(x)
Technical Education The Development of Technical Education has been regarded as an area
of high priority in economic planning. Therefore, in the Sixth Five-Year
Plan of Technical Education major emphasis has been on (a) consolidation,
(b) optimum utilisation of existing facilities, (c) expansion of facilities in
areas where weaknesses exist, (a) creation of infrastructure in areas of
emerging technologies vital for the development of country, (e) improvement
of quality and standards of education and (1) furtherance of national efforts
to develop and apply science, and technology as an instrument of country's
socioeconomic progress. In order to meet the latest challenges, besides
giving due emphasis to the continuing programmes, new Schemes of (a)
National Manpower Information System, (b) Advanced Technician Course,
(c) Industry Oriented Courses, (d) Learning Resource Centres, (e) Institu-
tional Net-work Scheme, (f) Strengthening/Modernisation of Laboratories
and Workshops, (g) Special Model Projects on Correspondence Courses and
(h) Development of self-reliance and product development etc. have been
initiated.
Adult Education The Adult Education Programme which is included in the New Twenty-
Point Economic Programme and the Minimum Needs Programme of the
Sixth Five Year Plan continued to be accorded a high priority in the educa-
tional planning of the Government. The Government have laid down some
strategies for achieving the cent percent coverage of adult illiterates in the
age-group 15-35 as envisaged in the 6th Five Year Plan. Accordingly
in the action planning of the Government emphasis was laid on the coverage
of target group of women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other
weaker sections of the society. The University Grants Commission have
also formulated their plans for larger participation of students in the pro-
gramme. The voluntary organisations which have no communal leanings
are being given the necessary financial support of, carrying out their pro-
grammes in the field of adult education. The meeting of the National Board
of Adult Education which is an apex body for advising the Government on
formulation of policies on all matters relating to adult education and in
coordination of their implementation was convened in November, 1983
and action has already been started on the suggestions made by the Board
for better and effective implementation of the Programme. As on 30-9-83
nearly 46 lakhs adult illiterates were enrolled. It is expected that by the
end of the current financial year the coverage of 60 lakhs will be achieved.
Scholarships The Ministry continued to implement various schemes in National and
External Scholarships. The over-riding consideration has been to enable
brilliant students to pursue their studies both at the school level and at the
higher level irrespective of their economic disadvantage. The other conside-
ration has been to bring about greater opportunities of educational equalisa-
tion with particular reference to weaker sections and potential talents in
rural areas. The Ministry also continued to provide scholarship facilities
for higher and specialised education to nationals of other countries.
Book Promotion The efforts of the Ministry in the field of Book Promotion are aimed
at producing good literature at moderate prices, encouraging writers and
inculcating and popularising the reading habit among the people in both
urban and rural areas. the National Book Trust continued to organise
and participate in book-fair/exhibitions at national and international levels
to foster book-mindedness and to promote the export of Indian books. The
important landmarks of the activities of the Trust during the year were
the National Children's Book Fair, Calcutta, November 11-14, 1983 and
the VI World Book Fair, New Delhi, February 4-14, 1984. The closing
of the Silver Jubilee year of the Trust was marked by an exhibition entitled
"25 Years of NBT" from 2nd to 4th August, 1983 in New Delhi. Other
important programmes of the Trust including Aadan Pradan and Nehru Bal
Pustakalaya, which are mainly for the promotion of national integration,
and the Rural Publishing Programme continued to make good progress. A
significant event of note was the revival of the National Book Development
Council, (earlier known as the National Book Development Board which
functioned from 1967 to 1974), to lay down guidelines for the development
of the Indian Book industry in the context of the overall requirements of
the country. The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 1983 was enacted by
Parliament during the Monsoon Session which ended on 26th August, 1983.
The Copyright Office registered (up to 30th November, 1983) 5307 works.
(xi)
The policy of the Government of India is to encourage the development
Languages of all Indian languages including classical, modern and tribal. The activities
and programmes undertaken during the year under report were intended to
achieve the desired objectives with the emphasis on training of teachers in
the scheme of the three-language formula and the production of University
level textbooks with a view to media switch over from English to regional
languages. Without intending to impose Hindi in any form the facilities
for the teaching of Hindi in Non-Hindi speaking States were continued
through financial assistance for the appointment of Hindi teachers in their
schools; assistance for establishing Hindi Teachers Training Colleges; award
of scholarships to students in these States for the study of Hindi beyond the
matriculation stage; financial assistance to voluntary Hindi organisations to
enable, them to hold Hindi teaching classes; organisation of correspondence
courses for teaching Hindi; conducting research on the methodology of its
teaching and providing Hindi books to various organisations. For promo-
tion and development of tribal, classical and modern Indian languages, a
number of schemes for preparation/publication of books, dictionaries,
research and instructional material, training of teachers etc. are being imple-
mented by this Ministry through various subordinate offices and autonomous
organisations. Twenty calligraphy centres in various parts of India are in
operation. A separate scheme for setting up a calligraphy centre exclusively
for women is under formulation. Under the Indo-Foreign Cultural Exchange
Programmes, German-Hindi and Hindi-German; Czech-Hindi and Hindi-
Czech; Hungarian-Hindi and Hindi-Hungarian dictionaries/conversational
guides are also being prepared by the Central Hindi Directorate, Now Delhi.
Under the scheme of 'Propagation of Hindi Abroad' foreign students are
provided facilities for studying Hindi on Government of India scholarship.
Hindi teachers are deputed in foreign countries and Hindi books are distri-
buted through our Embassies/Missions abroad. Grant-in-aid to various
voluntary organisations were also provided for promotion and development
of all Indian languages.
Unesco India continued to Play a leading role, in matters relating to UNESCO
and participated in many important international conferences and meetings
organised under the auspices of UNESCO.
The Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO held
meetings of its five Sub-Commissions in July-August, 1983. In addition,
the Seventeenth Conference of the Indian National Commission for Co-
operation with UNESCO was held in New Delhi on September 16, 1983.
The conference was presided over by Smt. Sheila Kaul, Minister of State for
Education, Culture and Social Welfare, in her capacity as the President of
the Commission.
A five-member delegation led by Smt. Sheila Kaul, Minister of State for
Education, Culture and Social Welfare, participated in the First Conference
of Ministers of Education and Culture of NAM and other Developing
Countries held from September 24 to 28, 1983 at Pyongyang, Democratic
People's Republic of Korea.
A high-level delegation led by Smt. Sheila Kaul, Minister of State for
Education, Culture and Social Welfare, participated in the First Conference
of the General Conference of UNESCO held in Paris from October 25 to
November 26, 1983 to discuss and approve UNESCO's Draft Programme
and Budget for 1984-85.
In Conclusion Education is essentially a threefold process of imparting information
training in skills and cultivation of values. It is the aim of the Government
to intensify its efforts in this direction. The programmes enumerated have
effectively taken off the ground and bid fair to expand and prove socially
and educationally effective in the years ahead.