FOREWORD
The Committee* was constituted by the Government of India on 5th April, 1967, with the following terms of reference :
(1) To consider the Report of the Education Commission;
(2) To prepare the draft of a Statement on the National Policy on Education for the consideration of the Government of India; and
(3) To identify a programme for immediate action.
We met on 7th, 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th April; 19th and 20th May; and 27th, 28th and 29th June, 1967. We also attended the Conference of State Education Ministers held at New Delhi on 28-30 April, 1967.
We constituted a Drafting Committee from amongst our members on 24th April. It met on 25th and 28th April; 18th, 19th, 20th, 30th and 31st May; 1st, 7th, 8th, 9th and 27th .June, 1967.
In view of our main terms of reference and their urgency, we did not think it necessary, at this stage, to examine all the recommendations of the Education Commission. We scrutinized only its major recommendations along with the comments of the State Governments and others thereon. It will be noticed that our general approach to the problem -differs from that of the Commission in three important ways. Firstly, we have not accepted the recommendations of the Commission for the creation of five or six 'major' universities ,or for upgrading 10 per cent of the institutions at all levels to ,optimum standards. We believe that better results can be ,obtained if we strive to maintain at least the minimum standards in all institutions and offer special additional assistance, on the basis of proper criteria, to those institutions
*The names of members are given in Appendix I. The names of members are given in Appendix II.
(iv)
which show-high-level performance and promise. Secondly, we have placed a greater emphasis on expansion of facilities than the Commission has done, especially at the school stage. We have therefore not agreed to the Commission's proposal that a system of selective admissions should be adopted at the higher secondary and undergraduate stages. We have suggested methods for diverting a large proportion of students into different walks of life at the end of the higher secondary stage which will necessarily reduce pressures on access to higher education. But we believe that every effort should be made to provide admissions to institutions of higher education to all eligible students who desire to study further. Thirdly, we have not favoured several recommendations of the Commission whose main objective was to create certain new administrative structures or changes in the existing ones.* In our opinion, such programmes will lead to increasing bureaucratization and increase in unproductive expenditure.
Subject to these observations, we found the Report of the Education Commission very useful and valuable. We have accepted several of its major recommendations, some with modifications or changes in priority. We have also added new recommendations in certain areas where the ground was not fully covered by the Report of the Commission. All these decisions have been incorporated in the following Statement on the National Policy on Education which also includes a programme for immediate action.
*Shri S. N. Dwivedy is of the view that the Indian Educational Service should be created at an early date to promote national integration.
Report of the Committee of Members of
Parliament on Education (1967)
NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION
CONTENTS
Para Page
Foreword (i)
The National System of Education 1 1
TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
Strengthening National Unity 3-7 1
The Neighbourhood School 8 2
Adoption of Indian Languages as Media of
Instruction at All Stages 9 2
The Teaching of Languages 10 3
Hindi, the Link Language 11 4
Sanskrit 12 4
Science Education and Research 13 4
Education for Agriculture and Industry 14-15 5
Work-Experience 16 5
Character-Formation 17 6
EQUALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Pre-Primary Education 19 6
Primary Education 20-22 6
The Ten-Year School 23-25 7
Higher Secondary Education 26-28 8
Higher Education 29-31 8
Part-Time and Own-Time Education 32 9
Spread of Literacy and Adult Education 33-34 9
Education of Girls 35 10
Education of the Weaker Sections of the Community 36-38 10
Education of the Handicapped Children 39 11
PROGRAMMES OF QUALITATIVE IMPROVEMENT
Teachers : Status and Education 41--42 11
New Methods of Teaching 43 13
Curricula and Text books 44-48 13
Examination Reform 49-53 14
A Nation-wide Programme of Institutional Improvement 54-58 15
Student Services, Welfare and Discipline 59-63 16
Scholarships Discovery and Development of Talent 64-67 17
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
The Universities 69-72 18
The Voluntary Effort in Education 73-74 18
The Educational Institutions Conducted by Minorities 75-78 19
The Local Authorities 79-81 19
The Government of India 82-88 20
The State Governments 89-94 22
(vi)
A PROGRAMME FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION Para Page
Priorities 95 23
Total Educational Expenditure 96 25
Essential Conditions for Success 97-101 25
MINUTES OF DISSENT
Shri R. K. Amin and A. K. Chanda 31
Shri K. Anbazhagan 31
Shri A. E. T. Barrow 34
Shri V. M. Chordia 37
Shri Digvijai Nath 38
Shri Tarkeshwar Pande 49
Shri Dahyabhai V. Patel and Shri R. K. Amin 50
Smt. Savitri Shyam 52
Shri S. K. Vaishampayen 53
Appendix I-List of Members 54
Appendix II-Drafting Committee 55
Glossary of Terms 56