THE CONTEXT
Introduction The pivotal role of education in shaping the destiny of the country has been realised ever since the days of the freedom struggle. Soon after independence Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru underlined this crucial link between education and the re-building of India when he emphasized the need to revolutionise the entire education system. It is this urge to harness education for the fulfilment of national aspirations which was embodied in the recommendations of many a commission and committee on education during the post-independence period. The Education Commission (1964-66) symbolised this hope when it said that "the destiny of India is now being shaped in her class room". The National Policy on Education (1968), endorsed this view when it stated that "The Government of India is convinced that a radical reconstruction of education on the broad lines recommended by the Education Commission is essential for economic and cultural development of the country, for national integration and for realizing the ideal of a socialistic pattern of society".
The nation's resolve to harness education for productive purposes and national well-being had been continually reiterated by the late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi. The present Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi in his first national broadcast gave expression to this concern of the national leadership when he emphasized the need to review the education policy and reconstruct the education system as a dynamic force for national growth and
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integration. On re-assuming office in January 1985, the Prime Minister reiterated the need to revamp the education system. Addressing the nation on 5th January 1985, the Prime Minister said:
Education must promote national cohesion and the work ethic. The grandeur of our freedom struggle and its significance for national integration have to be brought home to every student. Our schools and colleges should acquaint the younger generations with Indian ancient heritage and culture. The curricula and text-books should curb parochial and communal interpretation of our composite culture.
I have looked at some of the policies and programmes in this field. I have asked that a new national education policy be drafted.
We are formulating programme to use on a large scale the new communication technology in the school system.
Delinking of degrees from jobs is under active consideration.
Steps are being taken to establish an Open University to bring higher education within the easy reach of all. The Central School Organisation will be expanded. These schools will function as centres of excellence in every district of our country.
I would strongly emphasise education's organic links with the production forces of a society. We shall reorganise vocational education to link with industry, agriculture, communications and other productive sectors of our economy.
Seen in their totality, the Prime Minister's observations have three important dimensions. The first relates to the significance of education as a force of national unity and integration through the appreciation of the national struggle for freedom as well as the
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composite culture evolved through ages. The second pertains to the endeavour to make the education system to become qualitatively better, to respond to the needs of technological advances, and organically linked to the productive forces in the different sectors. The third dimension is concerned with an operational strategy to germinate and radiate excellence and quality in education through certain nodal points like the Central Schools or by the establishment of pace- setting schools in each district.
The magnitude and the spontaneity with which some of the people responded to the Prime Minister's desire to regenerate the education system are evident not merely from the number of letters but also by the intensity of concern and the feeling of relief at the possibility of reform, and the volume of their suggestions regarding the redemption of the education system. What is even more significant is that every single section of society, representing different walks of life and the different parts of India, felt Equally- concerned about the education system and welcomed wholeheartedly the proposals for its reform. The present exercise is a modest attempt to assess the feed back as it emerges from these communications about the education system as it exists as well as the way it is desired to emerge.
Research Design The analysis is based on a perusal of about 1000 letters received by the Ministry and sent to National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration during the period January-May 1985. The letters were addressed to the Prime Minister, the Education Minister, and/or the Education Secretary. After eliminating such duplications, as some letters were addressed to more than one person, 824 letters were identified. These included responses from three categories, namely, individuals, organisations and seminar proceedings. Organisations include Teachers Associations, other educational as well as non- educational
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organisations. Distribution of the letters can be classified as follows:
Sl. Category Total Number Percentage
No. of Letters Distribution
1. Individual Letters 737 89.44
2. Seminar Proceedings 5 0.61
3. Teachers Associations 14 1.70
4. Other Educational
Organisations 25 3.03
5. Non-educational
Organisations 43 5.22
Total 824 100.00
From the above it is clear that about 90 per cent of responses are from individuals, about 5 jeer cent from organisations connected directly with education and another 5 per cent of from noneducational organisations. (List of organisations is given in Appendix I). However the present analysis is limited to responses from individuals only. This does not, however, mean that responses from organisations are less important, but that in the first instance, we have chosen to focus upon the individuals.
The large volume of letters, so prompt and pervasive in their concern for education and so widespread in terms of occupational and spatial representation of the senders, should baffle, as we were, any concerned worker in the field of education. Therefore, in our attempt to portray the contents accurately, we were led into an analysis of two vital points, viz., (i) what are the issues in the education system with which people are most concerned and (ii) who, generally, are concerned about reforms in the education System.
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Based on a preliminary analysis of about 300 communications, a taxonomy was developed which has been subsequently used to classify all the communications. It has two broad dimensions, i.e. (i) the respondents, and (ii) the responses in terms of themes. The entire range of persons who have responded have bee conceptualised and divided under different categories, taking also into account their occupational and spatial distribution. The whole range of issues, what we refer to here as "themes", has been classified into 10 categories that include the most important as issue or a theme aspects of education. This is attempted not only by finding out the frequency distribution of an issue but also the intensity of feelings and views expressed in respect of an issue or a theme by the respondents.
Respondents On a close scrutiny, it has been found viable to group the respondents in nine broad categories: Teachers and Educational Administrators, Students, Politicians, Professionals `outside Education', Administrators `outside Education', Eminent Persons, Journalists, Businessmen and Others.
To say that these nine categories are mutually exclusive would be pretentious. but the purpose has been to find as accurate a set of categories within which all the respondents could be included. Such an attempt has been made in the hope that there could be better interplay, for the purpose of analysis, between the groups and the standpoints they adopt in respect of different issues.
The category of Teachers and Educational Administrators includes teachers both at the school and collegiate levels, principals of schools and colleges, as well as administrators in the field of education such as education departments and other departments dealing with education, as well as institutions and agencies engaged in the educational management. The category of Students includes all those studying from primary to the research levels.
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Within-the category of Politicians are included people representing, wherever clearly stated, political parties and their youth wings, Members of Parliament, Legislative Assemblies and Councils. The category Professionals outside Education includes persons from the services like Law, Medicine, etc., directors of institutions, individuals belonging to organisations and agencies governmental and non-governmental- outside education. Similar considerations were applied in evolving the category of Administrators outside Education.
A note of caution is necessary in regard to the category of Eminent Persons for, it is overlapping as well as subjective. It is overlapping because we have deemed it to include eminent educationists, and some reputed professors in this category although it is theoretically possible to include them under the first category of teachers and educational administrators. It is somewhat subjective because we have considered respondents like Vice-Chancellors, Governors, Chief Ministers, Union Ministers, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and Vice-president of India, in this category.
Journalists include editors as well as correspondents of newspapers, journals and magazines. The category of Businessmen includes all those belonging to business, industrial concerns or companies. The group Others encompasses all those whose professions or categories were not clear or were not stated in the communication.
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The relative position of each of the group in relation to the total number of letters is given below
Sl. category No. of Percentage
No. letters share
1. Teachers and Educational
Administrators 275 37.31
2. Professionals (outside
Education) 70 9.50
3. Politicians 44 5.97
4. Students 41 5.56
5. Journalists 25 3.39
6. Eminent Persons 19 2.58
7. Administrators (outside
Education 15 2.04
8. Businessmen 15 2.04
9. Others 233 31.61
Total. 737 100.00
It is evident from the, distribution of responses across these groups that the highest number of responses has come from Teachers and Educational Administrators. Out of 737 letters analysed, as many as 275 letters, accounting for about 37 per cent came from this category. Further, Professionals 'outside Education' are next to the category of Teachers and Educational Administrators. They are followed by Politicians and Students. Although the category of Others is very large, 233 out of 737, this group has not been, for obvious reasons, subjected to any sub-division and further analysis.
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Spatial Distribution Even a casual glance at the distribution of letters reveals that certain states and regions appear to have responded more than the others (Appendix II). Spatial distribution of the 737 letters, taken up for analysis, reveals that as many as 163 letters, accounting for about 22 per cent have come from the state of Uttar Pradesh alone. This is followed by Delhi and Maharashtra. These three states together account for about 50 per cent of total letters. On the other extreme of the scale are Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Mizoram and Pondicherry which do not figure in the communications received.
It is further noted that the four southern states together account for only 14 per cent of total responses. On the other hand, all Hindi-speaking States viz., Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, together account for 42 per cent of the responses. Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Chandigarh and Goa account for 1 per cent of the communications each.
Themes The efforts of collating issues touched upon by the respondents necessitated some amount of conceptualisation. For the purpose of analysis, the issues have been grouped into the following themes.
1. Goals of Education
2. Structure of Education
3. Content and Curriculum
4. Language in Education
5. Evaluation and Examination
6. Planning and Management
7. financing of Education
8. Teachers
9. Social Justice
10. Delinking Degrees from Jobs.
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A word of caution is necessary in the case of the categories of Themes as well. They are neither mutually exclusive nor strictly speaking, collectively exhaustive, in terms of overlap and comprehensiveness.
Goals of Education includes aspects like role of education in national development, its impact on human capabilities, education as an instrument of social change, education as an equaliser, its role in national integration, etc. It is thus obvious that this theme is concerned with the most fundamental aspects of education and hence constitutes the hard core of the whole system.
Structure of Education implies mainly Organisation of the education system across levels or stages, whether 10+2+3, or alternative patterns of education. As is evident from the responses, this continues to be a dominant issue in view of the fact that different patterns of educational system, especially at the school level, continue to prevail in different states.
Content and Curriculum places emphasis on what to teach and also what are the reasons for desiring such contents. The theme of Curriculum is also viewed more from the point of view of uniformity and national unity. It covers the different perspectives with a whole range of reforms suggested.
Language theme as a category has been deemed to include issues like the national language policy, the constitutional status and promotion of Hindi as the national and link language, the state of implementation of the three language formula, the study and development of modern Indian languages, the question of mother tongue, medium of instruction and the ideal stage for the introduction of other languages in the three-language formula at the school level, etc.
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Evaluation and Examination Spans across a wide range of issues. These include, among others, the failure of the present examination system in relation to its reliability and validity, and the breakdown clue to widespread mal-practices. The theme also covers the proposals for reform both within the existing framework and also through new models, including the organisational-management machinery.
Planning and Management is the broadest category. Within this category, it has been attempted to cover aspects like planning and policy formulation, administration and control of education system at a macro level, management of institution at the micro level,etc. besides, an attempt has also been made to take note of the general feeling among the respondents regarding the present educational policy, including its relevance and/or inadequacies.
Financing of Education. includes financial resources, expenditure on education and allocation of resources by different levels of education. This also incorporates the issues raised by the respondents in respect of allocation of resources by the Central and State Governments for education, different sectors and/or stages within education, issues pertaining to Centre-State relations in finance, and financial management or mis-management of educational finances.
Teachers evidently is a broad category cutting across stages. Neither the perceptions nor the prescriptions appear uniform on the issue of teachers from the respondents. besides, it takes into account the role, status, and service conditions of teachers, their recruitment, professional aptitude, commitment, advancement and such other issues.
Social Justice is concerned not with the role of education in achieving the objective of social justice but social justice within education itself. The questions dealing with weaker sections, especially the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and girls, rural people including women in rural areas falls under its purview.
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Delinking degrees from job includes communications dealing with degrees/certificates and their linkages with employment and job market.