Small scale products, Post Office services and other services are also available... These complexes should be at the elementary as well as at the University level.

Others indicate the necessity of building more libraries, workshops, laboratories and residential buildings for the school and college children. As a college teacher remarked:

We are already aware of information revolution. Proliferation of documents (over 6,00,000 in a year in more than 80 written languages) has created a new situation. 54% of the information generated in these documents is in English language, 12% in Russian and 8% in German and so on. how much of this information is accessible and available to our users in and outside libraries? what percentage of this huge literature are we able to acquire for libraries? And whatever we get, we are unable to make use of it for our study. Libraries have therefore to transform themselves and become resource centres for information storage, information processing, information transfer and information retrieval.

In order to modernize education and introduce more audio-visual methodology for effective teaching, a number of correspondents have talked about the extension and proper utilization of T.V., radio, slide projectors,and VCR. A correspondent has commented that "instead of opening up new schools, at least minimum facilities such as a blackboard, benches, desks, and a building be provided to the already existing rural schools. Another has suggested that in order to reduce the cost of building new schools, temples or mosques may be used. In otherwords, the correspondents feel that enough facilities should be provided to the village schools there by making them more attractive to the children and thus avoiding the unnecessary migration of rural children to urban centres.

Incentives like free mid-day meals, uniform, text-books and stationary should be introduced at all levels of education, outside the field of education. There has been a suggestion that such infrastructural costs be met by the community to which the school belongs, or from donations received from farmers and industrialists.

2.5 Finance

The general consensus that came through on the financing of education was that the government should shoulder the burden on itself. Instead of having a separate Grants Commission for primary or secondary or University, there should be only one National Education Grants Commission looking after the needs of ail sections of education. The NEGC should spend 20 per cent on adult and non-formal education, 50 per cent on primary, 20 per cent on secondary and 10 per cent at the University level.

There was however quite a difference of opinion on how much exactly should be allocated to education from the national budget. This amount ranged from 6-25 per cent with the majority suggesting a budget of atleast 11-15 per cent. It was emphasized that the government should contribute the maximum towards this budget and only a small amount be raised through taxation. One correspondent suggested that while collecting the income tax, the union government should also collect not less than 2.5 per cent as education tax from people whose income is not less than Rs. 30,000 per year. A major percentage of the money collected through taxes should be diverted to the rural areas. Also new sources should be looked for that can supplement the government's funding to education. One very important and useful suggestion on tapping other sources pertained to the diversion of funds from military spending to education. It was contended that:

to spend huge amounts of. money for military purposes is only an artificial method of providing security and defence to the country a preoccupation, of only those who awn wealth and hold power ... The true strength of a nation and its security therefore, lies in its people possessing the weapon of knowledge and social awareness. This only education can bring about and therefore the need to allocate the maximum budget of the country to this field.

For higher and specialized education the government should realize a maximum of only 20 per cent from the students (if need be); for the rest, the government should aid students in procuring bank loans. A group of correspondents strongly felt that higher education should be made self-supporting. A possible suggestion was that

funding could be realized from various engineering items produced by students and marketed. They stressed. that "every citizens of India should contribute according to his use of education to make himself productive".

The use of private and international agencies to be used for funding education is also to be encouraged by creating a neutral agency for the development of the New Education System.

2.6 Content, Curriculum, Method

The responses generated on this theme were very large indeed with the majority of the correspondences coming from the general category. College teachers were next, followed by educational administrators and surprising from school teachers there were only 5 responses.

With regard to the content and curriculum, response pertained to both formal and non-formal education. Attention has been drawn on talented students on the one hand and physically disabled on the other.

The general concern of most correspondents has been with orienting the content of both school and college syllabi towards indigenous principles and, towards bringing about an awareness of issues concerning democracy, secularism, and socialism. The focus of the teaching - learning process in other words has to be on social transformation. It has been alleged that, for too long, the education system has imparted ideas that have been alien to our culture. Our indigenous tradition has produced, even in the modern age, great educationists whose ideas have not been incorporated in the content and curriculum of our education system.

Our suggestion is that we should try to introduce, even if experimentally, certain courses which will consciously and purposefully expose us to principles linked to our own way of life - principles which have been found living, and worth following even in our present age.

Also, besides imparting indigenous values, educational content has to be integrative in its approach. This is succinctly explained by one college teacher who writes that :

Formal education should integrate with social, physical and emotional development of students of diverse ages, cultural and economic background, interest and outlook. Designing courses in -this circumstances is most critical. They should be so designed as to sharpen basic intellectual skills, to learn techniques for solving sudden and unanticipated problems as they occur. At the same time the courses ought to convey to the students an awareness of the implications of central human issues; the real nature of the world; the urgent need for equality, fraternity and liberation of, human beings.

Unfortunately, the present curriculum for these courses do nothing more than producing mere technicians. Not only that most of them are unaware of the pulses of society, how people live and what the nation expects from them, but they also have a contempt for the common man. There is a need to shift the content oriented education to process oriented one. The school curriculum must include the techniques of study and personality development.

There have been differing opinions on having a uniform syllabus throughout the country. Those who are in favour of it feel that a common syllabus through the length and. breadth of the country will not only bring uniformity of educational standard but also contribute towards integration of its people. Others feel that syllabi should be need-oriented :

Let there be some common basic subjects like values of life, secularism, our National Movement for all students. Rest of the optional subjects should be according to ones needs and situation.

With regard to the content of individual subjects in the curriculum, moral and physical education, history culture, mathematics and environment have figured prominent.

A number of the correspondents have emphasized the need for moral and value oriented education to be introduced as a compulsory subjects at all levels of learning including higher education. While moral education should be based on our epics value oriented education should permeate all aspects of the curricular as well as co-curricular activities. It is not however made clear as to how this can be implemented. It is also believed that education without physical culture is incomplete. Hence physical education (with due place to indigenous system of yoga samas, kabbadi, kho-kho, self-defence, niyudha, stick place, (azzium) must be made a compulsory subject for examination and must be introduced from the formative stage.

History and culture must be taught in the proper perspective such that it is eliminated of the colonial as well as communal bias which textbooks on history still carry. On the practical side, visits of Students should be organised to all parts of the country to inculcate pride of different cultures and develop the right perspective and a Sense of pride and attitudes of national integration.

There is also a need to evolve a new system of mathematics:

If, at least, quality training in ... mathematics is imparted .... in my opinion we have really prepared a strong, base for quality education.

The necessity for this could not be expressed better than in the emotionally charged words of a school teacher, who has also worked towards it :

I have evolved a new system to simplify addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. This system cuts down, by more than half, the time in these basic mathematical operations. Do you want the Europeans to grab this system and show the world that only they can produce such a system, or do you want to encourage an Indian who has evolved the system of subtraction without subtracting, adding by subtracting, multiplying by addition, etc. All these methods are simple and fast - our pupils will not need a calculator. Or we Indians to emerge as leaders or not Decid!

Another subject yet to find a place in the curriculum content is environment education. It is felt that this subject, has long been neglected. At most, it is approached only indirectly through other subjects e.g. geography, biology, health science etc. The emphasis however needs to be different. In view of the increasing ecological as well as societal degradition as a consequence of indiscriminate industrialization and development politicies, there is now a need to introduce environment studies right from school curriculum to that to higher education with the objective of de-educating students on their present perception of environment and its related fields and generate awareness of the issues leading to environment and human degradation.

This also question the kind of knowledge and information contained in the curriculum at the primary level. This, as has been more than reiterated, should be related more to the child's environment rather than concentrating all resources and energies in teaching the three Rs. Subjects like history, geography, science etc. must relate to the immediate local of the child. Such as approach would inculcate the right perception of these subjects in the childs' mind and would help develop in the child a spirit of enquiry, initiative and most important interest in the subject.

In this connection, the NCERT has came under heavy criticism for its undiversified, uniform scheme of studies, which some correspondents feel, is not practical or feasible. It is imperative., they contend, to have provision for electives or options and compulsory subjects should be limited to a minimum. This will result in the much desired reduction in bookish-knowledge and acceptance of applied science. According to a school teacher.

A theory that a student will be deprived of knowledge of a particular subject-if it is not taught in the school is not tenable as the sources of knowledge now do not exclusively rest with the school system or in the prescribed curricula and a person has alternative means of acquiring knowledge from various other sources in life.

Continuing their tirade against NCERT, a college teacher suggests the use of self-study books. This will solve problems relating to inadequate infrastructural and personnel facilities, develop independent thinking power as also generate flexibility vis-a-vis regular attendance required for formal schools.

Another area of concern as voiced by some correspondents has been with regard to the nurturing of talented students. To date, there is no substantive policy towards-thus. A college teacher warns that unless a massive programme of nurturing talent is undertaken in India, the quality of education will continue to remain very poor". Moreover, schools for the talented should not confine studies within textbooks.

"A student must learn by his own efforts to develop his own mental, physical, artistic and value-based personality". Instead., the syllabi should be more project oriented.

On Adult Education, it is best explained in the words of a person who has been through the programme. he writes that adult education has to be very selective in nature especially when imparted in rural areas.. Curriculum content should not presume rural adult population ought, to be 'given' knowledge by urban educated people. Their knowledge is enormous and that has to be channelised in the most productive manner. Audio-visual methods of teaching must eliminate dubious urban-values.

There has hardly been any concerte responses on the curriculum and method of higher education save for the fact that the approach and subjects should tackle indigenous needs and problems. Not teach subjects generating high-technology specialization which will have little relevance for national development. The need to introduce agriculture as a compulsory subject in school and later on for specialization has however been considerably emphasized, along with ecology and area development education.

Last but not least concern has been voiced from various quarters of the total neglect of courses for the physically disabled. Whereas this has become one of the priority areas in education in the west, in our country we have continued to show utter disregard for their educational needs. It is this time that we begin to work towards developing-specially designed courses for this minority though sizeable section of the population.

2.7 language

The response to policy formulation of what language or languages to be adopted in our education systems was fairly large, over 25 per cent. The major proposition centred. around the use of mother- tongue/regional language in school education supplemented by Hindi or national language. Various permutation and combination came out between mother-tongue, state language, national language and foreign language (English mainly). There was no general Consensus however on having a three-language formula. People suggested. variations for school and higher education. We produce below some or these suggested combinations.

On the three-language formula, every student must learn and pass an examination in a) the regional language b) one more Indian languages and c) English or any other foreign language at the school level. A sizable number suggested a, two language formula i.e. only the national language (Hindi) and regional language be taught at school. Some also desired that two regional languages be the medium of instruction i.e. uptil middle school the medium of language be regional but after that one more regional language be taught. English could be introduced in the school but only as an optional subject.

Suggestions have also come in with regard to two language formula at different levels in school. At the primary level for instance, it is proposed that the mode of instruction should be the mother-tongue only. Only two languages should be compulsory, one the mother-tongue

and other, national language. There has been surprisingly renewed demand for teaching of sanskrit. It, is suggested that Sanskrit should be given enough importance in the new education policy as it is one of the-ancient languages:

The glory of ancient Bharat is vividly described in Sanskrit works. Further, much of the things needed for scientific advancement in modern days is found in many Sanskrit books. In fact many foreigners have realised this greatness of Sanskrit. hence, Sanskrit should find a proper place in the curriculum.

If not in the curriculum, at least a rudimentary knowledge of Sanskrit should be imparted to understand the scriptures.

It is more than evident from the proposed suggestions that the majority do want a change in the current language formula which has maintained English as a medium of instruction even at the primary level in most areas. As put by one individual, "English should be stopped as lot of people live in villages and there is not any need of it. hindi should be compulsory". There is however, some differences of opinion on this. Maintaining that English should not be compulsory in rural areas, another correspondent feels that rural education should be in the mother tongue.

It emerges that there is now a growing call for change in the medium of instruction from foreign to the indigenous. There is a widespread feeling that the position of English language and literature has evoked a lot of emotion. As expressed by one college teacher :

Through the years, there has been a growing realisation that knowledge can be imparted best, and cultural and character developed easily and firmly, it education is carried out through the mother tongue of the child. Under the colonial rule, education in many of the developing countries had been through English, French or the respective colonial language. Even after independence, many of the developing countries continued their education in the foreign language itself, thus alienating the educated from the masses. The national culture was neglected and an overdose of a foreign culture was injected. Education thus led to the perpetuation of two classes of citizens in the country.