education which w ould help the Scots achieve spiritual salvation and possess material well-being (Salami et al., 2003).
In addition, the contributions of the great educators and many other philosophers to educational planning in their own times and different societies are evident in literature of education. To a great extent, therefore, educational planning of today can claim an unbroken ancestry to those ancient great educators and philosophers. It is evident from literature on education that education planning in the ancient times was geared towards making education an instrument or a catalyst for the achievement of national goals and development, the procedure and methodology employed notwithstanding. And this still seems to be the aim of educational planning today; educational planning for national survival and national development. However, there are profound differences between ancient educational planning and educational planning as it is today. The differences are both in scope and methodology employed. Advancement in knowledge or knowledge explosion in economics,business management and computers are great assets to today’s educational planning. Babalola and Adepoju (1991), in their arguments, conclude that planning has four in-built elements which are:
1. Orientation of the future (future- oriented)
2. Orientation to action (action-packed)
3. Optimization of the use of resources for maximum output
4. Orientation to achieve goals or objectives .

Olaniyonu, Adekoya and Gbenu (2004) citing Coombs (1970) see 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 of the students and the society". To Campbell (1999): It is a specialized form of goal setting which entails a set of purposeful and conscious activities believed to be vital for the educational system and involves a controlled sequence of events relating lo growth in the form of increases in quantity and size and development in the form of quality and value of the educational enterprise. Educational planning according to Longe (2003) "involves taking of decisions for future action with the view to achieving predetermined objectives through optimum use of scarce resources". From these, it can be inferred that there must be clearly stated goals set for education; these goals are realized by making judicious use available scarce resources; and the goals must be in line with the needs and aspirations of the citizens and the society.

EDUCATIONAL PLANNING IN POSTIVIE DIRECTION
According to Longe (2003), "educational planning process usually takes place at the national, state, local and institutional levels". At the national and state levels, the plans lay down broad objectives, strategies and targets while the details are worked out at the local and institutional levels. Planning at the national or state level is referred to as 'macro planning' and planning at the local or institutional level is known as ‘micro planning'. Both macro and micro planning are mutually complementary. By virtue of the nature of the paper, micro planning is focused upon which is the educational planning at the local government level. It is at this level that a diagnosis is made taking into account both the general orientations of educational policy and the local geographic, economic, social and cultural realities. Micro planning is often described as planning at the grassroots because it is primarily concerned with an in-depth study of educational problems as they are
perceived at the local and institutional levels.
Moreover, micro planning reflects a desire to improve the functioning of the education system by reinforcing planning activities at the grassroots. Micro planning deals with problems linked to access to the educational system. It looks into the problem of acquisition and maintenance of teaching equipment, into the altitude of parents, pupils and teachers to education and so forth. Micro planning seeks greater equality in the allocation of educational services which suit the needs of the local communities. The various areas involved in micro planning according to Longe (2003) can be classified into three namely: school mapping, educational disparity and internal efficiency. The objectives of school mapping cut across all the functions in micro planning but principally, it is concerned with the problems linked with access and accessibility to the education system (school location). It seeks to satisfy effectiveness, and to minimize costs as much as possible while taking into account the overall objectives. Educational disparity refers to a situation within the education system whereby regions, state, or local governments do not enjoy the same level of opportunities for educational development. In this regard, the concept of equality of opportunity in education is closely linked with the concept of educational disparity. Considering equality in education in a society, the question is whether enough quality of educational facilities in form of schools, teachers and funds are provided in the education system to allow for equal access to education, and equal achievement in education. The task of the planner is to supply statistical information which reveals the areas which most need educational services. With reference to internal efficiency, educational planning is not only concerned with the problem of allocation of resources but also with the problem of efficient utilization of resources. The question here is how efficient the education system is in terms of the level of quality of output. Indicators such as the enrolment ratio, the dropout rate, the repetition rate, the students-teacher ratio, the unit cost and so forth, show the level of efficiency of the education system. The planner is inclined to show justification for the size of resource allocation to the education system.
By implication, if any reform is to take place and be sustained within the educational system, it must be planned for.
Need for educational reform in Nigeria: Obanya (2004) regards educational reforms as a rethinking of the role of education in nation building. This is essentially a reexamination of the national goals and provision of answers to the following questions:
1. What type of society is envisaged and what would be the building blocks for such a society?
2. What society form(s) of education will be needed to serve the specific development need of the envisaged society?
3. What necessary input (finance, infrastructure, physical resources, human resources, curriculum, etc.,) should be envisaged for seeing the envisaged reforms through?
4. What specific educative act or processes should be actively and systematically promoted to ensure that the goals of the educational reforms are achieved?
5. To what extent are the input and the processes helping to achieve the intended outcome?
The Nigerian educational system has in recent times, experienced series of scientific, technological, economic, political and social upheavals such as the introduction of computer education, literacy education, family life education, the use of ICT in education and modern economic theories, ideas, techniques and methods into the school curriculum. The rationale behind the involvement of Nigerian educational system in reform programmes is an indication of a major force in shaping the objectives and methods of the programme. The most common reasons or needs for introducing reform and innovation or a change programme into the Nigerian educational structure, curriculum and methods, according to Adepoju (1998) are precipitated by the following:
Need to improve on the standard: This is perhaps, one of the most discussed issues in the Nigerian educational system today. The standard of educational system has been generally criticized by many people, both experts and non- experts. Since educational change is found useful where the standard of the system is declining or where its existing state is generating public outcry or conflict, its introduction is found to be relevant.
Future expectations: Change may be desired if there is an indication about the future trend or expectation of the system. In Nigeria, education is said to be performing different roles which may be expressed in terms of nation building and national development. Therefore, in order to cope with such future demands, educational reformation may be desirable.
Exogenous factors: The presence of some exogenous factors that may influence the system, and which may also be the sources of educational change may justify educational change. For instance, the public may advocate for a course that they believe will benefit their children and the society at large such as moral education and entrepreneurial skills. If they, therefore, demand a change, such change will be incorporated into the system.
Achievement-inclined: This would always allow a positive change to take place wherever there is need for it. In other words, an educational administrator w ould always like new programmes that will improve teaching learning situation to be introduced in the school.
Creativity: An educational change may be precipitated by desire of the members of staff to be more creative by introducing new ideas w hich may lead to the realization of the school objectives and their own individual goal.
Planning for reform in educational structure, curriculum and methods: Reform and innovation are probably two major concepts that must be built into an organization or system that is aiming at standing the test of modern period when dynamism is vastly replacing conservatism. Change is, therefore inevitable and major challenge which modern organizations face is creating an atmosphere where rapid and meaningful improvement is possible (Adepoju, 1998). There is no doubt that for growth and development to be recorded, reform and innovations are pre-requisites. As a result of the increasing complexities in modern organizations and the need to optimize efficiency in the face of stiff competition from others, there is increasing advocacy that reform and innovation be injected into major facets of Nigerian educational system and more specifically in the areas of
structure, curriculum content and context as well as the methods of imparting knowledge by the teachers in our schools and colleges. The need to bring about a revisit of the educational structure, curriculum and methods became necessary in view of the fact that it is extremely difficult to discuss educational development in isolation without mentioning reform and innovation. There is no doubt that the social context of education is ever-changing and at an increasing rate.
Educational change is a prerequisite for educational improvement and the planned change is likely to be more effective than unplanned change. Griffiths (1975) asserts that when organizations are viewed over a long period of time, their outstanding characteristic appears to be stability rather than change. However, when one considers the rate at which reform and innovation take place in our educational system today, one tends to conclude that the rate is not commensurate with that of the society as a
whole. For education to be move relevant and to ensure compliance with the societal needs, it must be planned for reform and innovation, especially in the areas of structure, curriculum and methods.
Management of educational reform and innovation: This is perhaps the most critical and pervasive task facing the world today. Society is undergoing a structural revolution characterized by multiple and basic changes in economic, social and political institutions. The new forms that emerge will be shaped, in considerable part, by management skills in managing reforms or change and its ability to master the process of innovation through which science and technology are transformed into goods and services. For education to achieve its required purpose, it must be tailored towards the needs and aspirations of the community or environment. This is in agreement with the National Policy on Education (2004), which states interalia in Section 1, sub-section 9; ‘efforts shall be made to relate education to overall community needs’. By implication, therefore, embarking on education reform requires that such reform must be precipitated by the need to yield to the demand of the community or environment where such reform is taking place. This is to say in essence that the culture of the community w ill determine whatever form the reform should take. In other words, a community that is inherently conservative would make reform a difficult task to achieve compared to a dynamic community.
Educational reforms should also be well managed to ensure self- reliance. Many people would agree about the importance of self-reliance in education. Self-reliance has a very profound meaning. It is not merely that the child should be taught some handicraft or some manual skills by which he may be supported. There must, of course, be manual labour which assists everyone to learn how to use his hands and be self-sufficient. It implies that education must be of such a quality that it will train students in intellectual self-reliance and make them independent thinkers. If this is to become the chief aim of learning, the whole process of learning would be transformed. A student should be so taught that he is capable of acquiring knowledge for himself. There is an infinite sum of knowledge in the w orld, and each one needs some finite portion of it for the conduct of his affairs. But it will be a mistake to think that this life-knowledge can be acquired in any school. Life-knowledge can only be acquired from life. The task of the school, however, is to awaken in its students the power to learn from life. Most parents are anxious for boys to complete the school course so that they can get a salaried job and live an easy life. This may, however, not be the best way of
perceiving education. Learning has value in its own right. The purpose of learning is freedom, and freedom is another word for what we refer to as self-reliance. Self reliance means freedom from dependence on others or any external support. A man who has true learning is truly free and independent. The first and least part of this self sufficiency is that the person must be educated and made skilled in a craft. A second and very important part of this is ability to acquire new knowledge for oneself. There is
a third essential element in freedom, and this also is a part of education. Freedom implies not only being independent of other people but also independent of one’s own moods and impulses. The man who is a slave to his senses and cannot keep his impulses under control is neither free nor self-sufficient. Temperament and service therefore, have their place in education, for it is by these m eans that this third aspect of freedom can be learned (Fadipe and Adepoju, 2006).
Self- sufficiency then has three meanings. The first is that one should not depend upon others for one’s daily bread. The second is that one should have developed the power to acquire knowledge for oneself. The third is that a man should be able to rule himself, to control his senses and his thoughts. Slavery of the body is wrong. The body falls into slavery for the sake of the stom ach, therefore, a free man must know how to earn his living through handcraft. Slavery of the mind is wrong. If a man cannot think and reach an independent judgment, his mind is enslaved; a free man must have acquired the power of independent thought. Slavery of the emotions and the sense is also wrong, and it is an essential part of education to overcome their tyranny. Nigerian government, towards realizing the goal of self-reliance, decided that the quality of instruction at all levels has to be oriented among other things, towards inculcating the values of:
1. Respect for the worth and dignity of the individual
2. Faith in man’s ability to make rational decisions and acquisition of competences necessary for selfreliance (NPE, 2004).
Government also intended to vigorously implement the policy by emphasizing:
3. Life-long education as the basis of the nation’s educational policy
4. Educational activities to be centered on the learners for maximum self-development and self-fulfillment
4. The education system to be structured to develop the practice of self-learning.
 This is entrenched in the national goals of Nigeria as contained in the National Policy on Education (2004) as the building of:
5. A free and democratic society
6. A just and egalitarian society
7. A united, strong and self-reliant nation
8. A great and dynamic economic
9. A land full of bright opportunities for all citizens
Evaluation of educational reform and innovation: Evaluation is a systematic process for determining the extent to which instructional objectives are achieved by students. It is also the process of determining the extent to which actual experiences conform with objectives. Akinwumiju (1996) points out that evaluation is the process of delineating, obtaining and providing useful information for judging among decision alternatives. Some forms of evaluation are inevitable in teaching and learning process. Indeed, a major reform to be done in education sector must not underscore the issue of evaluation before, during and after such reform . This is inevitable because of what is being demanded by all stakeholders in education industry.
In education, the term evaluation often implies different things. Traditionally, to a classroom teacher, it means testing, conducted at the end of the lesson or a programme. Evaluation here is often aimed at the outcome. However, as it is widely known, testing is only an aspect of evaluation and does not represent the wide range of activities and roles played by evaluation (Isiogu- Abanihe, 1996). The concept is often used interchangeably with assessment because of a considerable overlap in their meaning. H ills (1982) posits that educational evaluation is used more in a general way and often when the subject is the success of a teaching or
method of teaching or other than a person (or a group of persons). The main purpose of evaluation is to assist decision makers at various stages, taking appropriate action to ensure programme efficiency. It is very important to evaluate the extent to which an educational activity (such as educational reform) achieves the purpose for which it was designed or the extent of the performance of an educational activity. The matter of performance evaluation concerns the measurement of progress towards objectives, which have been established through prefect knowledge of the total performance required to maximize results. The important place of evaluation in educational reform and innovation cannot be underscored. Indeed, it plays a major role on the scaling up process of reform and innovation. Evaluation, as far as educational reform is concerned,
can appropriately be carried out at three levels, viz: A. Before the reform i.e., Pre-reform evaluation B. During the reform i.e., Diagnostic evaluation C. After the reform i.e., Post-reform evaluation Before the process of bringing about major reform into the system, there is the need for evaluation to assess the situation on ground so as to determine what must be put in place before the reform is carried out. Similarly, evaluation can be done during the course of reform. This is to take a diagnostic view of the reform. It can also be carried out at the end of the reform which is to determine the extent to which the outcomes agree with what was originally planned for before the commencement of the reform. According to Fadipe and Adepoju (2006), educational reforms are evaluated for the following reasons:
1. It helps in setting, refining and clarifying realistic goals
2. It helps in finding out the degree to which the objectives of reform have been realized
3. It helps in determining and refining the strategies or techniques to use to bring about expected changes
4. It helps to have knowledge about the need for the reform.
Factors militating against effective planning for educational reform and innovation:
The following are some of the factors affecting effective planning for educational reform and innovation in Nigeria:
Inconsistent educational policies: Often times, policies are changed by the Nigerian government. These are consequent of the fast changing socio- economic and political factors but these affects the planning of education. Many plans have been jettisoned before they were ready for implementation because of government directives and counter directives. Besides, there is always
a wide gap between policy formulation and execution which might have rendered the educational reformation almost irrelevant.
Lack of accurate statistical data: According to Ajayi (1985), lack of accurate statistical data and unreliable national census have tended to render most efforts relating to educational planning or any other forms of planning in Nigeria unproductive. Yet, the success of the various forms of planning rests on reliable data.
Economic constraint: For effective and adequate planning to enhance educational reform, there is the need for adequate fiscal resources to develop it. In Nigeria, the percentage of the government budget always earmarked for education is too meagre. Hence, there is hardly enough fund for the planning unit of the educational sector to embark on serious educational reform and innovation.
Poor planning technique: According to Adeyemi and Oguntimehin (2000), there are not enough experts in Nigeria in the area of educational planning. There are small units in the ministries of education, which are responsible for educational planning. These units are often staffed with educational officers who rose from the rank. Almost all of them have no formal training in educational planning and statistics. They can rarely use the information gathered to interpret the educational situation of the country for proper planning of educational reform to improve educational quality.
Towards sustainable educational reform in Nigeria: To make educational reform effective and sustainable in Nigeria, the following should be considered:
1. There is need to base educational reform policy on attainable objectives
2. It should conform with ethical standards
3. It should have focus based on stability and flexibility
4. It should be sufficiently comprehensive
5. There is the need to control the rate at which policy changes to give room for continuity and long term planning
6. Those to be affected by a reform policy should always be involved at the planning stage
7. There is also the need for well-defined and clearly stated objectives of the plan and reform policy
8. There is also the need for a centralized decision making structure to guide against distortion or unnecessary diversion in the course of achieving the stated objective(s) of the reform
9. There is the need for the provision of monitoring, coordination, supervision and evaluation machineries, which will serve as follow-up to a planned reform policy
10. There is the need for disciplined and effective leadership to give the reform its vision and ability to translate that vision into reality
11. There is the need to train and use educational planners for the purpose of planning reform policy in the interest of the educational system and the country in general
12. There is the need for the stabilization of the economy by reducing the fiscal drags and raising enough resources for educational reform that will be prudently managed The study has attempted to highlight the need to make educational reform and innovation effective and sustainable through effective planning and democratic approach to decision making. The importance of effective planning in educational reform and innovation cannot be over-emphasized. Educational reform and innovation are crucial for consideration in order to meet the millennium development goals as well as the stated vision of education. Having examined the concepts of planning and educational planning, the paper identifies some limiting factors to the successful planning of educational reform and innovation, which are social, economic political and technical in nature. Issues are also raised towards making educational reform sustainable in Nigeria.

REFERENCES

Adepoju, T.L., 1998. Managing Educational Change in Nigeria. Guba’s Two-Dimensional Change Strategy.

Mimeograph. Department of Educational Foundation and Management. Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo.

Adepoju, T.L. and G.B. Olaniyi, 1999. Innovations in primary school administration. Stud. Pre-Primary Primary Educ., 1(1): 77-84.
 Adeyemi, O.B. and Y.A. Oguntimehin, 2000. Nigeria and the Problems of Planning for Quality Education. In: Fadipe, J.O. and

E.E. Oluchukwu (Eds.), Educational Planning and Administration in Nigeria in the 21st Century.

Akinwumiju, J.A., 1996. Performance Evaluation and Accountability for Quality Primary Education.

Ajayi, A.O. and J.A. Akinwumiju (Eds.), Personnel Performance and Capacity Building, Ibadan. Department of Educational Management. University of Ibadan.

Ajayi, T., 1985. Educational Planning and National Development: The Nigeria experience. A paper presented at the 4th Annual Conference of NERA held between 2nd and 6th November, UNIBEN.
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