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Unit 29: IIEP as an Apex Body in Educational Planning and Management

The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) supports governments in planning and Notes
managing their education systems so that they can achieve their national objectives as well as the
internationally agreed development goals. The main programmatic issues the Institute is currently
focusing on are : gender equality; quality of education; education financing, governance, and
management; and education in crisis and conflict - with an overall geographic focus on Africa.
29.1 International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP)

A Committee chaired by Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders with Guy Benveniste as Rapporteur met in
June 1962 and recommended the creation of the Institute. The UNESCO General Conference
adopted their recommendations in the fall of 1962 and the French Government provided a building
to house this new institution. Philip Hall Coombs who had been the first Assistant Secretary of State
for Educational and Cultural Affairs in the Kennedy administration, was appointed as its first Director
in 1963. The Institute, while an arm of UNESCO, was established as a semi independent institution
with its own board headed by a chair appointed by the Director General of UNESCO. Originally the
Institute was financed jointly by UNESCO and the World Bank (IBRD) since that second institution
was just beginning to finance educational projects in developing countries. Help was also provided
in those first years by the Ford Foundation. Later, it was integrated more closely with, and financed
mainly by, UNESCO. The Institute organized its first major seminar in the spring of 1964 when 80
participants from Latin America attended meetings in Paris. The first publication from this encounter
was issued in 1965.

29.2 Aims of IIEP

IIEP’s mission is to strengthen the capacity of countries. It helps UNESCO’s Member States to manage
their educational system and to achieve the EFA goals. The International Institute for Educational
Planning offers training in educational planning and management, but also explores fields such as
statistical tools for educational planning, strategies and policy options, projects, budgets, monitoring
and evaluating educational quality and access. Its programs are designed for planners, policy-makers
and researchers. IIEP targets both institutions and individuals, and works in both the national and
international arenas. IIEP’s research projects identify new approaches that planners could adopt to
improve equity, access and quality in the various educational sectors. Costs and financing, along
with governance and management, are also important research fields at IIEP. IIEP’s technical
assistance projects offer on-site coaching to ministry planning departments, so that they can quickly
become autonomous in the performance of their basic duties. By building the capacity of individuals
and of local, regional and national institutions, IIEP’s technical assistance enables countries to make
the most of their own expertise and to minimize their use of outside consultants. For instance, IIEP
has created tailored programs to help governments in emergencies and fragile contexts, to maintain
or rebuild their educational system.

29.3 IIEP Develops Sustainable Educational Capacity

• through TRAINING of education professionals - including through our Advanced Training
Programme in educational planning (Paris) and Regional Training Course (Buenos Aires) also
offer short-term intensive course, through face-to-face, blended, or distance training, as well as
tailored on-site training.
• through TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE to ministries of education and institutions in such away
as to allow countries to make the most of their own expertise and minimize reliance on external
organizatons. The Institute is currently working with a number of countries worldwide, including
Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, and Northern and Southern Sudan.

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