An Analysis of the Planning Process in Secondary Education in Trinidad and Tobago: 1962-1976

Problem. During the period 1962-1976, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago directed very specific attention to the development of education in general and secondary education in particular. Three major documents related to educational planning were prepared. A survey of the literature revealed that a detailed analysis of educational planning in Trinidad and Tobago had not yet been undertaken. The purpose of the study was to analyze the planning process in secondary education in Trinidad and Tobago during the period 1962-1976. Method. The design of the study conforms to the pattern of descriptive research. The nalysis was based on seven points arrived at by establishing a measure of agreement on the constituent parts of a planning process. The review of the literature provided the base for setting the parts of the process. The seven points which the researcher sought to determine were: The philosophical basis on which planning in secondary education was conceived and the method used to determine it The theoretical concept or concepts utilized in planning The goals to be achieved and the method for their determination The relationship between philosophy, aims, and objective of the educational plans evolved during the period The evaluative criteria developed for measuring success or failure of the plan The planning machinery and the process of implementation The method by which conclusions were arrived at and any subsequent recommendations made Five major documents were analyzed according to the seven points established and the findings listed in the research. The five major documents were: Committee on General Education, 1959 Educational Planning Mission, 1964 Draft Plan, 1968-83 Report of Working Party on Education, 1976 Prime Minister’s Proposals to Cabinet on Education, September 18, 1975 Twenty-nine other documents were consulted in the course of the study and some additional information was gleaned from these sources. Three interviews were also conducted with persons involved in educational planning in Trinidad and Tobago. Findings. The findings of the study were the following: (1) The philosophical basis of planning was primarily that the education system should serve the needs of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. (2) An eclectic approach was followed in planning, incorporating social-demand, manpower-requirements, and cost-benefit analysis. (3) The goals in secondary education were intended to make the curriculum more diversified and less examination conscious, to increase the number of school places, to cater to individual differences, to develop an administrative structure and physical plant adequate to meet the aforementioned goals. (4) There was a general degree of congruence between philosophy, aims, and objectives in secondary education. (5) Evaluative criteria were not clearly delineated in some of the plans prepared. (6) Several of the goals targets were not met in keeping with time projections. (7) There were no standard methods used for arriving at decisions; some of those utilized were: public input, governmental policy statements, professional expertise provided by international organizations, research. Conclusions. The following conclusions are supported by the findings: There was a definable process of educational planning, which included secondary education, in Trinidad and Tobago during the period 1962-1976 The philosophical basis which influenced planning in secondary education was essentially that education should serve the needs of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. This was in contrast to the externally oriented system of the pre-independence era There was a shift in emphasis from social demand planning to a more eclectic approach No definitive statement on the success of the plans can be given at the present time since greater importance was given to the realization of quantitative targets and there are no criteria stated for evaluating quantitative goals There are serious questions surrounding the claims of macro-planning as the tool of education development and consequently national development