Education is regarded as the center of every civilization. It is an important sector for economic, social, and cultural development aimed at satisfying the needs, desires and hopes of a society. Education broadens peoples‟ freedom of choice and action, empowering them to participate in social and political lives of their society, and equipping them with the skill they need to develop their livelihood.

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Education is the base for development. It lets the individual learner become a thinking, empowered and responsible citizen. However, education cannot play this role unless it is of highest quality and relevant to the development needs. In order to be successful in the intended quality, appropriate utilization of material, human, financial, time, and information resources play a vital role. The priority in the education system is quality and internal efficiency. The education goals and objectives can be achieved by means of using different resources as inputs. Among the resources, material resource is one of the key issues to get and utilize all important inputs and to run the task of education at all levels in the appropriate ways.
In other word, material resource in the school is a critical issue to accomplish different task which support in ensuring quality of education and to expand education.
Material resources are emphasized as one of the major determinant factors for the successful improvement of educational quality. In this regard, the policy document states that, “In order to promote the quality, relevance and expansion of education, due attention should be given to the supply, distribution and utilization of educational materials, education technology and facilities.”
In order to realize relevant education, important resource inputs, necessary to facilitate the whole instructional process, should be made available and well managed. Material resource management is among the main activities in which schools are inevitably incorporated. Material resource management is the activity of management which is dealt with the efficient flow of materials to, through and out of an organization for optimum use of materials.
The success of the teaching learning process is practically dependent up on how schools are capable of managing and utilizing their resources. That is effective and efficient management of school material resources may lead to success whereas improper and poor handling of material resources is liable to lead to failure. Among many other educational inputs, material resources play major roles in terms of achieving the intended educational objectives, so that great attention should be given for them.
In addition to this, the scarcity of educational materials in the required quality, quantity, and underutilization of the existing resources are some of the most essential factors that affect the accomplishment of educational objectives.
MATERIAL RESOURCE
The term material resource has been defined by various experts in various ways. Material resources include furniture, equipment, books and teaching materials that largely determine the quality of education to be provided to students in combination of human resources. In connection to educational material resources, the material resources include renewable and immediate use items. Each item is used for specific objectives and the integration of all items can help to promote the teaching - learning process.
Material resources in general and educational material resources in particular are stated in different ways. Nevertheless, the central idea of all writers is almost the same. Although material resources are defined by different writers differently, they are the life blood of any organization. Thus, the objectives of any organization can be attainable with the great help of material resources. Furthermore, material resources are any inputs or consumable items that are fixed or recurrent objects used in the process of production. Material resources include all necessary supplies and equipment which are useful to maintain organizational production or service such as land, buildings (the classroom itself with its walls, windows, ventilators, together with their glass fittings, doors with their handles and hinges), furniture (desk, table, chairs, chalkboards, etc.). Material resources may also include machines, computers, books, manuals, geographical maps and globes, educational media like radio, television sets, overhead projectors, the audio visual aids and raw materials consisting organic and inorganic materials such as scientific apparatus or chemicals, any specimen of plants and animals. Generally, though different scholars defined and classified the concept of material resources differently on the basis of their understandings, material resources are the main inputs that assist the activities of teaching-learning process.
MATERIAL MANAGEMENT
Material resource management directs the flow of materials and services from the supplier, and keeps track of the supplier’s delivery and quality commitments, so as to avoid any disruptive surprises. Material resource management activities are frequently handled at the local or office level and involve regular communication with suppliers concerning requirements, such as order quantity and delivery dates. In addition to this, material resource management concerned with those management functions such as planning, organizing, purchasing, warehousing, distribution, inventory controlling and disposal of material resources. These activities form the framework for studying the nature and scope of management. Similarly, in schools the management of resource is mostly concerned with two basic elements; namely; human elements and non-human and other school properties. Moreover, material resources management is a balancing act. This means material management is a coordinating function responsible for planning and controlling materials flow. The objective of material resource management is to be able to provide what customers want, when and where they want it; thus it maximizes the use of the organization’s material resources. Furthermore, material resources management in relation to education may be defined as that aspect of managerial functions concerned with planning, purchasing, allocation, distribution, and controlling the proper use as well as maintenance of educational materials and facilities in order to realize the objectives of the education system; material resources management in general as “… organization and mobilization of all human and material resources in a particular system for the achievement of identified objectives in the system.”
THE NEED FOR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Assessment appears to inform decision-making in relation to allocation of resources. In connection to this, the main reason for conducting a needs assessment is to inform an organizational decision about what to do in relation to a given situation. However, this is not as obvious as it may seem. Furthermore, most importantly, it implies recognition that there is a decision to be taken. Furthermore, an assessment process may include elements of both formal and non-formal assessment, and involves considering the facts of the situation in relation to organizational mandate, policy, strategy and capacity. Therefore, before conducting the material requirement planning it is advisable to assess for the need of the school in general and the need of the teachers and non-teaching staff in particular.
In addition to this, material need assessment help organizations in determining their material requirement. Thus, the main objective of any organizational planning and control system is to have the right materials in the right quantities available at the right time to meet the demand for the organization’s products or services. Moreover, the objective of the material need assessment is to determine what components are needed, when they are needed, and how much is needed to meet organizational objectives.