5
(3) Strengthening of about 250 Secondary Teacher Education
Institutions (STEIs) and development of about 50 of them as
Institutions of Advanced Study in Education;
(4) Strengthening of State Councils of Educational Research and
Training; and
(5) Establishment and strengthening of Departments of Education
in Universities.
The first component is being implemented through NCERT and State
Governments/Union Territory Administrations, the next 3 components will
be implemented through State Governments and Union Territory Adminis-
trations and the last one through the UGC.
The Programme of Mass Orientation of School Teachers has been
implemented during 1986-87 and 1987-88. About 4.42 and 4.55 lakh
school teachers have been oriented respectively in the last 2 years.
Detailed guidelines for DIETs and strengthening of STEIs have been
circulated to States and Union Territories in October and December, 1987
respectively. Task Forces have been set up by them to formulate projects
in accordance' with these guidelines, and several State Governments have
been able to work out detailed projects.
CABE Committee on Elementary CABE Committee on Elementary Education was constituted under the
Education chairmanship of HRM to guide and oversee the implementation-of schemes
relating to Elementary Education including 'Operation Blackboard' and
'Non-formal Education'. The Committee includes Education Ministers of
Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tripura and
some eminent educationists. NCERT and Planning Commission are also
represented.
The first meeting of this Committee was held on 3-11-1987 under the
chairmanship of HRM. The progress of implementation of Operation
Blackboard scheme in various States was taken note of and the problems
of funds from National Rural Employment Programme (NREP)/Rural
Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) regarding construc-
tion of school buildings were also discussed.
It was agreed that the scheme has to be treated as a package in which
the provision of two class rooms by the State Government was an essential
component which would not be dispensed with. HRM desired that there
should be advance planning for future requirements specially for ensuring
funds for school buildings as first charge on NREP/RLEGP. The need for
collection of accurate data regarding requirement for implementing Ope-
ration Blackboard in each State to be made available from fifth All India-
Educational Survey currently being undertaken by NCERT was stressed.
A good deal of discussion centred around (i) linkage between ECCE
activities, and (ii) linkage between NFE and the formal school system.
Since the scheme of Early Childhood Care has been transferred to the
Department of Women and Child Development, members opined for close
coordination between the two Departments.
Non-official members of the committee were requested to select some
specific areas including NFE and do 'in depth studies' of the problems in
the field.
There was general agreement regarding active involvement of voluntary
agencies to supplement the efforts of the Government institutions for the
spread of Non-formal education.
CABE Committee on Common The National Policy on Education-1986 places great stress on equality
School System in educational opportunities and states that upto a given level, all students,
irrespective of caste, creed, location or sex have access to education of a
comparable quality. To achieve this, the government will initiate appro-
priately funded programmes. Effective measures will be taken in the direc-
tion of the common school system recommended in the 1968 policy.
6
(6 A )
( 6 B)
In order to examine the question of Common School System and to
recommend specific proposals for action in this behalf, the Union Minister
of Human Resource Development has appointed a CABE Committee on
Common School System comprising five members under the chairmanship
of Prof. D. S. Kothari. Joint Secretary (Elementary Education) is the mem-
ber Secretary of the Committee. The first meeting of the Committee was
held in the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, on 28th
January, 1988.
NAVODAYA VIDYALAYAS
In order to provide good quality modern education to the talented
children predominantly from the rural areas without regard to their family's
socio-economic conditions, the Government of India have launched a
scheme to establish Navodaya Vidyalayas (Residential Schools), on an
average, one in each district of the country during the Seventh Five Year
Plan. Eighty-three Navodaya Vidyalayas are at present functioning in
different parts of the country, One hundred and twenty six Navodaya
Vidyalayas have been sanctioned to be started during 1987-88, wherever
the State Governments have been able to provide land and other physical
facilities. The location of these 209 Vidyalayas is as shown in the map.
The year-wise phasing of Vidyalayas will be as under
(i) Total number of Navodaya Vidyalayas, to be opened (one in each district) 448
(ii) Navodaya Vidvalayas opened unto 1986-87 83
(iii) Navodaya Vidyalayas sanctioned during 1987-88 126
(iv) Total number of Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened during the rest of
the VII Plan period. Remaining
Management
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of
Education) have set up an autonomous Organisation, namely, Navodaya
Vidyalaya Samiti with its headquarters in Delhi to establish and run these
schools. The Samiti has also established six Regional Offices at Pune,
Shillong, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh and Lucknow. The Organisation
is headed by a Director who is assisted by Joint Directors, Dy. Directors,
Assistant Directors and other supporting staff. Each Regional Office is
headed by a Dy. Director and assisted by two Assistant Directors.
Admission
Admission to Navodaya Vidyalayas are made at the level of class VI.
The basis of admission is a test conducted in the concerned districts in
which children have studied in and passed class V from any of the recog-
nised schools in the district. The tests are designed and conducted by the
National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT). The
tests are conducted in more than 15 languages. The intake of students
per Vidyalaya is 80 (2 sections of 40 students each). Education in Navo-
daya Vidyalayas including boarding and lodging as well as expenses oil
uniform, text books, stationery etc. is free for all students.
Navodaya Vidyalayas are primarily for children from rural areas.
Admission of children from urban areas is restricted to a maximum of
14th. As against this reservation of at least 75% of the seats for rural
children, the actual numbers selected in 1986-87 come to 77%.
The scheme envisages that efforts will be made to secure admission of
girls at least to the extent of one-third of the total admissions to the
Schools. The admissions so far made, however, consist of 82% boys
and 18% Girls. These statistics have been indicated in the chart.
Reservation for SC/ST
The scheme envisages reservation of seats in favour of children
belonging to SC and ST in proportion to their population in the concerned
district provided that in no district such reservation will be less than the
7
national average. The analysis shows that 116 belonging to SC and 207
belonging to ST have got admission through open merit without recourse
to reservation. Otherwise the percentage of SC children admitted in
1986-87 works out to 18% as against the national average of 15 per cent
the recruitment of ST children comes to 10 per cent as against the national
average 7.5 %.
Category-wise position of selected candidates and those belonging to
SC/ST is presented in the chart.
Recruitment of Teaching & Non-Teaching Staff
Recruitment of Principals and teaching and non-teaching staff for the
Navodaya Vidyalayas is being done on deputation basis. Only those who
are working in the Central State Government institutions of private recog-
nised institutions are eligible to join the organisation on deputation. Since
the Vidyalayas are of residential character, all the teachers and students
have to live together.
Academic Improvement
Navodaya Vidyalayas will have adequate laboratories and modern aids
to education like Radio, TV and micro-computers etc. The schools will
have all the four streams i.e. Humanities, Science, Commerce and Voca-
tional. Full scope will be provided for innovation and experimentation in
Navodaya Vidyalayas. The entire educational activity will be organised
inter-alia with a view to removing the psycho-social impediments to the
development of personality and educational attainment. There will be inter-
active teaching in preference to lecture-teaching. Students will be encourag-
ed to identify and take up project activities in areas that interest them.
Construction Strategy
The Samiti has decided to construct well-designed buildings for each
Vidyalaya. The Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Rurkee has
been assigned the nodal task of construction work. Twenty eight construc-
tion agencies which include National/State Construction Corporations and
Central/State PWDs have been identified and work assigned to them. A
model design has been prepared by the CBRI which has been approved by
the Prime Minister. This design would be suitably modified for different
locations, keeping in view seismic and climatic situations.
Financial Requirement
An allocation of Rs. 500 crores was made for this scheme during the
Seventh Five Year Plan. The B. E. for 1987-88 was 69 crores which has
been revised to 59 crores. Budget estimate for 1988-80 is 151.80 crores
subject to final allocation by the Planning Commission.
Population Education Realising the potential of education in tackling the problem of growing
population, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of
India launched the National Population Education Project with effect from
April, 1980. The first cycle (1980-1985) of the project has successfully
been completed. The second cycle has been started with effect from
1st January, 1986. At present the project is being implemented in 26 States
and Union Territories covering 98.7 per cent of total population. The Natio-
nal Population Education Project which started as an educational innovation
has become an educational movement in the country. During the Seventh
Five Year Plan, this, programme has been expanded widely into adult educa-
tion, university & non-formal sectors as well. The programme has been
developed in collaboration with the United Nations Fund for Population
Activities (UNFPA) and with the active involvement of Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare which is the nodal Ministry for Population Education.
The underlying object of the programme is to create in the younger
generation adequate awareness of the population problems and realisation
8
8 A
in this regard of its responsibilities towards the nation. The main objectives
of the programme are :-
(i) to help students develop an insight into inter relationships
between Population growth and the process of social and eco-
nomic development at the individual, family, society, national
and international levels.
(ii) to make the children and teachers aware of the population
situation in the country and targets and efforts of the Govern-
ment of India in solving this problem;
(iii) to institutionalise population education in the formal educa-
tion system, including universities and non-formal education
programme at the national and state levels,
(iv) to develop desirable attitudes and behaviours in the teachers
and students as well as the community at large towards popula-
tion issues so that they make rational decisions about their
family size and the quality of life that they would like to have
During the Seventh Five Year Plan. the scope of the project is being
expanded to cover the students and teachers at the plus two stage
(Classes XI & XII) which is considered to be a very crucial target group
in view of the impending entry of the students of this stage into the re-
productive age-group. The pre-service teacher training of both elementary
and secondary stages will be given more comprehensive treatment and
additional number of in-service teachers will be oriented. Another aspect
of the project activities will cover the target group of non-formal education
learners and instructors. The financial and other inputs required by the
States for implementing the projects are provided by the Ministry of HRD
through NCERT. The NCERT provides the technical assistance. Twenty-
five States and Union Territories have developed curriculum on Popula-
tion Education for all the three stages, i.e. primary, upper primary and
secondary. Twenty States/UTs have developed lessons on Population Edu-
cation and 13 States UTs have incorporated the lessons into textbooks.
Over 75 million students (68.42 million at elementary stage and 7.28
million at secondary stage) have been exposed to the messages of popula-
tion education. Till now a total number of 9,99,571 teachers/Key persons
have been trained by the States' UTs. In addition about 5 lakh teachers
have been exposed to the Population Education Messages through Massive
Teachers Training Programmes as a follow-up action of National Policy
on Education (1986). In addition, 18,882 instructors of Non-Formal
Education have also been oriented. Three hundred and sixty seven titles
on population education themes in as many as 17 languages have been
prepared in different States/UTs.
Another important highlight of the project is supplementary reading
material on population education with emphasis on co-curricular activities
such as painting, essay, quiz, story telling competitions. About 10 States'
UTs have developed projection aids Such as films, slides transparencies.
Twenty States UTs have developed curriculum on Population Education
for Elementary Teacher Training Institutes while 14 States and UTs have
incorporated Population Education ideas for Secondary Teachers Training
Colleges. About a dozen delegations from Afro-Asian countries visited
India to share Our experiences in the field of Population Education.
The Government of India accord high priority to National Population
Education Project. This is amply clear from the inclusion of 'Promotion
of Observance of Small Family Norm' as one of the core curricular areas
indentified in the National Policy on Education, 1986. To achieve this,
the following core messages have been identified
(i) Family size and Family Welfare.
(ii) Population growth and resources.
(iii) Delayed marriages.
(iv) Population related beliefs and values.
(v) Responsible parenthood.