The developments taking place in and the increasing complexity of the educational system have made educational planning an absolute necessity.
The nation today faces problems such as population explosion, increasing aspirations among different sections of the society, man-power needs, mismatch between educational products and the demands of the economy, dwindling resources, ecological imbalances and haphazard applications of scientific developments.
These problems place demands on the system of education for solutions. In order that the system of education meets these problems, planning becomes imperative and the competence to plan becomes mandatory.
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Educational planning is an absolute necessity because:
(1) It ensures success of the institution. It takes into consideration the important issues, conditions, constraints and factors in education. Its focus is on future objectives, vision and goals. It is proactive in nature in that it emphasizes perception and ability to apply theory and profit from it in advance of action.
It clarifies goals and the means to achieve those goals. Thus it eliminates trial-and-error process, reduces chances of failure and ensures success. In other words, it provides intelligent direction to activity.
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(2) The scarcity of financial and other non-material resources poses a challenge to education. Planning is a response to such challenges and explores the possibilities of alternative uses and optimum utilization of limited resources.
(3) Effective and efficient planning saves time, effort and money.
(4) It is a co-ordinated means of attaining pre-determined purposes.
(5) Education is a public service demanded by the public and supplied by the government. For any government effort of such a large magnitude as education, planning is absolutely necessary.
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(6) Educational planning is one of the components of the overall national socio-economic development. The over-all planning has to provide the objectives of education and the finances for educational development for accomplishing these objectives.