SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH, PILOT 
 PROJECTS AND CLEARING HOUSE
 FUNCTIONS

11.01. This chapter deals with (1) Indian Council of Social Science Research, (2) Pilot Projects, and (3) Clearing House Functions.

A: INDIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

11.02. In 1965, the Planning Commission appointed a committee, under the chairmanship of Prof. V. K. R. V. Rao, who was then a Member of the Planning Commission, to examine the present status of Social Science Research in the country and to make recommendations for its promotion. The committee submitted its report towards the end of 1967. Its principal recommendation was that an autonomous organisation, entitled, "The Indian Council of Social Science Research" should be established and provided with adequate resources for promoting research in social sciences. This recommendation was accepted by Government and the Indian Council of Social Science Research was established during the year with the following functions:

(i) To review the progress of social science research and to give advice to its users in Government or outsdie;

(ii) To sponsor social science research programmes as well as research projects, and administer grants to institutions and individuals for research in social sciences and to give financial support to learned asso- ciations, standard journals and institutions or organi- sations engaged in the conduct or sponsoring of social science research;

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(iii) To provide technical assistance for the formulation of social science research programmes and designing of research projects by individuals or institutions, and to organise and support institutional arrangements for training in research methodology;

(iv) To indicate periodically areas and topics on which social science research is to be promoted and to adopt special measures for the development of research in neglected or new areas;

(v) To co-ordinate social science research activities in the field of social sciences and to encourage programmes of inter-disciplinary research;

(vi) To develop and support centres for documentation, service, maintenance and supply of data, inventory of current social science research and preparation of a national register of social scientists;

(vii) To organise, sponsor and finance seminars, workshops, study circles, working groups/parties, and conferences for promoting research or utilisation of social science research;

(viii) To give grants for publication of social science research work and to undertake publication of digets, periodicals and journals devoted to such research;

(ix) To institute and administer scholarships, fellowships and awards for social science research by students, teachers and other research workers in India and outside, and in particular, to award senior fellowships for research in social science that will enable workers in universities to complete their research work for publication or undertake whole-time research for a defined period on topics in which they are specially interested and for doing research on which they are specially qualified;

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(x) To advise the Government of India on all such matters pertaining to social science research as may be referred to it by the Government of India from time to time, including collaborative arrangements in social science research with foreign agencies; and

(xi) Generally, to take all such measures as may be found necessary from time to time to promote social science research and its utilisation in the country.

11.03. The Council has made considerable progress during the year. Apart from initial, inevitable programmes such as the organisation of its office, recruitment of necessary staff and formulations of rules and regulations, it has been able to initiate the following plans :

(1) It has taken over 45 continuing research projects from the Research Planning Committee of the Planning Commission.

(2) It has framed its own rules of grant-in-aid to research projects and widely circulated them. Several new projects have also been sanctioned under the scheme.

(3) It has instituted a programme of fellowships for social scientists who would like to take up an approved research project on a whole-time basis.

(4) It has instituted a system of publication grants which offer limited assistance to Journals in the field of social sciences conducted by national associations of Indian social scientists and publication of research reports or doctorate theses in the field of social sciences.

(5) It has also instituted a programme under which important bibliographical or documentation work in the field of social sciences can receive financial support.

11.04. The Council has undertaken a programme of compiling and publishing a union catalogue of social science series which is expected to be completed in a period of 3 years. It

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has also prepared a plan for the establishment of a National Social Science Documentation Centre in Delhi. A programme for the establishment of data banks and data libraries has also been drawn up.

11.05. The Council has initiated a survey of research that has been done so far in different fields of social sciences. Nearly 120 eminent social scientists are working on different aspects of this survey in about 100 subject fields. The survey is expected to be completed by June, 1970. Its results will give a basis on which a proper policy for support of social science research can be formulated.

11.06. The Council is also preparing plans for organising summer schools for social scientists for training in research methodology so that the quality of research work done can be improved.

11.07. The Council has also decided to play a promotional role and make special efforts to develop research in important but neglected areas such as the problems of the scheduled castes.

11.08. The Council has started collecting information about student research in Indian universities on a comprehensive scale.

11.09. The budget allocation of the Council during 1969-70 was Rs. 9 lakh. It has been increased to Rs. 25 lakh in 1970-71.

11.10. At present, there is a scheme of giving recurring and developmental grants to insitutions doing research in natural sciences which are not eligible for financial support from the University Grants Commission. But there is no corresponding scheme for similar institutions doing research in social sciences With effect from 1970- 71, a scheme to this effect is proposed to be introduced and a provision of Rs. 10 lakh is made in the budget estimates for the purpose.

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B: PILOT PROJECTS

11.11. For any programme of education which falls within the State sector, the Centre has a special responsibility to promote innovation. It is from this point of view that the development of pilot projects in important areas assumes great significance.

11.12. The Education Secretaries in the Conference held in May, 1969 stressed the urgent need to take up pilot projects covering the fields of wastage and stagnation at the primary stage, girls' education, education of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and adult literacy. A Special Group was set up to delimit the areas, lay down the nature and scope of the pilot projects, indicate the criterion for the selection of pilot projects or areas in the States and also suggest the specific number of projects to be selected. Sight Sub-Groups dealing with the following subjects have been set up:

(a) Wastage and Stagnation

(b) Girls' Education

(c) Education of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

(d) Institutional Planning

(e) School Complex

(f) Part-Time and Continuation Education

(g) Programme for Non-Student Youth

(h) Adult Education

The report of the Special Group is expected shortly and pilot projects will be initiated thereafter.

11.13. A special Group has been set up to work out details of pilot projects to be taken up in the field of vocationalisation of education and work experience. This Group will advise on the concept of vocationalisation of education at the pre-university stage and the development of skills, attitudes and know-

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ledge relevant to employment-orientation and economic development and make recommendations on the programmes of pilot projects to be launched in this field together with the criteria for the selection of areas and institutions in each State for such projects, the type of courses and the modus operandi for introducing such courses, the ancillary facilities and institutions to be created for the purpose and additional matters. It will also suggest the necessary administrative and evaluation machinery and indicate the financial requirements of the programmes during the Fourth Plan.

11.14. The detailed programmes are being worked out by the following Groups:

Sub-Group I.-Introduction of work Experience in Schools, both Agricultural and Industrial

Sub-Group II.-Vocational Courses in Agriculture at the School Stage

Sub-Group III.-Vocational Courses in Industrial Fields at the School Stage (This will include polytechnics, junior technical schools, IIT's etc.)

Sub-Group IV.-Vocational Courses in ALL Other Fields: Commercial and Secretarial, Health and Medicine, Education, Home Management, Arts and Crafts, etc. (It will also deal with the problem of vocational guidance.)

Sub-Group V.-Regional Plans and Pilot Projects and Administrative Machinery including Evaluation

11.15. One of the important recommendations made by the Conference of Education Secretaries held in May, 1969 was that a few selected districts should be taken up in each State where the concept of district planning inclusive of the integration of education with economic planning should be worked out in detail. A preliminary report on Intensive Educational District Development Project of Bellary, Mysore, has been

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drawn up as an illustration. The general objectives of the intensive educational district development project are:

(a) To try out and demonstrate effective ways of relating educational programmes with over-all economic development and social growth particularly in relation to employment potential, manpower requirements, etc.; and

(b) To try out, in the light of the above two objectives, methods of reaching optimum levels of educational development with minimum financial inputs; and optimum economies through (i) intensive utilisation of existing facilities and (ii) mobilisation of public support for educational purposes.

Some other State Governments have also been requested to prepare such preliminary reports. It is proposed to finalise the drafts of these projects in the course of the next three or four months and then work will be initiated in regard to the implementation of these programmes.

C: CLEARING HOUSE FUNCTIONS

11.16. Re-organisation of Statistical Unit:

In pursuance of the recommendations made by the Fourth National Seminar on Educational Statistics, a committee was set up in June, 1968, to study the working and staffing pattern of the Statistical Unit of the Ministry and to suggest the broad directions of development of the Unit to meet the requirements of educational administration and planning for the expanded scope of work of the Unit. This committee submitted its report in May, 1969 which was accepted by Government and the structure and functioning of the Statistical Unit was reorganised during the year. It was also decided to transfer the work on the collection and publication of statistics relating to university education, namely, 'Educational Statistics of Universities in India' to the University Grants Commission with effect from the publication relating to the year

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1969-70, and a Standing Advisory Committee consisting of eight members was set up to advise the Division on the special studies to be taken up by it. A Study Group on In-Service Training Courses in Educational Statistics on a regional basis was set up in May, 1969 to review the working of the scheme of in-service training courses. In pursuance of its recommendations, two in-service courses, one at Kanpur and the other at Bhubaneswar, were conducted. In-service training courses were also conducted at Panaji, Gwalior and Jabalpur for the benefit of officials dealing with educational statistics.

11.17. Visits of Officers:

It is proposed to arrange short- term visits of officers to different States, to study successful experiments, e.g., school improvement programme in Tamilnadu, production of textbooks in Bihar, adult literacy in Maharashtra, work experience in Rajasthan, rural education in Gujarat, etc. The programme was initiated by a visit of officers from Education Departments of the other State Governments to Gujarat on February 1-7, 1970. 15 representatives from 13 States and Union Territories, one representative from the NCERT, four from the Asian Institute of Educational of Planning and Administration and one each from the Ministry of Education & Youth Services and the Government of Gujarat participated in the visit.

11.18. During the course of the visit, the party visited the following five institutions in Gujarat which have been conducting experiments in different fields of education:

(1) Vedchhi Ashram and Gandhi Vidyapeeth, District Surat

(2) Lok Bharati (Sanosra), District Bhavnagar

(3) Shardagram, Mangrol, District Junagarh

(4) Gangajala Vidyapeeth, Aliabada, District Jamnagar

(5) Sheth A. H. Saraswati Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad

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11.19. The second visit to Bihar to study the following was organised towards the end of February, 1970

(1) Bihar State Textbook Publishing Corporation

(2) Netarhat School, Ranchi

(3) Rural Institute, Birauli

(4) Vikas Vidyalaya, Ranchi.

The third and fourth visits will be to the States of Tamilnadu and Rajasthan.

11.20. Shift System:

A Special Group has studied the ope- ration of the shift system in Kerala and the extent to which it can be adopted in other States. This report is now under consideration and further action will be initiated soon in consultation with the State Governments.

11.21. Experiments:

A number of useful experiments are being studied and reported upon. At the instance of the Union Minister for Education and Youth Services, an on-the-spot factual study of Netarhat School, Ranchi, which has been set up by the Bihar Government has been made. This report has been circulated to all the Chief Ministers, Education Ministers, Members of the Central Advisory Board of Education, State Education Secretaries and Directors of Public Instruction. The State Governments have been asked to consider the possibility of setting up such pace-setting quality institutions which would, be nurseries for the bright boys and girls to grow into talented young men and women.

11.22. The Director, Bureau of Planning and coordination in the Ministry of Education and Youth Services, who visited the GDR in August-September, 1969, in connection with the Fourth International Colloquy on Teacher Education, was asked to make a study of the polytechnical education and work experience programmes as they exists in the GDR,. This report is being circulated to the educational planners and administrators and other workers in the field of education in India. This report will help in preparing concrete programmes in the field of work

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experience to be taken up as part of the Pilot Projects during the Fourth Plan.

11.23. Supervision and Inspection:

A Special Group (1) to study the present position of supervision and inspection in the country and to suggest measures for improvement, (2) to analyse the various practices leading to the involvement of educational staff in non-educational work such as enquiries, distribution of teachers' salaries, etc., and (3) to study the, nature and magnitude of the disputes between teachers and managements and suggest measures for setting up suitable arrangements/machinery for dealing with the problem, was set up on the recommendations of the Conference of State Directors of Public Instruction. The Group has submitted its report which is now under consideration.

11.24. Resource Mobilisation:

In view of the large varia- tions in the practices followed in mobilising resources for edu- cational development programmes and also the extent and quantum of resources becoming available to the State Governments through such measures, a Special Group has one into the problems in detail and is expected to submit its report shortly, giving concrete proposals about the mobilisation of resources for educational development programmes.

11.25. Educational Administration :

A comparative study of the broad contours of educational administration in the States, especially in terms of higher level supervision, structure, manning, recruitment policies, service conditions, personnel administration, training programmes, exchange between teaching, and administrative wings, etc., has been initiated.