 WORKING PAPER ON EDUCATION IN THE
 FIFTH  PLAN  ()

INTRODUCTION

1. The present socio-political situation in the country pro- vides a favourable setting for developing large-scale programme of educational reform. It is, therefore, proposed to include, in the Fifth Five-Year Plan, an integrated and comprehensive programme of educational development which will catalyse social transformation, promote economic growth and accelerate our progress towards socialism. It is also proposed that this and the next year should be utilised, not only to plan this programme in all its details, but also to initiate a vigorous advance action towards it.

Main Ingredients of the Programme

2. The Education Commission (1964-66) emphasised that the present educational system will need radical changes if it is to meet the purposes of a modern, democratic and socialist society - changes in objectives, in content, in teaching methods, in programmes, in size and compostion. of the student body, in the selection and professorial preparation of teachers, and in organization. The major steps to be taken to this end have been outlined in the National Policy on Education, (1968). On the basis of these documents, it is proposed that the main ingredients of the programme of educational development to be included in the Fifth Plan would be the following

(1) Transformaton of the Educational System : This is essential to make education a powerful tool of -social transformation, economic growth, modernization and national integration. It implies a radical transformation of the content of education accompanied by such related reforms as the adoption of improved methods of teaching examination and improvement of textbooks and other teaching and learning aids.

(2) Improvement of Standards : This will include a programme of establshing a model comprehensive secondary school in each district and a model primary school in each community development block as pace-setting institutions, the establishment of autonomous colleges, the upgrading of a fairly large number of primary, middle and secondary schools and colleges to optimum levels, and an effort to improve other institutions

to the best extent possible, through institutional planning and local support supplemented by guidance and assistance from the State.

(3) Initiation of a comprehensive programme of pre-school development meant specially for the under-privileged social groups.

(4) The provision of universal primary education in the age- group 6 - 11 by 1975-76 and in the age-group 6 - 14 by 1980-81.

(5) The adoption of the uniform pattern of school and college classes, viz., 10 plus 2 plus 3, in all States and Union Territories.

(6) Vocationalization of education at the higher secondary stage.

(7) The development of a national scholarship policy so that the talented students, and especially those coming from the most deprived sections of the community, are assisted to receive the best school and university education.

(8) The launching of a youth movement for the population in the age-group 14-25.

(9) Reorganisation of collegiate and university education, with special reference to (a) provision of greater access to students from the under-privileged social groups, (b) expansion of facilities for part-time education or self-study, (c) improvement of colleges, (d) substantial increase in post-graduate education and research, (e) drastic restructuring of courses on the principles of relevance, flexibility, diversification and modernization coupled with adoption of modern methods of teaching, examination reform and improved library and laboratory facilities, and (f) major administrative reforms on the lines recommended by the Gajendragadkar Committee.

(10) Development of technical education.

(11) Introduction of a large-scale programme of National Social Service; and

(12) Strengthening of the administrative machinery to plan and implement this significant programme of expansion and qualitative improvement.

A brief description of these programmes, with broad tentative estimates of cost, is given in the sections that follow.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Objectives

3. Perhaps the most significant need of the hour is to trans- form the educational system with a view to

-cultivating the basic values of humanism, democracy, socialism and secularism;

-inculcating a love of motherland, and a proper pride in our cultural heritage and achievements;

-strengthening national integration which implies the development of proper non-communal attitudes, the subordination of all narrower loyalties to the supreme loyalty to the nation, and, in a plural society like ours, the development of capability for tolerating differences and a readiness to collaborate with others in pursuit of shared goals;

-accelerating the process of modernization and the development of a scientific temper and outlook;

-promoting productivity through the teaching of technical and technological skills, inculcation of the dignity of manual labour, willingness to work bard, cost-consciousness and entrepreneurship; and

-bringing the elite and the masses closer together so that the former retain their roots deep in all sectors of society and become committed to the service of the people.

Education is essentially a three-fold process. It imparts information, teaches skills and inculcates values. Our present system is almost wholly geared to the first, a little to the second and only marginally to the third. The need to transform the educational system on the above lines so that the teaching of skills and inculcation of values get their due emphasis is thus obvious : it alone can make education a powerful tool for social change and the realization of our national objectives.

Improvement of Curricula

4. What are the main programmes that should be adopted for this purpose? The first and the foremost is the re-structuring and modernisation of curricula on the broad lines indicated below :

(1) The inculcation of values should be emphasised at all stages.

(2) The cultural content of education needs much greater emphasis.

(3) The story of our struggle against British imperialism, the achievements of the post-independence period, our national objectives and programmes of development with special emphasis on popular participation, and the national problems that face us in different fields, should be taught at all stages, as a part of education for citizenship', the courses being graded to suit the age and maturity of the students.

(4) At the primary stage, the curricula should be closely related to the environment so that they appear relevant and sig- nificant to the children. In addition to the three R's, programme of work-experience related to local programmes of development and of social service related to the welfare of the local community and its needs will have to be included. The improved teaching of languages, science and mathematics should be emphasised.

(5) As recommended by the Education Commission, the teaching of science and mathematics should be made compulsory in classes I - X and its teaching should be modernized and closely related to environment. The use of simple apparatus and tools should be emphasised.

(6) The alienation from manual labour takes place most conspicuously at the secondary stage. It is also at this stage that the white-collar attitudes are strongly developed. Some steps to counteract these trends would have been taken by the introduction of work-experience and social service in the curricula of classes I-VIII. In addition, it is absolutely essential that the teaching of a craft or a trade is made obligatory on all students in classes IX and X so that they engage themselves meaningfully in production and socially useful work.

(7) At the higher secondary stage, the curriculum should broadly follow the lines reommended by the Education Commission. There would be two main streams at this stage. The first would prepare students for the university and include a

number of elective courses covering mathematics, natural and social sciences and humanities. A fairly wide combination of courses, cutting across traditional boundaries, should be permissible. The other stream should be vocational and would prepare students for careers in agricultural, industrial and services sector as well as for various programmes of self-employment.

(8) At the university stage, there is an even greater need to restructure and improve the existing courses on the principles of relevance, flexibility, diversification and modernization. Several of our courses are out-dated, in some cases, by as long as 30 - 50 years. It is essential that these are all updated and brought in line with the latest developments in the field. Most of our courses are still discipline-oriented and traditional so that they tend to ignore the inter-disciplinary fields and problem-oriented studies which are now assuming increasing significance. It would, therefore, be a great improvement if a flexible system of courses is designed so that a student ran choose, within a broad framework, such courses as will be in keeping with his needs and capacities. Perhaps the introduction of short semester length courses will offer each student a greater possibility of devising a combination of studies that is most suited to his needs and abilities.

(9) Special attention will have to be given to the restructuring of courses at the under-graduate stage. The first degree should provide a broad general education with three components. The first component is an awareness of the world around, a sense of values, and a commitment to the ideals and practical goals which the country has placed before itself. This implies a knowledge of human affairs at the level of individual, of society and of history, the main elements of the social and economic struggle, our Constitution and our plans, field work and social service, and elements of philosophy, fine arts and literature. The second component is the promoton of communication skills which implies training in language, speech and writing; and the third component is an academically-oriented study of some selected subjects.

(10) At the postgraduate stage, greater emphasis will have to be placed on promotion of research and on a symbiotic combination of teaching and research.

Supplementary Measures

(5) A restructuring and modernization of curicula on these lines is the first essential step in this programme. But it is not sufficient. It will have to be accompanied by four complementary steps simultaneously.

(1) New Teaching Methods : The first is to replace the existing teaching methods, which are largely based on rote-man orientation, lectures and re-production, by new and dynamic ones which awaken curiosity, encourage self-study habits and promote problems-solving skills.

(2) Examination Reform : The existing examination system has to be radically reformed. Schools and colleges should be made to take continuing and increasing interest in evaluation. through a system of internal evaluation. All school examinations including the examination at the end of class X, should ultimately be held by the schools themselves and the first public examination should take place at the end of class XII. At the university stage also, the colleges should be involved in continuous evaluation of their students and the scheme of `autonomous colleges' should be adopted and expanded. The unversities and Boards of Secondary Education should reform their examination systems immediately and thus give a lead to the entire education system.

(3) Improved Production and Supply of Text-Books : A great stress will have to be laid on improvement of textbooks at all stages. At the school stage, the programmes of the NCERT and the State Boards (or Bureaux) of School Text-Books will have to be extended, improved and properly coordinated. At the university stage, both the UGC and the universities have a major role to play; and, as the Education Commission recommended, the bulk of the books used at the undergraduate stage at any rate, should be prepared by Indian authors and that our dependence on imported books in this regard should cease as soon as possible. Careful steps will have to be taken to ensure that the new textbooks incorporate Indian data and research findings and thus become both relevant and significant. A massive programme of book production and supply and textbook libraries under which no student would have any difficulty in having full and free access to all the textbooks that he needs will have to be developed.

(4) Teachers Involvement and Upgrading of Professional Skills: The success of the programme will depend largely on the competence of the teachers, their commitment to the welfare of the students in their charge and their dedication to their profession. Steps will, therefore, have to be taken to involve teachers intimately in the planning and implementation of all these programmes, to provide them with satisfactory conditions of work and service and to emphasise their proper training,

especially in-service training, for which a very massive programme will have to be developed at all stages.

Informal Education

6. Another major transformation needed in the present eduational system is to give it a large informal orientation. The existing system is a single-point entry (in class I at age 5 or 6), sequential (so that a student rises from class to class each year), and full-time system of education operated exclusively by formally certificated full-time teachers. Such a system is socially unjust and denies educational opportunities to large sections of the people. For instance, to have a rule that we shall operate only a full-time system of education denies education to all these children who are required to work, in or outside their families, for social and economic considerations. That is the main cause why several children cannot come to schools and for the bulk of those that drop out. However, no programme of life-long education can ever be possible on a full-time basis alone. Similarly, the single-pont entry also hampers our progress. For instance, if a child does not go to school at about the age of six, he misses the system altogether and lives and dies as an illiterate person. If, on the other hand, we had a multiple-entry system under which a child could enter the school at the age of six, or in full-time or part-time special classes at the age of 11, or again in similar special classes conducted for age-group 14 - 23, or in adult education programmes, our progress in literacy would have been much greater. In the same, way, the insistence on full-time and duly certificated teachers prevents us from utilising the large teaching resources available in the community on a part-time basis, especially for education in the arts and crafts or in vocational education. What is needed, therefore, is the development, at all stages of education, of two alternative channels to the existing system of full-time education, namely, part-time education (or correspondence courses) and system of private or self-study. These alternative channels should have the same status as full-time education and it should be possible for a student, depending upon the circumstances, to switch over from one to the other. There should also be a possibility of multiple entry at various points and students should be free to appear by private study, at all Board and University examinations.

Linkages with Other Systems.

7. A third transformation of the existing educational system is to link it in a big way with informal agencies of education such as the mass media. A similar linkage is also necessary with

institutions for preparation of games and sports, recreation, arts and culture. These linkages will make the curricula richer and the educational process more effective.

Elasticity and Dynamism

8. The existing system tends to be uniform and rigid; and as the Education Commission pointed out, the single most important thing needed now is to get out of the rigidity of the present system. It is, therefore, essential to promote dynamism and elasticity and to encourage initiative, creativity and freedom on the part of schools and teachers.

Implementation

9. These programmes of transformation have received com- paratively less attention in the earlier plans due to several reasons. The quantitative targets of enrolments received the vast bulk of allocations and tended to dominate the whole scene. in the general practice to review plan expenditure only, these programmes which have lower financial implications and cover both plan and non-plan sectors, did not attract enough notice. The emphasis on money as the input for educational development also tended to overshadow these programmes wherein the major inputs are, not money, but `thought', `human effort' and `leadership'. Similarly, an undue emphasis on uniformity tended to make the educational system rigid and stagnant. As against this, it is proposed, in the Fifth Plan, to accord the highest priority to these programmes, to keep them continuously under review. to provide the funds needed for them on a priority basis, to involve the teachers in planning and implementing them,, and to create the necessary institutional structures to provide guidance and direction.

Costs

10. The following programmes under this head will have to be costed

(1) Introduction of work-experience in class I-VIII;

(2) Teaching of a compulsory trade or craft in class IX and X;

(3) Teaching of Science in class I - X;

WORKING PAPER ON EDUCATION IN THE FIFTH PLAN ()