STRATEGIC PLANNING

 What is strategic Planning?

 Plan:

 An arrangement or method for doing something that has been carefully

thought out in detail before hand or

 Away of arranging or organising something, especially one that is written

down.

 An Intention.

 Strategy:

 Process of or skill in planning.

 A long term plan for future success or development

Definition of strategic Planning

 Process of determining what the school intends to accomplish and how it

will direct itself and its resources towards achieving its goals within the
defined period.
 Long-term planning

• Involves making fundamental choices It’s a blueprint of what the

institution intends to achieve and how it intends to achieve it.

• It’s an exercise that determines where the institution wants to be in the

future having considered where it is and where its coming from.

• It’s a tool of organizing the present on the basis of the projections of the
desired future

Strategic Planning Approaches

1. Sinaic – one person management

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 - This is where only one (few) person(s) is involved in the entire planning
process

- There is no ownership at the point of implementation

2. Collaborative (Consultative)

T - Together

E - Everybody

A - Achieves

M – More

- This is a participatory approach and encourages involvement of all the

stakeholders

BY FLYING AS A TEAM IN V-SHAPE THEY INCREASE THEIR EFFICIENCY BY 71%

TEAM SLEEP

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Benefits of joint school strategic planning

School strategic planning is expected to:

1. Foster an atmosphere of teamwork and cooperation.

2. Establish ownership and commitment

3. Promote delegation of responsibility, good communication and

information sharing

4. Communicate to stakeholders in the education sector the range of

activities carried out by others.

5. Facilitate joint establishment of school priorities and strategies.

6. Help to link available resources to objectives

7. Establish a basis for joint monitoring and evaluation.

8. Enable the school to respond to a changing environment.

9. Create a format for incorporation and response to unplanned changes

Rationale for Strategic Planning

Why strategic planning at this time?

New Constitution – 2 key facts

1. Right to education as a basic right

2. Decentralisation and devolution as stipulated in the new Constitution,

with counties as focus, and its implications for districts and counties.

• The Right to Basic Education within the new Constitution and the
implications

• Alignment with Vision 2030

• Within the new Constitution; the devolution of power to counties as

units of decentralisation

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 • Enhancing the capacity of districts and counties – in future to develop
and manage education

• To improve and accelerate the achievement of international

commitments, i.e. MDGs and EFA Goals

4. Establish mechanisms for coordination with the KESI planning process

for improved capacity building, monitoring, coordination and
harmonization.

Why Strategic Planning for education at school level?

 Promotes unity/cooperation and common direction among education

stakeholders

 Enables a school to respond to a changing education environment - It

provides greater influence over the stakeholders’ circumstances and
environment, rather than simply responding to an unending series of
problems/challenges.

 It builds consensus and encourages teamwork.

 It promotes delegation of responsibility and establishes good

communication and information sharing mechanisms.

 It helps to link available resources to education objectives.

 It establishes ownership and commitment through validation and

agreement.

 It improves problem solving through productive planning that focuses on

the school’s most critical problems, choices and opportunities.

 It involves charting long-term course for the school; developing yearly

plans to implement the strategy, taking action, monitoring progress, and
adjusting plans and action based on emerging issues.

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Strategic Planning Framework

1. Where are we today?

2. Where are we intending to go?

3. How shall we get there?

Planning for Strategic Planning

Questions to consider:

1. Who will drive the process?

2. Who will be involved?

3. What will be the process of developing the strategic plan entail?

4. What will be the key steps/stages in the process of developing the

strategic plan?

5. What resources will be required?

Process of strategic plan

1. Getting started

2. Conducting situational analysis: data and information

3. Determining Strategic direction

4. Strategy Formulation

5. Developing implementation plan

6. Monitoring and evaluation

Steps/Processes of Strategic Planning

1. Getting Started
The following questions needs to be answered in getting started

1. Who will drive the process?

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 2. Who will be involved?

3. What will be the process of developing the strategic plan entail?

4. What will be the key steps/stages in the process of developing the

strategic plan?

5. What resources will be required?

Steps in Getting Started

• Planning to plan

• What preparations do you need to make in readiness for getting

started?

Step 1: Get organized.

 Identify key stakeholders for the school

 Invite the stakeholders to a planning forum at an agreed date and

venue.

 Share the intention to develop a strategic plan and determine when and
how the stakeholders and the general public will be involved.

Step 2: Form a core planning/steering team to drive the planning

process, get their commitment and build trust.

 This team will keep the planning process on track.

Step 3: Determine organisational capacity and if outside help is required:

 The principal/head teacher (as the lead) needs to determine the

capacity at school level, and bring in outside help if needed-
individuals sourced from among local stakeholders who can add
value to the planning process.

Step 4: Outline the planning process as shown below.

A) Stakeholder participation

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Multi-stakeholder approach involves inclusion of different stakeholders -
ensures wide participation.

To institute such a process there is need to undertake the following tasks:

Task 1

Determine the extent of public involvement and identify Stakeholders. Map

out stakeholders in your school from the public and private sectors to include-

 Relevant government ministries/departments,

 District Education Board,

 Community leaders,

 Religious organisations (school sponsors)

 NGOs, Women Groups

 Minority/ Disadvantaged groups.

Develop a plan for their participation.

This could entail determining when and how stakeholders and general public
will be represented in the process.

Why develop stakeholder partnerships?

 Gives legitimacy to the planning process and ownership to the final

product.

 Ensures a full range of issues are taken into account

Task 2

Establish the procedures and Terms of Reference for the stakeholder

partnership group.

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 2. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Where are we today?

Understanding the context

How to carry out situational analysis?

– Contextual analysis

– SWOT profile

– PESTEL

– The financial analysis

– Capacity analysis

– Stakeholder analysis

– Data and information

What is situational analysis?

The Situation Analysis is the process of gathering and analyzing information

needed to make an evaluation of a school within the context in which it
operates.

The situational analysis comprises: analysis of the current status of the school,
including the historical and geographical contexts, the schools programme and
services. It also includes analysis of the challenges and key factors impacting
positively and maybe negatively on the school.

 It involves a systematic analysis and interpretation of economical,

political, social, technological and legal context which have an impact on
the school.

Why carry out situational analysis

It helps in:

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 1. Guiding the participants to gather and analyse information needed to
evaluate the schools within the environment it operates and address the
question "What is the context in which the school is operating?.

2. Identifying the strength to build on, weaknesses to address, the

opportunities to exploit and the threats or pitfall to avoid.

3. Identification and analysis of stakeholders important to the success of

the school and bring out their perception of the school

d) Identification and assessment of factors that may influence negatively or

positively the school’s progress. “What are the factors driving or constraining
the school’s progress?”

e) Describing and analyzing the school using data and not simply relying on
opinions or ‘hearsay’.

f) Evaluating the programmes and services on the basis of cost/benefit to

students.

g) Analysing issues/ factors affecting performance

At the end of the situation analysis come up with a list ofcritical issues and
thereafter prioritize on which of them will inform and support the
development of realistic plans.

Levels of Situational Analysis

 Contextual Analysis

• Geographical, historical context

• Social economic and

• Status of the school, including key data and information on the

school

 Stakeholder mapping and analysis

 Financial Analysis

 SWOT Analysis

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  PESTEL Analysis

Analysis at the school level

Analysis at the school level

Importance of carrying out an analysis of the school

 Talking about the school at the start of the strategic planning process is
essential. The participants get the opportunity to realize the capacity of
the school and understand its limitations.

 Analysis of the school will involve, gathering relevant information and

data about the school to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the
school, the programmes and service delivery.

Group tasks

Question

 What kind of information and data is needed to adequately describe the

status of a school?

The following information will help in describing the status of the school:

Name of school, address and registration status

Type of school

 day/boarding

 Public/ private

 Streams - single double

Sponsor and management

School community relations

Transport and communication system

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Function of the school

 The school’s function is a summary of all programmes and service the

school offers.

 It entails offering curricular and co-curriculum programmes

(mathematics, sciences, languages, arts, IT, club and societies, Games
and sports), and support services (Accommodation, catering and house
keeping, discipline, management and administration etc.)

1 Teaching and Learning (curriculum)

Mathematics

Sciences

Languages

History, etc

2. Information technology

Equipments and facilities

3. Co-curricular activities

 Club and societies

 Games and sports

4. Catering and accommodation, house keeping

Students’ welfare

5. Discipline

 What is the level of discipline?

6. Management and Administration

 Who manages the school?

Finance and Accounting

 Sources and uses of funds

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  Financial accountability

Mandate and Government policy priority

 To understand the mandate of a school and the Ministry of Education’s

policy priorities the participants will need to examine documents such as
the education Act 211, Sessional paper No. 1 of 2005, Kenya Vision 2030,
KESSP, and other Government policy papers.

Resources adequacy, income generating activities, ICT vehicles, land and

whether the school has the title or not

 Organizational structure

 Develop the organizational structure (include the non-teaching staff).

 Staff establishment

 Analyze the current staffing level in the school based on the curriculum-
based establishment

 Infrastructure

 Infrastructure number and state vis a vis enrollment

SWOT analysis

Group tasks

Questions

What is SWOT analysis and how is it carried out.

Why SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis scans the internal and external environment. Environmental

factors internal to the sector are categorised as strengths (S) and weaknesses
(W); while opportunities (O) or threats (T) are external.

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Why SWOT?

 It provides information helpful in matching the school’s resources and

capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. Thus it
is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection.

 Helps stakeholders identify how they can use the strengths identified to
make best use of opportunities;

 Helps identify how the school can use its strengths to minimise threats;

 Helps stakeholders identify how to respond to weakness in the school

that makes it vulnerable to identified threat.

On strengths;

 What do we do well?

 What unique resources can we draw on?

 What do others see as our strengths?

On weaknesses

 What could we improve?

 Which areas do we have fewer resources than others?

 What do others see as our weaknesses?

On opportunities

 What are the major forces outside the school, now and expected in the
future, that will influence actions within the school positively e.g. the
new constitution?

 How can we take advantage of the opportunities?

On threats

 What are the forces outside the school that threaten the school’s
effectiveness &/or realization of its objectives?

 How can we prevent, mitigate or minimizing potential negative impacts?

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  S and O combined means that they should pursue opportunities that are
a good fit to the school’s strengths.

 W and O combined means that they should overcome weaknesses to

pursue opportunities.

S &T combined means that they should identify ways that the school can use
its strength to reduce its vulnerability to external threat.

Strength Weakness
Good now Bad now
Maintain, build, leverage remedy and stop
Opportunity Threat
good future Bad future
prioritise, optimise Counter

Group tasks

Document strengths and weaknesses (internal), opportunities and threats

(external) of the school using the following table;

Strength Weaknesses

Opportunity Threat

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PESTEL analysis

Group tasks

Questions

What is PESTEL analysis and how is it carried out?

Why PESTEL analysis?

PESTEL

 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS TOOL: Opportunities and threats

might derive from political, economic, socio-cultural, technological,
ecological and legal factors hence, PESTEL. This is tool used in carrying
out an external environmental scan by identifying and assessing the
current trends:

 These trends can either help a school move forward (opportunities) or

hold it back (threats).

 Political factors

 Economic factors

 Socio-cultural factors

 Technological factors

 Ecological factors

 Legal factors

Why PESTEL

It enables the stakeholders to identify opportunities and threats

Group tasks

 Use the following PESTEL tools to identify external factors influencing

the school?

 What external opportunities and threats exist that can have influence
the school?

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Types of External Trends influencing the school

Factors of change Type of change How it is impacting on education

Political
Economic
Social
Technological
Ecological
Legal

Summarizing the PESTEL TRENDS

Factors of change Opportunities Threats

Political

Economic
Social

Technological
Ecological
Legal

School financial analysis

Group Tasks

Questions

• Identify using the 1st table the key financing issues that have an impact
on the school to effectively and efficiently deliver programmes and
services?

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 • Identify using the 2nd Table, sources of funding at the school

• What are the challenges in financing and resource mobilization

• Do the following tables adequately analyse the financing at school level?

Financial analysis: schools

Vote head Item FY 2007/2008 FY 2008/2009

Repair and Classrooms

maintenance Admin block
Toilet
Science lab
Others
TLM
PE Salaries
Students welfare Activity Co-curricula
GC
Medication

Funding sources

Source of funding Ksh FY 2010/2011 Ksh 2011/2012

Stakeholder mapping and analysis

Stakeholders in the school

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  Who is a stakeholder in the school? A stakeholder is any individual,
group, community, association or organization that has a stake in the in
the school. Stakeholders, by the fact of ‘having a stake’ in the school
means that they are in a position to have positive or negative influence
on the school. It also means they have some contribution to make to the
development of the school and/or the activities that take place in the
school.

Benefits of involving stakeholders in school planning

School strategic planning is expected to:

1. Foster an atmosphere of teamwork and cooperation.

2. Establish ownership and commitment

3. Promote delegation of responsibility, good communication and

information sharing

4. Communicate to stakeholders in the school about their different roles

and responsibilities. Facilitate joint establishment of school priorities and
strategies.

6. Help to link available resources to objectives

7. Establish a basis for joint monitoring and evaluation.

8. Enable the school to respond to a changing environment and creating a

format for incorporation and response to unplanned changes.

Stakeholder analysis

This is the process of identifying organizations, groups of people and

individuals that may significantly influence the school, and categorising them
according to their impact on the running or performance of the school, and the
action will have on them.

A wide range of stakeholders are identified, ranging from the pupils, parents,
community, statutory stakeholders (e.g. BOGs, SMCs), civil society, business
/private sector.

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 Types of stakeholders

 Core/primary or Key stakeholders – those who can significantly

influence, or without whose support the project/intervention will not be
successful;

 Secondary stakeholders – those who are directly affected by the

project/intervention, either favourably or negatively (these are the so-
called gainers or losers);

These distinctions are not exclusive – some secondary stakeholders may

also be key stakeholders.

Questions

1. Identify all the stakeholders in the school and categorise them into
either primary or secondary stakeholders using the following table.

2. What are their roles and expectations?

3. Identify the stakeholders who should be involved in development of the

school strategic plan.

The Tool- Stakeholder Analysis Matrix

Stakeholder Name of Role s and Indicate the importance of Stakehold

stakeholders responsibility show if they are primary or second

Primary Sec

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 4. CONDUCTING STRATEGIC DIRECTION

Where are we intending to go? i.e. Vision, Mission statement and measurable
goals.

1. Vision – The big picture of where the institution wants to be in the future.

• It should energize people to walk the journey of plan implementation

with focus and determination.

2. Mission statement – the reason of being/ the purpose of existence – the

products that we offer and how we do it uniquely. It provides focus for the
institutions operations.

3. Core values – the strong norms and beliefs that institutions strongly
subscribe to. They are the basis for the institution character.

Mission and core values

What is a mission statement?

 It’s a summary of an institution’s identity, what it does, who it serves

and where it serves them

 A mission statement describes the purpose, business and (if required)

values of the school. It is about who we are and what we do.

 Simply put, it answers the answers the question ‘who are we and what
do we do?’

Mission explains purpose of school

 The purpose explains what the school seeks to accomplish; it clarifies the
reason for the existence of the school and what it stands to achieve. The
purpose of a school is to provide free education.

Explains the business of a school

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  The business component states the method or action through which a
school pursues it purpose. The business of a school is, therefore,
teaching and learning.

 The business and purpose are often linked by use words such by,
through, etc so the mission of a school could be states as follows: To
provide education through teaching and learning

Importance of a mission statement

1. It gives an institution focused direction

2. It helps in identifying the central purpose of a school

3. Guides school managers and administrators in policy decisions

4. Helps in proper allocation of resources

Group tasks

Draft and display a mission statement of school you are working on.

Vision for Dream

Everything starts with a dream.

You perish if you do not have a vision for your dream.

Dreams do come true.

 The founders of every school had a dream.

 School managers and administrators are expected to see the dream

founders come true

The power a vision

 Martin King Jr had a dream his 17-minute public speech "I Have a
Dream“ on August 28, 1963.

 He had a dream on the future of America where there was racial

equality and non-discrimination.

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  His dream had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform the
history of America.

 His dream educated, inspired, and informed the people for generations.

‘I have a dream today...

That one day... Little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands
with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brother

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in nation
where they not be judge by the colour of their skin but by content of their
character’

August 28 1968

 To read the Bible’ was a vision that compelled Maruge, the oldest pupil
in the Guinness Records, to go to school despite his advance age.

 Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge, holder of the Guinness World Record for

being the oldest person to start primary school, was compelled by his
dream to enrol in standard 1 while he was 84 years old. His vision was
‘to read the Bible.’

Vision

 A school’s vision statement should be compelling in the same way King’s

vision was.

 It should challenge and inspire the school stakeholders to stretch their

capabilities and achieve its mission.

 It focuses on tomorrow

 A vision statement creates the future

 It contains details of the future plans of a school – future plan with aims
and objectives

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Characteristics of A Good Vision

 A good vision is compelling

 It challenges and inspire a people to stretch their capabilities to achieve

it

 It must be a perfect fit to values of the people

 It an effective tool for resource mobilization

 Should be focused and clear enough to provide direction

 Should be easy to communicate and easily understood

Benefits of a good vision

 Set direction and purpose for a school

 Promotes stakeholders interest and commitment

 Encourages openness to unique and creative solutions

 Builds loyalty through involvement (ownership)

 Promotes efficiency and productivity

MoE Vision Statement

 To have quality education and training for development

 Elimu bora kwa maendeleo (Kiswahili version)

Group tasks

 Develop a vision statement for a school.

Core values

Values are the basic beliefs shared by the teaching and non-teaching staff of
the school you have been studying?

 A set of beliefs universally accepted and practiced by the teaching and

non-teaching staff in a school

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  They define the character of a school staff

 Some institutions present core values as integral components of the

mission statement.

Values are basic beliefs shared and practiced by members of staff in their
service provision. The mission in (4) above would, therefore, read as follows:
To provide education through teaching and learning with, creativity and
professionalism

Importance of core values in the education sector

 Guides employees in moral behavior required of them

 Helps boost institutions corporate image

 Ensures fairness and equity to all

 Reduces chances of controversy and conflict since the character which

all the stakeholders are supposed to subscribe to is well defined

 Promotes ethical behavior

1. MoE core values (2006 – 2011)

1. Integrity

2. Professionalism

3. Teamwork

4. Efficiency

5. Continual improvement

6. Courtesy

7. Confidentiality

8. Fidelity to law

9. Respect for individual differences

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 5. STRATEGY FORMULATION

How shall we get there?

Strategic Objective and strategies

Strategic Objectives

 A strategic objective is a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-

phased, ethical, recorded result that supports the achievement of a goal.

Who is working harder? Who is working smarter?

Strategies

 Strategies are carefully selected choices of actions and options for

achieving the stated objectives.

 A strategy should be suitable, acceptable and feasible

 Suitable – supportive and in agreement with what the school wants to

achieve.

 Acceptable – should enjoy the benefit of ownership among the

stakeholders especially the ones to be involved in the implementation
process

 Feasible – should be achievable given the school’s capacities e.g. the

financial and human resources

Examples of Objectives and Strategies

Example: Objective: To increase enrolment from 70% to 85% by 2017

Strategies

 Identify methods of increasing school enrolment

 Engage stakeholders

 Implement the findings of the study

 Increase the number of classrooms

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To reduce the drop- out rates from 28% to 20% by the year 2016

Strategies

 Establish the cause of drop out

 Develop support mechanism for vulnerable students

 Build for teaching and non-teaching staff in drop out management

Group tasks

1. Develop two sample strategic objectives

2. Formulate two strategies for every strategic objective in (1) above

5. Developing Implementation Plan

Who/what takes us there and when?

What is an implementation plan?

An implementation plan operationalizes the agreed strategic options.

• It is simply a way to clearly establish what to do, who will do it, the date
by which it will be done, and the resources required

• Implementation plans need to be “do-able” : within existing limitations

of

• time, budgets

• human and administrative capacity

• Specifying tasks allows for clear budgeting and a realistic appraisal of the
work ahead.

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 • It relates to operationalizing the plan

• This is done by coming up with logical matrix framework with

components like;

- strategies

- activities

- actors

- indicators

- e.t.c

Logical matrix framework

Strategies Activities Time Indicators Actors Budgets

The steps

1. List the tasks to be done to implement the strategy

2. List the actors, organisations and individuals that need to be involved in

each tasks

3. Specify the resources required to implement each action/task. e.g.:

• People/ capacity

• Transport

• Equipment/materials

• Meeting space

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 4. Specify time frames for each action

5. Identify risks and gaps in the action plan and how they will be addressed
(e.g., actions or tasks for which there is no clear lead
person/organisation, no funding etc.)

6. Reconfirm the commitments of each partner

7. Agree on a coordination mechanism (think of multiple actors). Who

takes the lead who monitors progress; standard of performance and
quality.

 Agree on an impact monitoring mechanism.

 Please double check to ensure that the actions identified are

addressing the strategic issues and priorities raised in your assessment

Strategic Objective 1:

Strategy Activities Who Time Resources Sources Challenges

funding
frame assumptions

1.1

1.2

Strategic Objective 2:

2.1

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2.2

6. Monitoring and Evaluation

How shall we know we got there?

STOP! Think about this; Power of measuring results!

• If you do not measure results, you cannot tell success from failure.

• If you cannot see success, you cannot reward it.

• If you cannot reward success, you are probably rewarding failure.

• If you cannot see success, you cannot learn from it.

• If you cannot recognize failure, you cannot correct it.

• If you can demonstrate results, you can win stakeholder support.

• What gets measured gets done

What is monitoring and evaluation?

 Refers to the process of obtaining information and using it to make an

assessment that can improve future decisions and actions that needs to
be taken in the education sector.

 M&E can include assessment of educational outcomes such as:

 Enrolment rates

 Pupil teacher ratio

 Pupil completion rates

 Performance in KCPE and KCSE

 Transition rates etc

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Monitoring

 It is a continuing function that uses methodical collection of data to

provide education managers and the main stake holders in the
education sector with early indications of progress and achievement of
objectives set in the education strategic plan.

 Relates to tracking the performance of the key elements in the strategic

plan activities on a regular basis (inputs, activities, results, time).

 The monitoring system should consider inspection and internal auditing

to assess progress and timeliness of activities.

Evaluation

 Evaluations commonly seek to determine efficiency, effectiveness,

impact, sustainability and relevance of the education strategic
objectives.

 Effectiveness: How far are the objectives being met?

 Efficiency: What is the cost of achieving the objectives?

 Relevance: Is the programme /activity relevant?

 Impact: What change, both positive and negative has the programme
made in the lives of the communities?

 Sustainability: What are the sustainable changes of the programme?

Education managers should be interested in knowing;

 Whether an education intervention is on track

 Whether development plans are operating as intended

 Whether educational programs are having an impact on desired

outcomes

 Are the educational program services being deployed as planned?

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  Is the implementation of the education programme bearing expected
results?

 Completion rates

 Pupil toilet ratio

 Pupil/book ratio

 e.t.c.

Uses of M&E

 help make decisions and recommendations about contingency planning

 identify the strengths and weaknesses of a programme

 enable judgments to be made about the worth of the education

programme

 feed data back to support programs and policies

 determine stakeholder and target group satisfaction

 determine whether the plan has met its objectives

 Meet demands for accountability.

Critical questions for monitoring

 What are we going to monitor?

 At what intervals do we monitor?

 What system and /or forum exist that we will use in monitoring?

 Is the M&E system inclusive?

 Who will participate in monitoring?

 How do we report and share our findings among stakeholders?

Monitoring framework

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Strategies Reporting Target Actual to Variance in % Responsible
period planned date

Critical questions for evaluation

 What are we going to evaluate?

 At what intervals do we evaluate?

 What system exists that we will use in evaluate?

 Is the evaluation system inclusive?

 Who will participate in evaluation?

 How do we report and share our findings among stakeholders?

Group task

 Use the following evaluation matrix to develop key indicators for

monitoring and evaluation.

 Use the strategic issues previously identified.

Evaluation matrix
Key issue Baseline Key indicators (gender Actual achieved
data desegregated)

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Access and equity • Enrolment trends

• drop out rates

• Learners progression rates

• Completion rates

• Infrastructure(classroom
pupil ratio)

• Pupil toilet ratio

Quality and • Pupil book ratio

efficiency
• Leaners performance
standards

• Pupil teacher ratio

• Delivery surveys reflecting

stakeholders satisfaction

Institutional • Performance management

development
• Utilization of the resources
deployed

Summary questions about the strategic plan

1. Has the Strategic plan provided a clear direction for the institutions
mandate?

2. Is the Strategic Plan dynamic?

3. Does it give meaning to effort and provide for ownership by education

sector stakeholders?

4. Does the Plan implementation stem from team spirit?

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 5. Is the Strategic Plan feasible?

6. Did the stakeholders develop the Strategic Plan or is it a management

document?

SOME RULES IN PLANNING

 Planning is a way of thinking; an ongoing process. Your plan is never

perfect or complete.

 Keep the planning simple and manageable.

 Emphasize creativity, innovation and imagination rather than blindly

following a set of planning steps.

 Do not adopt strategies without careful consideration of how they will

be implemented.

 Planning is not an end in itself, Its simply a tool to help you accomplish
your mission.

 If you want to eat a frog don’t look at it for too long, just go ahead and
do it!

Use of data and information

Data Management broadly refers to the transformation of data to

information and knowledge, which is the basis of decision making.

Data lies at the heart of strategic decision making

Data analysis is a practice in which raw data is organized so that useful

information can be extracted from it.

Quality data as well as sound statistical analyses are important for decision
making in strategic planning. The ultimate goal of data is to enhance the
general performance of the District and provide all stakeholders with the
opportunity to assess the progress made towards achieving the development
objectives of the education sector.
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Data and information

 Data and information are important in any analysis as they provide

evidence and bring out the reality of the school.

 There are some essential indicators for the school and it is key that, in
the development of strategic plan, we use the indicators for analysis and
for monitoring and evaluation of the strategic plan.

Status of the school

Group task:

Questions

What kind of data can support the analysis of the status of the school?

What indicators can be used to give evidence to our analysis?

 The following are the key indicators that give us the picture of what is
happening in the school?

 Enrolment

 This indicator gives information on the number of pupils who are

currently enrolled in the school.

 Pupil Text Book Ratio

 This indicator gives information on the number of pupils sharing a text

book. This is calculated by dividing the number of available textbooks
against the number of children.

 Pupil Teacher Ratio

 The Pupil Teacher Ratio is arrived at by dividing the number of teachers

by the number of students. The national norm is 1:50 meaning 1 teacher
to 50 students.

 Pupil/Toilet Ratio

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 This gives an idea of sanitary situation in the school. The indicator is
arrived at by dividing the number of children, by the number of
latrines/toilets. The number of latrines/toilets for girls is calculated
separately from the one for boys as the norms are different, by gender.

 Pupil/Classroom Ratio

 This indicator gives us an idea of the adequacy or lack of adequacy of

classrooms. It provides the information on whether classrooms are
overcrowded or not. It is calculated by dividing the total number of
classrooms by the number of children. The established national norm is
1:50.

 Gender Parity Index

 Another very important indicator is the Gender Parity Index for mixed
schools, which shows whether there is gender parity in enrolment, i.e.
the number of girls against the number of boys.

 Transition rate,

 Transition rate, is the percentage of children who complete one level of

education and transition to the next level. For example, the percentage
of children who enrol in colleges and Universities out of those who
complete Form 4.

 Academic performance

 This is one of the most important indicators of the status of a school.

Performance in KCSE is a good indicator on the provision of education by
the school

 ICT equipments and facilities

 This will involve analysing data on availability of ICT equipments and

facilities. This gives an idea on the adequacy or inadequacy of ICT in the
school

 Measuring the efficiency of the education system or what is also

referred to wastage. This can be measured using the following
indicators:
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a) Progression or survival rate – measures the % of pupils progressing from
one grade/form to the next. Survival rate indicates the proportion of pupils
who have survived in the system from the number that started in Form One.
For example, one could calculate the percentage of pupils who started in 2008
in Form 1 and made it to Form 4 in 2011.

Drop out rates – Drop out rate is another indicator of wastage, which indicates
the percentage of pupils who have dropped out of the school system, from a
cohort that started in Form 1 in a particular year. This indicator can show at
what particular levels, pupils are most likely to drop out; in some situations it
could be between Form 1 and 2.

c) Repetition Rates

 This is also an indicator of efficiency of the system but it can also be a

quality indicator. It shows the percentage of pupils repeating classes.

Other important data and information for analysis of the school

 Number and status of school infrastructure e.g. land; physical facilities

e.g. dormitories, classrooms, library, toilets vs the enrolment.

 CBE - gender experience and work load, stability of the staff by looking
at rate of turn over.

 Support staff /pupil worker ratio and area of deployment

 Management: BOG per gender age qualification

 Performance trend per subject

 Finances fees collected vs the budget

 Discipline cases and actions taken

 ICT - number of computers vs the enrolment

Trend analysis?

 Trend Analysis: This refers to the concept of collecting and analyzing

information and attempting to identify a pattern (trend) in the
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 information about the school. Data and information in the last 4 – 5
years should drive strategy development, e.g. of students enrolment,
wastage, completion, transition to colleges and Universities,
performance in KACE, retention, gender equity if the school is mixed,
transition, PTR; budget etc

Why trend analysis?

 For monitoring performance, for forecasting, for programme evaluation

and for policy analysis.

 Trend analysis is a powerful tool for strategic planning by creating

plausible, detailed pictures of what the future might look like.

How to do a trend analysis

1. Collect data over a period of 4 to 5 years

2. Collate and analyze these data

3. Discuss the story behind the analyzed data

 How have things changed over time at the school?

 Document the trends identified and give reasons for these.

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