Institutional Development

Submitted By: Warda Ahmed

Submitted To: Ma’am Afshan Huma

Roll No: CF503549

Program: PGD (ELM)

Semester: Spring 2021

Course Code: 1648

Assignment 2
Department of Educational Planning, Policy Studies and Leadership

ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD

 Assignment no. 2
Q.1 Describe the monitoring system in detail. What are different components of
monitoring system? Also discuss different types of monitoring.

Structural monitoring is a process aiming at providing accurate and in-time information

concerning structural condition and performance. It consists of permanent continuous,
periodical or periodically continuous recording of representative parameters, over short- or
long-terms. The information obtained from monitoring is generally used to plan and design
maintenance activities, increase the safety, verify hypothesis, reduce uncertainty and to
widen the knowledge concerning monitored structure. In spite of its importance the culture
on structural monitoring is not yet widespread. It is often considered as an accessory
activity, which doesn’t require detailed planning. The facts are rather the opposite.
Monitoring process is very complex process full of delicate phases and only a proper and
detailed planning of each of its steps can lead to its successful and maximal performance.
Main steps of the structural monitoring process are selection of monitoring strategy,
installation and maintenance of monitoring equipment and data management. Each of
these steps is also complex itself, e.g. monitoring strategy consists of definition of
monitoring aim, selection of representative parameters to be monitored, selection of
monitoring system, definition of sensor network design and schedule of monitoring etc. The
totality of devices used to perform monitoring is conventionally called monitoring system.
The main components of the monitoring systems are the sensors, the reading unit and the
managing software, while accessory components are extension cables, connection boxes
etc. The selection of the monitoring system depends on monitoring requirements and
effectiveness of the system in answering on these requirements. These requirements have
to include not only monitoring performances of the system, but also ease of integration in
each step of monitoring process, i.e. ease of installation, maintenance and data
management. In this paper structural monitoring process is defined and described in details,
its interaction with selection of monitoring system is examined and illustrated in case of the
SOFO monitoring system on real on-site applications.

Civil structures are omnipresent in every society, regardless of culture, religion, geographical
location and economical development. It is difficult to imagine a soc iety without buildings,
roads, rails, bridges, tunnels, dams and power plants. Structures affect human, social,
ecological, economical, cultural and aesthetic aspects of societies and associated activities
contribute considerably to the gross internal product. Therefore good design, quality
construction as well as durable and safe usage of civil structures are goals of structural
engineering. The most safe and durable structures are usually structures that are well
managed. Measurement and monitoring often have essential roles in management
activities. The data resulting from the monitoring program is used to optimise the operation,
maintenance, repair and repla cing of the structure based on reliable and objective data.
Monitoring data can be integrated in structural management systems and increase the
quality of decisions by providing reliable and unbiased information.

Monitoring System Components

While eG Enterprise focuses primarily on monitoring applications, many administrators still

prefer to view their infrastructure from a hardware perspective - i.e., as systems they support.
The eG monitoring console now provides a “system view”, which represents the overall health
of systems in the target infrastructure, with a mapping of the applications that are executing
on these systems. To access the SYSTEMS page that provides the ‘system view’, click on
the icon available in the Monitor tab. Then, select the Systems option from
the Hosts/Applications tile.

The SYSTEMS page that appears, indicates the current state of those systems/hosts that have
been assigned to the current user for monitoring along with the key performance metrics of
each system/host. In case of a 'supermonitor' however, the status of all managed systems in
the environment will be available in this page.

By default, the Systems option is chosen from the Filter by list. If the
zones/services/segments are created by the user who is accessing the eG monitor interface,
then the system components that are part of the zone/segment/service can be filtered using
this list. If too many system components are managed in the target environment, then, users
may find it difficult to search for the system component of their choice. eG Enterprise provides
a Search text box using which users can search for the system components of their choice.
 By default, eG Enterprise decides certain metrics of each system to be the key performance
metrics and displays the same in the SYSTEMS page. If you wish to define the metrics of your
choice as the key performance metrics for each system, then you can do so using the icon

irst specify whether you need to add or delete the measures by selecting
the Add or Delete option from the Add/Delete Measures flag. Click the Add option for adding
the measures.

Next, selecting a particular layer from the Layer list will populate the tests associated with the
chosen layer in the Test list. Note that only the operating system level layers will be available
for selection in the Layers list. Then, select the test that reports the measure of your choice
from the Test list. Now, all the measures pertaining to the chosen test will be listed in
the Measure list. Select the measure of your choice from the Measure list, and provide a
display name for the measure in the Display Name text box.

Next, indicate whether the chosen test is descriptor based or not using the Does the Test have
Descriptors? flag. If the test has descriptors, then set the Does the Test have Descriptors? flag
to Yes. This will invoke the Function flag using which you can aggregate the measure values
across all descriptors using a specific aggregate function. By default, the Avg flag will be
selected against the Function flag indicating that the measure value will be displayed as the
average of all the descriptors of the chosen test.

Finally click Add button to add the measure. Doing so ensures that the measure will be
displayed in the SYSTEMS page for all the systems managed in the target environment.

Similarly, you can remove a measure from being displayed from the SYSTEMS page. For this
purpose, set the Add/Delete Measures flag to Delete.(see Figure 3).

• Select the test from the Test list and choose the measure that is to be deleted from
the Measure list. Clicking the Delete button will delete the measure from the SYSTEMS page.

• Clicking on a system will lead the users to a Layers tab page that displays the layer model, tests,
and measurements pertaining to that system.
Alternately, if you wish to view a list of all the systems managed in your infrastructure, you

can do so by clicking the icon in . By default, the page that appears displays all the
managed system components in the environment. Typically, the state of a system is
determined by the state of one/more applications executing on it. Therefore, if a particular
system is in an abnormal state, then administrators might want to know which application(s)
executing on that system is causing the anomaly. To enable administrators to determine this,
against every system listed in this page, eG Enterprise displays the application components
deployed on that system along with the component state (see ).

Q.2 What are different types of performance appraisal? Describe performance appraisal
systems in organizations. How principles of appraisal help in develop an appropriate
appraisal plan for institution?

Employee Performance Appraisal

The employee performance appraisal process is crucial for organizations to boost employee
productivity and improve their outcomes. Performance appraisals are an annual process where
an employee’s performance and productivity is evaluated against a predetermined set of
objectives. Performance management is super important, not only because it is the
determining factor in an employee’s wage rise and promotion but also because it can evaluate
an employee’s skills, strengths, and shortcomings accurately. However, the performance
appraisal is rarely put to good use since existing performance appraisal methods fail to
internalize employee performance results. To prevent performance appraisals from becoming
nothing more than empty buzzwords, HR managers need to revamp their existing process and
try implementing one of the six modern performance appraisal methods that are listed below.

Six modern performance appraisal methods

With the right performance appraisal method, organizations can enhance employee
performance within the organization. A good employee performance review method can make
the whole experience effective and rewarding. Here’s a close look at the six most-used
modern performance methods:
 1. Management by Objectives (MBO)

Management by objectives (MBO) is the appraisal method where managers and employees
together identify, plan, organize, and communicate objectives to focus on during a specific
appraisal period. After setting clear goals, managers and subordinates periodically discuss the
progress made to control and debate on the feasibility of achieving those set objectives. This
performance appraisal method is used to match the overarching organizational goals with
objectives of employees effectively while validating objectives using the SMART method to see
if the set objective is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-sensitive. At the end
of the review period (quarterly, half-yearly, or annual), employees are judged by their results.
Success is rewarded with promotion and a salary hike whereas failure is dealt with transfer or
further training. This process usually lays more stress on tangible goals and intangible aspects
like interpersonal skills, commitment, etc. are often brushed under the rug.

Incorporating MBO into your performance management process

To ensure success, the MBO process needs to be embedded in the organizational-wide goal
setting and appraisal process. By incorporating MBO into the performance management
process, businesses can improve employee’s commitment, amplify chances for goal
accomplishment, and enable employees to think futuristically.

Ideal for:

Measuring the quantitative and qualitative output of senior management like managers,
directors, and executive (business of any size)

Common reason for failure:

Incomplete MBO program, inadequate corporate objectives, lack of top management

involvement

Steps to implement a successful MBO program:

1. Every manager must have 5-10 goals expressed in specific, measurable terms
2. Manager can propose their goals in writing, which will be finalized after review
3. Each goal needs to include a description and a clear plan (list of tasks) to accomplish it
4. Determine how progress will be measured and how frequently (minimum quarterly)
5. List down corrective actions that will be taken if progress is not in accordance with plans
6. Ensure that goals at each level are related to the organizational objectives and levels
above/below

2. 360-Degree Feedback

360-degree feedback is a multidimensional performance appraisal method that evaluates an

employee using feedback collected from the employee’s circle of influence namely managers,
peers, customers, and direct reports. This method will not only eliminate bias in performance
reviews but also offer a clear understanding of an individual’s competence.

This appraisal method has five integral components like:

1. Self-appraisals
Self-appraisals offer employees a chance to look back at their performance and understand
their strengths and weaknesses. However, if self-appraisals are performed without structured
forms or formal procedures, it can become lenient, fickle, and biased.

2. Managerial reviews
Performance reviews done by managers are a part of the traditional and basic form of
appraisals. These reviews must include individual employee ratings awarded by supervisors as
well as the evaluation of a team or program done by senior managers.

3. Peer reviews
As hierarchies move out of the organizational picture, coworkers get a unique perspective on
the employee’s performance making them the most relevant evaluator. These reviews help
determine an employee’s ability to work well with the team, take up initiatives, and be a
reliable contributor. However, friendship or animosity between peers may end up distorting
the final evaluation results.

4. Subordinates Appraising manager (SAM)

This upward appraisal component of the 360-degree feedback is a delicate and significant step.
Reportees tend to have the most unique perspective from a managerial point of view.
However, reluctance or fear of retribution can skew appraisal results.
 5. Customer or client reviews
The client component of this phase can include either internal customers such as users of
product within the organization or external customers who are not a part of the company but
interact with this specific employee on a regular basis. Customer reviews can evaluate the
output of an employee better, however, these external users often do not see the impact of
processes or policies on an employee’s output.

Advantages of using 360-degree feedback:

• Increase the individual’s awareness of how they perform and the impact it has on other
stakeholders
• Serve as a key to initiate coaching, counselling, and career development activities
• Encourage employees to invest in self-development and embrace change management
• Integrate performance feedback with work culture and promote engagement

Ideal for:
Private sector organizations than public sector organisations as peer reviews at public sector
organizations are more lenient.

Common reason for failure:

Leniency in review, cultural differences, competitiveness, ineffective planning, and misguided

feedback

Q.3 What are some of the ways in which technology has improved education in Pakistan?
Discuss barriers use of technology in Pakistan.

Technology has been making inroads into education for decades. But the mobile revolution
is changing education in more fundamental ways than just providing a gadget that delivers
information. The mobile revolution is changing education in more fundamental ways than
just providing a gadget that delivers information. This blog focuses on the Role of
Technology in Transforming Digital Education for Pakistani Students.
Transforming Digital Education for Pakistani Students

Learning can unfold in a variety of ways: people can use mobile devices to access
educational resources, connect with others, or create content, both inside and outside
classrooms. Mobile learning also encompasses efforts to support broad educational goals
such as the effective administration of school systems and improved communication
between schools and families.

What is Education Technology?

Educational Technologies are those materials, procedures, organizations, ideas, devices,

instruments or machines which make the teaching-learning process more effective,
successful, and unforgettable. Educational Technologies are those materials, procedures,
organizations, ideas, devices, instruments or machines which make the teaching-learning
process more effective and successful. Using mobile tools for creating learning aids and
materials has become an important part of informal learning. Mobile learning is convenient
as it is accessible virtually from anywhere. Sharing is almost instantaneous among everyone
using the same content, which leads to the reception of instant feedback and tips. It also
brings strong portability by replacing books and notes with small devices, filled with tailored
learning contents.

Transforming education for Students in Pakistan:

People usually ask the reason for transforming education for children when it can be
acquired in the same way as our ancestors achieved it. Though it could be justified through
many reasons, but I want to raise a question here. What is the point of giving our children
the same outdated education when we can incorporate new technology in it? We need to
accept that the future is all about technology and gadgets, so, there is a dire need to embed
them in the education sector and prepare kids to handle the inevitable future challenges in
their professional life. Technology is entwined in such a way that its effects on our lives are
undeniable. In such circumstance when children are so much used to technology, our old-
fashioned classrooms with blackboards or whiteboards take them several years back. Let us
accept that the future is all about technology and gadgets, so, there is a dire need to embed
them in the education sector and prepare kids to handle the inevitable future challenges in
their professional life. Transforming Digital Education for Pakistani Students has always
remained a matter of debate and certain measures are also taken.

Reading from books and writing it on a whiteboard so that kids can copy it is just not
needed now and things need to change. Emphasis on digital education in Pakistan has
lagged in the past, but schools and universities are now being empowered to actively
embrace the digital world. Technology is not only helpful for students but also for teachers.
Preparing a lesson is a very time-consuming task, but when it is integrated with technology,
lesson planning efforts are reduced, which in turn reduces the burden on the teachers.
Pakistan is on the cusp of a digitization drive. Pakistan’s education sector had a mixed
engagement with digitalization. Emphasis on digital education in Pakistan has lagged in the
past, but schools and universities are now being empowered to actively embrace the digital
world. Although there are still very few educational institutes that are providing facilities for
digital education but this ratio is expected to improve with upcoming digital initiatives in the
future.

Some of the digitized trends in the educational sector of Pakistan are as follows:

1. The growing trend of digital classrooms

Most of the private schools and universities in Pakistan are making their classrooms digital
by introducing interactive whiteboards, touch screens, computers, and projectors. These
smart classrooms helped in an increased level of understanding on part of students.

Now a days all the students are encouraged to use internet facilities and avail required
detailed knowledge of topics instead of learning bookish material only. Most of the private
schools and universities in Pakistan are making their classrooms digital by introducing
interactive whiteboards, touch screens, computers, and projectors. Different educational
apps are also introduced in smart gadgets that help students to understand and get
knowledge more easily.

2. E-books
The concept of getting knowledge using e-books is becoming very popular nowadays.
Students can access any book by any author from around the world instead of searching for
books in libraries.

3. Video-based learning

Video-based learning makes educational engaging, entertaining and exploring. So, it is also
gaining popularity among students to understand difficult concepts using video interfaces.
Many universities are offering facilities for online courses and diplomas e.g. Pakistan
Institute of management, Virtual University of Pakistan, etc.

4. Educational apps on smartphones/tablets

Different educational apps are also introduced in smart gadgets that help students to
understand and get knowledge more easily. Scribd, Google reads, Evernote, to-do-ist are
some examples of such apps.

5. Learning Game apps

Many applications based on games are introduced for toddlers with the help of which they
can start learning. These apps include unscrambling games, word games, puzzle, etc.

6. WI-FI availability

Some of the private institutes are providing Wi-Fi facilities in all of their departments which
help students to gather information from the internet in order to do their assignments and
group studies. Government and private sectors have taken some commendable initiatives to
support digital learning in Pakistan. DigiSkill learning, SkillsFirst, Learn Smart Pakistan,
Connecting Classroom, Virtual Academy, and Future School are few of the names that are
successfully providing online learning opportunities to the students. There are many online
learning and skill building programs now available in Pakistan. DigiSkill learning, SkillsFirst,
Learn Smart Pakistan, Connecting Classroom, Virtual Academy, and Future School are few of
the names that are successfully providing online learning opportunities to the students.
The age of mobile learning is here to stay, what we need is to take advantage of it. Whether
we like it or not, whether we are ready for it or not, mobile learning is the next step in a long
tradition of technology-facilitated learning. It features new strategies, practices, tools,
applications, and resources to realize the promise of pervasive, personal, and connected
learning. Mobile learning diversifies the types of learning activities students participate in.

More importantly, it decreases training costs and it is a better way of learning as well,
something that financial crisis struck country like Pakistan desperately needs.

Q.4 What are different ways of generating new resources? Enlist problems and
challenges of resource management in Pakistani educational institutions

Ideas are the key to innovation. Without them, there isn't much to execute and because
execution is the key to learning, new ideas are necessary for making any kind of
improvement. It's obvious that ideas alone won't make innovation happen, as you need to
be able to build a systematic process for managing those ideas. The point of ideation isn't
just about generating tons of them but about paying attention to the quality of those as
well.

We agree that it can sometimes be difficult to come up with more of those high-quality
ideas. It’s not unusual to get stuck in our old habits and routines when we’re supposed to be
creating something new. To break out of that rut, we've decided to look into idea
generation as a whole as well as to introduce some of our favorite tips, tools and
techniques that can be used to generate new ideas more systematically.

What is idea generation and why it's important?

Idea generation is described as the process of creating, developing and communicating

abstract, concrete or visual ideas. It’s the front end part of the idea management funnel and
it focuses on coming up with possible solutions to perceived or actual problems and
opportunities. As mentioned, ideas are the first step towards making improvement. Us
making progress as individual human beings depends on new ideas. From the perspective of
an individual, new ideas can help you to move forward if you feel stuck with a task or are
unable to solve a certain problem. Perhaps you're looking for new ways to overcome a
creative block or you're after a better solution to your problem? Maybe you need new
ideas so that you can fully explore a new opportunity?

When it comes to your organization, generating and collecting new ideas from your
employees is the best way to uncover creative, tacit knowledge. The ability to create and
develop new ideas allows you to:

Perhaps your organizational goal is to improve your and your team's efficiency or you need
new ideas for making your product better? Regardless of your goals or the types of ideas
you're looking for, the purpose of new ideas is to improve the way you operate. On a larger
scale, economies depend on innovation to drive growth and increase well-being. Innovation
creates new technologies and businesses, which provide new jobs for people. So,
although innovation isn’t about ideas alone, they are an important part of the equation as
there wouldn’t be one without the other.

Tools and techniques for generating ideas

Okay, now you need ideas. What do you do?

The odds are that you’d run a brainstorming session. It has, however, been shown that
brainstorming not only takes more time and leads to less ideas, but also worse ideas than if
the same participants had just tried to come up with ideas by themselves. There are several
other reasons why brainstorming may not be the best way to come up with ideas.
Scheduling, organizing and documenting the session in a usable format will all take up even
more time. Although there are certain ways to improve brainstorming performance, it’s
beyond the point. The point is that you shouldn’t automatically default to brainstorming.
There are, however, some other useful techniques that might be worth giving a shot to
challenge conventional thinking. Because you're going to need different ideas, it's good to
have a few techniques in mind for generating them. Most of these ideation methods can be
used for more effective brainstorming but also for other type of ideation.

Idea Challenge

Idea challenge is a focused form of innovation where you raise a problem or opportunity
with the hopes of coming up with creative solutions. The point of idea challenge is to
participate in ideation and generate ideas around a pre-defined theme for a limited period
of time.

It allows you to form a specific question and direct that question at a specific audience to
receive new ideas and unique insights. Before setting up an idea challenge, it’s important to
define what you want to accomplish with it. Because there are two types of idea
challenges, problem centric and solution centric approaches, you should first clarify
whether you’re looking to identify challenges or develop potential solutions for them.

When organizing an idea challenge, there are different parameters that you can choose to
achieve the outcomes you’re looking for, such as theme, audience, responsibilities,
time, or channels. Keep in mind that idea challenge is the best technique when you need to
generate lots of new ideas. It may not be the most effective way to generate ideas if you
only involve a few experts in your ideation process as it’s proven to be more useful for
engaging large audiences.

Although idea challenge enables you to gather lots of ideas fast, careful planning takes time
and might not be worth the effort if there are no resources to execute it properly. Also, right
timing is necessary for it to succeed.

SCAMPER Technique

The SCAMPER technique is created by Bob Eberle, and is a method used for problem-solving
and creative thinking. It’s a holistic way of applying critical thinking to modify ideas,
concepts or processes that already exist. The purpose of the SCAMPER is to make
adjustments to some parts of the existing idea or process to reach the best solution. It
consists of seven actions that can be used to replace parts in the process:

1. Substitute – Substitution technique refers to replacing a part of your product, concept or

process with another to achieve even better outcome.

2. Combine – The combine technique explores the possibility to combine two ideas into a
single, more effective solution.

3. Adapt – Adaptation analyses the possibilities to make the process more flexible and
focuses on other similar incremental improvements to the idea, process, or concept.
4. Modify – Modifying the idea looks at the problem or opportunity from a bigger
perspective and aims for improving the overall results, not just the idea.

5. Put to another use – This approach focuses on finding ways to use the idea or existing
solution for another purpose and analyses the possible benefits if applied to other parts of
the business.

6. Eliminate – The elimination technique is quite straightforward: it examines the possible

outcomes if one or more parts of the concept were eliminated.

7. Reverse – This action focuses on reversing the order of interchangeable elements of an

idea.

Although the SCAMPER technique was originally designed for brainstorming sessions, it can
be applied to your own thought processes as well. Often, people tend to focus on finding
the next big idea. When generating new ideas, it is easy to forget that the continuous
incremental improvements are the ones that really make an impact in the long run. When
you make ideation a constant practice, you’ll have a good chance to win that big idea
through a number of small ones. Sometimes, all it may take is to have look at what you’ve
already got. Using your existing ideas or processes as a starting point can reveal a lot about
your current situation, which is what the SCAMPER technique is about.

Opposite Thinking

Opposite/reverse thinking is a technique that can help you question long-held

assumptions related to your business. It’s a useful tool to consider if you feel your team is
stuck with the conventional mindset and coming up with those “out-of-the-box ideas”
seems to be difficult.

Often, finding the best solutions aren’t found through a linear thought process. Although
our brains are wired that way, opposite thinking can help us question the norm. With this
type of thinking, you consider the exact opposite of what’s normal. You can even think
backwards to find unconventional solutions.
Q.5 Develop a monitoring plan for a school, how would you collect data, analyze,
scrutinize and report it for top level management decision making? How would you
institutionalize monitoring and evaluation activities to strengthen your organization?

Levels of Planning

The overriding goal of educational activities is to serve the needs of children in the context
of their national, cultural, ethnic, religious, social and economic environments.
Consequently, the ultimate aim of the planning process concerned with formal basic
education is to serve the needs of children of school age at the level of the school or
alternative programme. Therefore, the school level, cluster school level, or community level,
can be called Planning Level-I, In order to function, schools need support from higher levels,
such as townships, districts, provinces, etc., which is Planning Level-II. These entities, in turn
guidance and support from the central, national level which is Planning Level-III. All three
levels have to work together; but each level has specific functions and tasks. Although
different systems exist in countries in Asia, the most common structure appears to be the
following. Planning Level-I is concerned with matters such as organizing the
teaching/learning process and parent and community participation. Planning Level-II is
concerned with support, such as teacher training, provision of teaching and learning
materials, personnel management, major construction and maintenance to ensure access to
education, some resource allocation, efficiency of resource utilization, and mobilizing of
funding. Concerns of Planning level-III include ensuring national standards for, and unity
(not necessity uniformity) of, curriculum, textbooks, exams, teacher training, personnel
management, resource allocation to ensure access to quality education, resource utilization,
ensuring donor relations, and sector reform and development.

In a growing number of countries the planning and tasks of these levels are in a process of
change. For example, decentralization is moving many tasks to lower levels, including tasks
like teacher training, personnel management, fund-raising, and infrastructure management.
The planning concept to be applied in each country will have to be based on a matrix which
shows what level is presently responsible for which functions and tasks and then plan for
the changes which should occur in this matrix over time. All three levels are directly involved
in short term planning, particularly the annual budgeting process. Medium-term planning
requires the involvement of Levels II and III. Long-term planning is usually primarily the
concern of Level-III. Drawing up the EFA plan 2002-2015 is a joint task of Level II and III.
Through appropriate participatory mechanisms and process, Level I (the level of schools and
school clusters) is also involved in planning, particularly in EFA planning. The active
participation of level-I is essential when, once the EFA has been adopted, implementation
action plans are being prepared.

Stages of Planning

Ideally, planning proceeds in three successive stages: each stage corresponds to a particular
type of plan: first long-term planning (plan covering ten years or more), then medium-term
planning (plan covering three to five years), and finally short-term planning (plan linked to
the government budget cycle). Today, most countries already have a long-term education
plan (in a variety forms: as part of the national development plan, or as a master plan for
the different education sub-sectors, or as general education sector plan), which sets the
long-term policy goals. By nature, long-term plans arc quite general, much more detailed
concepts (objectives, targets, feasibility assessments, organization of sector management,
etc.) are needed for making resource allocation decisions and for making sure that enough
financial, material and human resources are available to carry out activities required to
attain the long-term goals. Therefore, many countries are now concentrating their planning
efforts on the design of medium-term plans, since they are closer, in terms of both time
horizon and detail of content, to resource allocation cycles (such as public sector investment
programmes, public sector financing programmes and annual budgets). The national EFA
plan to be prepared for the period 2002-2015 will have typical features of both long-term
and medium-term plans. On the one hand, the EFA plan will set overall long term policy
goals to be reached by the year. 2015; on the other hand, it will also set specific medium-
term targets and priorities, and outline implementation programmes for concrete action for
the first five or six years of the plan period.

Planning Stage-1: Preparing the long-term plan (also called strategic plan or master plan)

By setting overall policy goals, the long-term plan determines the general, basic concepts
and principles for education compatible with each country’s intrinsic values, its current
needs and future expectations. It outlines the overall resource requirements for the sector
in the long run. It is the outcome of political decisions taken in the context of the overall
social and economic development policies of the country.

Planning Stage-2: Preparing the medium-term plan

The medium term plan defines what needs to be done, when, how and with what resource
inputs, in order to attain the long-term policy goals. It sets specific objectives and targets
and outlines implementation programmes and implementation modalities. It contains a
finance plan, identifying national as well as external sources of funding.

Planning Stage-3: Preparing a short-term plan (also called implementation plan)

Implementation plans lay details of what will be done, by whom, how, with what amount of
resources, and financed by what sources. Usually spanning a period of a new budget years,
they are broken down by annual budgets, setting the specific targets to be attained in the
context of the fiscal or budget year.

The Planning Process

Preparing an education plan is a process aimed at identifying the most appropriate course of
action to address issues, set priority objectives and targets, and provides the basis for cost-
effective resource allocation. The plan preparation process consists of a sequence of four
phases, including:

Planning Phase-1: Finding the facts about how the sector functions today and identifying
issues that need to be addressed in the future, as well as strengths that need to be
maintained or reinforced in the future, and undertaking a sector analysis (also called sector
review, sector survey, sector diagnosis) or a more limited situation analysis;

Planning Phase-2: Charting the future, i.e. preparing the plan, by setting policy goals and
strategic objectives, formulating implementation programmes, setting targets, assessing
resource requirements, setting priorities and designing implementation strategies;

Planning Phase-3: Designing the action by drawing up outline implementation plans. This
step has in recent begun to be included in the planning process, particularly in the
preparation of medium term plans. Drawing up detailed action plans is not part of preparing
long term or medium term plans. Detailed action or implementation plans are drawn up
once medium-term plan has been approved by the government and the relevant legislative
bodies, and correspond to the first step of implementation of the medium term plan.

Planning Phase-4: Adopting the plan as an official government document with normative
status, orienting laws, statutory decisions and budgets (which, as a rule, are legally binding
documents, in the same way as other Laws). Planning is a continuous process. The planning
process also includes monitoring of the” plan implementation, regular updating of sector
analysis information, assessing the results and impact of implementation and feeding back
this information into adjustments of policies and implementation strategies throughout the
period of plan implementation.

Planning Phase-5: Implementing and monitoring the plan implementation. The monitoring
information is feed back into the plan implementation process and used to review the plan
regularly and adapt it as necessary to changing needs and conditions within the overall
planning framework.

Planning Phase-6: Evaluating the plan, including its achievements in terms of reaching
stated qualitative and quantitative objectives and targets, producing expected outcomes
and impact on priority target groups, as well as its cost-effectiveness. The results of the
evaluation are used to improve the planning and policy setting process in consecutive plans.
This planning Guide concentrates on the first four phases that concern the preparation of
the plan document.