Procedure, (ii) Teachers' Point of View on 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments Related to Panchayati Raj on Management of School by Panchayati Raj Institutions, and (iii) Students of Bilingual Parents, Their Performance and Personality, were completed and pre- sented in seminars.

ERIC Meeting and Seminars

The Educational Research and Innovations Committee (ERIC), a standing committee of the NCERT, is responsible for initiating and supporting research in priority areas of school education and teacher education. The basic purpose of supporting research is to help improving quality of education in different kinds of' school settings, providing data for policy and programme formulation, assisting in the evaluation of approaches which increase access to education and make it more relevant and meaningful. The ERIC members include eminent researchers in education and allied disciplines from universities and research institutions, and representatives of SIEs/SCERTs, etc. The committee worked for promotion and coordination of research in all branches of school education and teacher education. Apart from the constituent units of the Council undertaking research, the ERIC supported educational research by providing Financial assistance to outside organisations.

* The 29th meeting of the ERIC was held on 28 October 1996 to review policy matters and to consider research proposals for financial assistance and certain other matters related to research.

* The Researchers Seminar to monitor the progress of ERIC-funded studies was held from 8 to IO May 1996 at the Regional Institute of Education, Bhopal.

* The Experts Group Meeting to scrutinise fresh research proposals received for financial assistance was held from 20 to 22 July 1996 at the Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar.

Primary School Teachers Conference

The second conference of primary school teachers of NCERT's Demonstration Schools was held on 26-28 December 1996 at the Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar. Teachers of Demonstration Schools in the Regional Institutes of Education of the NCERT who have undertaken action research studies participated.

Developing/Strengthening Institutional Research Capacity to Undertake Quality Research Studies

Training workshops were conducted for state, district and sub-district level functionaries at the primary level to encourage them to take up action research studies to improve the functioning of schools. The states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh were benefited from these workshops.

Self-instructional training modules were

                               
 NIE Lecture Series 
                                          
 
                       
 Lectures Organised during 1996-97 
                                          
 
        S.             Topic               Date           Name of Guest
        No                                                Speaker
                                          
        
        1.   Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma  11 October 1996   Prof. Kishore Gandhi
             Gandhi-A Philosophy of                       New Delhi
             Education and Gaps in 
             Modern India
        
        2.   Project Learning Community 29 October 1996   Prof. M.R. Achutan
             and Exploring the use of                     New York
             Gandhian Methods of Non-
             Violent Action to
             Enable    Rural Backward 
             Communities to Reach for 
             Education For All (EFA).
        
        3.   Some Reflections from the  10 January 1996 Prof. A. N. Maheshwari
             UNESCO Conference on Pre-                  NCERT
             engineering Education for 
             Change.

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prepared and field-tested for the use of school functionaries. The modules on Action Research and Programme Evaluation Research are now available.

Sixth All India Educational Survey

The Sixth All India Educational Survey (AIES) was launched in 1993 jointly by the WERT and NIC in collaboration with the state gov- ernments and Union Territory administrations, with reference date as, 30 September 1993. The progress of the survey is monitored by a Steering Committee headed by the Union Education Secretary and the Advisory Committee responsible for academic input and technical guidance. The Sixth AIES, used satellite-based computer communication network, called NICNET, for monitoring the progress of the survey from district to state and state to national level. This facility has also been used for efficient data processing, tabulation of data and dissemination of information. Besides this, the survey has also used sample as well as census modes in data collection.

The Educational Statistics Report in respect of the Sixth AIES was released in December 1995 giving data on educational facilities in rural areas, number of schools at different stages, class-wise total and class enrolment and teachers by gender. This data was available up to state level in the printed form and up to community development block/town level on magnetic media. This data was used as basic input in the planning of the Mid-day Meal programme launched on 26 January 1996. Besides this data, 24 tables for each state based on some important variables were prepared. These tables containing information about educational facilities in rural areas, schools, enrolment, teachers and type of school buildings were submitted to the Government of India, MHRD for use in the formulation of the Ninth Five Year Plan of education.

The State Survey Officers and the State Information Officers were oriented in scrutiny and validation of tabulation, and preparation of the State Survey Reports. The SubCommittee of the Advisory Committee for the Sixth AIES finalised the strategy of validation of survey data. Tabulation of School Information Form 1 /College Information Form (SIF I/CIF) schedule was finalised in 10 states. Besides, software for Teacher Information Form (TIF) schedule was finalised. The software for School Information Form 2 (SIF 2) and Education Finance Form (EFF) and schedules are being checked and finalised.

The All India Educational Survey is an ongoing programme. Major tasks to be accomplished during the year 1997-98 are: (i) Finalisation of VIF/UIF tabulation in all the states; (ii) finalisation of SIF 1 / CIF tabulation in all the states; (iii) preparation of National Tables based on VIF/UIF and SIF I and CIF schedules, (iv) publication of National Concise Report based on VIF/UIF and SIF I schedules; (v) finalisation of software of SIF 2 and EFF schedules-, (vi) writing, finalisation and publication of main comprehensive report based on all the schedules of Sixth AIES and writing and finalisation of about 15 thematic reports based on Sixth AIES data.

Computer Resource Centre

The Computer Resource Centre at the WERT headquarters provides centralised facilities for statistical analysis of the projects of the constituents of the NCERT. The activities of this Centre during 1996- 97, inter alia, include: (i) processing of NTS results of 1996, (ii) finalisation of admission results of Class I for all the Demonstration Schools of the RIEs, (iii) statistical analysis of the project 'Read- ability of WERT Textbooks at Primary Level' and (iv) development of 'Personnel Information System' for the academic staff of the NCERT. A workshop to finalise the curriculum for training programme for the WERT faculty for the conduct of 'Foundation Course in Quantitative Research Methods using SPSS Package' was organised. Data entry for preparation of data-base for more than 1 lakh documents of the Division of Library, Documentation and Information (DLDI) of the NCERT is in progress.

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