APPENDIX J
'EDUCATION OFFICERS' COMMITTEE
 REPORT
 

Report of the Committee appointed to consider the Recruitment of Education officers.

The Committee appoints at the last meeting of the Central Advisory Board Of Education to consider the question of the recruitment of Education Officers met in the Secretariat, New Delhi, on the 10th and 11th November 1942. The following members were present:

1. W. H. F. Armstrong. Esquire, M.A., F.C.S., I.E.S., Director of Public Instruction, Punjab.

2. Dr. P, N. Banerjea, M.A., D.Sc. Bar-at-Law, M.L.A.

3. The Right Rev. the Bishop of Lahore.

4. J. M. Bottomley, Esquire,, C.I.E., I.E.S, Director of Public Instruction. Bengal

5. The Hon'ble Sir Maurice Gwyer, K.C.B., K.C.S.I.. Chief Justice of India.

6. John Sargent, Esquire C.I.E., M.A., Educational Commissioner with the Government of India

The following members were unable to attend :

1. Dr. Panna Lall, C.I.E., D.Litt., I.C.S., Adviser to H. E. the Governor of the United Provinces.

2. Sir Meverel Statham, C.I.E., M.A.. T.E.S.. Director of Public Instruction Madras.

The Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Education appointed Mr. J.M. Bottomley as Chairman of the Committee.

Dr. D. M. Sen, M.A.. Ph.D. (Lond.), Secretary, Central Advisory Board of Education acted as Secretary of this Committee.

2. The appointment of the Committee was the outcome of a memorandum submitted by the Bengal Government which was considered by the Central Advisory Board of Education at their meeting in January 1942 . A copy of this memorandum will be found in Appendix I (t) of the Proceedings of the Seventh meeting of the Board. (Pages 111-114).

3. The discussion which took Place at that meeting made it dear that the experience of Bengal was shared by practically all the other Provinces and that there was general agreement as to the urgent need of steps being taken to counteract the steady deterioration in the quality of the persons available for the senor posts particularly on the administrative side of the education service . The Committee are able to state at once that the results of their enquiry give them no reason to differ from opinion set out above . From the information before them they were satisfied that the drawbacks inherent in the present

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system to which the Government of Bengal have called attention are widespread and that the existing method of recruiting Education Officers particularly on the administrative side is not likely to produce men and women of the requisite calibre to enable an improved system of public education to be established and maintained. In view of the importance which ought to be attached to the education service, the attractions which it offers should be at least comparable with those offered by other major Government services. In actual fact, as will, be seen from the examples gives below, the financial attractions offered to young men and women of outstanding ability to enter the education service are distinctly inferior to those offered by other services. What, however, makes the position far more serious is the tendency to fill vacancies in the higher grades by promotion from the subordinate service and so to exclude the possibility of securing the services of first class graduates at the stage at which they are normally recruited into other branches of the Administration. The Committee wish to put no obstacle in the way of any officer or out- standing ability making his or her way from the bottom to the top of the educational ladder but apart from other considerations they doubt, whether the number of such people in any area would be sufficient to afford a reasonable field of selection for the highest posts. Moreover, since Education above all other public services should put a premium on high academic attainment as well as personality and practical experience, it is clearly against the public Interest to cut it off from any source of supply where such qualifications are likely to be found. The Committee are therefore convinced that the Education service must be put in a position to recruit a substantial proportion of its senior personnel at stages and on terms approximating to those which obtain in other branches of Government service.

4. Before considering how far in order to achieve this object promotion from the subordinate service must be restricted and the inducements offered to entrants at a higher stage improved, the Committee thought it desirable to explore other possible means of making the service more attractive and thereby raising the general standard. It has been suggested that the experience of officers could be enlarged, their chances of promotion increased and the risks of a too narrow provincialism minimised if the educational service At any rate on its administrative side could be placed on an All-lndia basis somewhat. on the lines of the Indian Educational Service which was abolished twenty years ago. While the Committee realise that the failure in many areas to replace the I. E. S. by a provincial service of equal calibre has exercised a very adverse effect on educational developments in recent years, they feel that so long as the present statutory position in regard to education remains in force, the difficulties in the way of operating an All-India Education Service are insuperable. Similar considerations, with the language difficulty added, also lead them to reject, albeit with reluctance, the possibility of Comprehensive arrangements for the regular interchange of officers between one Provincial Service and another. They feel, however. that as the administrative staff of the Central Government develops, as they believe it must, the interchange of officers between the Central and Provincial Government might be carried out with less difficulty than that between individual provinces and they recommend that this possibility should be further explored when the growth of the Central Education Department has proceeded sufficiently far.

5. Before proceeding to the main items of their enquiry, viz., the minimum qualifications which should be regarded as essential for any Education Officer and the ways and means of securing an adequate supply of persons with these minimum qualifications, the Committee feel it desirable to define as accurately as may be necessary the meaning which for the purpose of this report they attach to the expression 'Education Officer'. They propose to regard the term is applying primarily to those members of the Education Service who are concerned more with administration than with reaching and within this category to those who hold positions of responsibility. It is realised that the head of educational institutions leave to a greater or less degree administrative duties and that in most services it will he expedient that they should be recruited from the education officer class and vise versa, but the Committee nevertheless feel that in the main their recruitment, and conditions of service must be directly related to treat of teachers rather than administrators and that this larger question falls outside their terms of reference. Education Officers, however, will themselves fall naturally into two distinct but interchangeable classes; the inside officer who deals with administration in the more restricted sense and the outside officer who is usually an inspector of schools of some kind. Since the Committee recognise the urgent need for improving both the quality and the quantity of the inspectorate if the great developments to which they look forward are to be properly supervised, they have dealt separately with this branch of the, service. They wish however to emphasise the fact that in all essentials the inside and outside branches should he treated as complementary parts of the same service and that the advantage of officers designate for the most senior posts having had experience on both sides should never be overlooked. So far as the minimum qualifications for an Education Officer are concerned, the Committee are of opinion that such officers must possess high academic qualification. While they not to define these in terms of degrees or classes in view of the obvious difficulty of equating academic distinctions They bold that any officer whose duty involves the supervision of teachers should possess an academic background which will command their respect. In view of probable educational development they also think it necessary that in increasing proportion of Administrative Officers should possess special qualifications in technical, commercial and art subjects in order that they may be competent to supervise the work of such institutions, on the assumption of course that such institutions will before long be transferred to the control of Education Departments. They also attach importance for similar reasons to Education Officers having received the necessary training in the art of

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6. The Committee are further of opinion that in view of the duties which they may be called upon to perform, Education Officers must have had practical experience of teaching and that, if possible, this experience should cover mote than one type of educational institution The Committee do not however think it necessary that the teaching experience Should cover a very long period. Experience suggests that the teacher with too much experience don not usually make a good Administrative Officer since he tends to be set in his outlook and to require those under his control to adopt the methods which he himself found successful. Not less than three years actual teaching experience should be prescribed and it is to be hoped that as conditions in the lower stages of education improve the Education Officers with teaching experience elsewhere than in a university will become much more common.

7. The Committee attach the greatest importance to the personal qualities of the Education Officer. He perhaps more than any other class of public servants is called upon to deal with humanity and human problems and the success of his work both in the office and more especially in the schools must depend almost entirely on,the tact and skill with which he handles those with whom his duties bring him into contact. His clients will be of all ages and drawn from all ranks of society. He must therefore possess in a high degree not only a sympathetic and liberal habit of mind but also those other attributes which are normally connoted by the word 'personality'.

8. Having indicated briefly that they hope with sufficient clarity the sort of qualifications which in their opinion an Education Officer ought to possess, the Committee pass on to consider what should be the main grades of Education Officers and what conditions of service, including salary, should be offered to ensure that they are filled with men and women at the requisite calibre. Since it is not uncommon either in India or in other countries to come across people who think there is something about Education which makes it unnecessary to pay its servants properly, the Committee think it desirable to record what might otherwise appear a truism viz.,that if Education is to attract an good servants as other services it must offer comparable rewards. In Government service as in other walks of life pay and prestige tend to be closely related and the Committee are in entire agreement with the Bengal Government that it will always be difficult for the Education Officer hold his own with officers of other services and particularly with district officers so long as they have reason to regard him as of inferior status. Salary is the determining factor and the Committee have felt it unnecessary to consider other conditions of services such as pension, leave, provident fund, etc., as they understand that in nearly all provinces these are covered by Fundamental and other rules which apply to Government servants generally.

9. The Committee anticipate, and indeed they think it desirable, that as a general role the Education Officer, as they have defined him, will be engaged on inspection work during his earlier years of service. They therefore propose to designate as Inspectors the two lowest categories of Education Officers which they have in mind, even though in certain cases the officers concerned may be recruited direct into the headqaurters office and may not be employed as Inspectors at all. -The lower category, whom it is proposed to call Assistant Inspectors, will be recruited from colleges and schools of all types. Normally these will be Government institutions but the Committee sea no reason why teachers of outstanding ability in non- Government schools should be debarred. The Committee have in mind that if the ordinary work of inspection in to be efficiently done a large number of officers, both men and women, will be required in this category. While opportunities should be provided for men and women of exceptional ability in this category to obtain promotion either to headships of schools or to higher grades in the administrative service, in the bulk of cases this will be the highest rank to which most people in this category will. expect to attain. A fairly long scale is accordingly indicated and the following is suggested as a minimum both for men and women Rs. 150-1-250 (Efficiency. Bar)-10--350 per mensem. The next category is one to which the Committee attach special importance for it is at this stage that a serious attempt should be made to recruit into the service men and women with qualifications comparable with those of the entrants to what are at present the more attractive, branches of Government service. Since the Committee have laid it down that the full-fledged Education Officer must have had at least 3 years teaching experience, it may be necessary in some areas in order to secure the right people at the right time to provide special facilities for officers in this category to obtain the necessary teaching experience after they have been recruited. The Committee hope however that as the existence of this category becomes known suitable Persons will be induced to do the necessary amount of teaching with the object of securing admission to it, It is recommended that members of this category should be designated Deputy Inspectors, again whether actually employed on inspection or not, and that the minimum -tale both for men and women should be Rs. 250-15-550 per mensem with a Selection Grade Rs. 550-20- 750. The Committee appreciate the fact, that this salary scale falls far short of those offered in other branches of Government service in certain Provinces. They point out, however, that the scale is a minimum one, that to prescribe salaries which some Provinces might regard as altogether beyond their capacity would serve no useful purpose and that in any case they attach more importance to equality of status and remuneration with other major services in the same area, than to any particular figures.

10. The Committee feel that they should give some indication as to the size of this category in relation both to the category of Assistant Inspector and to the senior grades. Since the sizes and requirements of different Provinces vary greatly and since it is not contemplated their there will be anything but exceptional promotion from the Assistant Inspector to the Deputy Inspector category there would appear to be no particular, value in attempting to fix any numerical relationship between the two categories. Obviously the Deputy Inspectors will be much fewer in numbers. On the other hand in as much as the primary object of

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creating the Deputy Inspector class is to supply suitable material for subsequent promotion it is clear that the intake of Deputy, Inspectors must to some extent be determined by the probable wastage in the higher ranks. -The Committee feel that if the Deputy Inspector category is to hold out reasonably attractive prospects not less than 1/3 of its members should he able to look forward to promotion to the higher ranks and another 1/3 to reaching the selection grade. If this basis is accepted it should not be difficult to determine the approxi- mate size of this category for each area.

11. Without attaching undue importance to any particular nomenclature the Committee recommend that the two categories of Assistant and Deputy Inspectors, as described above should constitute the Junior-Grade of Education Officers or Class II of the Education Administrative Service. Turning. to the Senior Grade the Committee contemplate that in all areas this will consist of a Class I and certain posts above Class I, e.g., those of the Director of Public Instruction, Deputy Director of Public Instruction and the Chief Inspectors for male and female education. The number of these special posts as well as the number of officers in Class will necessarily depend on the size of the area and the extent of its educational responsibilities.It is felt however that nowhere should the scale for Class I be less than Rs. 400-25-1,000. For the highest posts in the educational service, it is not feasible to suggest definite salaries again owing to the varying circumstances in different provinces. The Committee desire to suggest, however, that the existence of a few well paid posts at the top is a greater inducement, to suitable young people with proper ambition to enter the service than a much larger lumber of posts offering only moderate remuneration. The Committee also wish to call attention to the importance, in their opinion, of the posts of Chief Inspector for male and female education respectively and they, feel that such persons should certainly rank with the Deputy Director of Public Instruction and should he regarded as eligible for promotion to the post of Director of Public Instruction itself. They should in fact be the heads of the outside branch of the Education Service, the importance of which needs no emphasis In view of the urgent need of attracting women with suitable qualifications into the Educational Services, the Committee did not think it desirable at the present stage to introduce any general differentiation of salary between men and women. If it is felt necessary to differentiate ill, any way in favour of men, such differentiation should only apply in the higher stages of the scales for the higher grades.

12. The Committee have discussed at the beginning of this report the possibility of arranging permanent or temporary exchanges between different areas with the object of enlarging the experience of Administrative Officers. While they hope that in spite of the obvious difficulties to which they, have called attention this question will not be permanently shelved they feel that the important purpose they have in mind may be partially served if the principle of granting study leave to Administrative Officers is generally adopted. They feet it would do a great deal to keep officers fresh if at the discretion of Government and subject to the exigencies of the service they could be granted a period of study leave not exceeding twelve months as soon as. possible after they have completed seven years' service. With the further object of counteracting the tendency to get into a groove, which is inevitable in cases where officers are confined for long periods to service in areas remote from centres of intellectual activity, all reasonable facilities should be granted to them to attend Conferences and meetings on educational subjects outside their areas. The Committee deplore the tendency in certain areas to restrict such facilities on the plea of economising in travelling allowances.

13. Apart from the normal graded administrative system which they outlined above, the Committee recognise the importance in the interest of obtaining variety of experience and securing persons with practical experience of certain aspects of education the development of which is at the, moment in an embryonic stage in this country, of recruiting officers, from outside the particular areas concerned and in certain cases from outside India altogether. They therefore have no objection to the practice of engaging officers on contract provided it, is not done to an extent which would deprive other officers in full-time service, of a reasonable prospect of promotion to higher postal