The 2nd meeting of the National Council for Women's Education was held on 5th and 6th August, 1960. The Council passed 14 resolutions action on all of which has been taken.
The first annual report of the National Council for Women's Education (Sept. 1959-October, 1960) was placed before the C. A. B. E. in the session held in January, 1961.
Integration of the Work and Training of Gramsevikas and Women
Primary Teachers The National Council for Women's Education at its second meeting held on the 5th and 6-h of August 1960, resolved to set up a Committee to examine the feasibility of the work and training of Gramsevikas and women primary teachers. The Committee held two meetings in Delhi on the 26.11.1960 and the 17.3.1961. The Committee considered that the Gramsevikas and women primary teachers should continue as separate functionaries as there was ample work for each. As both are, however, closely concerned with the work of each other, th committee felt that primary school teachers may be given an orientation in pre-school teaching and women's welfare so that they may understand better their responsibilities to the community and similarly gramsevikas may be given orientation in teaching children not only of the pre-school stage but also of older groups as they under certain circumstances may have to instruct them. As any decision in this behalf has to be mainly implemented by the State Governments, the matter is being referred to them for comments.
National Institute for Women for Higher Training in
Organisation, Administration and management The National Council for Women's Education had considered the question of establishig a few special institutions for the higher training of women in the Third Plan and at the second meeting had empowered the Chairman to finalise the details of the Scheme with the help of a suitable committee. Accordingly, a committee was constituted under, the chairmanship of Smt. Indira Gandhi to work out the details of this scheme for establishing one or two Institutes for consideration by Government. The Committee held two meetings and" submitted its report to the Ministry of Education in February, 1961. The Ministry of Education have examined the schemes and have accepted the proposal in principle to set up one institute in Delhi. A provision of Rs. 20 lakhs, has been included in the Third Plan of the Ministry to set up the Institute.
Work relating to Third Plan Programmes for the Education of Girls
and Women. The National Committee on Women's Education and the National Council had recommended that the wide disparities between education of boys and girls can be reduced within a reasonable time only if a special programme for girls, to overcome their socioeconomic difficulties is inclu-
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ded in the Third Plan. The special programme would offer inducements meant only for girls, over and above the facilities provided in the general programme. In Match 1960, the States were requested to include the special schemes in their Plans.
The draft plans of the States for girls' education were examined and discussed by the Working Groups on Education. As a result of these discussions, separate enrolment targets for girls for each stage, to he achieved by the end of the Third Plan, were indicated separately in the finalised Third Plan. The State Governments provided about Rs. 11 crores for the special programme in their Third Plan.
National Institute of Basic Education The National Institute of Basic Education was set up in February, 1956 and has continued to grow since then. Its functions include today research, training of field personnel, collection of statistical and other information to serve as a clearing house for information relating to Basic education. and publication of literature. The following activities were undertaken by the Institute during 1960-61.
Research The Institute organised a seminar on research methodology for the benefit of its research staff, to keep them abreast of the new developments in research techniques. Besides this, work continued on the following research projects:
(1) Utilisation of Central grants for Basic education by the States and an investigation into the causes of non-utilisation.
(2) Drawing up a standard unit cost for starting a Basic school.
(3) Expenditure on the education of primary school students to be incurred by the parents.
(4) Standardisation of a check-list for evaluation of Basic schools.
(5) A study of the ways in which the elementary students of Delhi spend their holidays.
(6) Intensive study of the problems of elementary education in a selected village and the preparation of village study manual.
(7) Evaluation of the orientation programme at the school level.
(8) Comparative study of the practice problem-solving ability of pupils of Basic and non-Basic schools.
(9) Analysis and evaluation of language readers for classes I and II of Basic schools of the Hindi speaking States.
(10) Evaluation of correlated lesson plans prepared by the Basic training institutions.
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(11) Study of relationship between student self-Government and social experiences of Basic students.
(12) Selection of suitable crafts for urban schools of Delhi.
Training During the year under review, the Institute organised the following training courses:
(i) Workshop for the improvement of teacher-education in post- graduate Basic training colleges.
(ii) Short-term training course for craft teachers.
Publication During the year, the Institute brought out nine publications in addition to the publication of the regular quarterly journal- Buniyadi Talim and two volumes of Basic Education Abstracts, 1959. Work continued on the preparation of 10 other brochures.
In addition to these, the Institute continued to extend its help to the Delhi Administration and Delhi Municipal Corporation for the setting up of Model Basic Schools in Delhi and action programme for the improVement of a selected Basic school at Chnatarpur.
Scheme of Assistance to Voluntary Organisations Working in the
Field of Basic Education The Scheme of "Financial Assistance to Voluntary Educational Organisations working in the field of Pre-Primary, Primary and Basic Education (including training institutions)" has been in operation from the First Five-Year Plan and is being continued in the Third Five Year Plan.
2. The rate of financial assistance to such institutions in the First Plan Was 66% of non-recurring expenditure and 50% for recurring expenditure. In the Second Plan, it was 60% for both for four years 1956-60. In 1960-61, however, the assistance for construction of buildings was limited to 40% of the approved expenditure or Rs. 30,000/whichever was less. A budget provision of 3.5 lakhs was made for the year 1960-61, out of which an amount-of Rs. 1.96 lakhs, was sanctioned to the voluntary organisations.
3. During the Second Five Year Plan, a Centrally sponsored scheme of assistance to voluntary educational organisations for (a) establishment of new post-Basic schools (b) improving existing post- Basic schools; and (c) upgrading senior Basic schools to post-Basic schools, was also in operation, the rate of assistance being 60%. In the Third Plan, this scheme has been merged in the general scheme of financial assistance to voluntary organisation's referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above.
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SECONDARY EDUCATION
Central Advisory Board of Education The 28th session of the Central Advisory Board of Education was held at New Delhi on 16th and, 17th January, 1961. The Standing Committees of the Board met on 14th and 15th January, 1961. As usual, the informal meeting of the Directors of Public Instruction and the Directors of Education was held at New Delhi on January 13, 1961. The proceedings of the meetings of the- Central Advisory Board of Education and the informal meeting of Directors of Public Instruction and Directors of Education were finalised and forwarded to all concerned for necessary action.
Secondary Education In the field of secondary education, the programme of re- organisation of the educational system initiated on the recommendations of the Secondary Education Commission was continued. By the end of 1960-61, 3628 schools out of a total of 17,165 secondary schools, i.e. 20% were converted the higher secondary pattern. The process is being accelerated during the Third Five Year Plan and this percentage is expected to rise to about 30%. The number of multipurpose schools is expected to be over 2000 by the end of the Second Plan.
Educational Delegations During the year two delegations of students from Nepal and Bhutan visited India in December 1960-January 1961 and January 1961 respecti- vely.
State Education Ministers' Conference The former Conference of State Education Ministers was held in New Delhi on the 4th and 5th November, 1960, under the chairmanship of Dr. K.L. Shrimali, Union Minister of Education.
Science Clubs The fifth All-India Council for Secondary Education had laun- ched a programme of organising science clubs in secondary schools. During 1960-61 grants-in-aid amounting to Rs. 1,20,800 were sanctioned to the State Governments for the establishment of 115 science clubs and 5 central science clubs. To enable these clubs to organise their programmes satisfactorily, three conferences of the sponsors were organised during 1960, at Jabalpur, Cuttack and Belgaum. Forty sponsors were invited to each conference which discussed various aspects of the movement. A scheme of assessing these clubs has also been taken up with the assistance of Extension Services Departments and training college lecturers in science. Two hundred and twenty science clubs had been assessed by the end of 1960-61.
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Educational & Vocational Guidance In the context of diversified courses which could be taken up by pupils according to their ability and aptitudes, educational and voca- tional guidance occupies a very important place. The Central Bureau of Educational and Vocational Guidance has so far been the main Central agency to assist in the implementation of this programme. Some of the work has also been taken up by the Directorate of Extension programmes for Secondary Education. In the Third Plan, it is expected that many multipurpose schools will have provision for full time counsellor and a good port-ion of the high and higher secondary schools would each have a career master to offer occupational information and guidance
Examination Reform The programme of examination reform was launched-by the Ministry of Education in 1958 it seeks to improve the examination`system, not in narrow and mechanical- sense but in the context of the total educational development including curriculum, textbooks, teaching aids, techniques of presentation and testing devices. The main work included the preparation of test items for the examination boards and teachers training the staff of the teacher training colleges in the new evaluation techniques, establishing evaluation units in the States and`training officers for this purpose, revising the syllabi, etc. Some of the important activities carried out in this field during the year under review are reported below.
(a)Administration of Tests and Item Analysis The officers of the Examination Unit of the Directorate adminis- tered about 50 tests in general Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, and English in selected schools in different States. The answers were then Subjected to item-analysis and selected items were, finally picked for transmission to the boards.
(b) State Level Evaluation Workshops About thirty State level and advanced workshops were organised during January and February 1960, affecting over 600 secondary school teachers.
(c) Work with Training Colleges Work with training colleges was carried out in three phases:
(i) Extension work covering thirty colleges, 250 lecturers and 1,500 students through workshops conducted during January February, 1960. The work included orientation workshops with B.T. and B.Ed, students and conferences with the members of the staff.
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(ii) Ten orientation workshops in June, 1960, in which nearly 200 lecturers from 63 training colleges participated.
(iii) Intensive work in 20 training colleges located and in eleven States. This programme covered 175 lecturers and over 2,000 pupil teachers.
(d) Training Course on Evaluation for State Officers A five-week training course was organised in September-October, 1960 at the Central Institute of Educations, Delhi, for twenty-seven officers from fifteen States and Union Territories with the object of training the State evaluation personnel to take up the work of examination reform in the States during the Third Plan.
(e) Studies in Internal Assessment Some of the Secondary Education Boards have introduced internal assessment in their high and higher secondary school examinations. The last Conference of the Secretaries of the Secondary Education Boards had recommended that certain aspects of internal assessment should be further studied. Accordingly, the officers of the Examination Unit conducted an investigation into the subject. A report of this study has been published.
(f) Publications A number of brochures on examination reform were published during the year under review and were made available to the State Education Departments, State Boards of Secondary Education and Training Colleges.
(g) Syllabi In pursuance of a recommendation of the Conference of the Secretaries of Boards of Secondary Education held in September, 1959, the Examination Unit drafted a note on the incorporation of evaluation approach in the B.T.B. Ed. syllabi and circulated it to the various universities and training colleges for opinion and suggestions. On the basis of replies received, a revised note was sent to the training colleges and universities for further action. Most of the colleges have agreed in principle to incorporate this approach in their teaching practices.
(h) Seminar on Research in Evaluation It was recognised that a stage had been reached in examination reform when its further development depended upon studies and investigations carried out by training colleges and progressive institutions on the various aspects of the reform. A seminar on Research and Evaluation was, therefore, organised in August-September, 1960. It was attended by nineteen lecturers, co-ordinators and headmasters of schools. As a result of the seminar, a list of subjects that required research studies was drawn up.
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Extension Services Department During the year under review, the Government of India continued to meet the entire expenditure on the project as before. Funds were paid in the form of grants-in-aid through the State Departments of Education Rs. 2.24 lakhs in 1939-60 and Rs. 4.93 lakhs during the first three quarters of 1960-61. A ten-day Workshop of the Co- ordinators of the Extension Services Centres was organised at the Central Institute of Education, Delhi, from 29th February to 9th March 1960 and was attended by 47 persons. In addition zonal conferences of directors and coordinators of the five zones were also held during March, 1960, Two four-week workshops on audio-visual education were held in New Delhi in May and September, 1960, for the Coordinators and Technical Assistants of the Extension Centres.
Experimentation in Schools During the last quarter of 1939-60, an amount of Rs. 15,875 was sanctioned as grant to 30 secondary schools for the completion of experimental. projects which had already been approved. During 1960- 61, 34 projects were selected for financial assistance costing a total sum of Rs. 31 543. During 1961-62, the scheme will be expanded further.
Seminars and Workshops The programme of subject-teachers' and headmasters' seminars which started in October, 1958, was completed during January-March, 1960. Nine subject-teachers' seminars and six headmasters' seminars were conducted during this period. In addition, three follow-up work- shops of headmasters, two conferences of the heads of multipurpose schools and a seminar-cum-training course of headmasters and teachers of multipurpose schools were also organised. During the summer of 1960, for a period of six weeks, a Working Group of selected teachers of technology, agriculture and commerce met to prepare instructional material for teachers of these three subjects.
Promotion of Gandhian Philosophy This scheme is designed to stimulate a deeper appreciation and better knowledge amongst students of Gandhiji's ideals and philosophy. In pursuance of this aim, Kumari Manuben Gandhi, a near relative and disciple of Gandhiji, delivered a series of lectures on "Gandhiji's teachings and way of life', in selected secondary schools in Bihar and Rajashthan. Copies of the Unesco publication "All Men are Brothers" which is a compilation of extracts from Gandhiji's writings emphasizing the brotherhood of man, were distributed to all higher secondary schools in the country. During the Third Plan, it is proposed to continue these lectures by Kumari Manuben Gandhi in secondary schools in the remaining States and, in addition, to arrange on a voluntary basis lectures in Indian universities by eminent scholars and thinkers on Gandhiji's teachings and philosophy. It is also intended to give a grant to the Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi, for its activities.