 RESOLUTION ON NATIONAL POLICY

As a result of discussions on the recommendations of the Education Commission and the report of the Committee of Members of Parliament, a Resolution on National Policy on Education was formally issued by the Government of India on July 24,1966 (Appendix II). The Resolutions enumerated seventeen principles to guide the development of education in the years ahead. These are:

(i) Free and compulsory Education: Free and Compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 should be

7. "That this House takes note of the report of the Education Commission 1964-66, laid on the Table of the House on the 29th August, 1966 and that this House takes note of the report of the Committee of members of Parliament on Education (1967) - National Policy on Education laid on the Table of the House on the 25th July (I.S.Deb.,NOv.14.1967 c-134 c.62).

8 I.S. Deb., 6-12-67,cc. 5165-80

provided by the earliest possible date and suitable programme should be developed to reduce the prevailing wastage and stagnation in schools.

(ii) Status, Emoluments and Education of Teachers: Teacher education, particularly in service education, should received high priority. Teachers must be accorded an honoured place in society, their emoluments, and other service conditions should be adequate, and their academic freedom should be guaranteed.

(iii) Development of Language: The energetic development of Indian Language and literature is a sine qua non for education and cultural development. Unless this is done, the creative energies of the people would not be released; standards of education will not improve; knowledge will not be spread to the people and the gulf between the intelligentsia and the masses will remain, if not widen further. The regional language already used as media of education at the primary and secondary stages, should be urgently adopted at the university state. At the secondary stage every child should learn three languages; the languages of his region, Hindi or another Indian language if the language of his region is Hindi and English. Hindi should become the link language, a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India. For its cultural value the study of Sanskrit should be specially encouraged. Special emphasis needs to be laid on the study of English and other international languages. World knowledge is growing at a tremendous pace,especially in science and technology. India must not only keep up this growth but should also make her own significant contributions to it.

(iv) Equalisation of Education Opportunity: Regional imbalances should be corrected and good educational facilities should be provided in rural and other backward areas. To promote social cohesion and national integration, a common school system should be adopted; this should not, however, affect the minority rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The education of girls should receive emphasis, as should education among the backward classes.

(v) Identification of Talent: For the cultivation of excellence, it is necessary that talent in diverse fields should be identified at as early an age as possible and every stimulus and opportunity given for its full development.

(vi) Work-experience and National Service: The school and the community should be brought closer through suitable programmes of mutual service and support. Work- experience and national service including participation in meaningful and challenging programme of community service and national reconstruction should accordingly become an integral part of education.

(vii) Science Education and Research: These should receive high priority, and science and mathematics should be an integral part of general education till the end of the school stage.

(viii) Education for Agriculture and industry: This requires special emphasis. There should be at least one agricultural university in every State and the other universities selected departments may be strengthened for the study of one or more aspects of agriculture. Technical education and research should be related closely to industry. There should be continuous review of the agricultural, industrial,and other technical manpower need and a proper balance should be maintained between the output of the educational institutions and employment opportunities.

(ix) Production of Books: The quality of books should be improved and immediate steps should be taken for the production of high quality text-books for schools and universities. Efforts should be made to have a few basic text-books throughout the country. Special attention should be given to books for children and to university level books in Indian languages.

(x) Examination: A major goal of examination reform should be to improve the reliability and validity of examinations and to make evaluation a continuous process.

(xi) Secondary Education: Facilities for secondary education should be extended expeditiously to areas and classes which have been denied these in the past. Facilities for technical and vocational education needs to be increased, diversified and related closely to employment opportunities.

(xii) University Education: (a) The number of whole time students admitted to a college or university departments should be determined with reference to the laboratory, library and other facilities and to the strength of the staff. (b) New universities should be established only in case of proved necessity after adequate provisions of funds and with due care for ensuring proper standards. (c) The organisation of post-graduate courses and their standards of training and research need to be improved.(d) Centres of advanced study should be strengthened and a small number of clusters of centres aiming at the highest possible standards in research and training should be established. (e) Research in universities requires increased support,and the research institutions should, as far as possible, function within the fold of universities of in intimate association with them.

(xiii) Part-time education and Correspondence Courses: These should be developed on a large scale at the university stage and also be provided for secondary school students, teachers, and agricultural, industrial and other workers.

(xiv) Spread of Literacy and Adult Education: (a) The liquidation of mass illiteracy is necessary not only for promoting people's participation in the working of democratic institutions and for accelerating programmes of production, especially in agriculture, but also for quickening the tempo of national development in general. Employees in large commercial, industrial and other concerns should be made functionally literate as early as possible.....Teachers and students should be actively involved in organising literacy campaigns, especially as part of the Social and national Service Programme. (b) The education of young farmers and the training of youth for self-employment should have high priority.

(xv) Games and Sports: Playing fields and other facilities for developing a nation wide programme of physical education should be provided on a priority basis.

(xvi) Education of minorities: Every effort should be made not only to protect the rights of minorities but actively to promote their educational interests.

(xvii) The Educational Structure: A broadly uniform educational structure of ten years' general education in schools, followed by two years of higher secondary stage and

three years ' course for the first degree should be adopted in all parts of the country.

The Resolution on National Policy on Education further stated:

"The reconstruction of education on these lines will need additional outlay. The aim should be gradually to increase the investment in education so as to reach a level of expenditure of six per cent of the national income as early as possible".

The national policy on education, 1968 has been accepted by the Government as guiding principle for all educational development in the country supplemented by the guidelines adopted in the Sixth plan document.

The programmes spelt out in the national policy on education are being implemented by the Central and the state governments with such modifications and adjustments as are warranted from time to time by the socio-economic conditions in the country. Most significant of these programmes are universalisation of elementary education and eradication of adult illiteracy. Both these from part of Centre's minimum needs programme as well as the Revised 20-Point Programme.

For the discharge of its specific responsibility, the Union Ministry of Education has been acting directly by itself and through its institutions like the University Grants Commission, National Council of Educational Research and Training, etc. The aims and objectives of these institutions have been, by and large, to bring about improvement of standards of education and training at various levels or to promote specific areas of education like languages, production of books etc.

Priority has been given by the Government to the programme of universalisation of elementary education with emphasis on programmes for the weaker sections including girls, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, etc. Another important priority area in education is promotion of adult education. In regard to other sectors, stress is being laid on qualitative improvement of education. Especially the technical and higher education, development of youth activities, vocationalisation of secondly education, development of regional languages, strengthening of the monitoring and evaluation machinery for the effective implementation of plan programmes, etc.

India, 1983; Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Government of India, New Delhi pp.47-48