NOTE : The forty-one districts identified in the POA as being of minority concentration.

districts based on initial bench mark surveys to assess the status of literacy therein and to build programmes thereon for further improvements). (4.2.12)

82. The twenty-five districts which have not yet been covered under the community polytechnics should also be brought under their coverage before the end of the Eighth Five-Year Plan. (4.2.12)

83. The orientation programmes for the Principals/Managers and teachers of minority managed educational institutions should be organised on a decentralised basis through SCERTs at the State level and DIETs, CTEs & IASEs at the sub-State levels. (4.2.12)

84. Special coaching should be organised through reputed and progressive voluntary organisations, particularly those operating for the benefit and welfare of the minority communities. (4.2.12)

85. Open universities including the IGNOU should establish distance education programmes for imparting special coaching. (4.2.12)

Education of the Handicapped

86. People should be made aware of the problems of the handicapped, in terms of the magnitude and types of handicaps. The media should be effectively used for this purpose. (4.3.6)

87. Every family with a handicapped child should be provided support through incentives, dialogue and periodic training and evaluation. Parents' groups and community education groups should be formed. (4.3.6)

88. The educational system for the handicapped should be flexible. It should offer a range of education provisions-special schools for those who cannot be educated in general schools, special classes in general schools, and integrated education for the disabled of the type already in existence. Education should be through different options-formal, non-formal, open schools, home day schools, vocational centres etc. (4.3.6)

89. Educational packages should be offered for hearing impaired children in a differentiated way-

* Pure orally oriented programmes for profoundly deaf children.

* Combined oral-manual programmes for some of the profoundly deaf children for the education of whom pure oral programmes will not be adequate.

* Segregated programmes for those children for whom such programmes are essential.

* Integrated programmes for those whom this modality promises better emotive, cognitive, social and linguistic development. (4.3.6)

90. For making the boys and girls of impaired hearing economically independent, vocational training has to be specially organised. Vocational training which is job-oriented and matched to the abilities and aptitudes of the hearing impaired, should be organised in a significantly diversified way making a departure from the earlier practice of confining to a limited number of vocational training programmes like in drawing, painting, tailoring, knitting, embroidery, book-binding, etc. These diversified courses also relate to industrial operations such as sheet metal works, printing, turning, fitting, welding, electrician's trade, carpentry, etc. (4.3.6)

91. Bharati Braille has been developed, thanks, inter alia, to the special effort made by the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped. Based on this, teacher training and book production programmes have also been launched. These production programmes should be intensified by their scales of operation being enlarged and diversified to cover wide range of subjects and in-school and out-of- school needs. (4.3.6)

92. While work has been initiated for development of Braille notations for mathematics and science, not much progress has been made. On account of the growing emphasis on science and mathematics teaching, a comprehensive and effective code for use in the area of mathematics and science should be developed. (4.3.6)

93. For the moderately mentally retarded, special curricula should be developed and standardised-not merely for the purpose of basic education in 3 R's but for training in self-care skills like motor integration, perceptual and motor skills, language, communication and conceptual skills. It should be clearly understood that for the mentally handicapped, academic achievements are relatively unimportant in comparison to social adaptation and vocational training. (4.3.6)

94. Vocational schools for the mentally retarded adults are not too many. For their benefit jobs in sheltered workshops, farms and industries should be provided as they are not capable of receiving open employment. The idea is that after receiving training they can work on sub-contract basis. (4.3.6)

95. In pre-service teacher training programme, education of the handicapped, should be made part and parcel of the pedagogy and methodology. (4.3.6)

96. A programme of sensitization should be implemented for in- service teachers as well. This should include various components, namely, Non-Formal Education, vocationalisation of education and distance education. (4.3.6)

97. Teachers' training colleges should have special courses for teaching the handicapped children; a special component on the education of the handicapped should be included in the B.Ed courses as well. (4.3.6)

98. At least one resource faculty should be provided in each DIET to provide teacher training inputs in the context of education for the handicapped. (4.3.6)

99. The role of the special schools should be clearly redefined as spelt out below :

(i) Early identification of children with handicaps and formulation of stimulation programmes for them and the community in their catchment areas;

(ii) Education of the handicapped children who cannot be educated in general schools upto the point when

they can be integrated-thus breaking the insulation between the general and special schools.

(iii) Service as resource agencies for implementing the integrated education programmes in general schools so that they feel as a part and parcel of the educational system.

(iv) Bringing about mutual reinforcement of the peda- gogies of special and general education. (4.3.6)

100. A lot of development is taking place in the application of technology for the benefit of the handicapped. Several technological aids are already available like for example, Brailleix produced by Federal Republic of Germany which facilitates recording of whole encyclopaedia on cassettes, printing conversion devices like `tactacon' which facilitates presentation of printed material in vibrotactile form so as to enable the blind persons to read, devices facilitating mobility of the blind persons etc. The technologies and techno-aids available for meeting the special needs of the handicapped children should be reviewed and measures for dissemination of information should be formulated. (4.3.6)

101. Sustained researches should be undertaken to determine the needs of the physically handicapped and produce technological aids capable of helping in overcoming handicaps. The Indian Institute of Technology and other technological institutions in the area of higher education should be given specific responsibilities for undertaking these researches. (4.3.6)

Common School System

102. The first step in securing equity and social justice in education is the building up of a Common School System. Specific actions required in this context are the following :-

- Provision of significantly increased outlay for elementary (particularly primary) education. This would help in the building up of the required levels of infrastructure and quality of education, thereby transforming Government, local-body and aided schools into genuine Neighbourhood Schools.

- Provision of special allocations for improvement of school system in backward areas, urban slums, tribal areas, hilly tracts, desert and marshy areas, drought and flood-prone zones, coastal belts and islands.

- Ensuring instruction for all in the medium of mother tongue at the primary level, particularly for linguistic minorities; active encouragement of teaching in the regional languages at the secondary level; and discontinuance of State aid to the schools imparting education otherwise than in the medium of mother tongue/regional languages.

- Phased implementation of the Common School System within a ten year timeframe; and essential minimum legislation, particularly to dispense with early selection process, tuition fee, capitation fee etc.

- Exploring ways of including the expensive private schools into the Common School System through a combination of incentives, disincentives and legislation. (4.4.8)

Navodaya Vidyalayas

103. The Committee, having considered the strong views expressed by the members for and against the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme and after taking into account all aspects of the scheme in terms of the concept, philosophy, design, its implementation and future, recommends that the Government may decide from out of the following three alternatives :

(i) NO FURTHER NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA NEED BE OPENED. The existing 261 Navodaya Vidyalayas may be restructured and continued with provision of adequate resources. The scheme may also be reviewed at the end of 1992-93. The terms of reference for this review may be- - Whether the objectives for which the scheme was established have been achieved-in terms of nurturing of talents, reservations for the

SCs/STs, girls, representation for rural children, pace setting functions and national integration through migration of children.

- If the objectives have not been achieved what are the reasons for the same?

- Restructuring, if any, of the scheme with reference to :

* redefinition of the concept of special talent or aptitude such that the selection takes into account the entire cognitive and affective domain as well as the psychomotor skills ;

* broadening the process and canvas of selection with a view to make provision for the vast potential of talent in different attributes of life that exists among rural children, but is not identifiable by conven- tional academic tools;

* changing the present life style and value orientation of the Navodaya Vidyalayas such that the alienation of the campuses from rural life, particularly that of the underprivileged sections, is guarded against. (ii) All the existing 261 Navodaya Vidyalayas may be transferred to the State Sector for the States to run them as residential centres on the Andhra Pradesh model.

(iii) The Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme may be transformed into a Navodaya Vidyalaya programme of broad based talent nurturing and pace-setting. (A day-school each under the Common School system can function in the premises of the Navodaya Vidyalayas). (4.5.10)