PROCEEDINGS
 

The 28th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education was held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on January 16 and 17, 1961 under the Presidentship of Dr. K. L. Shrimali, Education Minister, Government of India. The following members attended the meeting:

Ex-officio Members

1. Dr. K. L. Shrimali, Union Education Minister

2. Shri P. N. Kirpal, Education Secretary, Ministry of Education

Nominated by the Government of India

1. Prof. M. S. Thacker

2. Prof. N. K. Sidhanta

3. Dr. D. S. Kothari

4. Prof. T. M. Advani

5. Dr. A. C. Joshi

6. Dr. Mohan Sinha Mehta

7. Dr. V. S. Jha

8. Smt. Indira Gandhi

Nominated by the Inter-University Board

Shri D. C. Pavate

Nominated by the All-India Council for Technical Education

Shri T. N. Tolani

Nominated by the Council of Agricultural Education

Dr. K. C. Naik

MembersElected by the Parliament of India

RAJYA SABHA

1. Dr. Nihar Ranjan Ray

2. Dr. Smt. Seeta Permanand

LOK SABHA

1. Smt. Renu Chakravartty

2. Shri Harish Chandra Mathur

3. Shri K. V. Ramakrishna Reddy

Representatives of the State Governments (State Education Ministers)

    
        
             1.   Shri S. B. P. Pattabhi Rama Rao            Andhra Pradesh
                   
             2.   Shri B. P. Chaliha                          Assam
        
             3.   Kumar G. N. Sinha                           Bihar
                   
             4.   Shri G. M. Sadiq                        Jammu and Kashmir
                   
             5.   Shri P., A. Thannu Pillai                    Kerala
                   
             6.   Dr. S. D. Sharma                          Madhya Pradesh
        
         
                                          

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             7.   Shri C. Subramaniam                          Madras
        
             8.   Shri D. S. Desai                         Maharashtra
        
             9.   Shri Anna Rao Ganamukhi                      Mysore
        
             10.  Dr. H. K. Mahtab                              Orissa
        
             11.  Shri A. N. Vidyalankar                        Punjab
        
             12.  Shri M. L. Sukhadia                        Rajasthan
        
             13.  Acharya Jugal Kishore                   Uttar Pradesh
        
             14.  Shri Rai Harendra Nath Chaudhuri          West Bengal
        
                                          

Secretary of the Board

Shri R. R. Singh, Joint Educational Adviser, Ministry of Education

Present by Special Invitation

1. Shri Yadvendra Singh, Maharaja of Patiala

2. Dr. A. N. Khosla, Member, Planning Commission

3. Shri Shriman Narayan, Member, Planning Commission

4. Dr. V. S. Krishna, Chairman, University Grants Commission

5. Shrimati Durgabai Deshmukh, Chairman, Central Social Welfare Board and Chairman, National Committee on Women's Education.

The following members were unable to attend :

1. Smt. Hansa Mehta

2. Shri S. R. Das

3. Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale

4. Smt. Zarina Currimbhoy

5. Rear-Admiral B. A. Samson

6. Dr. K. S. Krishnan

7. Shri A. A. A. Fyzee

8. Dr. A. L. Mudaliar

9. Dr. T. Sen

10. Shri H. K. Desai, Education Minister, Gujarat

(The list of State Deputy Education Ministers, officers from the State Governments, Union Territories and Government of India who attended the meeting is at Annexure I).

2. The session marked the 25th anniversary of the Central Advisory Board of Education which was established in 1935 and whose first meeting was held on 19th December of that year. Special features marking this occasion were the publication of a Silver Jubilee Souvenir volume, the performance of a ballet based on the songs of Tagore by the Children's Little Theatre, Calcutta, a luncheon to the members of the Board by the Vice-President of India and an address to the plenary session on January 17 by the Prime Minister, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru.

3. Welcoming the members, the Chairman pointed out the special significance of the session. It marked the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of the Board and was held on the eve of the Third Five-Year Plan, which was to launch the largest concerted drive for the expansion of education ever undertaken in a comparable period of time. The Chairman introduced the new members of the Board and recorded appreciation of the services rendered by those who had ceased to be members. He paid a

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special tribute to Dr. C. D. Deshmukh who had played a very important role in the Central Advisory Board of Education and as Chairman-of the University Grants Commission. The Chairman made a brief survey of the progress in the various fields of education after independence. His full speech is given below:

"It is my great pleasure and privilege to extend to you a most cordial welcome to the twenty-eighth session of the Central Advisory Board of Education. This meeting has a special significance for us. It marks the Silver Anniversary of the Board which has established itself as an important deliberative body for the formulation of national policies and programmes in the field of education. We also meet on the eve of the Third Five-Year Plan which launches the largest concerted drive for the expansion of education ever undertaken in a comparable period of time.

"A central advisory board of education was originally set up in 1921, but was wound up two years later for reasons of financial stringency, providing an apt illustration of the apathy and indifference of the then Government towards education. The present Board was established in 1935 and has been meeting annually except in 1937 and 1939 when there were no meetings, and in 1938, 1943 and 1950 when it met twice each year. During its existence of a quarter of a century, the Board has had distinguished chairmen like Shri Girja Shankar Bajpai, Shri Jagdish Prasad, Sir Maurice Gwyer, Shri C. Rajagopalachari, Shri B. G. Kher and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and there have been hardly any major questions of educational policy on which it has not had the occasion of giving its considered and authoritative advice. Three of the members of the original Board--our revered Vice-President, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Dr. Paranjpaye-are still with us lending support to the cause of education. The Souvenir Volume which has been prepared by the Ministry to signalize the occasion and which is now in your hands, bears eloquent testimony to the Board's record of service during two and a half decades.

"The activities of the Board may be roughly divided into three periods, the first of which culminated in 1944 with the adoption of the Post-War Plan of Educational Development, otherwise known as the Sargent Report. This was the first landmark in educational planning on a national scale. The second period, covering the years 1945 to 1950, was an era of transition both in the political and the educational spheres. India gained her independence and the princely States were integrated with the country. Education became a State subject although in the formulation of broad educational policies and programmes, the Centre and the States have acted in joint partnership. The jurisdiction of the Board previously limited to the British India now covered the country as a whole, and as the Board assumed new responsibilities it became the highest forum in the field of education. The third phase which began with 1951, and coeval with the two five-year plans has been the formulation of a new pattern of national education accompanied by far-reaching reforms at the secondary and the university levels. it will thus be seen that the Board has rendered signal service in the evolution of a national pattern of education in India and therefore deserves our sincere gratitude.

" The Silver Jubilee of the Board coincides with the launching of the Third Five-Year Plan. It will not be out of place to make a brief reference to the educational developments in our country since the

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commencement of the Constitution in 1950 and also to the problems which are proposed to be tackled in the Third Five-Year Plan.

"An outstanding feature of educational development in the post- independence period is an unprecedented rate of expansion. This is particularly significant at the primary stage in regard to the number of primary schools as well as the enrolment in the age-group of 6-14. According to the Educational Survey, we have eight lakhs of habitations in rural areas and for all their needs, we had only about two lakhs primary schools in 1949-50. By the end of the Third Plan, the number of schools is expected to increase to four lakhs and a primary school will be provided within easy walking distance from the home of every child. The total enrolment in the age-group of 6-11 in 1949-50 and 181.93 lakhs or 41.5 per cent of the total population in the age-group. This had increased to 251.67 lakhs or 50.8 per cent at the end of the First Plan and is expected to rise to 340 lakhs or 60 per cent by the end of this year. In the Third Plan, a further intensive effort for expansion is proposed to be made and the enrolment in the, age-group 6-11 is expected to rise to 510 lakhs or 80 per cent by 1965-66. In the age-group of 11-14, the total enrolment in 1949-50 was 28.44, lakhs or 11.9 per cent of the total population in the age-group. At the end of the First Plan, this rose to 42.93 lakhs or 16.7 per cent. It is expected to rise to 62 lakhs or 22.8 per cent at the end of the Second Plan and to 100 lakhs or 30 per cent at the end of the Third Plan. Taking the age-group of 6-14 as a whole the enrolment which was 210.37 lakhs or 31 per cent of the total population in the age group in 1949-50 rose to 394.60 lakhs or 39 per cent in 1955-56 and is expected to rise to 402 lakhs or 49 per cent in 1960-61 and to 610 lakhs or 63 per cent in 1965-66. It is true that we have not been able to implement the directive of the Constitution to introduce universal education in the age-group of 6-14 by 1960. But it must be remembered that the total additional enrolment at this stage during the last ten years is almost equal to the.enrolment made during the preceding 150 years. If the, enrolment in the Third Plan is taken into consideration, the expansion in the fifteen years between 1950 and 1965 will be about twice the expansion in the 150 years between 1800 and 1950. This is no mean achievement, in spite of the fact that it falls short of our aspirations.

"An even greater expansion is noticeable in the field of secondary education. The number of secondary schools was 6,682 in 1949-50. It increased to 10,838 at the end of the First Plan and is expected to increase to 14,000 at the end of the Second Plan and to about 18,000 at the end of the Third. The enrolment in the age-group of 14-17 was 10.86 lakhs, or 4.9 per cent of the total population in the age-group, in 1949-50. It rose to 19.95 lakhs or 8.4 per cent at the end of the First Plan and is expected to rise to 31.6 lakhs or 12.1 per cent at the end of the Second Plan and to 46.6 lakhs or 15.6 per cent at the end of the Third. The number of secondary schools has more than doubled in the last ten years and the increase of enrolment between 1950 and 1965 will be about three and a half times the total enrolment in 1950. Considering the fact that the Sargent Plan had suggested a target of 20 per cent enrolment in this age-group to be reached in a period of 40 years it is gratifying to note that we shall reach an enrolment of about 16 per cent in 15 years only.

"At the university stage also, the facilities for general education have expanded very greatly. In 1949-50, the total enrolment in universities and colleges of general education was 3.71 lakhs which increased to 7.16

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lakhs at the end of the First Plan. It is expected to increase to 10.00 lakhs at the end of the Second Plan and to 14 lakhs at the end of the Third. It will thus be seen that the enrolment in colleges of general education has trebled during the last ten years and that the increase between 1950 and 1965 would be about four times the total enrolment during the preceding 90 years.

"The expansion that has taken place in primary and secondary stages Will be generally welcomed since in the age-group of 6-14 we are committed to the provision of universal education and consequently the enrolment of every additional child takes us one step nearer the goal. Even in the age-group of 14-17, we are still far- from the stage when it would be necessary to curb expansion, especially in view of the fact that education in this age-group also is now being made compulsory in the progressive countries of the world. While I concede that the expansion in general education at the university stage is creating some problems today and that some method of selective admissions has to be adopted, we must remember that the enrolment at the university stage also is still much below the level already reached in many western countries. Some expansion at this stage is inevitable to meet the requirements of our growing national economy.

"In the field of technical education, which is now being looked after by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs, the gains have been not less spectacular. In 1947, there were only 38 institutions for degree courses in engineering and technology (with an admission capacity of 2,940 students) and only 53 institutions for diploma courses (with an admission capacity of 2,670 students). In 1960, the number of institutions increased to 97 for degree courses (with an intake of 13,500 students) and to 1930 for diploma courses (with an intake of 25,290 students). Thus a four-fold expansion at the degree level was achieved in the space of about twelve years. During the Third Plan, the admission capacity at the degree level is proposed to be increased still further to 20,000 students and at the diploma stage, to 40,000 students. Prior to 1947, facilities for post-graduate studies and research in engineering were extremely limited. Today, a large number of centres have been developed and more than 500 places have been made available for advanced training in a wide range of subjects. A higher technological institute was established in 1951 at Kharagpur. It has since grown into a national institution of advanced engineering with a student enrolment of nearly 2,000 and three similar institutions have been established at Bombay, Madras and Kanpur. The development of technical education has not only weaned a very large number of students from the pursuit of purely academic studies but has also been of immense help in our programme of industrialisation.

"I should now like to turn your attention to some of the significant programmes and projects which the Ministry proposes to take during the Third Five-Year Plan.

"In the field of primary education, while our emphasis at present has necessarily to be on expansion, it is quite obvious that the claims of quality cannot be ignored for long. Even at the level of mere quantitative expansion, there are problems of wastage and stagnation, and the lapse into illiteracy which have to be studied carefully. The introduction of universal, compulsory primary education raises several social, financial and administrative problems for which solutions have to be found. Experimentation and research are also indicated on the production of attractive

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textbooks, on the supply of free books and writing materials to the needy children, on the organisation of welfare programmes for children and on continuation of education outside the school. To meet these urgent needs, it has been decided to set up pilot projects for intensive development of primary education in 30 selected community development blocks at the rate of two projects for each. State. The selected block will be attached to a teacher training institute for primary teachers, preferably with a graduate training centre also associated with it. This institution will be developed on experimental lines, and will have three wings devoted to research, experimentation on the topics indicated above and extension work to cover all the primary schools in the neighbourhood which will be converted to the Basic pattern. In addition an effort will also be made at these institutions to find ways and means of teaching science properly at the elementary and the middle stages. It is sincerely hoped that this scheme will generate enough experience and training to help us to enrich the programme of elementary education in the Fourth and the Fifth Plans.

"The emphasis on the expansion of primary education in the Third Plan has somewhat limited the scope of secondary education, and has confined the schemes to meeting the minimum claims of additional enrolment and the provision of certain essential items designed to improve quality. There are, however, three programmes in this area to which I would like to invite your special attention.

"One of the most important Central schemes in the Third Plan is the establishment of four regional colleges to train teachers for the practical streams of the multipurpose schools. It will be recalled that the Secondary Education Commission-advocated the diversification of curriculum at the secondary stage to make this education terminal and to do away with its total subservience to college and university. The multipurpose idea caught on, giving us at the end of this Plan about 1800 schools, more than fulfilling the targets we had set for ourselves. Enquiries have, however, revealed that some of these schools lack suitably qualified teachers, and teachers in practical streams like agriculture and technology have hardly received any training at all. To meet these deficiencies, it has been decided to set up four regional colleges with an intake capacity of 200 per institution to train teachers for technology, agriculture, science, commerce, home science, fine arts and crafts. In addition, these colleges will also organise in-service programmes in guidance and educational administration, Each college will have a demonstration multipurpose school attached to it, which will offer instruction in all the streams.

"Another scheme designed to strengthen the multipurpose schools is the provision of whole-time guidance counsellors in all institutions which offer four electives or more. In all other high or higher secondary schools, it is proposed to get a teacher released from part of his teaching load and to make him perform the duties of a career master. The large-scale training programme required under the scheme will be undertaken by the Central Bureau of Educational and Vocational Guidance, working in conjunction with the State Bureaus. Assistance from the officers of the Employment Exchange will also be taken where necessary.