18. The village schools and specially those which are run on basic lines have an important role in community development. Thus, new ideas worked out, in the school pass into the life of the communi- ty through the normal contact of teachers with children. Villagers, who visit the local school and see good work being done there, pick up new suggestions. To enhance the value of the contribution which the school can make to the progress of the village community it is sug- gested that all senior basic schools should have a farm and a workshop attached to them. As a rule the people are willing to support such activities with generous contributions.
19. It will be clear from what has been said above that elemen- tary education is an area of fundamental importance in which it will be necessary for a considerable period to experiment with new ideas, undertake pilot studies, evaluate results, and develop speedy methods of applying proven methods on a largescale. Large innovations will be called for, for instance, in administrative procedures, recruitment rules, promotion methods, etc. To undertake these and other tasks referred to in this chapter, the Ministry of Education have under consideration a proposal to set up a Council for Basic and Elementary Education.
SECONDARY EDUCATION 20. Problems of secondary education were reviewed by the Second- ary Education Commission whose report was presented in 1953. The Commission considered the basic shortcomings of the present secondary schools and observed that the curricula now followed and the tradi- tional methods of teaching did not give students sufficient insight into the every day world in which they lived and failed to train the whole personality of the pupil. In the past excessive emphasis on the study of the English language led to neglect of many other subjects. With the increase in the size of classes the personal contact of teachers and students diminished and discipline and character were not sufficiently inculcated. While piecemeal reforms were introduced from time to time, there was need for new re-orientation in the system of secondary education as a whole. The Secondary Education Commission, therefore, made proposals for bringing about a greater diversity and comprehensiveness in educational courses and providing more comprehen- sive
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EDUCATION
courses which would include both general and vocational subjects. They did not contemplate any artificial division between "general or cultural" education and "practical" or "vocational" or "technical" education. In the new organisational pattern which the Commission recommended it was visualised that following the four or rive year period of primary or junior basic education, there would be a middle or senior basic or junior secondary stage of three years and a higher secondary stage of four years. The first degree course would then be of three years duration. The Commission recommended the establishment of multipurpose schools, of technical schools either separately or as part of multi-purpose schools and of special facilities for agricul- tural education in rural schools. The provision in all secondary schools for courses in Languages, General Science, Social Studies and a Craft as a common core was also proposed for general adoption These recommendations form the basis of programmes adopted by the Centre and the States for the second five year plan. A sound system of secondary education, which offers openings in a large number of different direc- tions, is an essential foundation for economic development on modem lines. With the expansion of elementary education, an increasing. number of students will reach the secondary stage. Al ready partly because of the 'unilinear' character of secondary education in the past, the problem of unemployment has been accentuated among matricu- lates, arts colleges have tended to be overcrowded and often neither the community nor the individual profited adequately from the system.
21. Programmes in the second five year plan require for their implementation large numbers of skilled workers, technicians and specialists with a background of elementary or secondary education followed by technical and vocational training in specific vocations. Thus, the requirements of teachers, workers in national extension and community project areas, cooperative personnel, revenue administra- tors, technical and supervisory personnel in industry, agriculture and other fields of development have to be met mainly from the age group 14-17 years. In this group, there is at present considerable wastage and mis-direction as may be seen from the fact that over 50 per cent or more of the students who take matriculation or equivalent examina- tions fail to qualify. It is common ground that at the secondary stage of education, there should be increasing diversification of courses, so that students could be guided and directed to secure training in courses according to their aptitudes and capacities. This object is proposed to be attained through introduction of crafts and diversified courses, better facilities for science teaching, estab- lishment of multipurpose schools and junior technical schools as well as upgrading of the high schools to higher secondary schools.
22. Steps to implement the pattern of re-organisation for sec- ondary education recommended by the Secondary Education Commission have been initiated during the past two years. With the provision of Rs. 51 crores in the second plan as against Rs. 22 crores in the first it is hoped that the reorientation of secondary education will be carried a stage further. Among other programmes, a proportion of the existing high schools are to be converted into higher secondary schools and multi-purpose schools. In the first plan about 250 multi- purpose schools were established; during the second plan the number of multi-purpose schools is to be increased to 1187. The number of high and higher secondary schools (which generally include middle classes) will increase front 10,600 to 12,000 at the end of the second plan. About 1150 high schools are also expected to be converted into higher secondary schools over the period of the second plan, thus bringing the total number of higher secondary schools to about 2,800. In order to develop agriculture education at the secondary stage in rural areas, it is proposed to provide additional 200 agricultural courses in rural secondary schools. In the course of the second plan the numbers at school in the secondary stage will increase from 2.3 mil- lion to 3.1 million.
To enable students to enter an occupation at the end of the secondary course as semi-skilled workers or for setting up small businesses of their own, the second five year plan provides for the setting up of 90 junior technical schools. In these institutions general and technical education and workshop training will be provided for a period of three years to boys of the age-group 14-17 years.
23. At the end of the first plan, about 60 per cent of the staff of secondary schools consisted of trained teachers. According to the plans of States in the next five years, the proportion of trained teachers is expected to increase to 68 per cent. The training of secondary teachers for vocational courses will need a great deal of attention. The teaching of crafts in elementary and secondary schools is one of the essential features in the reconstruction of the system of education, but progress in providing such courses is slow because of lack of trained teachers. The Ministry of Education have a pro- gramme for training 500 degree teachers and 1000 diploma teachers for multi-purpose and junior technical schools. Plans of States provide Rs. 46 crores for the reorientation of secondary education and include programmes for upgrading high schools into higher secondary schools, improving laboratories and libraries, training teachers and improving teaching standards, improving teachers' salaries and providing educa- tional and vocational guidance.
24. At the secondary stage, the education of girls lags seriously behind. At present, out of the total population of 12 million girls in the age-group 14-17
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years, about 3 per cent t are attending schools. Plans of States do not provide insufficient measure for the education of girls, for, the number of high schools for girls is expected to increase from 1,500 to 1,700 only by the end of the second plan. To enable girls to take up careers for which openings exist and are likely to increase (such as gram sevikas, nurses, health visitors, teachers, etc) special scholar- ship schemes are recommended. Girls' education at this stage requires special encouragement.
25. A question at the secondary stage of education which is now being studied by a Committee of the Central Advisory Board of Educa- tion concerns the manner in which 'basic education and the scheme of reform for secondary education should be related to each other. The programing of conversion of primary into basic schools is already Linder way. As it proceeds, the senior basic and the middle school which represent the next stage will come closer together in their methods and approach. It is being visualised that the senior basic stage should be followed by a post-basic stage. The number of insti- tutions imparting post-basic training is still very small. On this account the Ministry of Education have made a financial provision for assisting the development of post basic schools. As the programme for the re-orientation of secondary education is carried out in the States, it would be desirable to devise ways of bringing about closer correlation between post-basic education and the structure of second- ary education which is now being evolved.
26. With the re-organisation of the system of education, which is now in progress, at the secondary stage of education the study of Hindi and other' regional languages assumes greater importance. In this connection, a question which has received attention is the provi- sion of facilities for the study of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking areas and for the study of languages other than Hindi in Hindi-speaking areas. The main difficulty here is the lack of teachers trained in particular languages. To meet this deficiency the Ministry of Educa- tion have provided funds for providing Hindi teachers in secondary schools in non-Hindi speaking areas and teachers in, languages other than Hindi in secondary schools in Hindi-speaking areas.
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION 27. During recent years the rapid increase in the number of students in universities and colleges has affected the standards of education. At the end of the first plan the total enrolment is esti- mated to be 720,000 as compared to 420,000 five years ago. The number of students qualifying each year in degree and higher examinations in arts and science has risen during this period from 41,000 to 58,000. For improving the quality of university and college education and for reducing wastage and stagnation, of students who are unable to quali- fy, a number of measures are being taken by the University Grants Commission. These include the institution of three-year degree courses, organisation of tutorials and seminars, improvement of build- ings, laboratories and libraries, provision of hostel facilities, stipends for meritorious students, scholarships for research and increase in salaries of university teachers. In the course of the second five year plan, seven new universities are to be established.
28. There are a number of important problems affecting universi- ty education which are being considered. Two of these may be special- ly mentioned. The introduction of diversified courses at the second- ary level may succeed to some extent in checking the rush of students to Arts colleges. The question whether and to what extent possession of degrees can be dispensed with for the purpose of recruitment to public services has been under examination by a committee appointed by the Central Government. Affiliated colleges, in many of which the prevailing standards are unsatisfactory, constitute another problem which is now receiving attention. It is essential that by action at the secondary as 'well as at the university stages and through appro- priate changes in the conditions and methods of recruitment to public services, university education should acquire greater purpose and direction and fit more closely into plans of economic and social development.
29. The total provision for university education in the second five year plan is about Rs. 57 crores, of which Rs. 22.5 crores are provided in the State plans and Rs. 34.4 crores at the Centre, the latter provision including an allotment of Rs. 27 crores for the University Grants Commission. The greater part of the expenditure will be on consolidation and increased provision for technical and scientific education in the universities. In addition to this, the programme of technical education provides Rs. 13 crores for engineer- ing and technology at the university and higher stages and Rs. 10 crores for scholarships. Further, Rs. 4.6 crores have been provided for agricultural education and Rs. 10 crores for health education at the university and higher stages under programmes in these fields, besides Rs. 20 crores provided for scientific and industrial research in the programme of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and other associated programmes.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION 30. In each sector of development technical personnel are needed in rapidly increasing numbers. Steps which are proposed to be taken to augment the existing training facilities for doctors, agricultural and veterinary specialists-and others have been explained in the appropriate chapters. Despite the advance made in
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EDUCATION
the first plan, the requirements for engineering and technological personnel will be on a scale exceeding the Capacity of existing insti- tutions. This is the main problem in the development of technical education in the second plan.
31. In the field of technical education long-term planning has to be undertaken. During the first five year plan significant progress was made in developing technical education. The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, was established as the first of the four higher technological institutes recommended by the All India Council for Technical Education, a few years ago. The Institute has been planned ultimately to provide under-graduate courses for 1200 students, postgraduate courses and research for 600 students. It offers facilities for training in a wide range of subjects, some of which for instance, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Fuel and Combustion Engineering, Production Technology, Mechanical Handling of Materials, Agricultural Engineering, Geophysics, Town and Regional planning and Architecture are designed to requirements for technical personnel which are relatively new. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has been developed for technological studies and research in Aeronautical Engineering Power Engineering, Internal Combustion Engineering, Metallurgy and Electrical Communication Engi- neering. A large number of technical institutions all over the coun- try have been developed for degree and diploma courses; and new insti- tutions have been established to meet the needs of different States. The following statement summaries the position of technical education at the beginning and end of the first plan.
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
1949-50 1955-50
Number of Intake Out-turn Number of Intake Out-turn
Institutions Institutions
Post-graduate cour-
ses and research 8 136 91 18 270 190
facilities
Degree or equivalent
courses 53 4,120 2,200 60 6,050 3,700
Diploma courses 81 5,900 2,480 108 8,700 3,900
32. It will be seen that admissions to institutions and the out- turn of graduates and diploma holders show a 50 per cent increase since 1949-50; compared to the position in 1947 the increase has been as much as three-fold. On the basis of the present admissions an outturn of 4600 graduates and 5220 diploma holders is expected from 1958-59 onwards. These numbers represent a doubling of the output figures of 1950. Besides expansion in numbers, qualitative improve- ment of the standards of instructions has also been kept in view. The crux of the problem of quality in education is better staff, better equipment and better accommodation in the technical institutions. The All-India Council for Technical Education and its Regional Committees have carried out comprehensive studies of the state of various insti- tutions in the country, their deficiencies, courses offered, standards and the improvements needed. On the basis of the reports of the Council, the Central Government has given substantial grants to indi- vidual institutions.
33. Particular attention has been given to the development of facilities in special fields. A scheme of Management Education and Training, covering Industrial Engineering, Industrial Administration and Business Management, has been implemented in seven selected cen- tres and a Board of Management Studies has been set up for bringing about coordinated development of facilities for training in these subjects in association with industry and commerce. Proposals for the establishment of an Administrative Staff College at Hyderabad and an organisation for the promotion of Scientific Management are in an advanced stage. Four Regional Schools of Printing are being estab- lished at Madras, Calcutta, Bombay and Allahabad, and a fifth is planned 'for Delhi. A School of Town and Country Planning is being established in Delhi in association with the Institute of Town Plan- ners. A scheme for giving interest-free loans to institutions for the construction of hostels for students has also been implemented. On completion this will provide hostel accommodation for about 7000 students. Over 500 research scholarships of Rs. 200 per mensen, have been instituted for students who wish to undertake research in science, engineering or technology. A scheme for research fellowships for encouraging advanced scientific research has also been introduced.
34. Despite the steps taken during the first year plan, on account of the large demand for technical personnel which will rise in the coming years, considerable expansion of technical education is now imperative.
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During past two or three years increasing attention has been given to planning for manpower. Generally, it will be beyond the capacity of the majority of existing institutions to admit a much larger number of students for training than they do at present and at the same time maintain proper standards.
In the second five year plan, a provision of about Rs. 48 crores has been made for technical education. Part of this provision is for completing schemes initiated during the first plan, the rest being earmarked for the establishment of new institutions and courses. In the course of the second plan the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur will be fully developed for undergraduate and post-graduate studies. Postgraduate courses and research in engineering and tech- nology at other selected centres will also be organised. The scheme relating to the improvement of existing institutions for first degree and diploma courses initiated a few years ago will be completed.