CHAPTER IX
OTHER EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

An account of some of the other activities during the year is presented in this chapter.

1. Emotional Integration Committee

The Committee on Emotional Integration appointed at the end of May 1961, under the chairmanship of Dr. Sampurnanand, presented its report to the Government in September 1962. The report was Placed before the conference of the State Education Ministers held in Octo- ber, 1962. The conference decided to consider the report in detail in the next meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education.

2. National Foundation for Teachers' Welfare

To promote the welfare of teachers generally and to alleviate distress among teachers and their dependents in indigent circum- stances, a National Foundation for Teachers' Welfare was set up under the chairmanship of the Education Minister. It has been established under the Charitable Endowments Act, 1890.

The Government of India decided to sanction an initial non-recur- ring contribution of Rs. 5,00,000 to the funds of the Foundation during 1962-63. Similar contributions of Rs. 25,000 each were made by the State Governments.

It was decided that 5th September, should be celebrated as Teach- ers' Day every year, when concerted efforts should be made to collect funds for the Foundation. On the occasion of the First Teachers' Day, celebrated on 5th September, 1962, collections of over Rs. 20,00,000 were made. It was also decided that the entire collection including the grants from the Union and State Governments, would be invested in National Defence Bonds and the income by way of interest thereon would be utilised for the Foundation.

The assistance programme of the Foundation is scheduled to start from September-October, 1963, and will be operated by the working committees, to be established in the States and the Union Territories for the purpose.

3. National Awards for Teachers

The scheme instituted during 1958-59 with the object of raising the prestige of the teaching profession and giving public recognition to distinguished primary and secondary teachers is being continued during the third Five-Year Plan. During the year, 85 awards-45 for primary and 40 for secondary school teachers-were conferred by the President of India at a special function organised by the Ministry at New Delhi on 25th October, 1962. A sum of Rs. 61,800 was sanctioned for this purpose.

4. Promotion of Gandhian Philosophy

The scheme, instituted during the second Plan, to inculcate a proper appreciation and knowledge of Gandhiji's life and thought among Indian

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students, is being continued during the third Plan. Lectures by Kumari Manu Behn Gandhi in secondary schools have continued. Various universities in India were requested to organise a series of lectures on Gandhiji's life and thought, the entire expenditure thereon being met by the Ministry. During the period, such lectures were delivered by Shri C. Rajagopalachari, Shri U.N. Dhebar, Shri Kaka Saheb Kalel- kar, Dr. R.R. Diwakar, and other personages at various Indian univer- sities. A grant of Rs. 50,000 was sanctioned to the Gandhian Insti- tute of Studies, Varanasi.

5. Moral and Religious Instruction

During the year some steps were taken to develop a suitable programme after implementing the recommendations of the Standing Committee constituted with Shri Sri Prakasa as chairman to select suitable literature on moral and religious instruction.

6.Education of Tibetan Children

With the influx of Tibetan refugees, the problem of their educa- tion became a pressing issue. A committee with the Union Education Minister as chairman and representatives of the Ministries of External Affairs, Finance, Education and His Holiness the Dalai Lama as members was set up in July, 1961 for the purpose and registered as the Tibetan Schools Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Society is an autonomous body and expenses are met partly by the grant-in-aid sanctioned by the Government and partly by donations made by voluntary organisations.

Three residential schools set up at Simla, Mussoorie and Darjeel- ing cater for the needs of 1,350 children. In addition to increasing their intake capacity, steps were taken to establish two more schools at Dalhousie and Mussoorie. They will be higher secondary schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. Children in all these schools are given free education, free board, lodging and medical facilities.

Day schools were established in the agricultural colonies for the Tibetan refugees, in NEFA, Mysore, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Here the children are given midday meals and free clothing, books, stationery etc.

The Society also sanctioned grant-in-aid to certain institutions at Kalimpong, Gangtok and Madras which are providing educational facilities to the Tibetan children.

7. Educational Delegations to and from India

At the invitation of the Government of the U.A.R. a delegation of three Indian educationists led by Shri M.M. Baig, Principal, Delhi College, Delhi, visited that country from 27th October to 11th Novem- ber, 1962, with the object of studying the education system in the U.A.R. At the invitation of the Government of India, a delegation of 15 Nepali students and teachers visited India from 13th October to 14th November, 1962.

8. Clearing House Functions

One of the major responsibilities of the Ministry of Education is to serve as a clearing house of ideas and information in all fields of educational

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activity. The Ministry maintains three sections-Information, Statis- tics and Publications-whose main function is to look after the dissem- ination of information and publish educational reports, periodicals and other literature.

A. INFORMATION SECTION

To meet public enquiries in the educational field more satisfac- torily, material on about 50 new topics pertaining to higher studies in India and abroad was compiled. The old publications of the library were replaced with the latest copies of the calendars, codes, sylla- buses, etc., received from the universities and the State Education Departments.

The students' advisory bureaux attached to the universities and State Governments were furnished with the latest informative material on various courses of studies in India and abroad. Officials of the Ministry also visited some of the students' advisory bureaux attached to the universities to help them to discharge their duties in a more efficient and effective manner.

B. STATISTICAL SECTION

The main functions of the Statistical Section are to collect, maintain and interpret educational statistics, to bring out statisti- cal publications, to disseminate statistical information about educa- tion and to undertake all such activities that may be required to improve the quality of the educational data.

(i) Collection of Statistics

: During the year the collection of statistics for 1959-60 and 1960-61, both from the State Governments and the universities was completed and that for 1961-62 taken up.

(ii) In-service Training Courses in Educational Statistics

: To improve the reliability and timely supply of statistics, the Section has been giving technical assistance to the State Governments and universities to organise short in-service training courses in educational statistics for the benefit of their staff. Financial assistance is also given to the universities for such courses at 50 per cent of the total expenditure on travelling and daily allowances of the trainees. Courses were organised, during the year, in the Universities of Bhagalpur, Utkal, Bihar, Panjab, Mysore and Osmania. Besides, there was a proposal to hold a short course in the Bombay University.

(iii) Seminar

: The First National Seminar on Educational Statistics was held at New Delhi from 17th to 22nd September, 1962. The Seminar went into the entire field of educational statistics including the content of proformas, the procedures, staff pattern of statistical units and training of statistical personnel, and made important recommendations. The Report of the Seminar was circulated to all concerned. Action has been taken on many of its recommenda- tions.

(iv) Educational Bulletin

: During the year the Statistical Section started a new activity of issuing quarterly bulletins giving a brief account of the latest developments in education in different States. The information in the bulletins is compiled from copies of Government resolutions and orders passed by the State Governments. Three such bulletins have so far been issued.

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C. PUBLICATIONS SECTION

The Section is the main publishing agency of the Ministry, al- though a few publications are also brought out by other units.

(i) Journals

: The Ministry of Education has been bringing out four quarterly journals : (1) The Education Quarterly (fifteenth year of publication); (2) Secondary Education (seventh year of publication); (3) Youth (sixth year of publication); (4) the Indian Journal of Educational Administration and Research (third year of publication). Owing to emergency the publication of the fourth journal was discontinued during the year.

(ii) Other Publications

: A complete list of all the publications brought out during the year under review by the Ministry of Education is given in Annexure II.

9. Plan Coordination Unit

The Plan Coordination Unit of the Ministry continued its activi- ties of coordinating the work of the Ministry with regard to Central and State educational development schemes under the second and third Five-Year Plans. As in the previous years three-fourths of the allo- cated Central grants on State programmes for 1962-63 were released by the Ministry of Finance in the form of monthly ways and means ad- vances. These were adjustable against the payment sanctions to be issued by the Unit in March, 1963.

The State Governments were requested to reorientate their Plans for 1963-64 in view of the national emergency. Among the various other suggestions, mention may be made of the rephasing of the educa- tion plans in order to intensify and strengthen those activities and programmes that contribute to the defence effort in its total range.

10. Central Secretariat Library

The Ministry of Education has the administrative control of the Central Secretariat Library. The following statistics broadly indi- cate the volume of work handled during the year: 

        
        Accessions
        
                  Books                                           over   8,000
        
                  Documents including Pamphlets                   over  13,616
        
                  Periodical-Titles                               over     800
        
                  Reference Queries                             nearly  41,457
        
        Loans                                                         1,76,547
        
        Bibliography

Nearly 34 bibliographies on several topics relating to education as also other subjects were compiled.

The figure for loans does not include the number of publications consulted in the various sections of the library.

11. Grants to Hostels, Institutions and Organisations outside India

Since 1947, the Government of India have been maintaining the Indian Students' Hostel, Guilford Street, London, at an annual expend- iture of (pound) 1,665 together with other expenses in connection with the repairs of the

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building of the hostel. During 1962-63 the grant was enhanced to (pound) 4,950 in order to carry out major repairs in the hostel building. (pound) 1,425 have been provided for the purpose in the High Commission's budget for 1963-64.

A provision of (pound) 750 exists in the budget for 1962-63 for grant to the School of Oriental and African Studies. London. A similar amount has been provided in the High Commission's budget for 1963-64 for the purpose.

A sum of Rs. 7,500 was sanctioned in 1962-63 to the Ceylon Estate Workers' Education Trust. A similar amount has been provided in the budget for 1963-64. The Trust was started in 1947 by the then Indian representative in Ceylon. It provides educational facilities to the children of Indian origin in Ceylon.

A provision of Rs. 18,000 for financial assistance to educational institutions in Nepal will be continued in 1963-64.

A grant of (pound) 200 was given to Royal Asiatic Society, London in 1962-63. From 1963-64, the grant will be released by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs.

A grant of (pound) 250 was sanctioned to Y.M.C.A. Indian Stu- dents' Union and Hostel, London, during 1962-63. A similar amount has been provided in the budget for 1963-64.

Similarly, (pound) 150 representing a grant to the Indian Stu- dents' Organisations in the U.K. during 1962-63 have been repeated in the budget for 1963-64.

12. Other Grants

The Ministry also gives grants to Dr. Graham's Homes, Kalimpong Inter-State Board of Anglo-Indian Education and also for the continu- ance and new raisings of N.C.C. units in the public schools. Expendi- ture on the provision of N.C.C. units in the State schools is borne jointly by the Ministry of Defence and the State Governments; the Education Ministry's grants to the public schools for the purpose represent the State Government's matching contribution. The financial provisions for these grants are indicated in the following paragraph.

13. Financial Provisions

For the schemes mentioned in this chapter, the following table gives the provisions for 1962-63 and 1963-64 : 

        
                                          

        51.            Scheme                                              Provision    Provision
        No.                                                                  for           for
                                                                            1962-63      1963-64
        
                                                    

                                                                              Rs.          Rs.
        
        1.    National Awards for Teachers                                   65,000       65,000
        
        2.   Promotion of Gandhian Philosophy                              1,18,000       79,000
        
        3.   Educational Delegations to and from India                       70,000       26,000
        
        4.   Grant to Dr. Graham's Homes, Kalimpong7,2007,200
        
        5.   Grant to the Inter-State Board of Anglo-Indian Education         4,300        4,300
        
        6.   N.C.C. Units in Public and Residential Schools                1,90,000     2,40,000