 TRANSFORMATION OF THE
 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

2.From this point of view, the most important and urgent reform needed is to transform the existing system of education in order to strengthen national unity, promote social integration, accelerate economic growth and generate moral, social and spiritual values.

Strengthening National Unity

3. Education should deepen national consciousness, promote a proper understanding and appreciation of our cultural heritage and inspire a faith and confidence in the great future which we can forge for ourselves. These objectives should be achieved by a carefully planned study of Indian languages, literature, philosophy and history and by introducing students to India's achievements in the positive sciences, architecture, sculpture, painting,. music, dance and drama.

4. All students should be given appropriate courses in citizenship which emphasize the fundamental unity of India in the midst of her rich diversity, These should include a study of the Freedom Struggle, the Constitution, the noble principles enshrined in its Preamble and the problems and programmes. of national development.

5. National and social service, including participation in meaningful and challenging programmes of community service or national reconstruction, Should be made an integral part of education at all stages; and suitable projects for this purpose should be designed and carried out in the context of local conditions and available resources.

6. Efforts should be made to promote greater knowledge, understanding. and appreciation of the different regions of India by including their study in the curricula; by the exchange. of students and teachers and by' giving them opportunities and facilities for educational and study tours; and by the main-

tenance of all-India institutions which bring together students from different regions.

7. Curricular and co-curricular programmes should include the study of humanism based on mutual appreciation of international cultural values and the growing solidarity of mankind.

The Neighbourhood School

8. To strengthen social unity and to provide equality of opportunity to the less advanced sections of the society, the unhealthy social segregation that now takes place between the schools for the rich and those for the poor should be ended; and the primary schools should be made the common schools of the nation by making it obligatory on all children, irrespective of caste, creed, community, religion, economic condition or social status, to attend the primary school in their neighbourhood. This sharing of life among the children of all social strata will strengthen the sense of being one nation which is an essential ingredient of good education. Moreover, the establishment of neighbourhood schools will induce the rich, privileged -and powerful classes to take an active interest in the system of public education and. thereby bring about its early improvement. In implementing the programme, the rights of linguistic minorities should not be adversely affected, and the transition to the new pattern should be carefully planned and implemented with a view to improving amenities and standards of all schools.*

Adoption of Indian Languages as Media of Education at All Stages

9. The development of a proper language policy can greatly assist in strengthening national unity. The key programme will be to develop all Indian languages and to adopt them as media of education at all stages. Unless this is done, the creative energies of the people will not be released, standards, of education will not improve, knowledge will not spread to the people, and the gulf between the intelligentsia and the masses win continue to widen. This change-over should be brought about in five years. Adequate resources should be made available for this programme and the willing and enthusiastic cooperation of the academic community should be secured. In implementing this reform, the following important points -will have to be kept in view

(a) All-India institutions (i.e., those which admit students from all regions of the country) should use Hindi and English as media of education, having regard to the needs of students. Admissions to these institutions should be so planned that students educated through any Indian language are not at any disadvantage. In addition, all such institutions should

*Shri Dinkar Desai and Shri S. N. Dwivedy are not sure whether under our .constitution, parents can be compelled to send their children to any particular school and suggest that this aspect of the neighbourhood school may be examined by Government.

maintain special departments which will provide in intensive courses to the newly admitted students in Hindi/English to enable them to follow with ease the education given to them.

(b) The work of devising scientific and technical terminology should, be expeditiously completed. This terminology should be adopted/adapted in all Indian languages.

(C) Steps should be taken side by side to ensure that students who have been educated through the medium of Indian languages are not deprived of opportunities of good employment. These would include the adoption of Indian languages for all administrative purposes in the States and their use in the UPSC examinations.

(d) Adequate safeguards should be provided for linguistic minorities.

(e) A large-scale programme for the production of necessary literature in all Indian languages should be developed. This should be implemented mainly through the universities but should be Centrally planned, coordinated and financed. The objective should be to produce, within five years, most of the textbooks required for this programme in all subjects and at all levels.

(f) Suitable safeguards should be devised to prevent any lowering of standards during the process of change-over. In fact, the desirability and success of the change should be judged in terms of the contribution it makes to raising the quality of education. But caution should not be equated to delay or inaction. It is meaningful only if it is part of a policy of determined, deliberate and vigorous action.

The Teaching of Language

10. For the teaching of languages, the following principles should be kept in view

Classes I-X : The parent has a right to claim primary education in the mother tongue of his child. Every effort should be made to meet this demand. At the secondary stage, the regional language should ordinarily be the medium of education. Adequate safeguards should be provided for linguistic minorities.

Only one language, viz., the medium of education, should ordinarily be studied in the first sub-stage of school education covering four or five years. Facilities should be provided, on an optional basis, for the study of regional language when it does not happen to be medium of education. A second language should be introduced, on a compulsory basis, ordinarily at the beginning of the next sub-stage. This may preferably be a language included in Schedule VIII of the Constitution, or English or another language. The study of this language should be continued till the end of class X. A pupil may begin the study, at his option, of any third language, ordinarily from class VIII, provided that a pupil who has not studied either Hindi or English

in the earlier classes shall be under an obligation to study one of these two languages at this sub-stage. However, it is desirable that a pupil should, before he completes his school education, acquire some knowledge of three languages-regional language/mother tongue, Hindi, and English or any other language.

Classes XI-XII : At this sub-stage, a pupil shall study at least one language of his choice in addition to the medium of education.

University Stage : While facilities to study languages, on an optional basis, should be adequately provided at the university stage, the study of no language should be made compulsory unless such study is an essential part of a prescribed course.

Hindi, the Link Language

11. In practice, Hindi is already largely in use as a link language for the country. The educational system should contribute to the acceleration of this process in order to facilitate the movement of students and teachers and to strengthen national unity. The special emphasis on the study of Hindi is also justified on account of the fact that it will become the sole official language in the future when the non-Hindi areas accept it as such. It is also recognized as one of the official languages of UNESCO, signifying its importance as one of the major languages of wide dissemination in the world.

Sanskrit

12. India has a special responsibility for the promotion of Sanskrit. Facilities for its teaching at the school stage should be provided on a liberal scale and its study encouraged. Where possible, composite courses of Sanskrit and the regional languages should be provided. A more important programme is to ensure its wide study at the collegiate stage. For this purpose, new methods of teaching should be evolved to enable college students to acquire an adequate and quick command of language, even though they may not have studied it at school. Universities should also examine the desirability of including a study of Sanskrit in those courses at the first and second degree where such knowledge is essential (e.g., courses in certain modem Indian languages, ancient Indian history, Indology, Indian philosophy). The traditional system of Sanskrit learning should be encouraged.

Science Education and Research

13. With a view to accelerating economic growth, science education and research should be developed on a priority basis. Science and mathematics should be an integral part of general education till the end of class X, the quality of science teaching should be improved at all stages and scientific research should be promoted, particularly in the universities, and related closely to the development of agriculture and industry. In order that the

Government of India should have competent, impartial and objective advice on science research policy, the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet should include, not only the heads of major agencies concerned with scientific research, but also economists, social scientists, industrialists and distinguished persons from public life, including social workers. The Committee should carry out, from time to time, objective studies of the investments made in scientific research and the results obtained.

Education for Agriculture and Industry

14. Great emphasis should be placed on the development of education for agriculture and industry. The basic purpose of education for agriculture is to increase agricultural production by improving the competence of farmers and, to that end, to promote agricultural research and to train personnel needed for research, training and extension. In each State there should be at least one agricultural university which will develop integrated programmes of research, extension and training, and where necessary, strong agricultural faculties should be established in other universities. Agricultural polytechnics providing different courses needed for agricultural or agro-industrial development should be established. There is urgent need, in rural areas, for suitable centres or institutions providing extension services to farmers and giving part- time intensive courses to young persons who have left school and taken to agriculture.

15. In technical education, programmes of qualitative improvement should be stressed. Practical training in industry should form an integral part of the various courses. The existing institutions for the education of engineers should be consolidated and strengthened with special emphasis on the provision of project work to be done by the students who should also be initiated into the methodology of research by diversifying the courses and offering suitable electives. Technicians should be given a better status in industry and in society ; and institutions situated in industrial complexes should be involved intimately in their training and should specially strive to organize sandwich and part-time courses. Both technical education and research should be related closely to industry, encouraging the flow of personnel both ways and continuous cooperation in the provision, design and periodical review of training programmes and facilities. Government should give all encouragement and assistance to industry for starting research and training programmes within the industry.

Work-Experience

16. Yet another means of relating education to productivity is to include work-experience which may be defined as participation in productive work in school, in the home, in a workshop, in a factory, on a farm, or in any other productive situation, as an integral part of general education at the school stage. This work with hands will help the young to develop insights

into productive processes and use of science and inculcate in them respect for manual labour and habits of hard and responsible work.

Character-Formation

17. The formation of character should receive due emphasis in the total process of education. It is true that education alone cannot promote the appropriate moral, social and spiritual values which are generated by several institutions and organs of society. It must however contribute significantly to the moulding of the outlook and values of the youth and the strengthening of its moral fibre. The quality of reading materials, the stress on the proper study of the humanities and the social sciences, including the study of the great universal religions, the rendering of social service to the community, and participation in games and sports and hobbies, will contribute to the formation of right attitudes and values. Above all, the example set by teachers and elders will be decisive. Due attention should therefore be paid to these factors and activities in educational planning at all levels.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM