*Excluding the PIC and the Intermediate students.
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cannot employ them at the levels of wages to which they have got accustomed If salaries could be lowered then many more engineers could be employed than are employed today. But this question of the salaries of engineers is connected with the total wage and salary structure in the country. These salaries are today much higher than the country can hardly afford to pay. The Planning Group realises the limitation in government operating a mixed economy to control salaries and wages over the entire range of the economy. Therefore, the best perhaps that government can do is to provide seats according to current demand and allow the market conditions of demand and supply, to determine the salaries of engineers. Artificial limitation of admissions by a government decision may not be desirable except in the case of institutions which do not have space, equipment or teachers. The government in the case of engineers, as in the case of others, however, takes no responsibility for providing employment at any fixed level of income to those who take up these courses of their own free will and over whose future deployment government has no control. The government could assist by orienting technical training towards self- employment so that the engineers through their increased competence to handle natural resources are able to find profitable openings for themselves and help open up the country in addition. An abundance of engineering graduates could also lead them to go into other than traditional channels and lead to the development of intermediate technologies. It could also lead them to go into sales, marketing, management, etc. which should have considerable impact on increasing returns from investments made in production, as has been so forcefully pointed out by Prof. Blackett.
(vi) In regard to the National Service Corps, the Planning Group recommends the appointment of a small committee to suggest the activities that should be taken up under it and the phasing of the programme.
Adjusted for the changes indicated above, the allocations in the Steering Committee's report will need to be revised as follows :-
Table 3. Distribution of an outlay of Rs. 1300 crores
(Rs. crores)
Steering Revised
Committee's allocation
allocations proposed
Elementary Education 330 486
Secondary Education 201 229
University Education 255 303
Teacher Education. 120 84
Social Education 40 40
Cultural Programmes 20 20
Physical Education. 30 30
Languages & Book Production 50 50
Administration 22 22
NCERT 10 10
Vocationalisation 4 4
Other Programmes. 5 5
Technical Education 213 213
TOTAL 1300 1498
or Rs. 1500 crores approximately
9. The Planning Group realises that the allocations they have recommended for education are higher than those indicated in the Draft Outline but in view of the National Policy Statement where the nation has resolved to spend 6 per cent of its national income on education, presumably in the next 15-20 years, this order of expenditure in the Fourth Plan becomes inescapable. This will raise the educational expenditure to 4 per cent of the national income in 1973-74.
Item-3(iii) MAIN CONCLUSIONS OF THE MEETING OF THE PLANNING
COMMISSION ADVISORY PANEL ON EDUCATION HELD ON 4TH AND 5TH OCTOBER,
1968
General (1) The level of development in the field of education varies from State to State and within the State from district to district. In view of this fact the decisions taken in the field of educational planning have to be related to individual States and within the States to individual districts. This would visualise decentralisation of educational planning at various levels. At the national level only broad policy decisions can be taken and detailed planning can take place only at the State and district levels.
(2) There is a strong case for improving the salary scales of all types of teachers. The question of improvement of salary scales of teachers, both for school and college/university, should be treated on the same level. The policy of encouraging the State Governments to improve the salary scales of college/ university teachers by providing assistance outside the Plan and denying such assistance for improving the salary scales of school teachers, has widened the gap in the emoluments of these two categories of teachers. This type of treatment should be avoided in the Fourth Plan. The greater responsibility of the Central Government in the sphere of higher education was, however, also noted.
(3) In view of the scarcity of resources it may not be advisable to spread these too thin by trying to take up various types of programmes of improvement in all institutions. On the other hand, it may be desirable to select, on the basis of certain objective criteria, 5 to 10 per cent of institutions in various parts of the country and preferably in rural and slum areas, which could be developed as pace-setting institutions, where facilities may be pro- vided on optimum level.
(4) All new programmes of improvement and development, which are to be implemented, should first be taken up on an experimental basis and institutions given sufficient freedom to develop them. Large scale expansion of such programmes should take place after the effectiveness of such programmes is fully tested out.
(5) Correction of regional imbalances in the field of education should be an urgent task to be taken up on a high priority basis in the Fourth Plan. Positive measures have to be devised, both by the Central and State Governments, to reduce the regional imbalances by the end of the Fourth Plan
School Education (6) The main national goal should be to provide primary education for all the children in the age-group 6-11 by 1975. Towards this end, the State Governments should prepare detailed programmes, taking into consideration, among other things, the requirements of backward districts, hilly areas problems connected with enrolment of girls and of children of backward classes and also the steps to be taken to reduce wastage and stagnation.
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(7) The second national task, in order to modernise the country, should be to provide literacy to the illiterate population in the age- group 15-25 by 1975. In this national task of high priority, all educational institutions, particularly the students in colleges and universities and secondary schools should be involved in the actual process of imparting literacy. The eradication of illiteracy should be one of the most important tasks to be undertaken under the programme of National Service during the Fourth Plan.
(8) Science education has to permeate the whole educational system and, towards this end, the main task in the Fourth Plan should be to expand and develop science education both in elementary and secondary stages of education. This would involve, among other things, appointment of a large number of well-qualified science teachers, training and retraining of existing science teachers, organisation of summer courses, production of standard quality of equipment etc.
(9) The main programme of improvement at the secondary stage should be the vocationalisation of education. It would be necessary to draw up details of this programme which may vary from State to State.
(10) Common school idea may be a desirable goal, in the long run, but immediately high priority needs to be given to improve the existing facilities in local body schools where the bulk of students study.
Higher Education (11) In order to meet the requirements of social justice and the principle of equity, it may not be possible to adopt a policy of restrictive admissions. It would be desirable to encourage students, belonging to under-privileged sections of the community, to attend higher education courses by reservation of seats for them. To make higher education available to a larger number of people, without increasing the costs and at the same time maintaining standards, it would be desirable to have increasing emphasis on part-time, own time and correspondence courses.
(12) The artificial gap in the development of scientific and technological education has to be reduced by adopting various policies like reducing the cost of technical education, increasing the cost per capita on science education, increasing the proportion of students going for technological education, bringing technical education increasingly within the orbit of university education. It was, however, noted that this gap was largely due to the market demand for scientists and technologists which determined their salaries and enrolments.
(13) There has to be greater emphasis on the provision of reading seats, text-books and libraries. The responsibility of providing books which are the minimum essential tools to the students has to be accepted by the various Governmental agencies.
(14) The universities will have to be involved in a bigger way in the problems of school and adult education. In order to achieve this, it may be desirable to encourage universities to have schools attached to them so that various types of experiments take place in which the university community gets directly involved. Further, National Service programme should take up areas adjoining to the universities for intensive development.
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(15) In a good number of Indian universities, there is a large number of affiliated colleges. The universities have no mechanism to guide and advise the affiliated colleges, which form the backbone of higher education in the country. It should be an important task of the universities to devise measures for improving the status and conditions of the affiliated colleges and give them suitable guidance and advice.
Technical Education (16) There is a need to evolve a national manpower policy. Scientific methods need to be evolved to determine the demand for technical personnel on a continuing basis.
(17) During the Fourth Plan period, the expansion which has taken place in technical institutions, should be consolidated so that quality of engineering education improves and the existing wastage, which occurs at various levels, is plugged.
(18) Taking a long-term view of the problem, it may not be desirable to reduce admissions in engineering institutions, especially as it is not always easy to reduce them in relation to available facilities. The present phase of unemployment among engineers may not last long if there is buoyancy in the agricultural sector, which apart from creating its own demand will give a fillip to the economy all round. Numerous methods can and should be adopted to deploy the surplus engineering personnel.
(19) The existing training programme in polytechnics should be completely reoriented in order to make their products more useful to industry. The quality must also be attended to so that the existing wastage, which is of the order of 50 per dent, may be reduced.
(20) In order to raise the standards and improve the quality of technical education, both at the degree and diploma levels, considerable emphasis will have to be placed on the in-service training of teachers, refresher courses, summer institutes, preparation of reading materials, curriculum development, etc.
(21) The training provided in engineering institutions should be more job-oriented and industry-oriented so that, on successful completion of the courses, the students do not experience difficulty in finding employment. Instead of providing stipends to the existing unemployed engineers for practical training, which, as it exits today, is practically useless, it may be better to orient existing courses towards industry. Industries have to be involved in this task in a big way. It was explained on behalf of the Education Ministry that adequate steps were being taken to make this training effective.
(22) In order to postpone specialisation, so that supply can be more easily adjusted to changing demand, it may be useful to provide engineering course's at the degree level to persons who have completed their B.Sc. courses.
(23) In the sphere of technical education, where results are of direct benefit to the private sector, it may be useful to involve them in meeting some share of the cost involved in technical education. Appropriate fiscal policies may be devised by which through tax rebates industry could be motivated to spend on technical education.
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(24) Technical education programmes should have management edu- cation closely integrated into it.
Educational Administration (25) The Panel accepted generally the recommendations contained in the report of the Planning Commission Working Party on Educational Planning Administration and Evaluation. The need for decentralisation of the planning process and involving the teachers, both in the formulation and implementation of programmes, was emphasised. It was also agreed that the programmes of educational administration, which had been neglected in the previous Plans, should be given a very high priority.
ADVISORY PANEL ON EDUCATION OF PLANNING COMMISSION 1. Dr. B. D. Nagchaudhuri, Member, Planning Commission. Chairman.
2. Shri Shantimoy Aich, Colliery Mazdoor Congress, Bengal Hotel, P. O. Asansol, Distt. Burdwan (West Bengal).
3.Shri T. S. Avinashilingam, Director, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, P. O. Coimbatore District, Madras State.
4. Shri A. E. T. Barrow, M. P., 13-A, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi.
5. Dr. R. K. Bhan, President, All India Association of University and College Teachers, Hastinapur College, Moti Bagh, New Delhi-3.
6. Shri V. M. Bhide, joint Secretary, Planning Commission, New Delhi.
7.Shri Anil Bordia, Additional Director of Education, Bikaner, Rajasthan.
8. Shri K. C. Chacko, Director of Technical Education, Government of Kerala, Trivandrum.
9. Shri G. K. Chandiramani, Secretary, Ministry of Education, New Delhi.
10. Shri L. S. Chandrakant, joint Educational Adviser, Ministry of Education, New Delhi.
11. Mrs. F. Chaudhari, Director of Public Instruction, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal.
12. Shri Shahaji Chatrapati, Maharaja of Kolhapur, New Palace, Kolhapur (Maharashtra).
13. Dr. B. Datta, Secretary, Education Department, Government of West Bengal, Writers' Building, Calcutta.
14. Dr. C. D. Deshpande, Additional Director of Public Instruction, Government of Maharashtra, Poona.
15. Prof. R. N. Dogra, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Mehrauli Road, New Delhi.
16. Shri E. W. Franklin, Executive Secretary, All India Federation of Educational Associations, 16A/ 10 Western Extension Area, KarolBagh, New Delhi-5.
17. Dr. P. B. Gajendragadkar, Vice-Chancellor, Bombay University, Bombay,
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18. Dr. O. P. Gautam, Deputy Director General (Education), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
19. Dr. Jehangir J. Ghandy, Tata Iron & Steel Company, Jamshedpur, Bihar.
20. Dr. P. S. Gill, Director, Central Scientific Instrumentation Organisation, Chandigarh.
21. Shri A. H. Hemrajani, Director, Education Division, Planning Commission, New Delhi.
22. Shri H. K. L. Capoor, joint Secretary (Manpower Directorate), Ministry of Home Affairs, South Block, New Delhi.
23. Dr. V. S. Jha, `Shanti Kuteer', 868, Wright Town, Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh).
24. Dr. A. C. Joshi, Vice-Chancellor, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).
25. Shri P. N. Kirpal, 63 F, Sujan Singh Park, New Delhi.
26. Prof D. S. Kothari, Chairman, University Grants Commission, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi.
27. Dr. H. N. Kunzru, President, Servants of India Society, Sapru House, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi.
28. Dr. Harbans Lal, Economic Adviser, Planning Commission, New Delhi.
29. Shri S. Lal, President, All India Seccondary Teachers' Federation, F-4, Green Park, New Delhi-16.
30. Shri S. K. Mallick, Director General of Employment & Training, New Delhi.
31. Shri L. Mariapragassm, General Secretary The South Indian Teachers' Union, Robertsonpet, Raja Annamalaipuram, Madras-26.
32. Prof M. V. Mathur, Director, Asian Institute of Educational Planning & Administration, Indraprastha Estate, Ring Road, New Delhi.
33. Dr. S. N. Mehrotra, Deputy Secretary, Education Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow.
34. Dr. Mohan Sinha Mehta, Vidya Bhavan Society, Seva Mandir, Udaipur, Rajasthan.
35. Dr. S. Misra, Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.
36. Dr. S. K. Mitra, joint Director, National Council of Educational Research' & Training, N.I.E. Campus, Mehrauli Road, New Delhi-16.
37. Dr. A. Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar, Vice-Chancellor, Madras University, Madras.
38. Prof. H. N. Mukerjee, M. P., 21, Rakabganj Road, New Delhi- 1.
39. Shri T. Muthian, Director of Technical Education, Government of Madras, Madras.
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40. Shri J. P. Naik, Adviser, Ministry of Education, New Delhi.
41. Dr. K. C. Naik, Vice-Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
42. Miss S. Panandikar, Chairman, National Council for Women's Education, 8, Garden House, First Road, Khar, Bombay- 52.
43. Dr. M. D. Paul, Director of School Education, Government of Madras, Madras.
44. Shri Hira Lal Patwari, President, All India Primary Teachers' Association, Post Office Tangala, Assam.
45. Shri S. C. Rajkhowa, Director of Public Instruction, Government of Assam, Shillong.
46. Shri G. Ramachandran, Secretary, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Rajghat New Delhi.
47. Shri S. R. Ramamurthi, Secretary, Education Department, Government of Andhra Pradeh, Hyderabad.
48. Dr. D. S. Reddi, Vice-Chancellor, Osmania University, Hyderabad.
49. Shri P. S. Redkar, 7, Bhimrao Wadi, Thakurdwar,Bombay-2.
50. Dr. K. G. Saiyidain, DII-9, Pandara Road, New Delhi.
51. Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Appollo Pier Road, Ballard Estate, Bombay.
52. Shri M. T. Shukla, Textile Labour Association, Gandhi Majoor Sevalaya, Bhadra, Ahmedabad.
53. Dr. P. D. Shukla, joint Educational Adviser, Ministry of Education New Delhi.
54. Shri Dwarka Singh, Academic Registrar, Bihar Text Book Publishing Corporation Ltd., Patna-1 (Bihar).
55. Prof. M. L. Sondhi, M. P., 14, Meena Bagh, New Delhi-1.
56. Prof. M. N. Srinivas, Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Delhi, Delhi.
57. Dr. A. R. Verma, Diredtor, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi.
58. Prof. K. L. Joshi, Vice-Chancellor, University of Indore, Indore (Madhya Pradesh).
59. Shri Radhakrishan, Secretary, Sarva Seva Sangh, Rajghat, Varanasi (U.P.).
60. Shri D. P. Nayar, Senior Specialist (Education), Planning Commission, New Delhi Secretary
61. Dr. S. N. Saraf, Director (Education), Planning Commis- sion, New Delhi. Associate Secretary
ITEM 3-(iv) FOURTH FIVE YEAR PLAN IN EDUCATION
SOME DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS* By
J. P. Naik 1. The Planning Commission indicated that the total outlay on education in the new Fourth Five Year Plan is not likely to exceed 1,210 crores, the allocation made to education in the draft outline of the old Fourth Plan. The proposals prepared by the different Bureaux and Divisions totalled more than Rs. 1,000 crores. The Steering Committee of the Central Planning Group has revised and reduced them to Rs. 1,300 crores which it regards as the minimum allocation needed for the Fourth Plan.
2. There are two main issues that arise in this context. The first is the limited issue of sectoral allocations, namely, assuming that a total allocation of 1,300 crores is available, one can discuss whether this is the best way of distributing the allocation between the different sectors or between the different schemes in a given sector. But I do not propose to enter into this discussion in this paper. I would rather confine myself to seven other fundamental points which will make a qualitative difference in planning and which need urgent attention. These are:-
(1) How will this allocation of Rs. 1,300 crores be divided between Central, Centrally-sponsored and State sectors?
(2) Will this allocation of Rs. 1,300 crores be available?
(3) To what extent will it be possible to reduce regional imbalances?
(4) How can we ensure the proper implementation of national programmes?
(5) What improvements are needed in the present system of planning?
(6) How can additional resources for education be raised? and
(7) How can available resources be most intensively and effectively utilized ?
II
Central, Centrally-sponsored and State Sectors 3. The first important issue relates to the break-up of the total allocation of Rs. 1,300 crores into Central-Centrally-sponsored and State Sectors.- Under the Draft Outline, the State sector (including the States' share of the Centrally-sponsored schemes) was supposed to be Rs. 887 crores and the Central Sector (including Centre's share of centrally-sponsored schemes) was supposed to be Rs. 323 crores, making a total allocation of Rs. 1,210 crores. The thinking which led to these conclusions was based on two assumptions : (1) In the First three Plans, the Centre had assumed much greater responsibility than it should have