THE CENTRAL ADVISORY BOARD OF EDUCATION (CABE)


Brief History

The   Central Advisory  Board of Education, the oldest  and  the most  important  advisory body of the Government of India in education was first established in 1920 and dissolved in 1923 as a measure of economy. It was revived in 1935 and has been in existence ever since.

 
2. Origin of the Board:

The idea that there should be a central Advisory Board of Education was first put forward by the Calcutta University Commission (1917-19) which felt "that the Government of India could perform an invaluable function  by defining the general aims of  educational policy,  by giving  advice and assistance to local governments and to the development of educational ideas in the various provinces, and also elsewhere than in India."  Almost simultaneously  the Government of  India Act, 1919 decided  to make education  mainly  a provincial  and  a transferred  subject  and to limit the `control' of the Central Government over it to the minimum. This  fundamental  decision  changed  the character of the Government of India from that of an executive to  an advisory authority;  and  consequently, the Secretariat Procedure Committee set   up to  implement  the Government of   India Act, 1919, observed  that,  in  future, the  executive   authority  of  the  Government  of  India  should  be  mainly   exercised  through moral  persuasion  and  recommended  that,  "in place of giving executive orders it  should  tend  more  and more to become a centre of the best information, research and advice." This recommendation made the adoption of the recommendation of  the Calcutta University Commission all the more imperative and accordingly, a Central Advisory Board of Education was set up in 1920 under the chairmanship of Education Commissioner to the Government of India. It is a good deal of useful work but, owing to a financial crisis calling for drastic retrenchments, was abolished in 1923.

 
3. Revival and Reconstitution of the board:

For the next twelve years, there was no Central body to advise the Government of India in educational matters. However, a feeling of regret at the discontinuance of the Board began to grow, especially after the Report of Hartog Committee (1928) which observed that the divorce between the Government of India and education had been unfortunate. consequently, the present Central Advisory Board of Education was revived in 1935.

 
4. Constitution:

The first constitution of the Board was given in the Government of India (Education, Health and Lands Department) Resolution No.F.122-3/35-E dated 8th of August, 1935. The Board has been reconstituted vide Government of India Resolution No.1-2/90- PN(D.II) dated 19th October, 1990, as per Annexure-I.

 
5. The Present Composition:
The present composition of the Board is given in Annexure-II.
 
6. Meetings held:

The practice adopted by the Board has been to hold one meeting every year, although the record of the last fifty- five years shows that there were no meetings in 1937, 1939, 1966, 1969, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1990, and two meetings were held each in 1938, 1943, 1950 and 1986.

The details of the venues and chairmanship of the 48 meetings held so far are given in the following table:

S.No. Year of the Meeting Place of the Meeting Chairmanship
1. 1935 New Delhi Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai
2. 1936 New Delhi Kunwar Sir Jagdish  Prasad
3. 1938 New Delhi Kunwar Sir Jagdish  Prasad
4. 1938 New Delhi Kunwar Sir Jagdish  Prasad
5. 1940 Simla Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai
6. 1941 Madras Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai
7. 1942 Hyderabad Sir Maurice Gwyer
8. 1943 Lucknow Sardar Sir Jogendra Singh
9. 1943 Dehradun Sir Maurice Gwyer
10. 1944 Baroda Sardar Sir Jogendra Singh
11. 1945 Karachi Sardar Sir Jogendra Singh
12. 1946 Mysore Hon'ble Rt. Rev. G.D. Barne
13. 1947 Bombay Shri C. Rajagopalachari
14. 1948 New Delhi Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
15. 1949 Allahabad Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
16. 1950 Cuttack Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
17. 1950 New Delhi Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
18. 1951 Thiruvananthapuram Shri B.G. Kher
19. 1952 New Delhi Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
20. 1953 New Delhi Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
21. 1954 New Delhi Shri N.K. Sidhanta
22. 1955 New Delhi Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
23. 1956 New Delhi Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
24. 1957 New Delhi Dr. K.L. Shrimali
25. 1958 New Delhi Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
26. 1959 Madras Dr. K.L. Shrimali
27. 1960 New Delhi Dr. K.L. Shrimali
28. 1961 New Delhi Dr. K.L. Shrimali
29. 1962 Jaipur Dr. K.L. Shrimali
30. 1963 Pachmarhi Dr. K.L. Shrimali
31. 1964 Bangalore Shri M.C. Chagla
32. 1965 Chandigarh Shri M.C. Chagla
33. 1967 New Delhi Dr. Triguna Sen
34. 1968 New Delhi Dr. Triguna Sen
35. 1970 New Delhi Prof. V.K.R.V. Rao
36. 1972 New Delhi Prof. S. Nurul Hasan
37. 1974 New Delhi Prof. S. Nurul Hasan
38. 1975 New Delhi Prof. S. Nurul Hasan
39. 1983 New Delhi Smt. Sheela Kaul
40. 1986(April) New Delhi Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao
41. 1986(August) New Delhi Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao
42. 1987(June) New Delhi Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao
43. 1988(March) New Delhi Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao
44. 1988(Sept.) New Delhi Shri P. Shiv Shankar
45. 1989(July) New Delhi Shri P. Shiv Shankar
46. 1991(March) New Delhi Shri Rajmangal Pande
47. 1992(May) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh
48. 1992(August) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh
49. 1993(October) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh
50. 1994(March) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh
51. 2004(August) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh
52. 2005(June) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh
53. 2005(July) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh
54. 2005(September) New Delhi Shri Arjun Singh