 INAUGURAL ADDRESS
PROF. S. NURUL HASAN, UNION
MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, SOCIAL
 WELFARE AND CULTURE

PROF. S. NURUL HASAN

Union Minister for Education,

Social Welfare and Culture.

I join my friend and colleague, Shri K. N. Channa, in welcoming you to this thirty-seventh meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education. I extend a special welcome to those now members of the Board who have joined it since we met last in 1972. I also take this opportunity to place on record our sincere appreciation of the valuable services rendered to our work by those members who have since retired from the Board.

A Distressing and Traumatic Experience

We are meeting at a critical time and against a distressing background. The experience in educational planning during the last two years has not been dissimilar to what happened at the time of the formulation of the earlier Five-Year Plans. The gap between needs and aspirations on the one hand and the availability of resources on the other, which has been a common feature of 211 the Plans has, however, been widening with each successive Plan; and hence this experience of Plan formulation is becoming more distressing and traumatic as time passes. For the Fifth. Plan, we started our exercise with great hopes and in high spirits and formulated a plan, not over-ambitious, which was estimated to cost Rs. 3320 crores for Education and Culture or roughly about 10 per cent of the total outlay of Rs. 32,000 crores which was then anticipated in the public sector of the PI-in. When the document on Approach to the Fifth Plan was adopted, an outlay of Rs. 2200 crores only was indicated for Education and Culture. The Standing Committee of the CABE then revised the earlier proposals, identified priorities within priorities, and prepared a modified but still viable and worthwhile Plan. The Draft Fifth Five-Year Plan made a further reduction and allocated only Rs. 1726 crores to education, although the total Plan outlay had

risen to Rs. 37,250 crores. The proportion of the allocation to Education to total outlay has generally been decreasing from Plan to Plan: it was 7.6 per cent in the First, 6.0 per cent in the Second, 6.8 per cent in the Third, 5.1 per cent in the Fourth and only 4.6 per cent in the Fifth Plan. But even this is not the worst of the story. The allocation for the first year of the Plan was originally fixed, when the budget estimates were sanctioned, at 10 per cent of the Plan allocation instead of the usual 14. But drives for economy started almost as soon as the budgets were passed and the reductions even in the approved allocations have been very large-from 20 to 50 per cent-and we have not seen their end as yet. We have also been informed that the allocations for the next year will be at the level of the current year. With the allocations for the first two years of the Plan being at this level, there is little likelihood of Education getting anywhere near the proposed outlay of Rs. 1726 crores over the Plan period. The Fifth Plan outlay on Education is thus proportionately the lowest on record. The situation becomes even more distressing because of the inordinate rise in prices. I must confess it is difficult to foresee when the situation will improve; and if past experience is any guide, one should not be surprised if the pro- portional allocation to Education goes down still further in the Sixth Plan.

This is indeed a grave situation for Education. It appears as if we have been forced into a situation of living almost exclusively for the immediate present and are unable to plan for the future. In spite of our conviction to the contrary, we seem to be drifting along a course of action which assumes that man can live by bread alone, little realizing that such a course would ultimately make bread itself more scarce than common. Quite rightly, there is a deep disappointment and concern over these developments in the government, the public and in, the entire academic community. There is also a strong demand that we should make a concerted bid to secure greater attention, a higher priority and a larger allocation for the development of education. This should of course be done; and in this, the CABE has an important role to play. All the same, it is evident that these efforts can only have a marginal success. If man does not live by bread alone, he cannot live without it either; and in the extremely difficult economic situation through which the country is passing at present, Education will have to accept financial stringency as inescapable in the foreseeable future and live with it, like an arrow sunk deep in its chest, in spite of all the hurt it causes.

The New Strategy

What shall be our strategy and programme of action in a situation of this type ? Continued lament, registration of protests or finding fault with different agencies is easy but will serve no useful, purpose. It is also possible to call off the game, persuade ourselves that nothing can be done and to allow things to drift. This is no solution either because, in the absence of meaningful and adequate action, the stresses and strains within the educational, system will continue to grow with the passage of time and magnify themselves several-fold. This will not only have serious social, economic and political consequence, but will also make future attempt at reform more costly and far more unmanageable. There is, therefore, no alternative to a brave acceptance of this challenge and to the planning and implementation of new strategies which will enable us to secure educational change and development in spite of the inevitable reduction in financial resources.

That the adoption of such a strategy is desirable will be im- mediately conceded. The main question, however, is what is this strategy and how can it be implemented ? It is this question which has been worrying all of us for quite some time now and the primary purpose of this Session of the Central Advisory Board of Education is to find some realistic and feasible answers to these questions.

This problem is being discussed widely by Ministers of Education, educational administrators, academics, public men and women, parents, teachers and students. I have been heartened by some features that have emerged from these discussions. The first is the continuing deep faith in education as an important instrument of social change which is found in all these different groups. If anything the recent events have deepend rather than shaken this faith. It is even more heartening that no one is prepared to accept the escapist or the defeatist position. In fact, many fundamental questions have been raised and worthwhile suggestions made for experimentation. For instance, the very basis of the formal system of education we have adopted is often challenged and there is a growing interest everywhere in all proposals of radical reconstruction. There is also an increasing interest in programmes of non-formal education or vocationalisation. The linking of the University degrees with job qualifications has also been challenged, and there is a rekindling interest in all alternatives, such as the scheme of basic education propounded by Mahatma Gandhi or the proposal for the introduction of work-experience made by the Education Commission. The very fact

that such ferment in thinking has been generated is evidence of some basic underlying vitality within the system; and for having led to these results, one might even look upon the distressing and traumatic experience of the last two years as a blessing in disguise. Be that as it may, this healthy reaction and academic ferment makes one feel that the time is ripe for designing a new strategy of educational development and that there are good chances of its successful implementation.

With these introductory remarks, let me try to describe some main features of the strategy of development which has emerged out of extensive consultations we have had.

Programmes of Qualitative Improvement

Since the over-all resources are limited, it is necessary to choose a few programmes of crucial significance and develop them in a big way. On this basis, the programmes of qualitative improvement at all stages of education will quite obviously rank very high. There are three main reasons for making this recommendation. The first is that the programmes of qualitative improvement are of the highest significance in all situations irrespective of the finances available. The second is that they do not, after all, require large financial investments and that the funds actually needed for them can be found even within our reduced financial allocations. The third is that these programmes basically need better planning and human effort rather than large monetary investments. If we have the will and take the necessary steps, it should be possible to mount a supreme effort in this direction and succeed in raising standards substantially in spite of the present financial stringency.

The most important qualitative reform is to transform the content of education. Education is a three-fold process it imparts knowledge, teaches skills, both intellectual and physical, and inculcates values. As is well-known, the highest emphasis in the existing system is on imparting of information rather than on the process of learning; the teaching of essential skills receives little attention and priority; and the cultivation of values is generally neglected. It should be our endeavour, in the years ahead, to change this situation and to give greater prominence to the training of the mind, the teaching of skills and, especially, to the inculcation of values. Among the skills to be emphasized, mention may be made of self-study habits, problem-solving ability and the capacity to use of one's hands in socially productive work. The Education Commission attached the highest importance to

the introduction of work-experience at all stages. The CABE has accepted this recommendation and has also suggested that the introduction of work-experience in education must necessarily result in the educational institution concerned making some profit and thereby earning a part of its total upkeep. Among the values to be inculcated, emphasis should be laid on personal morality, commitment to society as well as to secularism, socialism and democracy and the acquisition of a rational and a scientific temper. From this point of view, curricula at all stages will have to be revised and modernized and integrally related to the environment of the learners.

Programmes of qualitative improvement succeed better when they are implemented together. It is, therefore, necessary that our attempts at transforming the content of education should be ac- companied by other related programmes. These include adoption of dynamic methods of teaching; improvement of textbooks and other teaching and learning materials; examination reform; and improvement of equipment and facilities in educational institutions. Side by side, steps will have to be taken to improve the pre-service education of teachers, and what is even more important, to provide them with continuous in-service education. Supervision will have to be improved through raising the quality of supervisory staff, provision of in- service education, and especially through the involvement of teachers. Programmes of institutional planning will have to be introduced. An intensive effort will have to be made to select a proportion of the total number of institutions and to upgrade them to higher levels of excellence. There should be at least one model school in each Community Development Block and at least one model Secondary School in each District. Adequate provision for scholarships and hostels should be made in these institutions to admit talented students from the weaker sections of the community, especially those who would not otherwise be able to avail themselves of the formal system of education. The facilities of these institutions should be utilised fully for providing in-service education to teachers of schools in the neighbourhood and their facilities should also be made available to the students of these schools.

There is one point which needs attention. In the past, the programmes of qualitative improvement were relegated to the second place and received only such allocations as were available after the needs of expansion were first met. In practice, this meant that programmes of qualitative improvement were neglected and received about 10 per cent or even less of the total alloca-

tion. If these programmes are now to be high-lighted as top priority, this policy will have to be reversed. An equivalent of about 20 to 30 per cent of the total Plan allocation would have to be first set aside for the programmes of qualitative improvement. We should then address ourselves to the question of the maximum expansion that could be secured within the balance of the resources available.

Elementary Education

The next programme to be highlighted would be the provision of universal education to children in the age-group 6-14 in a period of ten years or even less.

It has now become evident that this programme can never be implemented through the traditional model of the system of elementary education with its single-point entry, sequential character and full- time institutional instruction provided almost exclusively by full- time professional teachers. The Board has, therefore, recommended that a large non-formal element should be introduced within this system by adoption of multiple entry and the provision of part-time education for those children who, for one reason or the other, cannot attend on a full-time basis. The Board has also recommended that all teaching resources available in the community should be harnessed for the purpose on a part-time or a full-time basis so that the programme is developed fully with minimum additional investment. All these recommendations have been generally accepted. Unfortunately, their implementation shows large variations. Some States have started new and interesting programmes. take this opportunity to congratulate those States on their initiative. I do hope that in all States such programmes would be developed on as large a scale, as possible. The programme is needed in every part of the country but its urgency is greater in those States where there is a large leeway to be made as yet.

The adoption of these non-formal programmes at the elementary stage will have three major advantages. They will make elementary education available to the masses of people who live below the poverty line and who cannot afford to send their children to school on a whole-time basis. They will cut down the extent of stagnation and wastage very drastically; and they will also reduce the unit costs of extending elementary education and help to enrol a number of children who are now out of school in spit of the limited resources available.

The provision of universal elementary education can be further promoted if an intensive effort is made to utilise all the existing facilities to the best extent possible. For various reasons which need not be discussed here. there appears to be a considerable laxity in proper stalling of schools. There is a large number of schools which are apparently overstaffed, just as there are many others which are heavily under-staffed. A closer examination of the situation, however, shows that if the staffing and location of schools could be rationalised, it would be possible to enrol a large number of additional students even within the existing facilities and with the existing number of teachers. The buildings and equipment available could be use in a shift system, to double enrolments with comparatively less additional investment. It would be highly worthwhile, therefore, for every State to examine fully how the existing facilities could be utilised to the maximum advantage for increasing enrolments. In the present situation of financial stringency, it is also obvious that every effort will have to be made to keep the total cost of programme down to the minimum. From this point of view. it would be necessary to slow down the expansion of the formal system of full time instruction. Simultaneously, the non- formal education at this stage will have to be expanded on the largest scale possible. If necessary, recourse should also be taken even to Such devices as an increase in the teacher-pupil ratio through the adoption of suitable measures, including the double-shift system in classes I and II.

A reference must be made here to another important programme of mass education, namely, the non-formal education of the out-of-school youth in the age group 15-25. This is a group of vital importance for every country from cultural, demographic, economic, political and social points of view. In India, it numbers about nine crores, of whom five crores are illiterate, and two crores are semi-literate. We do not have at present even a minimum communication with this significant group. It is, therefore, necessary to develop a programme of non-formal education for these young persons. The content of the programme 'will be broad-based and include the upgrading of vocational skills, education for citizenship, family life education, functional literacy, programmes of sports, games and recreation and participation in community or national service. A start is proposed to be made immediately on a modest and experimental scale. It is, however, necessary to develop the programme in a big way within a few years. Adequate provision for this purpose will, therefore, have to be made in the State Plans.

Vocationalisation of Secondary Education and Adoption of the New Pattern (10+2+3)

The programme next in order of priority would be the voca- tionalisation of secondary education.

A major recommendation of the Education Commission was that work- experience should be made an integral part of all school education from Class I to X. This will develop skills in the use of one's hands, inculcate the dignity of manual labour and build up values and attitudes which would, not only improve the quality of general education which a student receives, but also help him in adopting a technological or vocational career. The Commission was also of the, view that the best stage when an intensive programme of vocationalisation can be introduced is the higher secondary stage. It recognised that some vocational courses could be introduced even earlier at the lower secondary stage (Class VIII-X), but was of the view that the extent of such vocationalisation would be limited to about 20 per cent of the total enrolment. It also recognised that vocational or professional courses could form a part of the university stage also. But here too, the extent of such courses would be limited to about 10-30 per cent of the total enrolment. On the other hand, the possibility of vocationalisation at the secondary stage was large- to about 50 per cent of the total enrolment. Moreover, this stage was also the most effective stage of vocationalisation, partly because of the comparative maturity of the students and partly because the programme would be far less costly than at the university stage. That is why the Education Commission placed the highest emphasis on vocationalisation of the higher secondary stage of education.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS PROF. S. NURUL HASAN, UNION MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, SOCIAL WELFARE AND CULTURE