V. SPEECH OF KM. SELJA, DM (E&C) IN
 THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE
 DEVELOPMENT
 

I join Education Secretary in extending a warm welcome to you all. Though all subjects of today's deliberation have great relevance for our education system, I will confine, my observations to the report of the National Advisory Committee on reducing the burden of school students.

Qualitatively, education continues to cause serious concern. The issue of falling standards of achievement in intellectual, moral and ethical spheres calls for immediate scrutiny. To know the reasons of this deterioration in educational standards, we may have to wade sometimes in shallow water; sometimes in deep. What happens in school is now more open to public scrutiny than ever before. This openness will become more formal as the search for effective schools and effective teaching becomes more intense. It is expected that parents will become, more and more conscious of what goes oil inside the classroom. What was once restricted to be a debate amongst profes- sionals may have a much larger audience now. It is in this context that the discussion on the report of Professor Yashpal Committee become relevant.

The recommendations of the Advisory Committee on reducing the quantum of texbooks home work, etc., are of great relevance. Learning has to become a Joyful experience. This is necessary to ensure reduc tion of the dropout rates. Making the school and the classroom attractive is particularly relevant to the disadvantaged sections of society. Most, of the children from these sections are first generation learners. It is our duty to ensure that education is a smooth process for them.

There is also a tendency to burden Students in the lower classes with home work. I feel that we should discourage this totally. Education is not a more textual learning. A child learns from his family, from elders from friends, from the surroundings and from nature. When we compell the child to spend time with textbooks and notebooks at home also, we are taking away from the child the joy of being one with, nature or the opportunity to learn from the surroundings.

The need to make the learning process a joyful experience is certainly not in question. The Yashpal Committee's recommendations cover various aspects of the issue and I am sure you would have studied and examined them in depth. There may be practical difficulties in implementing some of the recommendations; there may be certain recommendations which are not acceptable to all; but I am sure there are many recommendations on which we can forge a consensus and start implementing right away.

With these words, I wish the discussions all success.