CHAPTER II SCHOOL EDUCATION
Apart from the grant of financial assistance to State Governments for schemes for development of school education, the Central Government directly implements a few schemes mostly for the promotion of research or for the execution of pilot projects.
2. Expansion of Primary Education (Age-Group 6-11) By far the most significant scheme of school education included in the third Five-Year Plan is the expansion of educational facilities for children in the age-group 6-11. This is of fundamental importance for the introduction of universal primary education in this country. In 1961, the total enrolment of children in classes I-V was 344.2 lakh or 61.3 per cent of the total population in the age-group. Under the third Plan, it has been proposed to enrol 152.2 lakh additional children and to raise the enrolment in classes I-V to 496.4 lakh or 76.4 per cent of the children in the age-group.
2.2 According to the provisional statistics for 1961-62, the enrolment in classes I-V increased to 384.3 lakh during the year, marking an increase of 40.1 lakh during the year as against the original target of an increase of 22.5 lakh. The original target has thus been considerably exceeded. The results obtained in some of the States were remarkable. U.P. enrolled about 7.5 lakh additional children, Punjab about 4 lakh and Madras about 5.5 lakh.
2.3 The target for additional enrolment in 1962-63 was 36.3 lakh in classes I-V. From the data available at present, it appears that this target will also be exceeded. In some States, however, the rate of expansion has been greater than what the financial allocation actually made could sustain and the consequent difficulty has been reflected in the inability of the State Governments to appoint all the additional teachers required. It has been estimated that, at this stage, the shortage of teachers in the country as a whole is of the order of 80,000.
2.4. On the present indications, the target fixed for the third Five-Year Plan is likely to be exceeded and the enrolment in classes I-V may reach 80 per cent of the population in the age-group 6-11 by 1965-66. Much, however, will depend upon whether the State Governments and local authorities are able to mobilise the resources needed to support the expansion.
Expansion of Middle School Education (Age-Group 11- 14) In the age-group 1 1-14, the total enrolment in the country was expected to be 63 lakh in 1960-61. From the provisional statistics for 1961-62, it appears that this enrolment has already increased to 75.6 lakh. The additional enrolment during the year was 13.3 lakh as against the original target of 6.65 lakh. As at the primary stage, the enrolment at this stage also has been almost double that of the original target.
3.2 During 1962-63, the target for additional enrolment has been fixed at 8.8 lakh children. From the available information, it appears that this
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target also will be exceeded. The aggregate for the third Five-Year Plan for middle school education is to enrol 35 lakh additional children. With more than a third of this enrolment already achieved in the first year of the Plan, it appears that the target at the middle school stage also will be exceeded by 1965-66.
4. Primary School Teachers Efforts are being continued to improve the emoluments of primary school teachers. During the year, it was decided that all schemes included in the State plans for improving the remuneration of teachers should be treated as Centrally aided schemes with fifty per cent assistance. Such schemes may be for (i) improving the emoluments of teachers in primary and secondary schools; (ii) improving the old-age provision for primary and secondary teachers; and (iii) improving the remuneration and old-age provision for teachers in schools for the handicapped.
5. School Meals The programme of school meals made considerable advance during the year. In 1960-61, about 40 lakh children were provided with school meals-the bulk of these being in two_States only, namely, Kerala and Madras. At present 65 lakh children are provided with school meals in all part of the country. UNICEF, CARE and other bodies are also helping in the programme. It has been decided to expand the programme to cover 100 lakh children by the end of the third Five-Year Plan.
5.2 From 1962-63, it has been decided to give grant-in-aid to State Governments for programmes of school meals. The amount of grant-in-aid, to be given under a Centrally sponsored programme, is limited to one-third of the total expenditure incurred by the State Governments on the programme, excluding external assistance and local contributions.
6. School Textbooks We are grateful to the Government of West Germany for donating a printing press for the publication of school textbooks. It has been decided to locate this press at Mysore.
6.2 We are also grateful to the Governments of Australia and Sweden for making valuable gifts of paper. Australia has made a gift of 2,000 tons of paper under the Colombo Plan and a gift of 8,000 tons of paper has been made by the Government of Sweden. This paper has been distributed to State Governments on the basis of their requirements and it has been possible to meet about 80 per cent of the requirements of paper of State Governments for production of their textbooks.
It has also been decided to distribute textbooks, not less in value than that of the paper received as gift, to poor and needy children.
7. Training of Primary Teachers The All India Council for Elementary Education set up a study group for examining problems relating to the training of teachers. The Study Group submitted its report which has been approved by the All India Council for Elementary Education.
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7.2 The scheme of orientation of primary school teachers in community development was continued during the year. The second round of seminars of principals of training institutions and one-month courses for teacher educators was completed in the social education organisers and mukhya sevika training centres. A total of 793 princi- pals and 866 teacher-educators participated. Arrangements for the third round of seminars and training courses were also made.
8. Legislation for Compulsory Education During the year, Assam passed a New law for compulsory primary education on the model of the Delhi Primary Education Act. Similar legislation had been passed already by Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mysore and Punjab. Other States are considering the matter.
8.2 The second National Seminar on Compulsory Primary Education was held at Pachmarhi (Madhya Pradesh) from 30th May to 5th June, 1962. It was attended by senior officers in charge of elementary education and girls' education in all States and Union Territories.
9. Children's Books A National Prize Competition for Children's Books is being organised by the Government of India since 1954. Seven competitions were held previously and the eighth competition in the series was held during the year. In all 493 books/manuscripts were entered for the competition in A the modern Indian languages. After scrutiny, according to rules, 29 prizes of Rs. 1,000 each were awarded to 29 selected books. A prize of Rs. 1,000 is proposed to be awarded to artists for illustrating children's books.
9.2 To bring together authors, writers and publishers interested in producing books for children and training them in the technique of producing better books, Sahitya Rachnalayas have been organised for some time past. During the year, eight State Governments were organising Sahitya Rachnalayas. The cost of each Rachnalaya is about Rs. 10,800. The scheme will be held in abeyance during 1963-64 on account of the emergency.
9.3 A loan of Rs. 20 lakh was sanctioned to the Children's Book Trust for the construction of a building and purchase of a press. Out of this, a sum of Rs. 12 lakh has already been advanced and the balance will be paid as and when necessary.
10. Education of Girls and Women One of the major educational programmes included in the third Five Year Plan is to accelerate the education of girls, particularly at the primary and secondary stages. It is proposed to increase the enrolment of girls at the primary stage to 61.6 per cent, that at the middle stage to 16.5 per cent and that at the secondary stage to 6.9 per cent by the end of Five-Year Plan. As one of the measures to secure this objective, special programmes for the education of girls, which receive Central assistance on a cent per cent basis, were in- cluded in the State sector of the third Five-Year Plan and a provision of Rs. 11 crore was made for them.
10.2 The National Council for Women's Education set up a curriculum committee during the year, to consider the curricula for girls and to suggest desirable differentiations, if any. The report of the Committee is awaited.
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The Council also set up a committee for carrying out a survey of attitude of women to part-time employment.
10.3 The programme of seminars for women social workers, initiated during 1961-62, was continued during the year. The State Governments and Union Territories were requested to organise 22 seminars during the year.
10.4 A special scheme of financial assistance to voluntary organisations engaged in the field of women's education was initiated during the year. Under this scheme, grant-in-aid at 60 per cent of the non-recurring expenditure and 75 per cent of the recurring expenditure will be given for approved programmes.
11. Improvement of Secondary Education At the secondary stage, stress is laid on the improvement of the quality of education rather than on expansion of facilities. To supplement the schemes for the improvement of secondary education which are in the State sector of the Plan, the Ministry has also sponsored certain other programmes.
12. Strengthening Multipurpose Schools To diversify the content of secondary education, as recommended by the Secondary Education Commission, 2,115 multipurpose schools were established in the country during the first and second Plan period. Under the third Plan, a higher priority has been assigned to the consolidation of work in the existing schools instead of opening new schools in large numbers. A significant part of the programme drawn up for the purpose including the establishment of the Regional Colleges of Education which are designed to produce trained teachers for the multipurpose schools, is processed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training. The Ministry of Education will bear the entire cost of the supply of selected reference books and of the production of textbooks, handbooks for teachers, and manuals for practical subjects for such schools. In addition, the Ministry will meet 50 per cent of the additional expenditure on strengthening the schools that will be selected by the State Governments. The programme envisages the strengthening of selected schools particularly in the scientific,, technical and vocational streams.
13. State Bureaux of Educational and Vocational Guidance This Centrally sponsored scheme, formulated in 1961-62, envisages, the strengthening of existing State bureaux and the establishment of such bureaux in States where they do not exist. Cent per cent Central assistance is given to the State Governments for specified activities. Proposals were received from several State Governments. Those received earlier, namely, from Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab were sanctioned and others have been under examination.
14. Establishment of Education Evaluation (Examination Reform)
Units In addition to the preliminary work on examination reform in the Evaluation Unit of the present National Council of Educational Research and Training, there is an urgent need for suitable evaluation units in the States to foster examination reform in schools, for which 100 per cent financial assistance during the current Plan has been offered to the State
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Governments. Sanctions to set up such units were issued to the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mysore, Orissa, Punjab and Rajasthan.
15. Establishment of Central Schools The Second Pay Commission recommended that the Union Government Should encourage the growth of higher secondary schools with a common syllabus and medium of instruction for the benefit of the children of employees liable to frequent transfer as well as of other floating population in the country. The scheme as finalized envisages the establishment of about 100 residential higher secondary schools at various places in the country in a phased programme. Hindi and English will be the media of instruction in these schools which will follow an all-India syllabus and prepare their pupils for the examinations of the Central Board of Secondary Education, The schools are designed to cater, in order of priority, for the needs of defence personnel, Central Government employees, the all-India services, the floating population, and others. To start with, it is proposed that, during 1963-64, some of the existing regimental schools run by the defence authorities in cantonment areas may be developed into schools of the all-India pattern envisaged under the scheme.
16. Central Board of Secondary Education The Board, re-organized under the sponsorship of the Ministry, started functioning from 1st July, 1962. It has taken up the work of the Delhi Board of Higher Secondary Education. The services of the Board are available to any secondary school inside the country or abroad which wishes to prepare candidates for its examinations including the Central schools described above. To enable the Board to start its work on proper lines, a loan of Rs. 4 lakh was sanctioned to it during the year.
17. Central Institute of English, Hyderabad To improve the teaching of English in the educational institutions of the Country, particularly at the secondary stage, the Institute was started in 1958 as an autonomous organisation, in cooperation with the Ford Foundation and the British Council. On the recommendations made by a committee set up by the Ministry in February, 1961, to review the work and progress of the Institute, a 9- month diploma course was introduced. The course commenced in July, 1962, with 55 trainees drawn from among the lecturers of training colleges and arts and science colleges and secondary teachers. In addition, the Institute is continuing its programme for the organisation of short training courses and research into the problems of teaching English in this country and preparing suitable teaching materials. Its advice is available to all State Governments in planning and implementing their programmes for the development of English teaching.
18. Assistance to Voluntary Educational Organisations Voluntary educational organisations doing some educationally significant work are given grants to expand or improve their existing services or to start new ones. During the year, 21 institutions working in the field of pre-primary education, Basic education, educa- tion of girls, and secondary education, were assisted with grants.
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19. Financial Provisions The following provisions have been made for the schemes described in the above paragraphs
Sl. Scheme Provision Provision
No. for 1962-63 for 1963-64
Rs. Rs.
1. School Meals Programme 50,00,000 60,00,000
2. Children's Books 1,30,000 65,000
3. Strengthening of Multi-
purpose Schools - 13,00,000
4. Schemes of Educational
and Vocational Guidance 1,50,000 3,00,000
5. Establishment of State
Education Evaluation Units 90,000 1,50,000
6. Establishment of Central
Schools - 20,00,000
7. Central Institute of
English, Hyderabad
(a) Construction of
Buildings 5,39,000 4,00,000
(b) Administrative Cost 2,64,100 2,37,000
8. Assistance to Voluntary
Educational Organisations
in the field of Education
of Girls and Women, Pre-
Primary, Primary and Basic
Education 3,00,000 2,00,000
9. Assistance to Voluntary
Educational Organisations
in Secondary Education 4,35,000 4,00,000
10. Grant to Banasthali Vidya-
peeth, Jaipur 35,000 35,000