EDUCATION
Education, broadly perceived as a seamless continum of life long learning, is essential for human resource development at every age level. In a package of developmental inputs available to the com- munity, education should form an effective means to improve the status and character of living patterns of the people, help intellectual, social and emotional development of the individuals and to enable them to meet their basic needs of daily life. The long range goal of educational planning is then to make available diverse net-works of facilities and programmes for education, combining formal and non- formal modes of learning. It should enable all citizens to acquire literacy, numeracy, computational skills. basic understanding of the surrounding world and functional skills of relevance to daily life and to local environment. The emphasis in our planning efforts would thus shift from provision of inputs and expansion of facilities in general terms to results to be achieved and tasks to be performed with specific reference to target groups of population, particularly the socially disadvantaged.
21.2 Programmes of human resource development have a four-fold perspective; (i) to prepare individuals for assuming their role as responsible citizens; (ii) to develop in them scientific outlook, awareness of their rights and responsibilities as well as a con- sciousness of the processes of development, (iii) to sensitise them to ethical, social and cultural values which go to make an enlightened nation; and (iv) to impart to them knowledge, skills and attitudes which would enable them to contribute to the productive programmes in the national development. In the realisation of this, educational system and programmes have to be directed towards a set of goals and tasks. Among these, would be the following :
(i) to guarantee to all equality of opportunity for education for improving the quality of life and their participation in the tasks of promoting the general well-being of the society;
(ii) to afford to all young people and adults, irrespective of age, the means for ample self-fulfilment within the framework of harmonious development which reflects the needs of the community to which they belong;
(iii) to provide for a continuous process of life-long education for physical, intellectual and cultural development of people and for inculcating in them capabilities to cope with and influence social change;
(iv) to establish dynamic and beneficial linkages between education, employment and development with due regard for the economic and social aims of the community;
(v) to promote respect for, and belief in values of national integration, secularism, democracy and dignity of labour;
(vi) to sensitise academic communities to the problems of poverty, illiteracy and environmental degradation through extension services and organised participation in poverty reduction and environment improvement programmes;
(vii) to facilitate development, mobilisation, or- ganisation and utilisation of the youth to involve and participate in the process of national development; and
(viii) to support the growth of arts, music, poetry, dance, and drama, including folk art, as instruments of culture, education and national integration.
21.3 The approach to achieve these objectives will be characterised by flexibility and diversity to suit varying needs and circumstances and by a stress on coordination of efforts, resources and programmes of the different sectors and agencies. The need to maintain high quality of education, aiming at academic excellence, and its relevance to national development objectives would be articulated throughout the system.
REVIEW 21.4 Despite a network of over 6.5 lakhs schools and colleges, the employment of over 3 million teachers and an annual budget of the order of Rs. 3000
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crores, it has not been possible so far the education system to achieve the goal of universal education of all children upto the age of 14 years as enshrined in the Directive Principles of the Constitution. The total enrolment in elementary education has increased from 223 lakhs in classes I-VIII in 1950-51 to around 905 lakhs during 1979-80. Nevertheless, for every three children enrolled in primary and middle schools, one other eligible child is left behind. Over 80 per cent of the children not enrolled so far are confined to a dozen States who have not been in a position to allocate the necessary economic resources to achieve the goal of universalisation according to the present system of elementary education.
21.5 There are also socially disadvantaged groups, such as the economically poor, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, whose children are on the periphery of the schooling system. About 38 per cent of the scheduled caste children (20 per cent of the boys and 56 per cent of the girls) and 56 per cent of the scheduled tribe children (49 per cent of the boys and 70 per cent of the girls) are yet to receive elementary education. As revealed by the Fourth Educational Survey, the non-availability of schools is not a major constraint in this regard. But socioeconomic compulsions in families, particularly in rural areas and among the weaker sections, not-too-relevant nature of curricular programmes and lack of essential facilities in schools seem to be some of the more important factors contributing to the slow progress. Even the existing facilities for elementary education are not optimally utilised, overaged and underaged children account for around 20 per cent of the enrolment and nearly 64 per cent of the children who are enrolled in class I, drop out by the time they complete class V. This represents economic loss in resource utilisa- tion, educational inefficiency and low productivity, not to mention the long-term social loss to the individual child and the family on account of the incomplete development of the former's educational career.
21.6 In the areas of secondary and higher education, facilities have been expanded during the last three decades. Nonetheless, the reforms for qualitative improvement and system reorganisation, as envisaged in the National Policy on Education (1968), are yet to be completed effectively. This is particularly so for the integration of practical aspects in the educational programmes and for planned growth of programmes directed towards gainful employment to be implemented in close cooperation with all the developmental agencies. Inter-sectoral linkages are yet to be brought about and coordination established between work places, schools and development activities for fostering appropriate manpower development programmes.
This has resulted, among other things, in an undesirable growth of facilities for general higher education, specially at the undergraduate stage in arts, commerce and humanities, and in the consequent increase in incidence of unemployment among the educated. It has also not been possible to evolve systems approach to educational planning and development aiming, inter-alia, at flexibility and mobility among different types and levels of education and at maximisation of benefits from educational investment for rapid progress in the different sectors of national economy. This has undermined the role and capability of the higher education system to promote and maintain excellence and high standards in academic pro- grammes, encourage pure scholarship and extend the frontiers of knowledge as well as to participate in national S&T activities and develop national scientific and technical manpower.
APPROACH 21.7 It may, no doubt, be necessary to create additional infrastructure to ensure the future growth of the educational system but this would have to be appropriate to the needs of, and based on a careful scrutiny in, specific areas and sectors and for identified target groups, particularly those which are in the danger of getting left behind because of their special circumstances. The existing institutions and programmes need to be consolidated and put to optimum use to serve the goals of development in the community as a whole. Provision of suitable educational facilities in backward areas and for the deprived groups and promotion of non-formal programmes at all levels incorporating plurality of models and diversity of patterns are equally important. The organisation of new facilities must also be linked to the actual needs and made relevant to local environment and learning requirements, taking note of the specific characteristics of the prospective beneficiaries.
21.8 The importance of educational planning and management at all levels has to be emphasised in this context and capabilities built for these tasks. Educational planning must effectively be coordinated with manpower planning at all stages and aspects of skill development. Adequate attention has to be given to optimisation of benefits from the existing investments and facilities. The failure to achieve a larger measure of equalisation of educational opportunities, both in regard to access and achievement, is an aspect which requires closer attention. Concerted efforts are called for to reach the socially handicapped and economically weaker sections of the society such as, women, scheduled castes. scheduled tribes, landless labourers etc. The imbalances which have developed in the system between the rich and urban level on the one hand and the poor and rural level on the other have to be rectified so that enrolment rates in elementary education of the socially deprived groups and the general population are brought on par at least by the end of the Sixth Plan. It is essential also to transform the system of education qualitatively in terms of its value content, standards and relevance to life. The role of education to promote humanistic outlook, sense of brotherhood and a commitment to ethical and cultural values needs to be re-emphasised.
21.9 The importance of educational technology has to be adequately provided for greater efficiency and effectiveness and wider reach of the educational
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programmes. This would be made possible with the launching of the INSAT. The possibility of using modern technology to take education, especially at the elementary stage, to all sections of population in a shorter frame of time has to be capitalised for achieving minimum basic education of all people within a decade. All these will require the strengthening, reorientation and integration of non-formal and formal programmes of educational development and bringing about inter- sectoral and inter-agency coordination at different levels for furtherance of specific aims of human resource development.
PROGRAMMES
Early Childhood Education 21.10 From the stand point of priorities within the field of education, importance should be attached, in terms of coverage, to the young child, children in the school going age-groups and those among the socially under-privileged groups. Attention should be paid to all young children during their crucial development years upto 5 years. This early childhood stage is the period of maximum learning and intellectual development of the child and hence of great potential educational significance. The present pre-school child care programmes ate limited to the distribution of food supplements and routine health cover; these contribute very little to the personality development of the child, especially to its intellectual, social and emotional growth. The concept of learning and development through play and joyful activities should be articulated, across age-group, through an all round programme which should be comprehensive in scope, integrated in nature and reinforced over longtime. Organisation of a creche for children in the 0-3 age-group and/or a balwadi for 3-6 age group, with provision for educational toys, play equipment, learning materials and books for children's reading etc., would be appropriate for this purpose. The educational component of such a package of services would no doubt be significant.
21.11 The approach in the Sixth Plan is characterised by a concern for the all round development of children, especially those from underprivileged sections and poverty groups who may suffer serious consequences in the future because of negligence at the present stage of life. Such a preparatory programme would, additionally, contribute, towards universalisation of enrolment and retention of children in elementary education in due course. The programme is en- visaged initially to serve the needs of children in the rural and the urban slum areas, based on economic means and social and educational backwardness of the population groups. The target for the Sixth Plan would be at least one early childhood education centre in every community development block. It would be advantageous to develop these centres as adjuncts to village primary schools wherever possible. The resources and inputs of programmes under health, nutrition, social welfare, integrated rural development and education, which are presently devoted to child, family and community welfare would be coordinated for this purpose , with flexibility and freedom built in by allowing various agencies to undertake programmes within a common framework. The services of suitable persons from the community, especially women and the educated unemployed youth, could be used to support them. Necessary pre-deployment training of the workers in the field would be arranged on a selective basis through existing teacher training institutions. The approach at this stage of education would be entirely non-formal and stress laid on the inculcation of sense perception among the children, through innovative use of locally available resources in the community and the environment. The National Council of Educational Research and Training, in collaboration with similar agencies in the States would help in developing the learning materials and aids both for teacher training and for programme implementation.
Elementary Education 21.12 It is proposed that the programme of universalisation of elementary education would be given serious consideration, especially in the educationally backward States and for reaching the socially disadvantaged who constitute the bulk of the non-attending children and of the drop-outs. The Sixth Plan assigns the highest priority to this programme which would continue to be a part of the minimum needs programme. While many States have reached 100 per cent enrolment of boys at the primary stage (classes I-V), some are lagging in respect of boys and many in regard to girls. Although the objective is to attain the universalisation upto the age of 14, operationally a strategy needs to be worked out to achieve this is in two distinct stages over a ten year period. Accordingly, the approach in the Sixth Plan is for all the States, which are yet to universalise the primary education, to reach universalisation of primary education (classes I- V), upto the age of 11 years, in the next five years, and, in case of other States, to achieve a substantial increase in the enrolment at the middle stage (classes VI-VIII of children upto 14 years so as to move towards the goal as fast as possible.
21.13 The approach to universalisation of elementary education will cover (i) intensified use of existing facilities, including the adjustment of schooling hours, which would not be more than 3 hours a day according to local conditions, (ii) provision of new facilities which would be economically viable and educationally relevant, and (iii) promotion of non-formal system of learning. Programmes for non- formal learning would be organised and oriented towards target groups and decentralised in regard to their contents, course duration, place and hours of learning and pattern of instructions. However, there would be a basic minimum package of inputs identified by the public educational authorities which would have correspondence to the formal system of education. In both formal and non-formal systems, the emphasis would be on the retention of students and effective delivery of services to children. It is also essential to ensure appropriate incentives like free midday
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meals, supply of uniforms and learning materials, and compensation to the families of scheduled caste girls towards the opportunity cost involved. Efforts should be made by the State Governments to introduce measures with a view to eliminate wastage and reduce drop- out in elementary education.
21.14 As part of the efforts to retain children and promote the internal efficiency of the system as well as achieve equalisation of educational opportunities, measures for improvement in the quality of education becomes very important. The curriculum would be developed with the goal of imparting necessary levels of literacy, numeracy, comprehension and functional skills related to local socioeconomic factors and environment needs. It would suit flexible models, with provision of diversification and dextorous balance between common basic goal and varying methodology. The basic objective would stress curriculum as an instrument for inculcating humanistic values, capacity for tolerance, promotion of national integration, scientific attitude and temper and individual capability for learning from the surrounding world.
21.15 Keeping in view the progress already made in the different States in expanding elementary education and the feasibility limits of accelerated growth in the educationally backward States, it is proposed to lay down specific targets Statewise for the Sixth Plan. It is estimated that universalisation of the primary stage of education would imply additional enrolment of about 170 lakh children in classes I-V over the next five years or an average annual rate of enrolment of 34 lakh children. In recent years, however, the rate of enrolment has approximately been of 20 lakhs annually and if the above targets are to be achieved, the educationally backward States of Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal would have to step up their present rates of enrolment considerably, in some cases more than double if not three-fold. It is, therefore, proposed that the additional targets should be projected realistically in individual States and Union Territories consistent with the ultimate object of completing the universalisation programme by 1990.
21.16 In the middle stage of elementary education for children in the age-group 11-14, the population to be covered to achieve a target of 50 per cent in the Sixth Plan would be about 63 lakh or an annual enrolment of 13 lakh on ail average. The achievements so far has been at the rate of 7 lakhs per annum. Those States which have already attained 100 per cent enrolment in the primary classes would have to endeavour in the Sixth Plan to reach higher rates of enrolment in the 11-14 years age groups but, even then, it would require the doubling of the present enrolment rates. This, however, needs to be accepted as a desirable objective and challenge during the Sixth Plan, without which the goal of universal elementary education cannot be attained even by the end of the century.