 UNESCO AND CULTURAL RELATIONS
 WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

12.01. The Ministry of Education is responsible for maintaining relations with UNESCO on behalf of the Government of India and for promoting UNESCO programmes and propagating UNESCO ideals inside the country in the fields of education. science and culture and other areas under its purview. In the effort to promote the country's cultural relations with other countries, the Ministry is also responsible for entering into government-level cultural agreements and sponsoring bi-lateral or unilateral programmes in the field of culture. The present chapter sets forth a brief account of all these programmes.

A: GOVERNMENT'S RELATIONS WITH UNESCO

12.02. 16th General Conference of Unesco: in the domain of Government of India's relations with UNESCO, the most important event during the year was the 16th General Conference of UNESCO at Paris from 12th October to 14th November, 1970 and India's participation in it. The Indian delegation was led by Prof. V.K.R.V. Rao, Union Minister of Education & youth Services and consisted of the following members:

        
                      1.    Shri  I.  K.  Gujral, Minister of  State  for  In-
                      formation and Broadcasting                Deputy Leader
        
        
                      2.    Dr.   D. D. Nag Chaudhuri, Scientific  Adviser  to 
                      the Ministry of Defence                        Delegare
        
                      3.    Shri   S.  Chakravarti,  Secretary   Ministry   of 
                      Education & Youth Services                     Delegate
        
                      4.    Shri  Prem  Kirpal,  Member,  Executive  Board  of 
                      Unesco                                         Delegate
        
                      5.    Shri Kirpal Singh Narang, Vice-Chancellor  Punjabi 
                      University, Patiala                            Delegate

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                      6.   Prof.   Rais'  Ahmed,  Aligarh  Muslim  University, 
                      Aligarh                           Alternate  Delegate
        
                      7.    Dr.  C.  Devanesan,  Principal,  Madras  Christian     
                      College, Madras                     Alternate Delegate
        
                      8.    Shri T. R. Jayaraman, joint Secretary Ministry  of 
                      Education & Youth Services          Alternate Delegate
        
                      9.    Shri E. Pouchpa Dass, First Secretary, Embassy  of 
                      India, Paris                         Alternate Delegate
        
                      10.   Shri  P.C. Chatterji, Deputy Director-General  All 
                      India Radio, New, Delhi              Alternate Delegate,

Prof. Rao was elected one of the vice-presidents of the Conference and a member of its General Committee. India was elected chairmen of two drafting committees, One On UNESCO'S Role in Peace and the other on Education in Family Planning. India was also on the working party to prepare a report on programmes for the International Book Year 1972. An Indian delegate was elected rapporteur of the Legal Committee which considered legal problems referred to it. The main achievements of the Indian delegation were as indicated below:

(1) Application of Science and Technology to the Development of Asia: As a follow-up of the Conference of Asian Ministers of Science and Technology held in December, 1968, in New Delhi, UNESCO Will establish in collaboration with ECAFE, a joint wing to help promote the application of science and technology to the development of Asia and also to carry out feasibility studies for the establishment of multi-disciplinary research institutes in Asia aimed at fostering technological transfer from knowledge and know-how to industrial production.

(2) International Institute for Peace Research: The possibility of establishing an international institute for peace research to undertake enquiries, with special reference to the Gandhian approach, into factors which promote peace or contribute to the peaceful solution of conflicting situations, will be explored by UNESCO.

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(3) Asian Cultures: To promote greater understanding of Asian cultures, including Indian culture, there will be specialised studies by UNESCO on themes such as the Civilizations of Central Asia (including Indian influence in Central Asia), Buddhist art. Tamil studies, Malaysian and Oceanic cultures, etc.

(4) Auroville Project: The project launched by Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry, for establishing an international cultural township will be assisted UNESCO Will take such steps as may be feasible to promote the development of Auroville as an important cultural programme.

(5) World Conference on Sanskrit: Assistance will be given to the Government of India for holding a World Conference on Sanskrit. UNESCO will help India to organise this conference which will assess and evaluate the contribution of Sanskrit literature to world culture and civilisation, consider the contribution of the Sanskrit language to the development of other modern languages and consider ways and means of promoting studies in Sanskrit.

(6) Second Development Decade: India's proposal that UNESCO should ask for massive assistance from the UNDP, World Bank, UNICEF, World Food Programme, Regional Development Programme, Funds-in-Trust and other donors for its development programmes during the Second Development Decade and organise a meeting of Ministers of Education in Geneva in 1971 to consider ways and means of finding resources for education in the Second Development Decade was adopted.

(7) Election of India to Various Offices: India was elected as a member in each of the following stand-

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ing committees by the General Conference of UNESCO:

(1) Legal Committee

(2) Council of the International Bureau of Education

(3) The Coordinating Council of the Hydrological Decade

(4) Inter-Governmental body on Man and the Biosphere

(5) Executive Committee of International Campaign to save the Monuments of Nubia.

12.03.

Executive Board of UNESCO:

Dr. P. N. Kirpal,Indian member of the Executive Board Of UNESCO, attended the following sessions at Paris: (i) 84th session from 4th May to 19th June, 1970; (ii) 85th Session from 21st September to 10th November 1970; and (iii) 86th Session from 16th to 18th November, 1970. Dr. Kirpal was elected Chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO for a period of 2 years at its 86th Session.

12.04.

International Campaign for the Restoration of Cultural Property damaged by Floods in Florence and Venice:

A sum of Rs. 1,50,000 was paid to UNESCO as the balance of India's total contribution of Rs. 2 lakh towards the international campaign for the restoration of cultural property damaged by floods in Florence and Venice. This amount will be utilised for the purchase and export of articles produced in India.

12.05.

International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia:

A sum of Rs. 12 lakh was paid to UNESCO as the final instalment of the Government of India's contribution of Rs. 28 lakh for the safeguarding of the Abu Simbal Temples from inundation by the waters of the Aswan Dam. This amount has been utilised for the purchase of equipment and supplies produced in India.

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12.06.

Representation at Unesco Conferences and Seminars:

The following officers were deputed to attend the various UNESCO- sponsored conferences and seminars held during the period:

(a) Shri J. P. Naik, Adviser, Ministry of Education, was deputed to attend the Meeting on Evaluation Results of the First Development Decade and UNESCO'S Contribution to the Second Development Decade held at Paris on April 22-25, 1970;

(b) Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan, Deputy Educational Adviser (Culture), Ministry of Education was deputed to participate in the Regional Seminar on Cultural Policies held at Tehran on May 16-20, 1970;

(c) Dr. S. N. Saraf, Director (Statistics and Adult Education), was deputed to Paris to attend the meeting of the Special Committee for International Standardisation of Library Statistics held at Paris on May 16-28, 1970;

(d) Shri A. J. Kidwai, Educational and Scientific Adviser to the High Commission of India, London, was deputed to Geneva to attend the 32nd Session of the International Conference on Education and the Third Session of the Council of the International Bureau of Education held at Geneva from 30th June to 11th July, 1970; he was also deputed to Geneva to attend the 4th Session of the Council of Inter- national Bureau of Education held there on December 7-12, 1970; and

(e) Shri T. R. Jayaraman, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education & Youth Services and Shri S. K. Ghose, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting were deputed to Venice to attend the InterGovernmental Conference on Institutional, Adminis-

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trative and Financial Aspects of Cultural Policies held at Venice from 24th August to 2nd September, 1970.

12.07.

Asian Institute of Educational Planning and Adminis- tration, New Delhi:

Run by the Government of India in collaboration with UNESCO, the Asian Institute of Educational Planning and Administration offers high-level courses in educational planning and administration to educators from developing countries of the Asian region. It thus constitutes a part of India's contribution to the educational development of the Asian region. It undertakes research in its field and assists Asian countries to hold seminars and conferences by placing its expertise at their disposal. The Institute has recently developed an Indian programme of State-level seminars on educational administration and planning in cooperation with the State Governments, These seminars are attended by the district education officers and other senior officers of the State education departments. The Indian programme will be gradually taken over by the National Staff College for Educational Planners and Administrators which is proposed to be established in 1971. When the decade for which UNESCO assistance has been promised ends on December 3, 1972, the Asian Institute will close down and its regional (Asian) training programmes will be assumed by the National Staff College for Educational Planners and Administrators subject to availability of assistance under the UN Technical Assistance Programme. The 16th Meeting of the Steering Com- mittee of the Asian Institute was hold on February 16, 1970. At this meeting the progress of the programmes of the Institute was reviewed and activities for 1970 were chalked out. A brief account of its activities during the period is given in the following paragraphs:

(a) Tenth Training Course for Educational Planners and Administrators: The Tenth Training Course which started on September 2, 1969 concluded on January 29, 1970 with a valedictory address by Mr.

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G. S. Pathak, Vice-President of India who distributed certificates to the participants. Of the 24 participants enrolled for the course, one had to withdraw on health grounds. Extension of fellowship. for another month was allowed in the case of six participants for further training and specialisation in selected fields of study. The stay of a participant from Nepal was extended up to March 15, 1970.

(b) XI Training Course for Educational Planners and Administrators: The Eleventh Training Course commenced on September 1, 1970. Twenty-one participants from 12 countries of the Asian region, viz., Afghanistan, Republic of China, Ceylon, India, Iran, Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam attended the course which concluded on January 31, 1971.

(c) Senior Fellowship Programme: Mr. Dhani Boankan from Thailand joined the Institute as Senior Fellow on March 10, 1970. He was engaged in making a comparative study of the administration of elementary education in Thailand and some of the Asian countries, particularly India. On the completion of his term he left for Thailand on September 12, 1970.

(d) State-Level Seminars: As Part of the national programme for India, the Institute organised the following State-level seminars on educational planning and administration: (a) Bihar (January 20- 24, 1970); (b) Rajasthan (February 25-March 1, 1970); (c) Punjab (June 17-22, 1970); (d) Kerala (July 28-30, 1970); (e) Haryana (September 25-30, 1970); and (f) Jammu & Kashmir (October 13-18, 1970). These seminars were attended by senior state education officers including district education officers.

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(e) Visits to Study State Educational Experiments: The Institute arranged visits of state education officers to study successful educational programmes and experiments in the States of Gujarat (February 1-7, 1970), Bihar (February 23-28, 1970), Tamilnadu (April-17-23, 1970), Kerala (June 2-5, 1970) Mysore (July 7-13, 1970), Rajasthan (September 15-20, 1970) and Maharashtra (September 30 to October 7, 1970).

(f) Preparation of Country-wise Monographs on Educational Administration in Asian Countries: The Institute took up during the year a co-operative, project for bringing out country-wise monographs on the system of educational administration obtaining in various countries. Sixteen countries of the region, viz., Afghanistan, Burma, Ceylon, Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam are collaborating with the Institute in this project. A regional meeting of the research nominees from participating countries was earlier held at New Delhi on December 18-20, 1969. Some, financial assistance was released during the year to the research nominees from Afghanistan and Thailand for completing the drafts of their respective monographs.

(g) Other Studies: A pilot study of middle schools in India has been taken up in the State of Uttar Pradesh. A study of grant-in-aid system in India has also been taken up.

B: INDIAN NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COOPERATION WITH UNESCO

12.08. The Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO is an agency established by the Government of

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India to promote understanding of the aims and objectives of UNESCO in India and for acting as a liaison agency between the Government and the institutions working for the, advancement of education, science and culture. While UNESCO is an organisation representing the Governments of member-States, it can reach out to the peoples of the countries concerned directly through its National Commissions. The Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO, in common with other such national commissions, besides promoting popular support and sympathy for UNESCO'S ideals, assists UNESCO in the development. of international cooperation and understanding and in its efforts to harness the resources of knowledge in the quest for peace. The Commission continued its activities for the fulfilment of these aims during the period, a resume of which is given below.

12.09.

Ninth Conference of the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with Unesco:

The Ninth Conference of the Commission was held at Hyderabad on July 14-15, 1970 under the chairmanship of the Union Education Minister, Prof. V.K.R.V. Rao. The Conference was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri K. Brahmanada Reddi. The two-day session was attended by members of the, Commission as well as observers from a few international organisations and UNESCO centres/clubs. It considered a varied agenda in the fields of education, science, culture and mass communication. Among its major recommendations were: (a) deputation of a strong delegation to the 16th General Conference of UNESCO (October-November 1970); and (b) establishment of a permanent delegation at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. Other recommendations related to the adoption of measures for a vigorous follow-up of the proposals made at the CASTASIA Conference held in India in 1968, communication media in education, development of correspondence courses, study of Central Asian civilisations, research and collaboration on traditions in Asian dance, drama and music, documentation of oral traditions, promotion of the study of the

UNESCO AND CULTURAL RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES