Implication of Ivan Illich’s Deschooling Ideas to Educational Planning in Kenya

Abstract

Education is a basic necessity for wholesome living to every human being. Basic functional skills, knowledge and values are mandatory for life to have any meaning and be worth living. With the school being the most recognized agent for the provision of education, enormous resources are channeled through it by both the state and individuals to provide educational services. Resources on the other hand are universally known to be scarce; this calls for thoughtful and systematic planning of the process of resource mobilization and utilization for the provision of educational services to the society. This paper examines the process of educational planning in the light of Ivan Illich’s ideas. Illich’s concept of Institutionalization of Values, Illich’s concept of the school, the paradox of the school as an agent of education and the relevance of Illich’s school of thought in educational planning are the key issues that this paper will focus on.