The principal advantage of the programme of vocationalisation of secondary education is that it diverts a fair proportion of students into different vocations and thereby reduces the pressures on admission to the universities. That is why the implementation of this programme was accorded a very high priority by the Education Commission, and we should lose no time in implementing this recommendation.

The adoption of the 10+2+3 pattern has been recommended on several important grounds. It lengthens the duration of the school stage to twelve years so that that part of the present undergraduate stage which really belongs to the school can be taken out. Under the system, a student will be eighteen plus

or sufficiently mature to benefit himself from higher education. The reform would thus have the advantage of improving standards both at the school and college stages. Moreover, this new pattern will also reduce inordinate expansion of secondary education and also facilitate its vocationalisation. When secondary education forms a continuous course, two problems are created. The first is that, at the point of entry into the course, the student is too young to choose his career; and the second is that, once he enters the course, he has no alternative but to continue to the end, thus leading to unnecessary and inordinate expansion. On the other hand, if the secondary stage is broken into two parts at the end of Class X (10+2), both these difficulties are overcome. The student would now be required to choose his career at the end of Class X, or when he is about 16. This is a reasonable proposition. Moreover, in the next stage of two years, it is possible to provide alternative courses of two categories. In the first, he is intensively trained, for a period of two years, for university studies. In the second. he is trained, through courses of varying durations (1 to 3 years), for different walks of life. There has to be undoubtedly, the flexibility in the transfer of credits. That is why the problem of vocationalisation of secondary education and that of adoption of the common pattern have to be treated as a package deal and implemented simultaneously. The adoption of this pattern in all States of the country would incidentally create a uniform structure for the educational system which is a considerable advantage in itself.

This reform has already been approved by the Board and included in the Resolution on the National Policy on Education. It has also been implemented in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is under implementation in Assam, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Delhi. Other Governments are giving their serious attention to it. A stage has, therefore, been reached when it is possible to carry out the reform in all the States in the course of next few years. What is needed is a vigorous and time-bound programme of implementation.

Youth Services

Yet another programme which must be emphasised, inspite of all constraints on resources, is that of youth services whose primary objective is to enable the young to participate in nation building activities. Here, three main proposals have been made. The first is that of Nehru Yuvak Kendras. About a hundred of

these Kendras have already been established; and very soon there would be a kendra in every district. We are planning to set up an organisation of the Nehru Yuvak Kendras as an autonomous Society. Broadly, the organisation will be on a two-tier basis-a General Policy Coordination Council-which will be the general body of the organisation and will include Ministers of the State Governments in charge of Youth Affairs. The General Policy Coordination Council will have a smaller Executive Committee for the day-to-day management of the Society. These will be supported at the State level by State Committees presided over by the State Ministers concerned and District Committees with the respective District Magistrates as Chairman advised by Councils of youth representatives so that full involvement of youth is ensured.

The second programme covers the National Service Scheme which is now in operation, at the under-graduate stage, in the colleges and universities. Efforts have to be made so that the scheme is integrated with the university and college curricula and the U. G. C. has already referred this to the subject panels. Another important aspect of this scheme is the organisation, during vacations, of special camping programmes. During the current year, for instance, an education camping scheme entitled "Youth Against Dirt and Diseas" has been launched and designed to mobilize large groups of student youth. The intention is that this camping programme should be utilised for leaving behind definite community assets in rural areas where such camps are organised. We count on the support and cooperation of the State Governments to ensure the success of this scheme.

The third programme is the National Service Volunteer Corps Scheme which is proposed to be developed, during the Fifth Plan Period, somewhat on the lines of the NCC. It envisages that each graduate student volunteer would be paid a stipend of Rs. 175/- per mensem during the period of one year and that such volunteers would be utilised for various tasks of national service which would suit their own field of specialisation. Money for such stipends would have to come from different approved schemes of the Central and State Governments. Some of these volunteers could be utilised for the programme of nonformal education including functional literacy. The programme is expected to begin with about 20,000 graduate volunteers and gradually rise to about 1,00,000 by the end of the Fifth Plan. We look forward to your cooperation and collaboration in the successful implementation of this programme,

The Ministers of State Governments in charge of Sports, the AR India Council of Sports and the representatives of State Councils of Sports have met in the last two days and have decided to provide for mass-participation in sports. I hope the Board will accept their recommendation that games/sports/physical culture be made compulsory in schools and provided for in colleges.

Linear Expansion of Secondary and Higher Education

The last programme to which I will make a reference is the regulation of the linear expansion of secondary and higher education.

At present, the expansion of secondary education has been far too unplanned and haphazard. There are a very large number of small, uneconomic and inefficient secondary schools. Steps will have to be taken to regulate the establishment and proper location of new secondary schools and even to rationalise the existing ones. If proper emphasis is laid on maintenance of standards while establishing new secondary schools or granting recognition to them, a good deal of the expansion of secondary education would automatically be controlled.

In higher education, more drastic steps will have to be taken to regulate enrolments. There should be considerable restraint in the establishment of new universities. New colleges should not be established except in areas which are largely under-developed. Every effort should be made to create institutions which are sufficiently large in size to be academically viable and economical. To safeguard the interests of students from the weaker sections of the community and especially Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, seats should be reserved for them in all full-time institutions of higher education in proportion to their population, and due provision should be made for scholarships and hostels. At the same time, the non-formal system should also be encouraged on a large scale to meet the needs of workers and of those who are desirous to receive higher education but cannot take advantage of full-time institutions. For this purpose, the proposal to establish an 'open university' at the national level is under consideration. In addition, there should be facilities for correspondence education in a university in every region. Similarly, all Board and University examinations should be thrown open to private candidates.

It is felt that measures of this type would create considerable saving in funds which are now allocated for linear expansion at the secondary and university stages. These could be available for vocationalisation, adoption of new pattern and programmes of qualitative improvement.

An Appeal

Friends, I would like to end with an appeal to all of you, to the academic community of teachers and students and to the members of the public interested in education.

The country is passing through very difficult economic conditions at present. This has placed the programmes of educational development under a severe financial constraint and it appears that education will have to live with this situation for quite some time to come. We as educationists cannot accept an escapist or defeatist policy and sit idle or write off all reconstruction of education. It is our duty to convert this difficulty itself into a challenge and an opportunity. This can be done if the following steps are taken :

First : We should try to mobilise the maximum resources possible, even under the present situation, by making the fullest utilisation of existing facilities and non-plan funds, by utmost measure of economy, by reducing unit costs, and by supplementing the plan allocations through community support and receipts from production programmes.

Second : We should concentrate our efforts on a few major programmes of identified significance and priority. Among these, mention may be made of the programmes of qualitative improvement, universalisation of elementary education, vocationalisation of secondary education, adoption of new pattern (10+2+3) and youth services, including the development of a programme of non-formal education for out-of-school youth in the age-group 15-25.

Third : The exclusive emphasis on the formal system of education must be given up, and a large element of non-formal education should be introduced within the system. At the elementary stage, the multiple-entry system and programmes of part-time education will have to be adopted in a big way. At the secondary and university stages, part-time and correspondence education should be developed and all encouragement should be given for programmes of self-study.

Fourth : The linear expansion of secondary and university education should be regulated and the emphasis should be on creation of institutions of optimum size which are both economical and efficient.

Fifth : We must create a climate of enthusiasm and sustained hard work in all educational institutions through a deep involvement of teachers, students and the community in all programmes of educational reconstruction. In fact, the emphasis should now be on human effort which, apart from being an end in itself, can also make up a good deal for the inadequacy of financial resources.

It is the responsibility of Government, of the Ministry of Education at the Centre and the Departments of Education in the States, teachers, students and the leaders of community in all walks of life to support and develop this comprehensive programme. Let us all work together and strive to rise to the occasion.