(VII) APPENDIX G-- MEMORANDUM ON ITEM 8--THE PROVISION OF SCIENCE TEACHING IN EVERY SECONDARY SCHOOL AND THE PREPARATION OF AN ADEQUATE NUMBER OF QUALIFIED AND TRAINED SCIENCE TEACHERS FOR THE PURPOSE
One of the important recommendations made by the Secondary Educa- tion Commission was that General Science should be taught in every High school. Although there has been a trend to introduce the subject where it was not taught before, the effort has been spasmodic and uneven as between the different States. Thus, while Madras, Andhra Pradesh, Mysore, Kerala, Bombay, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa and Assam have science in some form or other, at least up to the tenth standard, States like. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir offer Science only as an optional subject making it possible for students in these States to go through the Secondary school without studying science.
Our first step, therefore, is to see that every Secondary school introduces science at least as a core and as far as possible also as an elective subject by the end of the Third Plan. The Joint Meeting of the Secretaries of Education and the Working Group on Secondary Education recommended that all Higher Secondary schools which are upgraded during the Third Plan should have at least two electives, the Humanities and Science.
The future programme in science teaching should, therefore, consist of :-
(1) Provision of compulsory General Science in every Secondary school;
(2) Provision of Elective Science and General Science in every High school which is to be upgraded in the Third Plan;
(3) Addition of Elective Science in every existing Higher Secondary Multipurpose school;
(4) Provision of additional emolument for science teachers in the Third Plan period.
(1) Provision of compulsory General Science in every Secondary school : About 4,000 schools are located in States which provide only for optional science. It is observed from such data as is available that about 50 to 60 per cent of the total number of pupils in the High school classes in these schools study the subject. Calculated at the rate of two science teachers per school, these institutions would require 8,000 science teachers, if there were no provision for science teaching in them at present. Since, however, one half of he students are provided for already in this respect, we may calculate the future requirement of teachers for these schools at the rate of one teacher per school or 4,000 science teachers in all.
(2) Provision of Elective Science in every High school which is to he upgraded in the Third Plan : The number of High and Higher Secondary schools at the end of the Second Plan period is expected to be 13,876. Out of these, 1,550 will be Multipurpose schools and 1,500 of the Higher Secondary pattern. There will, therefore, remain about 10,000 High schools
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of the un-reorganised type at the beginning of the Third Plan. Fifty per cent of these schools i.e., 5,000 are proposed to be upgraded as Higher Secondary school. Of these 5,000 schools, nearly 1,000 are in Madras State where, according to the reorganised syllabus introduced from 1959-60, the subject-matter normally passing as elective science is included in the compulsory core subject of General Science intended for all students. There will, therefore, be no need to make a special provision for science teaching in respect of this State. This leaves the number of Higher Secondary schools in which elective science will have to be provided for as 4,000. In the draft syllabus prepared by the All-India Council for Secondary Education, seven subjects, namely, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Mathematics, Elements of Physiology and Hygiene and Elements of Home Science have been provided for, but it is felt that generally schools would be able to offer only two combinations of three subjects each from this area. We expect that on an average two additional teachers per school will be needed for meeting the requirements of any two groups of subjects under the Science electives. It is also seen that the subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Biology only will require additional teachers. The same scale of teacher requirement is arrived at also by calculations based on allotment of time of science subjects alone. The elective science subjects take up about 40 to 50 per cent of the total allotment of time. If there are 40 periods in the weekly time-table, about 20 or a little less would be given to science. This would make 60 periods for the three classes of the Higher Secondary school. At the rate of 30 periods per teacher in the week, at least two science teachers will be needed in a school to cover the three subjects, namely, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Therefore the 4,000 newly upgraded Higher Secondary schools will require 8,000 science teachers.
(3) Addition of Science Elective in every existing Higher Secondary Multipurpose school : Out of the 3,050 Higher Secondary and Multipurpose schools that will exist at the end of the Second Plan, about 750 will have the science elective stream. This leaves 2,300 Higher Secondary and Multipurpose schools without the provision of elective science. These schools should also now introduce science as an elective subject so that all upgraded schools, old and new, may have the science stream. On the basis of calculation indicated under (2) above, these 3,050 schools will require 2,300 x 2 or 4,600 science teachers.
(4) Provision of science teachers for additional enrolment in the Third Plan : The additional enrolment at the Higher Secondary stage during the Third Plan is expected to be about 15 lakhs. The total teacher requirement for this additional number of pupils calculated on the basis of a teacher-pupil ratio of 1 : 25 will be 60,000.
Additional teachers will also be required to replace those who die, retire or leave service. Three per cent has been taken to be the average rate at which teachers will be required for such replacement. The number of teachers in position at the commencement of the Third Plan will be 1,09,700. The number of teachers required for replacement during the five years of the Plan will be 3 per cent of 1,09,700 x 5 = 16,455. The total requirement of additional teachers is thus 76,455. It has been found that on an average 3 out of every 11 teachers in a Higher Secondary school are science teachers, one for the core and two for the elective. Thus the number of additional science teachers required for expansion and replacement will be 20,851.
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The total science teacher requirement under the Third Plan is summarised below. The woman teacher requirement has been calculated approximately on the basis of about 17 per cent in respect of Higher Secondary schools at the end of the Second Plan. This percentage is based on the existing proportion of teachers.
Men Women Total
(1) Provision of compulsory General science
in every Secondary school; 4000 x 1 .. 3,360 640 4,000
(2) Provision of Elective Science and
General Science in every High school which
is to be upgraded in the
Third Plan; 4000 x 2 .. .. .. 7,320 680 8,000
(3) Addition of Science Elective in every
existing Higher Secondary Multipurpose
school ; 2300 x 2 .. .. .. 3,818 782 4,600
(4) Provision of science teachers for
additional enrolment in the Third Plan
period .. .. .. 17,306 3,545 20,851
Total number of Science teachers required 31,804 5,647 37,451
Teacher Requirement for Elective Science
Out of the total requirement of 37,451 science teachers under the
Third Plan, the following will be needed for teaching Elective Science
:-
(i) Upgrading of 4,000 schools with
science stream 7,320 680 8,000
(ii) Provision of science stream in the
existing 2,300 Higher Secondary and
Multipurpose schools 3,818 782 4,600
(iii) Science teachers required for
additional enrolment 11,537 2,363 13,900
Total 22,675 3,825 26,500
Teacher Requirement for General Science
(i) Provision of science in each of 4,000
High schools .. .. .. 3,360 640 4,000
(ii) Science teachers required for core
Genera Science for additional enrolment 5,769 1,182 6,951
Total 9,129 1,822 10,951
Subject-Wise Requirement
Out of the 26,500 teachers required for Elective Science, the break-up
between the sub-topics Chemistry, Physics and Biology, worked out in
the ratio of 40 : 35 : 25 gives us the following figures:-
Total Women
Chemistry teachers .. .. .. 9,070 1,530
Physics .. .. .. 7,936 1,339
Biology .. .. .. 5,669 956
Total .. .. .. 22,675 3,825
In order that the tone and standard of the upgraded institutions may be improved, it is essential that the science teacher should be at least B.Sc. Hons. and preferably M.Sc. All the Chemistry teachers should take Mathematics and Physics as subsidiary subjects in their B.Sc. and all the Physics teachers should take Chemistry and Mathematics as their subsidiary subjects. Thus all the Chemistry and Physics teachers will be in a position to look after Mathematics.
Regarding General Science, at present there is no provision for the teaching of General Science as a degree course in our universities, nor is it a
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separate subject for methodology in the B.T. and B.Ed. courses. Our Science teachers are, therefore, totally unprepared for the special demands of the General Science curriculum both in content and in approach. Therefore, until such time as provision is made by the universities for degree courses in General Science, the Training colleges will have to provide content-cum-methodology courses in General Science. The candidates coming for this training should have studied all the science in some form or other either at the B.Sc. or at the M.Sc. level.
The entire teacher requirement is summarised in the abstract given below :-
Science Teachers Men Women Total
1. Chemistry 9,070 1,530 10,600
2. Physics 7,936 1,339 9,275
3. Biology 5,669 956 6,625
4. General Science 9,129 1,822 10,951
31,804 5,647 37,451
The above requirements have been accepted by the sub-committees of the Manpower Committee on Education.
Our immediate concern now is to arrange for the supply of these teachers in time for the Third Plan. There are two ways in which this can be done. If we begin the preparation of teachers even in the last year of the Second Plan i.e. 1960-61, we shall be able to have the teachers needed for the new schools and courses scheduled for the first year of the Third Plan in position at the beginning of 1961-62. If this is not possible, 'hen the first year of the Third Plan will have to be devoted to the preparation of teachers and the opening of new schools and courses taken up in the second year of the Plan. In other words, the total number of science teachers required for the Third Plan will have to be trained in the first four years of the Plan period and the new schools and courses opened in the last four years.
It has to be pointed out that while shortage of trained women graduates is a general feature everywhere, the difficulty is more acutely felt in respect of trained science graduates. To relieve this shortage it may perhaps be worthwhile to consider whether we may not make provision for the part-time employment of married women teachers, especially in urban areas.
The Central Advisory Board of Education may consider this question and suggest the most effective means of ensuring the supply of science teachers, and the provision of science teaching.