REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON SECONDARY EDUCATION (ANNEXURE-VI)
Chairman Shri Kanti Biswas
Education Minister
Government of West Bengal
Rapporteur Km. Sushma Choudhary
Education Secretary
Government of J & K
The Group of the CABE which met to discuss issues connected with Secondary Education resolved to place on record its concern that Secondary Education was not getting its rightful importance both in terms of financial allocations and physical facilities. It was stressed that secondary education, which includes higher secondary education, is the vital link between elementary education and higher education and therefore, it deserves appropriate importance vis-a-vis the other stages of education.
Vocationalisation of Secondary Education The scheme of vocationalisation of secondary education was taken up for discussion first. At the end of an interesting and through- provoking discussion, the following recommendations were made:
1. The scheme of vocationalisation. of secondary education should continue as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme at least till the end of the 8th Plan. The financial ceilings of various components under the existing scheme need to be revised upwardly in view of cost escalation.
2. The Group recommended that vocational education at the +2 level may continue as a distinct stream.
3. Keeping in view the need of a large number of students who do not study beyond class X, pre-vocational education at the lower secondary stage, in lieu of work experience, should be introduced in a phased manner. The
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group agreed in principle with the draft scheme circulated and suggested that the details should be finalised in consultation. with the State Governments/U.T. Administrations.
4. The group welcomed the suggestion to set up separate vocational schools, particularly in the North Eastern States and also in certain rural areas of other States. Initially, a few schools may be started on an experimental basis and thereafter based upon the evaluation of the scheme, further expansion could be considered. As in the case of the Pre-Vocational Scheme, it was suggested that the details of this scheme also be finalised in consultation with the State Governments/U.T. Administrations.
5. The Members of the group felt that the proposal to involve the community in helping the vocational students to achieve self-employment/wage- employment through the, scheme entitled `Each One Place One' was interesting and had tremendous potential. It recommended its wide circulation throughout the country and called upon all State Govts./U.Ts. and NGOs to give it appropriate publicity.
6. The programme of vocationalisation of secondary education needs to be consolidated and the quality improved. While it is desirable that the programme should be expanded. this expansion should be undertaken in a selective manner after providing the necessary inputs.
7. The group considered the recommendations of the Acharya Ramamurti Report, which has accorded a very high priority to Vocationalisation of Education. There was unanimity among the group that sex-stereotyping in courses should be carefully avoided and that access for Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes should be enhanced. It also agreed that there should be a meaningful linkage between the courses in schools and the world of work and that there should be greater decentralisation in decision making and implementation with more involvement of the Heads of Institutions, The suggestions for introduction of Vocational Courses before Class XI and the modular approach to these courses have, in a modified manner, been incorporated in the scheme of Pre- vocational Education with which the group has already agreed in principle.
8. The Group noted that many of the States have made a lot of progress in introducing vocational courses at the
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plus 2 level but that some States are still lagging behind. Some of the areas in which particular attention needs to be paid by the State Governments are the following :
(i) The setting up of adequate management structures at all levels.
(ii) Construction of worksheds.
(iii) Procurement of equipment, before commencement of the course.
(iv) Appointment of qualified teachers.
(v) Development of instructional material and textbooks.
(vi) Development of appropriate linkages for practical training during the courses and later for wage/self- employment.
(vii) Avenues for vertical mobility to higher professional courses in certain vocational areas and horizontal mobility should be facilitated.
(viii) Modification of recruitment rules.
(ix) Strengthening of training institutes for pre-service and in-service training of vocational teachers. Financial assistance from the Central Government was requested for this purpose.
(x) Selection of courses to be guided by the develop- mental activities of the States and the labour market profile, for which Surveys should be completed and periodically updated.
(xi) The States should work in close collaboration with the Regional Boards of Apprenticeship Training to facilitate maximum placement of vocational students.
Navodaya Vidyalayas The majority of the Group recommended that the existing imbalance in the pattern of coverage of Districts in a few States/UTs may be reduced, by bringing the percentage of coverage of Districts to the National percentage of 65. This will enable students of those particular States/UTs to compete for admission in Navodaya Vidyalaya on a compara-
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tively equitable basis. The majority of the Group suggested that corrective action be taken by opening a few Navodaya Vidyalayas in those States/UTs where the present percentage of coverage is less than that of the national average figure i.e. 65.
PROGRAMMES FOR QUALITATIVE IMPROVEMENT IN SECONDARY EDUCATION
(i) Elevation of the status of the Principals/Headmasters of
High and Higher Secondary Schools.The Group recognises the need for granting greater delegation of authority-administrative, financial and academic to the Principals/Headmasters of high and higher secondary schools and commensurate accountability on their part. However, it was suggested that the specific delegations listed in the Agenda note may be considered by each individual State Government. It was also suggested that the proposed scheme may be adopted first in the school systems directly under the control of the Central Government.
(ii) Examination Reform The Committee noted that inspite of several recommendations that have been made for examination reforms there are many State Boards of Secondary Education which have yet to take necessary steps to reform their examination systems.
The Group felt that there is need to monitor the implementation of examination reform in the various States, and that this task could be effectively done by the Conference of Boards of Secondary Education (COBSE) and NCERT which are already involved in this activity.
(iii) Curricula Development The group noted that this is an on-going activity and recommended that State Government should continue to strive for upgradation of the curriculum.
Improvement of Specific Subject Areas It was recommended that the schemes aimed at improvement in the quality of school education such as science education, environmental orientation to school education and educational technology should be continued with central assistance during the 8th Plan. It was suggested that for teacher
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training programmes, provision of TA/DA should also be made since the State Governments are unable to meet this financial commitment.
CLASS Project Recognising the importance of imparting computer education in Government and Government aided schools in order to reduce disparities of access in this area, continuation of the CLASS Project and its phased expansion is recommended. Schools should be selected carefully to ensure that basic facilities such as building and electricity are available.
Other Items with Permission of the Chair (a) The attention of the group was invited to a communic- ation received from the Ministry of Welfare and the Department of Women and Child Development regarding unique problems being faced in admission of destitute, orphaned, abandoned children and recommended that the following may be done
(i) the form for admission may be amended to provide for the name of the parent/guardian. The name of the father need not be insisted on.
(ii)The date of birth as declared by the parent/ guardians of the child should be accepted by all educational institutions without insistence on birth certificate.
(b) It was acknowledged that handicapped children such as deaf, dumb and blind find it difficult to learn more than one language. The Government of India had earlier recommended to all States/U.Ts to permit children with hearing and vision disabilities to learn one language only and other subjects in lieu of the second or third language. In some States/U.Ts this is still not being done. To facilitate the education of the handicapped, it was recommended by the Group that provision of this facility may be considered by the States/U.Ts where it is yet to be provided.
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(c) The group recommends that the norms regulating the establishment and upgradation of schools in reference to roll factor and teacher-student ratio for hilly and in- accessible areas should be relaxed.
PARTICIPANTS IN THE GROUP ON SECONDARY EDUCATION
1. Shri Kanti Biswas Chairman
Education Minister
West Bengal
2. Km. Sushma Choudhary Rapporteur
Education Secretary
Government of Jammu & Kashmir
3. Shri Arun Kumar Kar
Education Minister
Tripura.
4. Shri Ashoka Bajpai
Education Minister
Uttar Pradesh
5. Shri H. S. Singha
Chairman, CBSE.
6. Shri G. C. Yadava
Director of Public Instruction
Government of Arunachal Pradesh
7. Shri S. D. Sharma
Additional Commissioner (HRD)
Government of Bihar
8. Shri Shakti Sinha
Secretary (Education)
Government of Goa
9. Shri R. C. Sharma
Dy. Director (VE)
Department of Industrial Training
and Vocational Education
Government of Haryana
10. Dr. S. Kumar
Dy. Director, Secondary Education
Government of Haryana
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11. Shri Narain Dass
Dy. Superintendent
Director of Industrial Training and
Vocational Education
Government of Haryana
12. Shri Ashok K. Angurana
Director of Education
Government of Jammu & Kashmir
13. Shri K. P. Hamza
Director, Vocational Education
Government of Kerala
14. Shri R. Bhargava
Commissioner, Public Instruction
Government of Madhya Pradesh
15, Dr. H. L. Malsawma
Dy. Director, Higher Education Government
of Mizoram
16. Shri Jaswant Singh
Director of Public Instruction
Government of Punjab
17. Shri T. Natchimuthu
Director of School Education
Government of Tamil Nadu
18. Shri S. B. Biswas
Director, School Education
Government of Tripura
19. Shri B. P. Khandelwal
Director of Education (Secondary)
Government of Uttar Pradesh
20. Shri B. Ganguly
Professor & Head
Department of Education in Science and Maths
and Dean (Academic),
NCERT
21. Shri Ashok K. Mishra
Head, Deptt. of Vocational Education,
NCERT
22. Shri Arjun Dev
Professor, NCERT
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23. Shri P. M. Patel
Professor, NCERT
24. Shri K. S. Sarma
Director
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
25. Dr. (Mrs) D. M. de Rebello
Joint Secretary (S) Department of
Education Ministry of
H.R.D.
26. Smt. S. Brar
Deputy Secretary (ET)
Department of Education
Ministry of H.R.D.
27. Ms. P. Bolina
Deputy Educational Adviser
Department of Education
Ministry of H.R.D.
28. Shri A. Banerji
Deputy Secretary (Schools)
Department of Education
Ministry of H.R.D.
29. Smt. R. Mehra
Deputy Educational Adviser
Department of Education
Ministry of H.R.D.