Toolbox 1.1 : Setup Planning Committees

Structure of the planning committees

The key to successfully develop a masterplan is to have a dedicated group to steer the planning process from beginning to end. The end goal of the planning committee is to ensure the approval and launching of the masterplan.

There is no single way to develop a masterplan. And countries have different set-ups and names for their planning committee. It can be called a Policy Coordination Committee; Steering Committee; or High-Level Committee. There are also sub-committees and technical working groups (TWGs). Oftentimes, there is a Planning Secretariat or Planning Team to coordinate and provide support to the different committees and sub-committees. See illustration below for an example.

How Singapore sets-up its planning committee to prepare its ICT in Education Masterplan

Planning Committee Setup in Singapore

Setting-Up a Masterplan Steering Committee

The ICT Master Plan is an educational plan and thus it must have the support of all the officials in the MOE. This Master Plan has to be aligned with other learning initiatives of the Ministry. For example, the Master Plan is aligned with other working groups within MOE, such as the committee that is overseeing the professional development programmes for principals and teachers, the curriculum committee that is designing a new curriculum, and the assessment committee. An MOE official will head the Master Plan steering committee whose function is to set the general direction in crafting the Master Plan.

Setting Up Sub-Committees

From the steering committee, various sub-committees are formed. These sub-committees are tasked to work at different sections of the Master Plan. The number of sub-committees will depend on the thrust of the Master Plan and normally, each sub-committee is chaired by a senior officer, who could be from the MOE or a principal from the school. The sub-committee will have MOE officials from the educational technology division, curriculum planning division, schools division. School principals, teachers, schools’ ICT department heads, faculty staff from NIE and researchers from LSL are also be co-opted into the sub-committees. The number of members in the sub-committee will be at the discretion of the chair of the sub- committee. The sub-committees are supported by officers from MOE who act as secretariat and they work as a team to look at the sections under their purview. They will submit a draft report to the other sub-committees for review and alignment of reports.

Source: Power of ICT Policies, pp.54-55

UNESCO designed this toolkit to help the Planning Secretariat or the Planning Team do their work effectively. In this toolkit, they are referred as The Planning Team.

Composition of the planning committees

Forming a planning committee offers an opportunity to involve stakeholders. Their participation in the planning process makes them co-owners of the masterplan and potential partners during implementation.

The Planning Team can invite development partners, donors, civil society organizations, NGOs, academe, private sector, representatives from school administrators, teachers’ union, and even parents to sit as members in the planning committee and sub- committees.

Composition of planning committee in Rwanda

Rwanda ICT in Education Stakeholders

Stakeholder Category	Stakeholder	Role
Central Government	President’s Office Ministry of Education Ministry of Infrastructure Ministry of Finance Ministry of ICT	Overall direction in line with national goals and priorities
Government Agencies	Rwanda Utilities Regulation Agency National Curriculum Development Center, Kigali Institute of Education Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (incorporating the Regional ICT Research and Training Center) Rwanda Development Gateway Group	Support with delivery and implementation of ICT in Education programmes nationally
Ministry of Education	National Coordination and oversight on Provincial all ICT in Education District programmes and policies School management and administration Teachers	Coordination and oversight on all ICT in Education programmes and policies
International Private Sector	Agile Learning Microsoft Corporation Intel CISCO	Supply and partnership with Ministry of Education and Government of Rwanda in delivery of ICT in Education
Local Private Sector	Private Sector Federation Rock Global Consulting	Work with the Government and its partners in delivery of ICT in Education programmes and projects
Donor and Development Agencies	USAID DFID UNESCO	Partnership with Government on matter relating to ICTs in Education
Civil Society and NGOs	OLPC Foundation Global Schools and Communities Initiative Open Learning Exchange	Technical support to Government on matters relating to ICTs in Education
Community Organizations	CBOs (community-based organizations) Faith-based organizations Parents Parent-Teacher Associations	Support in local delivery of ICT in Education programmes and projects

Source, Power of ICT Policies, p. 181

UNESCO strongly suggests the inclusion of one or several writers in the Planning Team. The writers play a key role together with the planning team in shaping the development of the masterplan.

Activities

1. Decide on the structure of the planning committees in your country. This may involved using an existing structure or creating a new one. (Open template to modify structure or start from a blank document)
2. Identify composition of the planning committees. (Use template or start from a blank document)

Additional suggestions

1. Develop work plan of the planning committees, especially the Planning Team.
2. Identify planning activities where budget will be needed (e.g. budget for meetings, for organizing consultation meetings, travel and accommodation expenses, for printing of the masterplan, for engaging experts, to organize a launching event). Submit budget request to the policymaker in-charge.