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The conditions for success in educational planning
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY (MAIN CAMPUS)
SCHOOL: OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT: OF EDUCATION MANAGEMENT, POLICY & CURRICULUM STUDIES
NAME: FRED OWILI OWINO
REG: E55/27782/2014
TASK: cat one;
UNIT: EMP/M/815
UNIT NAME: planning education to meet societal needs
LECTURER: DR KIRANGA GATIMU.
SUBMITTED ON: 17TH /03/2015.
About three decade ago RUSCO, GC wrote a book entitled, “The conditions for success in educational planning.” In what ways would you disagree/agree with a book written more than three decades ago? Give persuasive reasons for your position using examples from Kenya.
Planning is a rational process of preparing a set of decisions for future action. Educational planning is therefore the application of rational and systematic analysis to the process of educational development with the aim of making education more effective and efficient in responding to the needs and goals of individual and society. I would like to disagree with RUSCO, in his book conditions for success in educational planning, in that this book was written long time ago and by now a lot of changes has occurred on educational planning. These conditions stressed may be necessary or sufficient or both in that there may be conditions, no one of which is sufficient to produce the event, but all of which are necessary. There may be a condition sufficient to produce the event, although this condition may not be itself necessary because some other condition(s) may also be sufficient. Finally, there may be a single condition which alone is necessary and sufficient to produce the event.
He first highlights, legal, staffing and technical conditions are as the necessary conditions for successful educational planning. Thus, he finds recurrent concern with the legal bases which define the scope of educational planning and the institutional format for planning; the recruitment, training and deployment of educational planners; and the technical sophistication displayed by planners in collecting, analyzing and using data and in designing and utilizing educational models. Although the specific legal means by which educational planning is initiated and its institutionalized framework established varies somehow from country to country, there has been widespread agreement that educational planning requires a fairly specific legal framework. Such a framework usually includes the legal functions of the planning agency, its relations with other educational authorities and with other planning authorities, and its specific form. He said that the staffing of the planning officers though it was a seasonal variation in the number and kinds of planners employed should proceed relatively well as the government also keeps changing. He therefore concludes on the challenges of planning in regard to financing the whole process. The problem of the recruitment, training and deployment of educational planners, while still not totally resolved, has become increasingly amenable to a pragmatic solution. No longer does the problem seem to be one which requires some prior agreement on the definition of the ‘educational planner’. Rather, most people now agree that a variety of skills are necessary for planning. The need for demographers, statisticians, economists, sociologists and experts in all levels and kinds of education has been agreed upon if not everywhere met. In the last condition RUSCO brings in the element of technical conditions, that Much of the attention given to educational planning has been directed at improving the techniques of planning, ranging from better use of existing statistics to the application of complex models of linkages between education and national development. survey of the legal, staffing and technical conditions conventionally associated with educational planning suggests that such conditions are not sufficient to ensure success in educational planning.
He said that the success in educational planning does not fully depend on only those factors but also must be able to look at the constraints of education planning such as political interference and administrative factors that tries to hinder development in educational planning.
These arguments are rather far much backdated having seen especially greater development in educational planning. That there are a lot of factors to consider in developing strategies to cater for success which are the policy for planning. The first four of which deal with policy making, the fifth with planning and sixth and seventh with policy adjustment:
(i) Analysis of the existing situation.
(ii) The generation of policy options.
(iii) Evaluation of policy options.
(iv) Making the policy decision.
(v) Planning of policy implementation.
(vi) Policy impact assessment.
(vii) Subsequent policy cycles.
In the present state of Kenya a number of policies have been put in place to outlaw the RUSCOS ideas which are majorly outdated, the government in conjunction with UNESCO has brought out clear guidelines in making sure that planning for education is a success. Some of this we see in the millennium goals of education, the constitution of Kenya 2010 and even the UNESCO journal guidelines. That the current situation needs a clear guideline on the seven policies for educational planning. The conceptual framework for policy analysis and its application to the four exemplary cases vividly indicate that education planning cannot be purely technical or linear. It deals with an educational enterprise that is not characterized by unambiguous issues, clearly defined objectives, undisputed causal relationships, predictable rationalities and rational decision-makers. Education policy planning, as such, is by necessity a series of untidy and overlapping episodes in which a variety of people and organizations with diversified perspectives are actively involved in the processes through which issues are analyzed and policies are generated, implemented, assessed and adjusted or redesigned. Education planners thus need a methodological approach, to capture the intricacies of both policies and processes, to give deliberate attention to every element of the policy planning process, and to gauge the evolving dynamics of the system (flow, procedure, form, and interaction among interest groups).A conceptual frame work is sometimes followed to the later in Kenya but then at times most of the decisions made in planning of education are done by the politicians, this interference which always leaves the planners with o decisions but to work out ways of helping implement them.eg the laptop project and the free primary and secondary day school.
COPARE AND CONTRUST the claim by Michal Hopkins that The manpower forecasting debate was carried out vigorously in the 1970s and 1980s but appeared to end with the notion that all forecasting techniques that purported to assess manpower requirements in the future were dubious and that the future lay with labour market analysis and labour market signaling. In general, the monograph disputes the first notion but agrees that the, often over-simplified and non-flexible forecasting models of the past, should be supplemented with better data and improved labour market analysis.
Man power approach method was preferred by economists in the 1950s and 1960s Based on the argument that Economic growth is the mainspring of a nation’s overall development -thus should be the prime consideration in allocating scarce resources. Economic growth requires not only physical resources but also human resources to organize and use them.The focus of this approach is to forecast the manpower needs of the economy. It stresses on output from the educational system to meet the man-power needs at some future date. Manpower planning is based on the attempt to forecast the future demand for educated manpower Given the length of time taken to produce educated professional people, such forecasts may have to be made for some years e.g. fifteen years in the case of scientists, engineers, or medical doctors. There was a dubious discussion between 1970s and 1980s which was very vigorous, the findings shifted goals to labour market analysis. That manpower approach gives educational planner a limited guidance on what can actually be achieved in every level of education e.g. primary education, secondary education, etc. The approach says nothing about primary education, which is not considered to be work connected. It suggests the curbing of the expansion of primary education until the nation is rich enough to expand it. It focuses more attention on the cream of education that will contribute to manpower development in the society. It focuses on manpower needs mostly in the urban employment. It does not focus on semi-skilled and unskilled workers in the cities and vast majority of workers that live in rural areas. (Over production of engineers’ vs. masons).It relies on employment classifications and manpower ratios such engineers to technicians; doctors to nurses etc from industrialized countries or economy. This does not fit into the realities of less developed countries of Africa. It is therefore impossible to make reliable fore-cast of manpower requirements far enough ahead of time because of economic, technological, political and other uncertainties which may occur. This Approach has largely been applied at the level of persons with higher education and has tended to ignore those with lower levels of education, i.e. the great majority of workers; Limits itself to headcounts and ignores the effects of movements in wages and other prices; largely makes use of employment data relating to the public sector and/or to large private firms, whereas in developing countries the majority of workers are liable to be in small firms and/or in the informal sector; It is based on the historical relationship between output and labour, which is then extrapolated forward decades ahead; It is gender insensitive Man-power & women power
Labour market analysis is an approach/methodology that presents a major shift from the manpower planning approach. Manpower planning focuses on skilled and formal labour only and is gender biased (woman power, manpower),
Labour market analysis categorizes labour employed and unemployed, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled, formal and informal, male and female. The basis of policy analysis lies in the recognition of the inability of human beings to anticipate future developments accurately. E.g. the conceptual problems in the manpower approach it that it implies that the main purpose of education is employment. But education encompasses a wider perspective of producing a human person who would be able to play a meaningful role in society. The labour market is a generalized concept representing the interaction between:
the supply (number of persons available for work) &
the demand (number of jobs available) and
the wage rate effects of education/output, outcome
The keyword “planning” is out “policy” and “analysis” has become keywords. Policy has more modest, short-term affectation than planning. Labour market analysts constantly adjust short and medium term analyses to reflect changing conditions while keeping the long-term in mind. The horizon of the manpower planner is long, sometimes as long as twenty years. The labor market analyst has a much shorter horizon. Manpower planning makes unrealistic estimates/forecasts. It is difficult to make reliable forecasts of manpower requirements for a long period of time.
Society is dynamic and political, economic, social and technological changes can take place any time. A significant focus of labor market analyses is the concern for poverty and equity rather than strictly production efficiency. (How much you produce given certain inputs)
In labour market analysis efficiency is no longer the only criterion of social action rather equity and poverty considerations are taken into account. It is therefore concerned with correcting present imbalances in the labor market and in reassessing the situation periodically in order to take additional corrective action as necessary. Hence Michal Hopkins that the manpower forecasting debate was carried out vigorously in the 1970s and the 1980s, making the labour market analysis most suitable approach to use. The manpower planning school stresses labour market research and labour market
Signaling as ‘the’ alternative to manpower forecasting. There is no objection to the need for alternative techniques but, as also argued, there is a need to perform, and perfect, forecasting to provide a future vision to assist in the assessment of training and educational needs. The labour market signaling chapter showed that even with relatively detailed surveys, the identification of mismatches on the labour market and future training needs is not straightforward. The data collected in the surveys would help to calibrate some.
Reference
Caillods, F. 1991. Educational planning for the year 2000. IIEP Contributions No. 4. Paris: UNESCO/International Institute for Educational Planning.
G. C. Ruscoe 1969.The Conditions for Success in Educational Planning. UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning
Hallak, J. 1991. Educational planning: reflecting on the past and its prospects for the future. IEP Contributions No. 2. Paris: UNESCO/International Institute for Educational Planning.
LYONS, R. F. (ed.). Problems and strategies of educational planning: lessons from Latin America. Paris, Unesco/IIEP, 1965, 117 p., tables.
Kenyan diaspora within the US
Kenyan diaspora within the US
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Instructor Name
Due Date
Kenyan diaspora within the US
Many different people go to different countries for a certain reason. Some people travel with their families while others travel solo. Some travel for short periods while others relocate completely to other countries. Every person always has a reason for relocation or travel. Sometimes it might be education, treatment, jobs among other issues. Most of the time the people from the developing countries travel to the already developed countries looking for greener pastures and these land them in countries in the west. The United States is one of the countries which have a unique combination of the population regarding their origin. The blacks and the whites even though not on the same level are very much present in the United States alongside other ethnic groups and races like Asians and Latinos. My focus in this paper is the Kenyan citizens who live in the United States, the reasons for relocation and I will focus majorly on my friend Mark who is a child to a Kenyan family who relocated to the United States from Kenya.
I got to know Mark during my senior years and we have grown to be friends who support each other in so many different ways. The story about his family is a special one as well as an interesting one. The daymark came to school he was not talkative and as most people assume, we thought that he was a black American who did not like talking to most other people because he did not want to be asked questions or anything to do with racism (Cohen, 2008). Therefore with my curiosity, I approached him one day and he told me that he is Kenyan and he was new to the United States, the language, the environment, and everything. From then on I decided to help him as much as I could and right now he is enjoying his stay here. Along the way, I got to learn so much about Kenya and I am already planning to visit the country in one of the holidays.
The first challenge was with the American English accent which he got to understand within a very short time. However, this was a bit complex because even in the United States there are different varieties of English apart from the standard one. However, with the help of research, I helped him. Within two weeks he was completely conversant with the American accent and he could talk to anyone fluently. He had an English origin in Kenya whereby English is the national language even though it is British English and not American English (Ssewanyana et al, 2018). After the basic introductions and showing him around he was ready to talk about the deep-seated issues within him which made his parents relocate to the United States. They included jobs and the desire for better living standards.
His father was already here working and studying as a neurosurgeon before the rest of the family came to the United States. After his father finished his doctor of philosophy in neurosurgery he requested the family to come to the United States so that they may live together. It was one decision that was very difficult for the family to make since the mother to Mark; Sophia was taking care of the grandmother to Mark. It was even a difficult decision to make since they had just begun large-scale farming under irrigation and they had a 6 bedroom house under construction. The father to Mark wanted them to celebrate together as he got the highest possible education certificate in the medical field and specifically neurosurgery. Upon this desire and request, Sophia Marks mother called for a family meeting and they had to discuss the issue so that everything was left in good hands. It was not the desire of everyone that they should leave. However, Sophia was very much interested in traveling to the USA to be with her husband.
When the grandmother to Mark began to talk he stated that it was very important for the activities which were ongoing to continue and that after the activities had to be done then traveling to the United States could be arranged. This made Sophia a bit uncomfortable but weighing the situation that was ahead of her she needed to consider what was more important than just traveling to the United States to be with her husband. At that time Mark was in form four the equivalent of k12 school system the four junior year’s high school. Therefore he went back to school knowing that sometime after his junior high school he would join the k12 school system as a senior in the United States. He outdid himself and he performed excellently. His mother and grandmother were left discussing how the 10 acres of land under irrigation were to be managed when they left and how the construction could be done fast enough to make sure it was done before they left.
From the day Marks father requested them to come to the United States it took about six months preparing for the journey so that everything could be done properly and also because it was for a long period. Sophia was a teacher who had just graduated with a master’s in educational planning and administration and that was her third degree as she had also done computer science. She was not practicing any of her learned careers since she was much focused on her family as she had a little kid and a family to manage.
After Mark closed schools they discussed the matter of traveling to the United States in a more versed manner than they had done before. The issues which came to the table were the reasons for relocating and they included better living standards and salaries, a high number of black Americans, and the reduced rate of racism. However, Mark kept thinking about his friends and he never even at one point imagined leaving Kenya for another country. He only imagined himself coming to the United States for holidays and not to stay here. He was a bit disturbed but hoped everything was to work well.
However, as Mark has stayed in the United States for more than 2 years now he has affirmed that the living standards here are better than in his original country Kenya. He has also affirmed that racism is not as much as it was before and that he can openly buy or walk into any place without having to worry about being bullied because he is black. Even though there are a few instances of being uncomfortable when dealing with white people some of them still believe it is okay to have black people below the whites. He made a joke as I was interviewing him and stated that if a white person tries to belittle him he just asks them if they know what his father or mother could do to him then he tells them to take care.
Even though the cost of living in the United States is higher than in Kenya the jobs are well paying especially for people who are seasoned in their careers like his mother and father. Therefore he states that with the better-paying jobs he is hoping to stay and look for a job here instead of going back home when he is done with school (Copeland-Carson, 2007). The high number of black Americans and African Americans also excites him and he is very fond of being around black people as he says that it brings him some kind of peace. Therefore he hopes that he is not racist but a neutral person who tries to belong to his kind of people.
When I asked him about the quality of life here he had different answers. First of all, he looked at the perspective of having an easy life where a person could get anything at the touch of a button. He said that in Kenya that was also very possible in the capital city which is Nairobi but in the rural areas it was not possible and therefore he had to take her mother’s car if her mother needed something and drive for about 3 miles before they could get a large quantity of what they wanted. However, he stated that life was enjoyable then because as he traveled he could interact with his friends, and even at times when what was needed was not that bulky he went with a bike (Kinuthia, & Akinyoade, 2012). Therefore he describes the United States as boring when it comes to interaction as almost everyone is on their phone and trying to order something.
He also stated that in Kenya the rate of pollution was very low as compared to the United States. First of all, he told me something which I never thought was true. He stated that Kenya had banned plastic bags and if a person was seen in public using plastic bags he could be fined. Therefore pollution was low. With the less levels of industrialization as well Kenyans were less likely to experience excessive air pollution as it is in the United States. He also stated that there was some peace he cannot find in the United States especially in the Kenyan rural areas. Nature was at its best and he could even go to the river and just stay at the bank and admire the environment around him a thing which he could not practice in the United States. Wildlife was also in large numbers in Kenya n parks and the united stated they are limited. The climate was also different and the level of joblessness was low.
In conclusion, the experiences of Mark and the interview about his stay in the United States of America left me with a better and brother view of Kenya and therefore I am more informed. His stay in the United States so far has been good and he hopes to go back to Kenya to have a good time with his grandma.
References
Cohen, R. (2008). Global diasporas: An introduction. Routledge.Copeland-Carson, J. (2007). Kenyan diaspora philanthropy: Key practices, trends, and issues. Unpublished paper prepared for the Philanthropy Initiative, Inc., and The Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Kinuthia, B. K., & Akinyoade, A. (2012). Diaspora and development in Kenya: what do we know?. Migration Policy Practice, 2(2), 16-20.
Ssewanyana, D., Abubakar, A., Van Baar, A., Mwangala, P. N., & Newton, C. R. (2018). Perspectives on underlying factors for an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle of adolescents at a Kenyan coastal setting. Frontiers in public health, 6, 11.
Kenyan diaspora within the US (2)
Kenyan diaspora within the US
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Instructor Name
Due Date
Diaspora in Kenya
Introduction
Reason for travelling to united states
Brief summary of the paper
Thesis statement
Reason for travelling to united and not any other developed country
Living standards
Reduced racism
Better paying jobs
High number of Kenyans already there
High number of African American individuals already present in the country
Argument
Comparison of developing countries (Kenya) and super power countries (united states)
Quality of life
Peace
Pollution
Infrastructure
Center of analysis
My interaction with different Kenyans
Their experiences
How they viewed The US before coming here
How their lives changed upon travelling to the united states
Life in Kenya from their experiences
Joblessness
Corruption
Wildlife
References
Cohen, R. (2008). Global diasporas: An introduction. Routledge.
Copeland-Carson, J. (2007). Kenyan diaspora philanthropy: Key practices, trends and issues. Unpublished paper prepared for the Philanthropy Initiative, Inc., and The Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Kinuthia, B. K., & Akinyoade, A. (2012). Diaspora and development in Kenya: what do we know?. Migration Policy Practice, 2(2), 16-20.
Otiso, K. (2009). Kenya in the crosshairs of global terrorism: fighting terrorism at the periphery. Kenya Studies Review, 1(1), 107-132.
Ssewanyana, D., Abubakar, A., Van Baar, A., Mwangala, P. N., & Newton, C. R. (2018). Perspectives on underlying factors for unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle of adolescents at a Kenyan coastal setting. Frontiers in public health, 6, 11.
Thomas, D. B. (1992). The place of the European in Kenya society. Wajibu, 7(3), 10-11.
Zeleza, P. T. (2010). African diasporas: toward a global history. African studies review, 53(1), 1-19.