ABSTRACT
Planning, to be meaningful, has to be more than just devising schemes. It must include, as a minimum: formulating and analysing objectives, assessing resources and preparing phased programmes designed to achieve the objectives effectively and economically. planning-programming-budgeting system (PPBS) is a method of doing this as a process rather than ad hoc and in separate stages. Its assumption is that in order to allocate resources meaningfully it is necessary to analyse and review the whole system. A disembodied philosophy is no use to anyone, so next we must consider the implications of the ethos we have sketched out. Right from the outset many issues will be raised: e.g. whether to adopt the principle of compensatory education, giving extra assistance at school to those in social need. The simple message of PPBS is to look first to objectives, then try to order the resources to do the job required.
