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Unit 31: SIEMAT as an Apex Body in Educational Planning and Management

management aspects of education needs to necessarily focus its attention on the compulsory levels Notes
of education However, this immediate requirement need not be the only basis to setup an Institute.
Therefore, even when funds from the DPEP are available and even when many of the Institute’s
activities in the short-run may be related to primary levels of education, it is very necessary and
important to keep the vision and mission of the institute focused on all levels of education.
Fifthly, “the immediate demand for setting up such an Institute, as mentioned above, comes from
the DPEP; the funding support, too is provided by the DPEP. However, it may not be a desirable
proposition to setup the institute strictly within the framework of the DPEP. This is very important
because DPEP is envisaged in a “project mode”. An institute to undertake research and impart
training in educational planning and administration may not be viewed in a project mode. Such an
institutional framework needs to be continued even after the project period and therefore, the
commitment of the state governments to continue with these institutional arrangements even when
the now available external funding support dries away is very important. From this point of view
also, it may not be a desirable idea to have the institute as part of the DPEP state project office.
Sixthly, Keeping this institute as part of the Directorate of Education may imply that it becomes a
part of the administrative arrangement rather than an academic support system. Unless sufficient
autonomy is given to these units from the very beginning, there is a possibility that the very purpose
of setting up of these institutions may be lost.
There are strong grounds for setting up SIEMAT as a separate institute. However, it is left to the
state governments to decide on the nature of organisational arrangements to be created at the state
level.

The argument is only confined to the fact that there is a need to have some organisational
arrangement at the state level to undertake the responsibilities of capacity development
in the area of educational planning and management on a sustained basis and the DPEP
provides a good opportunity to realise this objective.

31.2 Structure and Functions of SIEMAT

The organisational structure of the SIEMAT may be related to its expected role. The specific
requirements may vary from state to state. Therefore, it may be a better idea not to have a blueprint
of the institute developed at the central level. Each state government may develop proposals to
setup the institution and evolve organisational structures, taking into consideration the specific
requirements of the state.

Some of the expected functions of the institute may be as follows :
(i) Support to policy planning at the state level. This can be facilitated through providing an
advisory supportive role to the state governments through conducting research in areas of
concern for policy making and implementation at the state level and organizing orientation
programmes for senior level educational administrators at the state level. For example, issues
like evolving norms for setting-up of educational institutions, norms for providing
infrastructural facilities in educational institutions, norms regarding recruitment and posting
of teachers, norms regarding performance of educational institutions etc. may become an area
of concern of the Institute.
(ii) The institute may conduct research studies on various aspects including evaluation research
of various programmes initiated by the State government to assess the relative effectiveness of
various schemes, including the incentive schemes.

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