1951 5. COMMITTEE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STATE GOVERNMENTS AND LOCAL BODIES IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRIMARY EDUCATION, 1951

Report : Delhi, Manager of Publications, 1954

2 p. 1., Pp. 210

Appointment

The Committee was appointed by the Hon'ble Education Minister, Government of India in 1951.

Chairman: SHRI B. G. KHER

Terms of Reference

A. To consider the relationship of the State Governments and local bodies in the administration of Primary Education;

B. To suggest some reforms with a view to improving the efficiency of administration and making the introduction and enforcement of universal, free compulsory primary education, easier and more fruitful.

Summary of Recommendations

1. Association of local bodies with the administration of primary education : It would be an advantage to associate local bodies with the administration of primary education in some form or other.

2. Type of local bodies to be associated : (a) All municipalities should be associated with the administration of primary schools in their areas and should be made to pay a specified contribution to support them. But varying degrees of independent authority over primary education should be vested in different municipalities on the broad basis to the extent of their contribution to the cost of primary education in their areas and their general administrative efficiency.

(b) In rural areas, a two-tier system of associating local bodies with the administration of primary education should be adopted everywhere. For the single tier, residents of the rural area served by a primary school should be associated with its administration in some form or other. This may be done by giving village panchayats the right to supervise the schools in their area in the prescribed manner; and where such panchayats do not exist, by establishing ad hoc school committee of prominent and interested local residents for the purpose. For the second tier, the district should ordinarily be adopted as the unit of administration.

3. Creation of educational bodies : (a) In all village

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panchayats and smaller municipalities which have been given only a limited control over primary education, the local body should be required to elect a school committee and to delegate to it the task of supervising the local school or schools.

(b) In district local boards and in bigger municipalities which exercise wider powers over primary education, a school board should be constituted and charged with the responsibility of looking after its educational powers as well as an administrative officer having adequate authority to carry on the day-to-day administration of its primary schools.

(c) The State Governments should adopt the independent system of associating educational bodies with the corresponding local authorities generally; but if that is not possible for some reason or the other, they should at least specify the composition and powers of the educational bodies. Ordinarily, an educational body of a dependent system should be constituted on the following pattern :

(i) It should be of a fairly manageable size. In villages, it may consist of three to seven members; in the smaller municipalities of five to nine members; and in the bigger municipalities and district boards of 12 to 16 members.

(ii) Persons who are not members of the parent body should be eligible to be appointed to the educational bodies.

(iii) It is desirable to prescribe some educational qualifications for persons to be elected on or appointed to the educational bodies. The nature of these qualifications will have to be defined with reference to local conditions.

(iv) At the district level, provision should be made for the District Educational Inspector to be an ex-officio member of the educational body.

(v) In villages, no detailed conditions regarding the composition of the educational bodies need be laid down. But in municipal areas and at the district level, representation on the educational bodies should be given to :

a) minorities, i.e., the people speaking any recog- nized language other than the language of the majority of the residents in the local area, provided that the number of such people is larger than a prescribed percentage of the population of the area as a whole;

b) women;

c) backward committees; and

d) experts in education.

(vi) The term of office of the educational bodies should be co-extensive with that of the parent body. It should not be appointed from year to year as is sometimes done.

(vii) As a rule, the reserved seats should not exceed one- third of the total number of members.

(viii) In so far as the powers of educational bodies are concerned, we feel that they should have complete internal autonomy except in matters of finance where the sanctions will have to be obtained from the parent body. The relationship between the authorized Municipalities and their school boards in the State of Bombay is a good model to follow in this case.

(ix) Representation to primary teachers should be given on district school boards and on the school boards of the larger municipalities.

(d) The appointment of administrative officers should be obligatory under the statute in the case of all district school boards and the larger municipalities. They should be servants of the State Government; but provision should also be made to delegate this authority to local bodies in certain cases, and detailed rules should be framed to prescribe their powers and duties in detail.

4. Division of authority on functional basis : (a) Inspection should be regarded as a duty of the Government and should be carried out by Government officers. All inspecting officers should be directly under the Government and that the local bodies should have no control over them.

(b) State Governments should be solely responsible for maintaining or aiding the requisite number of training institutions for primary teachers.

(c) The authority to define curricula or courses of study at the primary level should continue to vest in the State Governments. But the local bodies should also be authorized, with the previous approval of the Director of Education, to introduce such variations in the prescribed curricula as they may deem necessary in view of local conditions.

(d) In every major municipality authorized to administer primary school within its area and in every district school board, the authority to recruit and control the teaching staff should vest in the Staff Selection Committee the Administrative Officer, and the Appellate Tribunal constituted on lines similar to those adopted in Bombay. This procedure coordinates the official and non-official sides in an excellent manner and is likely to reduce to a minimum all those evils which are usually complained of

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in this respect.

(e) The service conditions of primary teachers should be determined by the local bodies concerned with the sanction of State Governments and as far as possible these should be uniform throughout the State.

(f) The primary teachers should continue to be treated as servants of local bodies as at present.

(g) The authority to decide the schedule and emoluments of the non-teaching staff should be vested in local bodies; and the State Governments should give them fixed block grants on that account.

(h) Regarding textbooks, it is suggested that-

State Governments should prescribe, on) he advice of official and non-official experts in the subject, the books to be used in primary schools; and where more than one book happens to be prescribed in a subject, the local body should have the freedom to choose any one of the prescribed books for use in schools under its control.

(i) The State Governments should only fix the minimum number of days in a year on which the primary schools must be working. Subject to this limit the authority to fix holidays and vacations should vest entirely in the local body.

(j) The slow and cumbrous procedure for the construction of school buildings and obtaining a State grant-in-aid therein should be thoroughly revised.

(k) Subject to the provision of an approved genera plan, the authority to open, close or transfer schools should vest in local bodies.

(l) The legal provisions regarding the enforcement of compulsory education should be amended with a view to simplifying the prosecution of defaulting parents.

5. Division of authority on the basis of the local body associated :

(a) City corporations : The general policy should be to devolve as large an authority upon city corporations as possible. Moreover, it would be preferable to adopt the two-tier system by creating ward committees with specific powers and duties.

(b) Authorized municipalities : The larger municipalities may be designated as "authorized municipalities". They will differ from corporations in three ways. Firstly, the government will actually conduct inspections instead of merely reserving the right to do so. Secondly, the general control of the Government will be a little more detailed and thirdly, the administrative officers should preferably remain the servants of State Governments. The control over the teaching staff may be divided on the Bombay model described earlier, and even with regard to the other aspects of administration, provisions may be made on the lines of Sections 17 and 18 of the Bombay Primary Education Act, 1947.

(c) Non-authorized municipalities : The small municipalities which cannot be permitted to administer primary education in their areas will have to be treated at a still lower level. Their powers and duties over primary education may be broadly defined on the following lines :

(i) They should have the right to elect one or more representatives on the District or Municipal School Board which controls the primary schools in their areas.

(ii) They should have the right to supervise primary schools in their areas; and for that put-pose, to elect a Town School Committee of five to nine persons.

(iii) The authority of the town school committee over the teaching staff (which would be a part of a central cadre controlled by the District or Municipal School Board) should be limited to two main powers : a) to grant casual leave to the heads of local schools; b) to be consulted before transferring local teachers (as a rule, a recommendation of the School Committee for the transfer of a teacher should be regarded as a mandate when it is supported by a majority of two-thirds of the total number of members of the Committee).

(iv) The town school committees should have definite financial powers. Annually, a definite amount should be placed at their disposal which, along with such additions as they can locally make, should be available to them for all expenditure on local primary schools (except the salaries and allowances of teachers which would be paid actually).

(v) The powers and duties of the town school committees should include, among other things, the following :

a) the construction of school buildings;

b) responsibility for securing proper accommodation for all local primary schools, including the maintenance of owned buildings and the hire of others;

c) maintenance of school gardens, children's parks, and playgrounds;

d) provision of all equipment required by local schools;

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e) responsibility for organizing all extra-curricular activities;

f) authority to distribute free slates, books, etc., to indigent children and to decide free studentships in cases where fees are charged;

g) responsibility for the enforcement of compulsory education including authority to pass attendance orders, to grant exemptions for reasonable excuses, and to launch prosecutions;

h) subject to rules made by the School Board, to lend the use of school buildings for other than educational purposes;

i) to award prizes to school students;

j) to decide local holidays subject to the limits laid down by the School Board;

k) to make recommendations to the School Board regarding adjustment of school hours and vacations;

l) to carry out all such duties and exercise all such powers as may from time time be delegated to it by the School Board;

m) to maintain the local school chest and to expend its proceeds in accordance with the rules; and

n) generally, to take all such measures as will help in expanding and improving primary education within the area in its charge.

(d) Villages: The powers and duties of village school committees should be divided into two groups : the first group will include all those powers which a village school committee will have as soon as it is formed, and the second group will include all those powers which can be conferred on it by the District School Board in view of its efficiency. An indication of the nature of these two groups is given below :

(i) Obligatory Powers and Duties:

a) responsibility for securing proper accommodation for all local primary schools, including the maintenance of owned buildings and the hire of others;

b) to sanction casual leave to the head of the school;

c) the maintenance of school gardens and playgrounds;

d) ovision of equipment for local schools;

e) the organization of extra-curricular activities; the distribution of free slates, books, etc., to indigent children and awarding free studentships where fees are charged;

g) awarding prizes to school students;

h) deciding local holidays, subject to the limit laid down by the School Board;

i) to maintain the local chest and to expend its proceeds in accordance with the rules;

j) to make recommendations to the School Board regarding local school hours and vacations; and

k) generally to take all such measures as will help in expanding and improving primary education within its area.

(ii) Additional Powers and Duties

a) the construction of school buildings;

b) the maintenance of children's parks;

c) responsibility for the enforcement of compulsory education including authority to pass attendance orders, to grant exemptions for reasonable excuses, and to launch prosecutions;

d) subject to rules made by the School Board, to lend the use of school buildings for other than educational purposes;

e) the right to be consulted before the transfer of local teachers;

f) the right to demand, by a specified majority, the transfer of a local teacher; and

g) exercising all such powers and performing all such duties as may be delegated to it by the District School Board.

(e) District School Boards : The powers and duties of these bodies should be similar to those of the municipal school boards with two main differences: firstly, the administrative officers of district school boards should necessarily be government servants and secondly, there would be a greater indirect control by the government through its financial sanctions that will be more frequently required here than in the case of municipal school boards.

6. Division of authority-General : (a) The proposals of devolving authority in primary education are relative and depend upon the character of the local body. It is, therefore, quite possible to suggest that a much larger delegation of authority than what we have recommended above can be conveniently made if our local bodies are properly reconstituted and given larger resources. We accept this argument as valid and invite attention to an interesting experiment recently tried in Uttar Pradesh whereby the district boards were reconstituted and given larger powers of control over primary education. It is

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beyond the scope of this enquiry to suggest the manner in which our existing local bodies should be reconstituted and made richer. We would, however, welcome all experiments undertaken from this point of view and shall have no objection to these proposals being modified in the light of the reconstitution of the local bodies themselves.

(b) Future administrative reform should emphasize decentralization and should tend to build up local leadership and to strengthen local bodies. It is, therefore, suggested that there should be thorough decennial reviews of the problem on an all-India basis and the question of devolving greater authority over primary education to local bodies should be examined thoroughly in the light of their increased efficiency.

(c) The Government should be authorized under a statute to withdraw any one or more powers conferred upon a local body if it is found that such powers are not being properly exercised; similarly, it should also be open to the Government to delegate any further powers to a local body if such delegation is justified on grounds of efficiency.

7. Finance : (a) The Union Government should assign specific grants for universal and compulsory primary education in the States; that such grants should be based on the principle of equalization; and that a preliminary investigation to ascertain the nature and extent of such grants should be undertaken without delay.

(b) A sum not less than sixty per cent of the total educational expenditure of the State should be spent on primary education. If such a standard is adopted in addition to the recommendation already made (i.e. a State should spend about twenty per cent of its revenue on education as a whole), the total resources available for primary education will be substantially increased.

(c) A specific budget provision should be made annually for the encouragement of the research and experiments in primary and rural education.

(d) Every State should create a statutory State board of primary education to serve as an important connecting link between the non- official experts, the education departments, and the local bodies associated with the administration of primary education.

(e) Every State should carefully plan its grants-in-aid schemes after taking all past experience as well as, the needs of the next five years into consideration and thereafter revise it thoroughly at the end of each quinquennium.

(f) State grants to local bodies on account of primary education should be based on a combination of the proportional grant (used to secure a broad equalization as well as to provide for rapid expansion), a special grant for backward or necessitous areas, and specific purpose grants.

(g) Grants for all primary education, whether voluntary or compulsory, should be statutory.

(h) Grants-in-aid for compulsory education should necessarily be at a higher rate than those for voluntary education.

(i) All local bodies should be required to survey their areas and prepare development schemes on a five-year basis at a time. The actual rate of grant-in-aid should then be fixed in view of all the circumstances of the case and in such a manner as to enable the local body to complete the programme as scheduled. Equalization should be secured by defining a minimum foundation programme to be reached by all local bodies within a specified time and by giving priority and preferential treatment to the local bodies which for no fault of theirs fall below it so that they are enabled to reach the foundation programme as early as possible.

(j) The Municipal Acts should be amended so as to make the levy of an education cess obligatory on all municipalities. Where this is not possible, it would be in the interest of education to make it obligatory on municipalities to earmark a specified proportion of their total revenue for primary education. All funds thus earmarked for primary education should be entitled to receive grants-in-aid according to rules.

(k) In village panchayats a portion of the total revenue should be earmarked for primary education.

(l) The French system of school chest should be universally adopted with such changes as may be necessary to make it suitable for local conditions.

(m) The Bengal practice of levying an educational cess on profits from mines and quarries as well as on trade, business, profession, and employment should be brought to the notice of other State Governments who should be requested to consider the feasibility of adopting it in their own areas.

(n) All local bodies should be required to levy a cess on land revenue. The law on the subject should prescribe both the minimum and the maximum rates of levy and a definite portion of the proceeds should be earmarked for primary education.

(o) In States where the zamindari system is abolished. the income from village markets should be assigned to village panchayats, firstly for the improvement of the markets themselves and secondly for the improvement of primary education.

(p) The authorized municipalities should be graded

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according to their economic capacity and a sliding scale of grants-in- aid should be adopted in such a manner that the richer municipalities get a lower rate of grant-in-aid.

(q) No attempt should be made to "grade" the districts. A better alternative would be to give a general grant-in-aid to all district boards at the same rate, and to superimpose on it a necessitous areas grant which should be given only to backward or poorer districts and which should try to secure equalization.

(r) Regarding financial powers of town and village school committees, the following recommendations are made :

(1) The fundamental reform is to restrict the scope of the authority of the district school boards to the control of teaching and administrative staff and to transfer responsibility in all other matters to these smaller committees on the model of the French communes.

(2) In the town school committees, the following resources may be allocated :

(i) A portion of the local contribution for primary education (say one-third or one fourth) assigned to the committee by the District School Board;

(ii) all fees collected in local schools;

(iii) proceeds of the school chest and the grant-in-aid received thereon;

(iv) fines realized in the local area for compulsory education;

(v) such other purely local receipts as may be assigned by the District School Board from time to time; and

(vi) a suitable non-recurring grant for building purposes and a recurring grant which should preferably be proportional to amounts raised locally under items (i) and (iii).

This fund should be exclusively at the disposal of the school committee to be spent at its discretion. It should be made responsible for all matters of expenditure (exclusive of teachers' salaries and allowances) connected with the local primary schools.

(3) In the village school committees associated with panchayats, the position would be the same as above with one difference; instead of a definite portion of local contribution for education, the amount of total revenue earmarked for primary education should be placed fully at the disposal of the committee.

(4) In the village school committees established in villages where panchayats do not exist, a grant-in-aid sanctioned by the District School Board (preferably on the basis of the number of pupils attending the local school) would take the place of the panchayat contribution. Other sources of revenue and responsibilities for expenditure should be the same.

(5) One of the important duties of the District School Board would be to supervise the working of these school committees; to see that they collect the amounts expected of them; to watch the functioning of the school chest; to sanction grants-in-aid to individual committee; and to watch their expenditure.

(s) Primary education funds should necessarily be maintained in all authorized municipalities and district school boards.

(t) The authority to sanction budgets should vest in the State Governments. Certain powers regarding re-appropriations may be delegated to local bodies.

Approved Schools

a) Local bodies associated with the administration of primary education should ordinarily be in charge of all primary schools in their area, whether maintained under their direct control or managed by private agencies;

b) that the authority to control and guide the primary schools in their areas should generally vest in the local bodies themselves;

c) that the State Government should retain a few powers to themselves with a view to seeing that no hardships are caused to private enterprise; and

d) the authority to make rules, regulations and bye-laws regarding private schools should vest concurrently in the State Governments, local bodies and the management.

State Governments should legislate on broad matters of principle, viz., the procedure for grant and withdrawal of recognition, conditions of recognition, principles of grants- in-aid, maxima and minima of grants-in-aid, curricula, etc. Local bodies should fix up a few more details such as registers to be maintained, rates of grant-in-aid (which should be made to vary according to local conditions), school hours and vacations, admis-

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sions, withdrawals and transfer of pupils, etc. The managements should make rules regarding service conditions of staff, discipline rules for students, provident fund for staff, and such other matters of internal administration. The rules made by local bodies should require the approval of the Director of Education and those made by the managements should require the approval of the school boards concerned.

e) Regarding grant or withdrawal of recognition to a private school, it is suggested :

(i) that the inspecting officers of the department should be required to carry out, in the first instance, an investigation into every proposal for the grant or withdrawal of recognition to a private primary school;

(ii) that the school board concerned should consider the report of such investigation and then decide whether recognition should or should not be granted, or should be withdrawn; and

(iii) any party aggrieved by the order of the School Board should have the right to prefer an appeal to the Director of Education or to any other specified officer. These provisions will eliminate most chances of hardship to private enterprise and will, at the same time, secure decentralization of authority and a more unified control of primary education.

f) The authority to grant recognition should also be the authority to sanction grant-in-aid.

g) The expenditure incurred by a local body on grants-in- aid to private schools should be regarded as "approved expenditure" and be eligible for a State grant-in-aid at the usual rate.

h) The powers recommended to be conferred on town and village school committees relate only to schools conducted by local bodies. These should be modified in the case of private schools so as not to cause interference with their internal autonomy and financial responsibility.