APPENDIX U (b)-
APPOINTMENT OF A COMMITTEE TO
 INVESTIGATE THE STATE OF
 SECONDARY EDUCATION IN INDIA AND
 TO REPORT ON ITS AIMS AND SCOPE IN
 THE LIGHT OF PRESENT CONDITIONS 
 AND FUTURE REQUIREMENTS
 

The following note has been received from the Government of the Central Provinces and Berar :-

" It will not be totally wrong to assert in general terms that secondary education in India is one of the weakest links in the system of Education. In the main it has served the requirements of a traditional system of examinations which was designed to serve as entrance to the universities. Education in the secondary schools so far has been unrelated to the needs of the national life and the instruction has been mostly formal and conventional. The scope of secondary education has been rigidly restricted.

2. Secondary schools will now be called upon to serve a definite purpose in the life of the people. lt is being realised that the success of all plans for social and economic development, as well- as those for higher general and technical education, will depend upon the quality of young boys and girls prepared by the high schools. the Sargent Report has laid special emphasis on this aspect of the function of secondary schools. Moreover, it is not difficult to visualise the significant role of secondary education in the vital matters of economic social and political security of the country. It is necessary to consider the system of secondary education and to examine how far it will be able to answer the expectations of the new life. To this end, it is essential to review the entire field of secondary education, its aims and purposes , its types, its methods of instruction and examination, its control and administration, its teachers and their training, its buildings and equipment, and above all its financial resources. Secondary school education urgently needs total reorientation and reconstruction.

3. Problems of Basic Education have been fully considered by the Central Advisory Board and are still under consideration. Originally the Hindustani Talimi Sangh made a full study of the requirements of Basic Education in the new society. Two Committees of the Central Advisroy Board reconsidered the report and made definite recommendations. The position is being further reviewed by a committee

* (Dealt with in item XIII of the Central Advisory Board of Education Agenda,

116

of the Central Advisory Board in the light of the experience gained. Similar measures have yet to be taken in the field of secondary education. Secondary education is in a large measure under the control of statutory Boards and Universities; yet it will not be beyond the scope of the Central Advisory Board to examine the position with a view to co-ordinate work done in the field by various agencies and to suggest the general direction of urgent reforms from the point of view of the country as a whole.

4. The Central Advisory Board has already considered the possibility of the establishment of a Central Organisation for advising on all matters pertaining to maintenance of adequate and fairly uniform standards of the matriculation examination. The establishment of an all India Advisory Council for Secondary School Examination* is under contemplation, Perhaps a comprehensive review of the state of secondary education and its complete reconstruction may provide fuller material for the consideration of this proposal."