MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CABE HELD ON 15TH OCTOBER, 1993.
The 49th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was held in the main Committee Room, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi on 15th October, 1993 under the chairmanship of Shri Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development. The list, of participants in the meeting is at Annexure I. The Agenda of the meeting is at Annexure-II. List of documents circulated in the meeting is at Annexure-III.
Before the proceedings of the meeting started, the participants observed two minutes silence in condolence of the death of thousands of people in the recent earth quake in Maharashtra. The meeting also passed a condolence resolution on the death of Prof. D. S. Kothari who was a member of the Board. A copy of the resolution is at Annexure-IV.
Shri S. V. Giri, Union Education Secretary and Member-Secretary of CABE welcomed the members of the Board and invitees to the meeting. He mentioned that preparation of State Programmes of Action. taking into account the situational imperatives was the major innovation introduced in the Programme of Action (POA), 1992. In order to facilitate preparation of State POAs, five regional meeting and work- shops were organised with State/UT Secretaries and Directors of Education. These workshops threw tip a number of useful suggestions on the preparation of State POAs. Shri Giri also referred to the meeting of State/UT Secretaries and Directors of Education held on 5-6 October 1993 in which they had agreed that the State POAs would be ready before the end of December 1993. Shri Giri also referred to the other agenda items like the reports of various CABE Committees and the discussion paper on raising the status of National Steering Committee on School Textbook Evaluation to that of a National Commission with statutory powers. He also drew attention of the participants to the District Primary Education Programme, Total Literacy Campaigns and the Programmes in Non-Formal Education. The text of Shri Giri's speech is at Annexure-V.
In his inaugural address Shri Arjun Singh, Chairman, CABE said that the report of CABE Committee on Decentralised Management of Education was a path-breaking exercise. He said that the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments had a great bearing on the management of education and that the steps for decentralisation had the backing of all the political parties. Me said that in a democracy the power should be with the people at the grass roots level. While the report gave a number of recommendations, it was for the State Governments to go ahead with the decentralisation process. He also referred to the forthcoming EFA Summit of nine high population developing countries to be held oil 15-16 October 1993 in Delhi. Shri Arjun Singh also stressed the need for proper integration of sports activities in the educational curricula. He said that this was necessary for India to achieve excellence in sports. While it would not be possible to discuss the report of the CABE Committee on Sports and Physical Education in the meeting, copies of the report would be circulated to all. Another point highlighted by Shri Arjun Singh was the need to reduce the load on school children. The, Ministry had appointed a Committee to suggest ways and means to reduce this load. He requested all the States to seriously consider the, recommendations of the Committee and make efforts to implement at least some of the recommendations by the beginning of next academic year. A meeting with the states and UTs could be held later to consider all the recommendations. The Chairman also referred to the discussion paper on raising the status of the Steering Committee for evaluation of school textbooks to that of a statutory National Commission and highlighted the need to keel) textbooks free from sectarian and com- munal propaganda. The written speech of the Chairmain is at Annexure- VI.
After the inaugural address of the Chairman, the minutes of the previous meeting were considered. The Chairman requested the members that if they had any comments on the minutes the same could be furnished in writing later. Subject to this the minutes were confirmed.
It was decided to consider the remaining items together. The Chairman then requested Shri Veerappa Moily, Chief Minister of Karnataka to introduce the reports of the CABE Committees on Decentralised Management of Education and Teachers Representation in Legislative Councils, of which he was the Chairman.
Shri Moily thanked the members of both the committees for their help and cooperation in preparing
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the reports. He prefaced his remarks on the report of the CABE Committee on Decentralised Management of Education by saying that most of the states already had their own system of panchayat and many states have panchayat level structures in education too. It would, therefore, not be an easy task to introduce structures recommended by the Committee. However, they could be introduced in a pleased manner. He said that the basic concept underlying the whole report was that the people at the village/grass root level should enjoy power so that they would feel involved in education. He also said that he had written to the Prime Minister that the decentralised structures were necessary not only in education but in other social sectors like health, etc. also and that similar exercises needed to be done by other Ministries. Then only decentralisation would be complete.
Referring to the report on teachers' representation in Legislative Councils, Shri Moily said that the Legislative Councils were conceived only on an experimental basis. If representation in Legislative Councils was to be extended to the primary teachers as a class, there would be a demand from other professionals like engineers, doctors, etc. Further, Legislative Councils were in existence only in four states and 80 per cent of the teachers who were in government schools would, in any case, not be getting representation. Considering all this the committee felt that there was no justification for the singling out of primary school teachers for special treatment and, therefore, the Committee did not recommend continuance of the practice of teachers' representation in Legislative Councils. He then commended both the reports for consideration of the meeting.
Shri P. R. Kumaramangalam, Minister of State for Science and Technology stressed the importance of promoting scientific temper among school children. Activity-based science teaching should be encouraged. There should be extensive use of electronic media for improving teaching-learning in schools by utilising `talk-back' facility through satellite which the IGNOU has already decided to use. He also advocated production of more popular science books. He also advised the State Governments to consider involvement of NGOs in preparing science teaching programmes. According to him, it was necessary to promote linkages between universities, national laboratories and industries which could even extend to schools. He also referred to the scheme of Department of Science and Technology to promote science learning by doing, He said that the walled laboratories should be replaced by environment labs without walls. He said that if this concept was adopted in educational programmes, it would reduce the problem of load of school bag. He also stressed the importance of decentralisation and supported the CABE Committees' reports on Decentralised Management of Education and the Gnanam Committee.
Dr. P. V. Ranga Rao, Minister of School Education, Andhra Pradesh said that he was in general agreement with the report. He, however, was of the opinion that certain subjects like academic supervision, preparation of textbooks, appointment of teachers and teachers' service conditions should rest with the State Government. Referring to the report of the CABE Committee on Teachers' Representation in Legislative Councils, he said that teachers' representation in any case was a partial affairs. He expressed his view that learning process at the primary stage should be an enjoyable one. Referring to the observations of Minister of State for Science and Technology, he said that at least one science museum should be set up in every district. From this angle, the provision of Rs. 35 crore under the scheme of Department of Science and Technology was not sufficient. He also felt that nurturing of basic human values should the objective of education. He was in favour of including sports and culture in the content of education. Referring to the discussion paper on the status of school textbook evaluation committee, he felt that a standing committee of the CABE should be sufficient to perform the functions of the proposed National Commission.
Education Minister, West Bengal said that right to education should be made a fundamental right, then only it would be possible to achieve education for all. He also said that all socioeconomic measures should be taken for realisation of this Tight. Referring to die report of the CABE Committee on Decentralised Management of Education he said that while decentralisation was a desirable goal, without land reforms Panchayati Raj system would not work properly. He also drew attention to the need for financial support for the States. As regards teachers' representation in legislative councils, he was of the view that even legislative councils were a luxury for a poor country like India.
Shri E. T. Mohammed Basheer, Education Minister, Kerala said that Kerala had taken steps for preparing the State POA. He endorsed the report of the CABE Committee on Decentralised Management of Education. Regarding the subject of academic burden, he was not in agreement with the recommendation to give autonomy to heads of organisations at district level. He was also critical of the existing pre-primary education in the country as it was spoiling the character of the children. He was not in favour of the
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recommendation of the Gnanam Committee report that no now central university should be opened. He said that there were many States who had neither any central university nor any central higher education institution. While he was in favour of a common law for all universities, he said that it should have enough flexibility. He also felt that the recommendation that the university bodies should be filled by nomination should have more flexibility and that we should not be totally against election. He also felt that politicians should have their say in matters relating to universities. He also suggested that appraisal of teachers by students should also be there. He also felt that government should have a say in the matter of university administration, otherwise the autonomy would be misused. Referring to recommendation 39(c) he felt that it was not a practical step to refer to UGC; UGC should not be a super body. As regards selection panel for Vice-Chancellors, he felt that the nominee of the Government should also be there. So far as composition syndicate is concerned, the state should be free to decide and there should be no rigid direc- tion from the centre. (The Chairman requested Education Minister, Kerala to send written comments).
Dr. (Smt.) Chitra Naik, Member (Education), Planning Commission requested the States to look into the NDC reports on employment, micro planning, literacy and austerity as that would help them to prepare State POAs keeping in view the national perspectives. She said that these reports had been endorsed by the NDC. She also underlined the need for developing scientific temper in students. She felt that the, primary education system in the country deserved serious attention; the return was not commensurate with the investment. She emphasised the need for decentralisation and building up local capabilities not only in educational management but hi other social sector activities also. Empowering the people to plan for them selves, according to her, is as; important if not more, as decentralisation. She also felt that the open education system needed to be given more attention as the formal education system had only led to furthering inequalities.
Education Minister, Haryana informed the meeting that the State POA was under preparation and that the draft would be ready by the year end. He also recounted various measures taken by Haryana for development of education among girls. He felt that the problem of load of school bag was mainly a problem of the private schools, and not of government schools. He was not in agreement with regulating pre-primary education through legislative measures as it was basically an urban phenomenon only. Before any step in this direction is taken, experimentation is necessary,
He agreed with the proposal for upgrading the status of Steering Committee on Textbook Evaluation. He also mentioned about total literacy campaign in Haryana. Be endorsed some of the recommendations of the Soneri Committee like operationalisation of accreditation,, annual appraisal, etc. He, however, felt that autonomy of colleges would create problems.
Shri P. C. Ghadai, Minister of School and Mass Education, Orissa said that the State Programme of Action was Under preparation. He, however, sought more financial assistance from the Central Government for operationalising POA. Referring to the CABE Committee on Decentralised Management of Education, he raised doubts about the capability of the existing Panchayati Raj institutions to handle the new responsibilities bestowed on them. Therefore, decentralization should be gradual; to begin with primary education could be entrusted to panchayati raj institutions. He urged the need for capability building at the Panchayat level. Referring to the Yashpal Committee report, he felt that the Committee had not taken into account the infrastructural constraints being faced by the schools in the rural areas. He felt that reducing the syllabus was the right step for reducing the school load.
Shri C. P. Majhi, Minister (Higher Education), Orissa mentioned that the higher education institutions in Orissa were facing resource constraints. Because of financial difficulties, Orissa had not been able to go ahead with the establishment of autonomus colleges. He wanted more financial assistance from the Central Government. While he agreed that university should have more autonomy, he felt that government should have some control over their functioning. He felt that to ensure accountability of higher education institutions, their annual reports should be placed before the State legislatures. While accountability of teachers should be ensured, their difficulties also should be taken into account.
Dr. Henry Lamin, Education Minister Meghalaya said that Meghalaya had proceeded much in the direction of decentralisation. District Councils were having much power in Meghalaya. In fact, now teachers want to be brought under the State Government, as they were finding it difficult to cope with the district council. He felt that the management committees of schools were highly politicised. The decentralization experiment was not a success in Meghalaya, and the government had decided to take over primary education from the district councils.
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Shri L. Imkong, Minister of Secondary Education, Nagaland presented the State profile on education. He said that adequate facilities were not available for higher and technical education in the North-East. He felt that the Gnanam Committee report if implemented properly, would improve higher education. He also mentioned that 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments were not applicable to Meghalaya owing to low population. The State had set up a unique system of Village Development Boards to undertake planning and execution of developmental work. He agreed with the recommendations of the Yashpal Committee Report, but said that the suggestion to keep textbooks in schools was not feasible.
Dr. Ram Chandra Purve Education Minister, Bihar said that preparation of State POA was in progress in Bihar. He said that education should be directly linked to productivity. In this regard he referred to the Charwaha schools established by the Government of Bihar. He said that these schools had resulted in higher enrolment. In the primary education, he felt that the first priority should be to the recruitment of teachers in primary schools. After achieving UEE, the State wanted to go ahead to achieve universalisation of secondary education. However, finances are the major constraints and he wanted more Central help to the States in this regard. Referring to decentralised management of education, he said that Bihar had taken a lead in this regard. He agreed with the recommendation of Yashpal Committee report and said that education should not be limited to books but should be linked with culture. He also stressed the need for reflection of the regional culture and inclusion oil biographies of national leaders who rose from adverse economic situations in the school textbooks. He also felt that the Committee should have taken note of the financial constraints of the states in enforcing the 1 : 40 teacher pupil ratio and reducing if further to 1 : 30. He also wanted central assistance for constructing school buildings. On the proposal for setting up of a statutory commission on school textbooks evaluation, he felt that the matter needed thorough examination and wanted more time or the state government to formulate its views. On the report of the Gnanam Committee, he offered to send his objections in writing Referring, particularly, to the recommendation of keeping politicians out of executive bodies of education institutions, be said that the participation of politicians had to be there otherwise the objectives of education would not be achieved.
Shri V. P. Usgaonker, Minister of Education, Goa said that the State POA would be ready by December end. He also said that as soon as Zila Parishads are established in Goa, decentralisation of education would be affected. Regarding the recommendation of reducing school burden, he felt that parents should be consulted. He agreed with the discussion paper on school textbook evaluation committee. The recommendation of Gnanam Committee were under consideration of his government. Referring to the report of Teachers Representation in Legislative Councils, he said that Goa did not have any Legislative Council.
Shri Prabhakar Dharkar, Minister for Higher & Technical Education, Maharashtra said that Supreme Court judgement on capitation fee colleges had created more confusion. This needed to be cleared at the earliest. He suggested setting up of educational tribunals on the lines of administrative tribunals. He said that norms for medical and other colleges should be relaxed without compromising on quality. Be felt that vocationalisation of education failed in it objective as terminal education. He also wanted a second look into the content and duration of some of the vocational courses.
Shri Salim Zakaria, Minister for State for School Education, Maharashtra said that education should lead to all round development; it should create self-confidence in the students. He said that the State Government had taken a number of initiatives in universalising education but funds had become a major constraint. He wanted increased central assistance. He also referred to some of the incentive measures launched by the Government of Maharashtra for pro- moting girls' education. Be felt that the present education system had been formulated keeping in view the urban students. The education system should also cater to the needs of those who would be terminating their education at the school level. He also suggested extensive use of TV for disseminating education. He said that a separate educational channel should be started in Doordarshan. He was in favour of giving more encouragement to sports.