ITEM NO. 5 : IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NATIONAL INTEGRATION COUNCIL ON EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS, MASS MEDIA AND COMMUNAL HARMONY
The National Integration Council, at its meeting held at Srinagar in June 1968, made the following recommendations on educational aspects, mass media and communal harmony :-
Education The Committee is of the view that education from the primary to the post-graduate stage should be reoriented
(a) to serve the purpose of creating a sense of Indianness, unity and solidarity,
(b) to inculcate faith in the basic postulates of Indian democracy, and
(c) to help the nation to create a modern society out of the present traditional one.
2. Towards this end, the Committee would like to make some suggestions for the consideration of the National Integration Council :-
(i) State Governments should be requested to appoint Expert Committees to organise the preparation of textbooks for schools.
The Union Government should set up a National Board to co-ordinate the efforts of the said State Committees in consultation with State Governments.
(ii) Positive steps should be taken to correct regional imbalances in the: provision of educational facilities in the country.
(iii) Efforts should be made to provide good educational facilities in rural and other backward areas. Efforts should also be made to improve the standard of education in general schools with a view to narrowing the gaps between them and other schools providing education of quality. Pending further consideration of the problem, a beginning with the "Common School System" as recommended by the Education Commission should be made in 1969 in all the States.
(iv) A student should not be required to produce a certificate of domicile in a State for the purpose of admission to educational institutions in the State. This should be brought into operation in all the States as early as possible. It would be within the competence of educational institutions in a State to give preference in admissions to students passing the school board, university or college examinations of that State.
(v) Scholarships should be instituted by the University Grand Commission to enable meritorious students to go from one State to another for higher education.
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(vi) Efforts should be made by the universities to organise inter-university meets for various purposes with a view to furthering national integration. Visits by groups of students during vacations to different parts of the country should be encouraged and facilitated.
(vii) University campuses should not be used for any communal or sectarian purposes.
Mass Media The Committee recommends that the Council may appoint a committee of experts to deal with matters relating to mass media.
Communal Harmony The teachers in primary and secondary schools and colleges play a vital role in moulding the minds of young men and women at the formative years of their lives. To discharge this heavy responsibility, the members of the teaching profession should refrain from any activity which is anti-secular or which tends to create communal disharmony. State Governments should examine immediately the need to modify service regulations prescribed for teachers in Government or Government-aided schools and colleges and make provisions which should facilitate the removal from service of tea- chers who may be found guilty of such activity. Similar action may be taken by the universities in respect of university and college teachers.
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