NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING
The National Council of Educational Research and Training is engaged in developmental programmes of research, training and extension in education. It undertakes, promotes, aids and coordinates educational research, organises pre-service and in-service training and extension and disseminates information on the latest educational techniques and practices. It sponsors or organises surveys of national importance and lays special emphasis on the investigation of immediate problems in Indian education.
2. During the year under report the Council has sponsored or itself undertaken about 30 major research projects. It has run over 65 training courses, seminars and conferences. It has held a National Convention of Extension Services.
A. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION 3. Organisation and Scope.-The National Council works through its main agency, the National Institute of Education. The NIE consists of 11 Departments and four Regional Colleges of Education. Through its departments of research, training and extension, the NIE emphasises the development of research and of technical competence implied in field work. The Regional Colleges stress, among other things, multipurpose school education and seek to train the teachers required by our schools.
3.1. The departments of the National Institute of Education are at present housed in many buildings in various parts of Delhi. With a view to facilitating better coordination in the various departments, particularly in developing training programmes, the Council has decided to set up a building for the National Institute of Education. The master plan of this building, is estimated to cost Rs. 2.74 crore, including the cost of land.
4. Documentation Centre.-It has been decided to set up a Documentation Centre, to provide research workers, teachers and educational administrators with such services as up-to-date information on research work, a medium to make known their researches outside, a comprehensive summary of literature in books and articles to help to improve understanding of existing problems of education, and reference material in educational research. The Centre is estimated to cost Rs. 32.75 lakh. Action to set it up will be initiated in 1966-67.
5. Educational Survey Unit.-To apprise educational planners and administrators of the position of education in the States and Union Territories in India, the Union Ministry of Education decided to conduct a Second
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Educational Survey. (The First Educational Survey was conducted in 1957.) This task was entrusted to the National Council that, in turn, set up a unit called the Educational Survey Unit. The Unit started functioning from 1st September, 1965, and has planned its surveys under three different phases.
5.1. Under the first phase, which is in progress, it is proposed : (a) to revise the data of the First Educational Survey in terms of the distribution and the size of habitation; (b) to delimit the school areas of the existing primary, middle and high/higher secondary schools; and (c) to collect data required for the preparation of district development plans for education. The present survey is extended also to urban areas. An intensive training programme was held at Poona from 8th November, 1965 to 20th November, 1965 for all the State Survey Officers responsible for conducting the survey in their respective States.
5.2. The second phase of the survey envisages an intensive study of 102 community development blocks all over the country for the existing conditions of educational institutions-primary, middle and secondary schools, colleges, engineering institutions, at degree and diploma levels and other institutions (that may be decided later)-for staff, their qualifications, experience and age, enrolment and wastage, physical facilities in buildings, libraries and equipment.
5.3. In the third phase, it is proposed to study a few industrially developing areas in manpower requirements, and educational needs and demands.
6. School Buildings Design Unit.-School buildings at present are generally unsatisfactory, because in many cases they lack an organised and technical approach and design, proper use of materials, economics, etc. It has, therefore, been decided to establish a School Buildings Design Unit to advise on all aspects of design, economics and construction of school buildings, to evolve low-cost and easy-to-build models and designs, to carry out developmental research in this field on a continuing basis and to serve as a clearing house of technical information on school buildings. Action to establish the Unit will be taken in 1966-67.
7. Research Fellowships.-A main function of the National Council is to promote research by training research workers in various branches of education. For this purpose, the Council has instituted a scheme to award research fellowships-junior fellowships of the value of Rs. 300 p.m. and senior fellowships of Rs. 500 p.m. The junior fellowships will be awarded for research at the post-M.Ed. stage and senior fellowships at postdoctoral stage. During 1966-67, it is proposed to award 15 senior fellowship and 60 junior fellowships.
8. Central Science Workshop.-Further progress in organising the Workshop to undertake fabrication of prototype and experimental version of the apparatus for teaching has been made. Some essential machine tools have been installed and have started working in the newly completed buildings at the NIE campus. Fabrication of items of experimental equipment is
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in progress. Preparation to organise a big capacity in men and materials for fabricating a full range of teaching equipment meant for trials in Delhi schools, under the Unesco science teaching project, has made satisfactory progress. Steps have also been taken to organise a production unit for the large-scale production of approved items of teaching equipment.
9. Central Examination Unit.-Important studies and experiments undertaken during the year included the try-out of improved procedures for practical examinations in collaboration with the Rajasthan Board of Higher Secondary Examination; a try-out of oral examination procedures in collaboration with the Delhi Directorate of Education and the Central Board of Secondary Education; the study of examination systems at different levels; an analysis of the Rajasthan Board results, following the introduction of improved question papers in three core subjects of the Rajasthan Board of the Higher Secondary Examination. The Central Test Pool, that is engaged in the development of test material, was augmented by the inclusion of diagnostic tests. An all-India workshop for the development of test material was held in January, 1966.
B. RESEARCH 2
10. NIE-HEW Research Projects.-Under the International Coopera- tive Research Programme of the U.S. Office of Education (Health, Education and Welfare), the National Council has undertaken to carry out nine research projects on significant subjects in education. The projects being worked out in different departments of the NIE are : (i) A survey of Secondary schools in India to locate the areas where the secondary education programme needs to be strengthened; (ii) Achievement motive in high schools and training for it to see the effect of training teachers on the level of achievement motivation in boys; (iii) Scholastic aptitude test in Hindi for grades VIII and XI to measure their scholastic aptitude for higher studies; (iv) Evaluative criteria for inspection and supervision of secondary schools to survey and analyse the current inspection and supervision practices and to develop a set of evaluative criteria; (v) Wastage and stagnation in primary and middle schools in India to ascertain their extent and to analyse the causes; (vi) Survey of Achievement in mathematics at three levels of school education through the tests of mathematics in all the languages of the country; (vii) A study in costs of education in India for the period 1951-61 to study the growth of educational expenditure in India during the period 1951-61 in a comprehensive fashion and to suggest ways and means to remove disparities; (viii) Identification and incidence of talents in elementary and secondary schools through the tests measuring various factors and aptitudes, verbal, numerical, scientific; and (ix) Curri- culum and teaching of general mathematics in higher secondary schools (The project has been completed and a report on it is likely to be completed by the end of February, 1966).
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11. Other Research Projects.-In addition to the HEW projects, the National Institute of Education has a large number of research projects that it has continued to conduct either independently or in collaboration with other agencies in India. The Council has also undertaken major research projects to assist the Education Commission in its task.
11.1. Curriculum Projects.-At the request of the Education Commission, the Department of Curriculum, Methods and Textbooks in collaboration with the Department of Science Education and the National Institute of Basic Education developed a comprehensive curriculum for school classes and sent the documents to the Commission.
11.2. Reading Projects.-Two readers- a Primer and Book I-are now under print. With the readers, two teachers' manual and two workbooks are also in press. In addition, two studies, one on vocabulary and the other on concepts, have been completed.
11.3. A Study of Elementary School Teachers.-This has been under- taken on behalf of the Education Commission. A report on teachers working in schools situated in rural areas is complete.
11.4. A Comparative Study of the B.Ed. Syllabus Prescribed by Different Universities.-This study will enable universities to benefit by the experience of other universities and so modify, where useful, their own syllabuses.
11.5. Study of Administrative Organisation.-A study of administrative organisations of educational systems in different States has been undertaken by the Department of Educational Administration. The investigation will cover the administrative framework at headquarters, at divisional and district levels, the constitution and functions of advisory and statutory bodies, financing educational development programmes under the Five-Year Plans and service conditions of teachers.
11.6. Developmental Norms of Indian Children between 2 1/2 and 5 Years of Age.-This is a collaborative project between the Department of Psychological Foundations and the professors of education and psychology in Madras, Hyderabad, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, and Calcutta. This is the first careful study in India on a large scale and is expected to reveal how Indian children develop. The project has also set the pattern of cooperative research in education.
11.7. Research and Programmed Learning.-The objective here is to compare the method of programmed learning with the conventional method used in our schools.
11.8. The National Institute of Basic Education has conducted an intensive study with a view to planning elementary teacher education in Rajasthan and West Bengal.
11.9. A study of the syllabuses of agriculture as a craft in Basic training schools has been undertaken by the National Institute, of Basic Education, with a view to evolving a model syllabus.
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11.10. The National Fundamental Education Centre has undertaken research on the growth of literacy in India. This has been done on behalf of the Education Commission.
11.11. The Department of Science Education has produced a draft Syllabus of science for elementary classes I to IV, and in individual subjects (physics, chemistry, and biology for classes V to X).
12. The Central Institute of Education.-The Central Institute of Education under the NCERT has arrangements for the B.Ed., M.Ed. and Ph.D. courses. During the year under report, 122 students passed B.Ed. and 18 candidates M.Ed. degree courses. One candidate was awarded the Ph. D. degree by the Delhi University.
12.1. The Council sanctioned the payment of scholarships of Rs. 200 to all M.Ed. students of the CIE and also awarded scholarships of the value of Rs. 150 and Rs, 100 to 50 per cent of the students on the rolls, of the B.Ed. classes, during the current year.
12.2. For the first time, NCERT has sanctioned a scheme of a two- year M. Ed. course on a part-time basis. This facility has been provided for in-service teachers and administrators, who wish to improve their qualifications.
12.3. The Council has also sanctioned a scheme to start a B. Ed. Correspondence Course. All arrangements for the course are complete and it was inaugurated on 31st January, 1966.
13. Regional Colleges of Education.-The three Colleges at Ajmer, Bhubaneswar and Mysore started their first sessions from 1963-64 and the fourth at Bhopal started its first session from 1964-65. The first batch of students will be out in 1967 at Ajmer and Bhubaneswar. The output of teachers is todate 470 in the one-year course.
13.1. The Courses.-During the academic session 1965-66, the following were added to existing courses in various colleges : (a) Mysore : two four-year integrated courses, one each in technology and science and a one year course in home science; (b) Bhopal : a four- year integrated course in technology and a one-year course in fine arts,
13.2. Four-Year Courses in Commerce, Agriculture and English.-At its last meeting the Governing Body of the NCERT decided that the colleges should start four-year courses in commerce, agriculture and English, in addition to the two four-year courses in science and technology, already started. Meetings of the working groups were held to draft syllabuses for the four-year courses in commerce, agriculture and English. The college at Mysore will start the four-year course in commerce; the college at Ajmer in agriculture; and that at Bhubaneswar the four-year course in English from the next academic session.
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13.3. Summer School-cum-Correspondence Courses.-A scheme of summer school-cum-correspondence courses has been approved for imple- mentation by the four Regional Colleges from May 1966 to clear the backlog of untrained teachers. Each college will initially admit 200 students.
14. The Department of Teacher Education has conducted short courses for extension workers of the State Institutes of Education, and has run a short training course to train college lecturers selected as investigators for conducting on-the-spot studies connected with the Second National Survey of Secondary Teacher Education.
15. The Department of Educational Administration has planned an in-service training programme for educational administrators. As part of this, a training programme for principals of secondary teachers colleges of the Northern Zone i.e. Jammu and Kashmir, the Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, was organized in June, 1965.
16. The Department of Psychological Foundations has conducted courses in research methodology, education and vocational guidance, early childhood education and short courses for lecturers in training colleges and departments of psychology.
17. The National Fundamental Education Centre has organized a five-month training course for ten district officers in charge of social education and three 12-day training courses for adult literacy instructors of the Indo-Tibetan Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It has also conducted seminars for the provision of reading materials for neo-literates in the organization of library service, as well as a national seminar on tribal education in India.
17.1. In order to develop "operational" norms of education for adults based on the establishment of a network of "polyvalent centres" to serve community development block and industrial centres, an agreement was signed between the Government of India, Ministry of Education, and UNESCO to set up a Central Adult Education Organisation as part of the National Fundamental Education Centre. Under this agreement, the services of experts will be made available to the National Fundamental Education Centre.
18. The National Institute of Basic Education has conducted a one-week conference of principals of Basic training colleges and officers-in-charge of Basic education in the States. It has also run a national workshop for craft educators of teachers-training institutions.
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19. The Department of Science Education has run 49 summer institutes for secondary school teachers. These were conducted in association with the University Grants Commission and the United States Agency for International Development. Of the 49, seven were in biology, 13 in chemistry, 13 in physics and 16 in mathematics. Nearly 2,000 secondary school teachers were trained at these institutes in new methods of teaching science to school children.
19.1. One hundred and sixty-one new schools have been selected by the Science Education Department of the NIE, for grants to establish science clubs in their schools during the past year.
19.2. The Science Talent Search Scheme examination for 1965 was conducted with a total of 6,395 candidates of whom 325 students were selected for the award of scholarships and another 190 for the award of certificates of merit. As part of the follow-up programme, five summer schools of one-month's duration were held in May, 1965 at Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Meerut, Hyderabad and Poona.
19.3. Under the UNESCO Programme of Assistance a Planning Mission visited India to study programmes of science and mathematics education in secondary schools and submitted a report. A second team of experts is at present working with the Science Department to implement the recommendations of the first commission.
20. The Directorate of Extension Programmes for Secondary Education has taken up the major programme of strengthening secondary school libraries by providing assistance to the State Departments. In order to encourage enterprising teachers to make their educational experiences and experiments widely known, a Programme of Seminar Readings, initiated in 1962-63, has been regularly conducted and the screening of papers for 1964-65 has been completed. Training courses for coordinators of extension services departments are an important part of DEPSE's training work. A training course was planned to train 50 coordinators.
21. The Central Examination Unit organised the first two-month training course on educational evaluation in October-December, 1965. It also organised a two-week training course-cum-workshop for lecturers of the training colleges of Maharashtra.
22. Field Units.-With expansion in the programmes of NCERT, field and research programmes in the departments of NIE have considerably increased in the recent past. In research projects of an all-India character, data need to be collected from the States. At present, there is no machinery in the State through which the departments of NIE can implement field
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programmes efficiently and swiftly. In view of this, it has been decided to establish 20 field units--one each in the 16 major States and three Union Territories of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur and one in DEPSE itself to develop and try out new techniques in educational extension. Each unit is expected to cost Rs. 1.50 lakh recurring per annum and Rs. 1.50 lakh non-recurring for initial equipment. A small beginning will be made in 1966-67.
22.1. A major function of DEPSE is to coordinate, guide and supervise the work of extension services departments located in secondary training colleges. At present, there are 83 extension services centres and 23 units attached to the secondary training colleges in India. Besides, an Extension Research Centre has been established in DEPSE, with a view to taking tip studies, investigations and pilot projects to improve the. quality of work in educational extension.
22.2. In primary education, 15 more extension services centres were opened in the State Institutes of Education.
23. The National Convention on Educational Extension.-On the eve of the completion of ten years of organised systematic in-service education of teachers in India, a four-day National Convention on Educational Extension was held at Delhi from December 27 to 30, 1965. About 200 delegates from all over the country, representing the secondary and primary extension services departments, State institutes of education, State evaluation units, State departments of education and other agencies connected with extension work, attended. The main purpose of the Convention was to discuss the strength and weakness of educational extension, and to find ways to improve programmes and activities of extension services departments in India. The programme also included a discussion on "A brief report of the assessment of 43 extension services departments".
24. Examination Reforms.-The most significant aspect of the Central Examination Unit's work with Boards of Secondary Education and other public examination agencies has been that during 1965-66 some agencies have begun introducing examination reforms into their question papers and scoring procedures in collaboration with the Unit. The Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan introduced an improved type of examinations in the core subjects of the secondary school certificate and higher secondary (Part I) examinations. The Boards in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have taken similar steps.
24.1. As preparatory steps towards this, the Unit organised seven workshops in six States, training 282 paper-setters for the higher secondary examinations, two workshops training 120 paper- setters for the middle school examinations and two workshops training 130 paper-setters for the cooperative home examination project of 20 Delhi schools.
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25. Seminars.-A two-day seminar was conducted on 24th and 25th September, 1965 by the National Institute of Audio-Visual Education to acquaint teachers with the use of audio-visual aids for teaching.
25.1. A seminar on audio aids for the teaching of English was organised from 23rd to 25th November, 1965 to stress the importance of teaching correct English and the part audio aids could play in doing so.
26. Graphic Charts and Filmstrips.-The Institute produced emergency packets during the month of September-October, 1965--the period of confrontation with Pakistan. Seventeen charts on biology have been developed and are being evaluated for mass production. Besides these, a number of charts and posters for package entitled "A.V. Posters" have been brought out to highlight audiovisual concepts and techniques for teacher education.
26.1. Filmstrips were produced on a wide range of scientific topics like : (i) Expansion of Solids, (ii) Archimedes' Principles, (iii) Pascal's Law, (iv) Simple Machine 1, (v) Velocity and Acceleration, (vi) Pulleys, (vii) Expansion of Liquids and Gases, and (viii) Pollination.
26.2. The programme for the production of films through the Films Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting progressed. Some of the films, among others like "Land Birds"; "Circules (Mathematicals)"; "Guidance Services in Schools" and "Science Talent Search Scheme" have been completed and released.
27. Exhibition.-An exhibition of audio-visual materials was organised by the Institute on the occasion of the Conference of Asian Ministers of Education at Bangkok Thailand from 22nd to 29th November, 1965.
27.1. The Exhibition entitled "The Nehru Legend" depicting Nehru's life went round the Regional Colleges of Education at Mysore, Ajmer and Bhopal. Another exhibition. received from the Government of the USSR under the Cultural Exchange Programme of the Ministry of Education, and dealing with educational development in that country was sent to various universities in India.
28. Model Textbooks.-During the year under report, the National Council continues to prepare and bring out model textbooks in different subjects at the school level of education. For this purpose, the Central Committee for Educational Literature set up panels and editorial boards
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for 13 school subjects and teacher training. These textbooks are proposed to be brought out in English and Hindi and translated into regional languages by the State Governments. In addition, and in collaboration with the Central Institute of English, Hyderabad, the Council is bringing but textbooks in English at school level.
28.1. The textbooks brought out todate include : (1) Three out of the seven sections of the biology textbooks for higher secondary schools, and (2) Two books in Hindi-Kavya Sankalan and Gadya Sankalan. All these books have been prescribed with effect from 1965- 66 by the Central Board of Secondary Education for schools affiliated to it. While the books on physical geography, practical geography, elements of electrical engineering, engineering and drawing are under print and are expected to be out in 1966-67, those in commerce and other fields are at varying stages of preparation and production,
29. Programmes.-The publication programme of the National Council of Educational Research and Training includes textbooks and instructional materials, yearbooks, research monographs, brochures, reports, besides low-cost Indian editions of American titles.
29.1. Reprints of Foreign Publications.-An important project undertaken this year was reprinting Indian editions of 16 titles originally published by the School Mathematics Study Group of the U.S.A. These, consist of eight students texts-four in mathematics, two in algebra and two in chemistry and eight accompanying teachers manuals. These evaluation brochures published by the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, were also published as low- cost Indian editions.
29.2. Year books.-A revised edition of the First Yearbook of Education was undertaken. Part I of the Yearbook, relating to the progress of education at the Centre and in Union Territories, has been published, Part II, devoted to progress of education in the States, is in press. The Third and Fourth Yearbooks, that are being finalised, are devoted to educational research and secondary education respectively, and are expected to be published in 1966.
29.3. Periodicals.-The Council has decided to rationalise its journals and periodicals. Of the seven journals brought out a present, it has been decided to continue to publish "School Science" as an independent periodical, and to amalgamate the other six journals into one monthly journal entitled, "Journal of the National Institute of Education". The first issue of the combined journal will appear in July, 1966. Another periodical, that is a half-yearly research journal of high quality-'Indian Educational Review'--is expected to appear in Spring, 1966.
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29.4. List.-Publications brought out by the Council and its Units include textbooks, books on educational research and books and pamphlets on training, extension, educational documentation, administration, finance and other aspects of immediate educational importance to India. The National Council has also made a beginning in the production of supplementary reading for secondary schools. A list of publications brought out by the NCERTS is given in Annexure V.
Provision for 1965-66 Provision
Sl. for 1966-
No. Scheme Original Revised 67
(Rs. In thousand) (Rs. in
Thousand)
1. National Council of Educational Research and
Training-National Institute of Education 4,317 4,880 5,497
2. Directorate of Extension Programmes for Secon-
dary Education 550 525 260
3. Department of Educational Administration 160 181 60
4. National Institute of Audio-Visual Education 600 510 180
5. National Institute of Basic Education 165 192 25
6. National Fundamental Education Centre 80 54 300
7. Regional Colleges of Education 8,000 8,346 4,500
8. Science Education 2,295 1,281 1,125
9. Department of Curriculum, Methods and Text-
books 413 462 300
10. Department of Psychological Foundations 602 594 120
11. Teacher Education 180 165
12. Educational Survey 125 170
13. Department of Foundations of Education 68 27 -
14. Central Institute of Education 130 178
15. Grants-in-aid
i. Research projects 500 424
ii. Extension projects etc. 2,640 2,375
iii. Science Clubs, fairs etc. 430 430 3,150
iv. Dev. of Norms 319
16. Documentation Centre 50
17. School Design 50
Total 21,000 21,000 15,965