VI ADDRESS BY DR. (SMT.) CHITRA
 NAIK, MEMBER (EDUCATION) PLANNING
 COMMISSION
 

The forty-eighth meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education is taking place at a time when the country's Eighth Five Year Plan is being launched against a global scenario of politico- economic upheaval. While our country can derive much strength from past achievements, it is obvious that it must tap further sources of strength through a creative response to the challenges posed by the emergent trends in international relationships, and their multidimensional impact on the Indian society. It is true that the vitality of a nation is derived from its cultural heritage and tested practices; but it is equally true that this vitality gets demonstrated and enhanced only through dynamism, through the rejection of the obsolete and adoption of fresh, relevant, efficient paths towards progress. Well-designed action for socioeconomic change and development is the major theme of the Eighth Five Year Plan. This theme had to be strongly reflected in educational plans and programmes, especially for achieving the goal of 'education for all' by the year 2000. So far, we have had enough debate and discourse. We know our problems fully and we have also in sight many a solution to them. But we urgently need widespread action, convincing performance, based on meticulous projectization of each educational programme along with a deep concern for efficiency in every aspect of education.

The National Policy on Education, 1986 was indeed a remarkable landmark in our history of education. Even as that Policy was passed, it contained a clearly enunciated provision for policy-revision every five years. The revision was accelerated by the Report of the Ram Murthy Committee. A wideranging and detailed consideration of the recommendations of that Committee led to certain new policy formulations and thus the revised National Policy on Education came on the scene. Naturally, this necessitated corresponding modifications in the Programme of Action prepared earlier. This responsibility was entrusted by the Department of Education, HRD Ministry to 23 Task Forces. The Draft Programme of Action which is now before us bears witness to the excellent work done by these Task Forces. The work of the Task Force on Management of Education was particularly onerous as it had to mesh together the administrative and financial concerns of the traditional education system with those visualized under new dispensations such as decentralization, the complementarity of budgetary and social finance of education, and new structures for better management of the various subsectors of education. This has been a remarkable effort and I would request the Members of the CABE to give chapter 23 of the POA their most detailed attention because management is the pivot around which the entire education system has to revolve and depend upon, for reaching our declared short-term and long-term goals.

I would also like to point out that there is a felicitous congruency between the new POA and the Eighth Five Year Plan. When the POA (1986) was launched in August, 1986, the Seventh Plan was already in operation and had not taken into account the likely financial implications of the NPE (1986). However, to meet the demand of the POA (1986) additional outlays were given to the Education Department for General Education and Technical Education. AS against the approved outlay of Rs. 5457.09 for the Seventh Plan (Rs. 1738.64 crores at the Centre and Rs. 3718.45 crores at the States level), the actual expenditure was Rs. 7632.53 crores comprising Rs. 2905.53 crores at the Centre and Rs. 4727.00 crores at the State levels. This represented a step up of 140%. But the exercise was rather ad-hoc.

In so far as the Eighth Plan is concerned, the picture is more systematic and promising because the revision of the Policy took place almost immediately after the launching of the Eighth Plan, i.e. in May, 1992. The POA placed before you is being finalized within 6 months of the launching of the Eighth Plan. The Eighth Plan document which has recently been tabled in Parliament indicates that the allocation for the Education Department, both Centre and States together, would be Rs. 19599.75 crores. This represents a step up of 257% over the 7th Plan figure earlier mentioned, namely Rs. 7632.53 crores. Within this overall allocation, we have tentatively allocated Rs. 2880 crores for Elementary Education and Rs. 1400 crores for Adult Education. We expect that the State Governments also would allocate substantial outlays

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for these two sectors which are emphasized in the POA and which form part of the Minimum Needs Programme. We are conscious that the Eighth Plan allocations to the Education Sector are not adequate to fully meet the requirements of the revised POA. But it needs to be pointed out that the various targets stipulated in the POA will necessarily go beyond the Eighth Plan and spill over into the Ninth Plan. Realistically, therefore, the goal of Education for All could be achieved by 2000 AD, which is the midpoint of the Ninth Plan, If the entire Indian society strives hard to achieve it, this goal will surely be within our reach. This is not a matter of budgetary allocations. It is a matter of arousing the national will to move forward to build the India of our dreams.

One more point of information: As you are aware, the National Development Council's Committee on Literacy, set up under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister, U.P. with Chief Minister of West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab & Mizoram and Minister of HRD and Minister of State for I & B as Members, is looking into all aspects of the problems of adult literacy and universal primary education. It will- also estimate the funds required during a given time-frame. I happen to be the Member-Secretary of this Committee and hope that the work of the Committee would be completed soon.

It must be admitted that the financial picture not as bright as one could wish. But it is not entirely gloomy either. There is hope that with a result-oriented attitude to work, better management, stress on fast and efficient action, and real collaboration among all sections of the population and administration, we would use the available resources in the best possible way and achieve our goals within the given timeframe of planned action.

I congratulate the officials of the Department of Education, HRD Ministry, who have worked clay and night with all the dedication at their command, to support the Task Forces in their labour and to finalize their reports into a cogent document in record time. The leadership and encouragement given to them for this purpose by Shri Arjun Singh, Minister, HRD, has no doubt contributed substantially to their achievements. We from the Planning Commission had the pleasure to help the Ministry steer the entire exercise of the preparation of the POA and the infusion of many a forward-looking innovation in various sub-sectors of education, in this newly drafted document. I am certain that it is the new paths of considered action indicated in the POA that are going to be the most rewarding for reaching the goals of Indian education in a reasonable span of time. In relation to the achievement of goals, the Hon'ble Minister for Human Resource Development has quoted an interesting stanza from Ferdinand Lassalles poem. It brings back to my memory a poem of Robert Frost and tempts me to quote a couple of stanzas relevant to change and innovation. I quote:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

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I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

And friends, that is the conclusion. May you find, appreciate and adopt new paths towards educational change and development. That is all that our new Programme of Action in education ultimately means. It is the path that would lead to the socioeconomic goals we have been dreaming of for this country we greatly love.