PROCEEDINGS OF THE 26TH MEETING OF THE CENTRAL ADVISORY BOARD OF EDUCATION HELD AT MADRAS ON 15TH AND 16TH JANUARY, 1959
The 26th session of the Central Advisory Board of Education, Was held in the Rajaji Hall, Government Estate, Mount Road, Madras, on 15th and 16th January, 1959. Dr. K. L. Shrimali, Education Minister, Government of India, presided. The folowing were present:-
Ex-Officio Members: 1. Dr. K. L. Shrimali, Education Minister,
2. Shri K. G. Saiyidain, Education Secretary, Ministry of Education
Nominated Members: Nominated by Government of India
1. Dr. Sushila Nayar
2. Shri T. S. Avinashilingam Chettiar
3. Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale
4. Dr. A. C. Joshi
5. Shri E. W. Aryanayakam
6. Smt. Zarina Cunrrimbhoy
7. Smt. Ranu Mookerjee
Nominated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
Shri L. S. S. Kumar, Chief of Agricultural Education
Nominated by the All-India Council for Technical Education
Shri T.N. Tolani, Director of Technical Education, Bombay
Nominated by the Inter-University Board
Dr. A. L. Mudaliar
Elected by Parliament Rajya Sabha
1. Dr. (Mrs.) Seeta Parmanand
2. Dr. Nihar Ranjan Ray
Lok Sabha
1. Smt. Laxmibai Sangam
2. Shri Raghubar Dayal Mishra
State Representatives Andhra Pradesh
1. Shri S. B. P. Pattabhi Rama Rao, Minister for Education
2. Shri J. P. L. Gwynn, Education Secretary
3. Shri N. Ram Lal, Director of Public Instruction
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Assam
1. Shri Debeswar Sarmah, Minister for Education
2. Shri S. C. Rajkhowa, Additional Director of Public Instruction
3. Shri P. L. Sharma, Deputy Secretary
Bihar
1. Kumar Ganganand Sinha, Minister for Education
2. Shri Krishnakanta Singh, Deputy Education Minister
3. K. Ahmed, Director of Public Instruction
4. Shri Saran Singh, Joint Secretary, Education
5. Shri K. Abraham, Education Secretary
Bombay
1. Smt. S. Panandikar, Director of Education
Jammu & Kashmir
1. Shri Harbans Singh Azad, Education Minister
2. Shri G. A. Mukhtar, Director of Education
Kerala
1. Shri J. Mundassery, Minister for Education
2. Shri Pal Verghese, Additional Director of Public Instruction
3. Shri K. S. Menon, Secretary, Education
4. Shri Rama Varma, Director of Public Instruction
Madhya Pradesh
1. Shri S. D. Sharma, Minister for Education
2. Shri S. P. Verma, Director of Public Instruction
3. Shri L. C. Gupta, O.S.D., Education
4. Shri L. O. Joshi, Education Secretary
Madras
1. Shri C. Subramaniam, Minister for Education
2. Shri N. D. Sundaravadivelu, Director of Public Instruction
3. Shri R. A. Gopalaswamy, Education Secretary
Mysore
1. Shri Anna Rao Ganamukhi, Education Minister
2. Smt. Grace Tucker, Deputy Education Minister
3. Shri A. C. Deva Gowda, Director of Public Instruction
4. Shri S. S. Raichur, Dy. Director of Public Instruction
Orissa
1. Shri L. Panigrahi, Minister for Education
Punjab
1. Shri Amar Nath Vidyalankar, Education Minister
2. Shri Harbans Lal, Dy. Minister of Education
3. Shri B. S. Manchanda, Education Secretary
4. Shri I. M. verma, Director of Public Instruction
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Rajasthan
1. Shri Poonam Chand Biohri, Deputy Minister
2. Shri S. P. Singh Bhandari, Education Secretary
Uttar Pradesh
1. Shri B. S. Haikerwal, Additional Secretary
2. Shri C. N. Chak, Director of Education
3. Shri B. S. Sial, joint Director of Education
4. Shri K. N. Malviya, Dy. Secretary, Education
West Bengal
1. Shri Roy Harindranath Chaudhury, Education Minister
2. Dr. D. M. Sen, Education Secretary
Union Territories' Representatives: A & N Islands
1. Shri M. K. Raman, Education Officer
Delhi
1. Shri B. D. Bhatt, Director of Education
Manipur
1. Shri S. D. Bahuguna, Director of Education
Secretary of the Board: Shri P. N. Kirpal
The following members of the Standing Committees on Basic and Social Education who are otherwise not members of the Board also attended:
1. Shri Shriman Narayan, Member, Planning Commission
2. Shri G. Ramachandran
3. Shri Madiah Gowda
4. Smt. Kulsum Sayani
5. Dr. E. A. Pires.
The following attended the meeting by special invitation:
1. Shri V. T. Krishnamachari, Vice-Chairman, Planning Commission
2. Dr. C. D. Deshmukh Chairman, University Grants Commission
3. Mrs. Durgabai Deshmukh, Chairman, Central Social Welfare Board and Chairman. National Committee on Women's Education
The following members were unable to attend and had sent in their apologies in this behalf:
1. Shri M. S. Thacker
2. Shri N. K. Sidhanta
3. Smt. Hansa Mehta
4. Colonel B. H. Zaidi
5. Rear Admiral B. A. Samson
6. Pr. K. S. Krishnan
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7. Shri A. A. A. Fyzee
8. Dr. V. S. Jha
9. Dr. J. C. Ghosh
10. Shri Frank Anthony
11. Shri D. C. Pavate
12. Dr. S. R. Sen Gupta
Welcoming the members of the Central Advisory Board of Education to its 26th session at Madras, the Hon'ble Shri C. Subramaniam, Minister for Finance and Education, Madras, said:
"Your Excellency, Dr. Shrimali, ladies and gentlemen: It gives me very great pleasure to welcome you all to this ancient city of Madras, and particularly to this historic hall. You will find history staring at you from the front and also from the back. We have retained these pictures on the walls so that we may sometimes feel the change that has taken place. Sometimes, it is necessary to remember the past also. That is why we have retained these portraits of our former Governors in this hall. Many of you are perhaps visiting Madras for the first time. Arid some of you would have come here on many occasions. A few amongst you belong to the Madras State, and it is a coming back to their own home for them. We have tried our best to make your stay here as comfortable as possible, and if there are any deficiencies we may be pardoned.
"We are particularly grateful to Dr. Shrimali for having agreed to have the Board meeting here. For some time past, the meetings have been held only at Delhi. I suppose from' now on the various States will get their chance and the Board meetings will be held in all the States. There are certain advantages in having these meetings outside Delhi. It gives one an intimate picture of things happening in the various States. The officers and the Ministries of the States concerned are greatly benefited by the visit of eminent educationists from outside the State, and I am sure the visitors also would in the same way be benefited by having a look at things in the particular State. It is through this process of mutual consultation that it would be possible for us to make progress. The occasion we are meeting now is of some significance, particularly in a growing and developing country. We are just now going through the process of the completion of the Second Five-Year PI-an. There are only two years more, and we have begun to think of the Third Five-Year Plan. Therefore, it is appropriate that we should take into account the experiences we have gained and the lessons we have learnt in formulating and working the Second Five-Year Plan. I am sure those experiences and lessons would guide us properly for the purpose of formulating the Third Five-Year Plan, and more than that in successfully implementing them.
"We are all aware that when the Second Five-Year Plan was being formulated, persons particularly interested in the development of education were disappointed to a great extent as regards the allocation of resources for the educational development. But I do not think we can blame the Planning Commission for this. I would say that we ourselves are to be blamed because we did not formulate the plan with reference to physical targets and what it would mean in terms of finance. We did not place before the Planning Commission perhaps the proper picture. Unless this time we take steps sufficiently early not only for the purpose of fixing the physical targets in the field of Elementary
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education, but also Secondary education and Collegiate education, per- haps we may miss the bus this time also. Therefore, I attach considerable significance and importance to this meeting, particularly at this juncture. Because it is now we have to take up this problem of formulating the Third Five-Year Plan. It is not as if during the formulation of the Second Five-Year Plan we did not have a sufficiently clear picture of the developments that were necessary to take place in our country. We had the benefit of very valuable reports, one in respect of University education and another in respect of Secondary education. Even though the pictures were given quite clearly and definitely still I am afraid it remained merely an academic picture which did not mean anything to the planners particularly to the Finance Ministers. We have to give these academic targets and academic objectives a financial picture. Then alone we would be able to carry the Planning Commission and planners with us. The report of the Secondary Education Commission gave us a picture of how the Secondary education should be reorganised. But that is no fault of theirs. We should have taken steps to see what it means in terms of money. As a matter of fact, we made the attempt. We had the advantage of the Chairman of the Secondary Education Commission being available to us for this purpose. When we made a preliminary assessment of the financial requirements for implementing the various proposals made in the Secondary Education Commission's report, we found we would require at least rupees fifteen crores to fully implement the various recommendations in our State alone. We could very well understand what it would mean with reference to the whole of India. Then today with reference to Elementary education, we have accepted the revised target of bringing the children in the age group 6-11 before the end of the Third Five-Year Plan period. I do not know whether we have with reference to the whole country visualised and assessed the finances required for this purpose. We have tried to make an assessment of the finances for this purpose, and we find that if we have to reach this target, we will have to spend at least on Elementary education alone in our State, with a population of 30 to 33 millions, Rs. 10 crores Rs. 3 per head. Unless we are able to reach this financial target also, it would not be possible to reach the physical target of providing education for all children from the age of 6 to 11. Today we are spending about Rs. 6 crores on Elementary education. Therefore, the annual budget will have to be stepped up to Rs. 10 crores. This additional sum of Rs. 4 crores is required to reach the target, with reference to the Third Five-Year Plan. We would be perhaps stepping up the expenditure year by year. We require Rs. 10 to Rs. 12 crores for Elementary education alone. I am sure with reference to Secondary education and Collegiate education, we will reach a much higher figure. We have to take into account technical education also, which comes under the `Education' budget. Therefore, my appeal to the members of the Board, particularly the Chairman, would be that the time has now come to have a plan for the purpose of putting it before the Planning Commission. For this, unless we start now, we may not have sufficient time. I would appeal to the Chairman to consider the feasibility of appointing a small committee of this Board so that the framework of the educational plan could be worked out and placed before the Board for its consideration. It is only by this process it would perhaps be possible for us to emphasise the necessity for sufficient allocation (if financial resources for the purpose of meeting the educational requirements of the country. We are particularly happy that the importance of education is being realised today more and more. Sometimes,
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theoretically, we recognise the importance of so many things, but when it comes to the question of implementation of it, we find so many difficulties in our way. I was particularly pleased to see the report of a speech made by Dr. Deshmukh. He is reported to have stated that at the time when he was Finance Minister he did not realise the importance of education so much and that he had now realised the importance of education very much. The difficulty with Finance Ministers is that they do not realise the importance of education when they are Finance Ministers. That is the real difficulty. Now our job is to make the Finance Ministers realise even when they are Finance Ministers the importance of education. That is why in Madras they have taken the step of making the Finance Minister the Education Minister also. It is not for me to judge how this arrangement has worked in Madras State. I can tell you that education has not suffered on this account. I should say that to a certain extent. at least this has greatly benefited. I do not know whether it would be possible in the Centre to take such a step., I am sure it would be quite impossible there. Apart from this, it is necessary for us to make the Finance Minister and the Planning Commission realise the implications of the Third Five-Year Plan, with reference to educational activities in the country, and for that I suppose this Board is the proper forum to take the lead. Therefore, while I welcome you here heartily and sincerely, I hope and trust that this meeting would lead not only to a successful end but we will also have a successful session here. But the success would depend upon what you begin doing on what we decide here. I have no doubt that within the next two years before the Third Five-Year Plan-we do not have even two years-we will be taking steps to establish the leadership of this Advisory Board of Education in the field of education. If we take that lead, I have no doubt that we will be able to convince all those who are engaged in the task of framing the plan that a little more of money would be necessary for the purpose of achieving the physical targets in the educational sector.
"As a matter of fact, the development in every other sector of activity in our country would depend upon the progress we make in the educational sector. With that realisation, I hope the task of educationists would be easier during the Third Five-Year Plan period. Once again, I want to emphasise this. It all depends on us-whether things would be made easy for us or whether they would continue to be difficult for us. I hope this session would show the way and would pave the way for further educational progress in the various States and the country as a whole. I do not think I should go into the various details, because it is not my job here and it is not my duty here. But still, when welcoming you, I thought I should mention a few important aspects which I consider important because I happen to hold the two portfolios of Finance and Education. As far as the other States are concerned, it would be a great task for the Education Ministers to convince the Finance Ministers. But so far as Madras is concerned, I have to convince myself and while doing so, I sometimes find it a very great task. That is quite a different thing. I hope, under your Chairmanship, we would be able to formulate a course of action in this session which would lead us on to further progress and further development in the educational sector. We are particularly happy that His Excellency Shri Medhi, the Governor of our State, is able to come over here to inaugurate this session. Also, we have here the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. That is a
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very good augury and we should make it a point and we should insist that the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission-and I do not know whether it would he possible to insist that also the Chairman of the Planning Commission-should be present during these deliberations. But, apart from that, it gives us very great encouragement that Shri V. T. Krishnamachari is in our midst today. Because, I know what a tower of strength he will be, provided he gets convinced about the justness of a cause. We have here also Dr. Deshmukh, Shri Shriman Narayan and all others whose presence would give us great encouragement in proceeding with the work before us. Now, may I request Shri Medhi, the Governor of our State to inaugurate this session. I hope you would all feel your stay here quite comfortable; not only comfortable, when you go back, you will, I am sure, carry back very pleasant memories of your stay here. Thank you very much." (Cheers)
Thanking the Chairman and members of the Central Advisory Board of Education for having accepted the invitation of the Government of Madras to hold its 26th session in Madras, His Excellency Shri Bishnuram Medhi, Governor of Madras, said:
"I am happy that Madras has been chosen as the venue of the Board's meeting this year and I hope you will find your stay here very interesting and enjoyable. Madras is a great State where our old traditions are kept alive, and the richness and variety of our cultural heritage are fully evident. Your stay here will give you an opportunity of studying at close quarters the, greatness of our art and culture. The temples in the South are really magnificent edifices where one can find displayed the architectural excellence and the sculptural skill of, our ancient builders. I welcome you to this, great city, which is the centre of South Indian, culture. It gives me great pleasure that I have been given the opportunity of associating myself in today's meeting.