TOWARDS EQUALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
6.01 One of the important social objectives of education is to equalize opportunity, enabling the backward or underprivileged classes and individuals to use education as a lever for the improvement of their condition. Every society that values social Justice and is anxious to improve the lot of the common man and cultivate all avail- able talent, must ensure progressive equality of opportunity to all sections of the population. This is the only guarantee for the build- ing up of an egalitarian and human society in which the exploitation of the weak will be minimized.
6.02 Inequalities of educational opportunities anise in various ways. In places where no primary, secondary, or collegiate institu- tions exist, children do not have the same opportunity as those who have these facilities in the neighbourhood. This handicap should be overcome by the widest dispersal of educational institutions, consist- ent with economy and efficiency, by instituting, an adequate scholar- ship programme, by providing the needed hostel facilities or 'by making suitable transport arrangements. It is sometimes not fully appreciated that there are at present glaring imbalances of education- al development in different parts of the country: the educational developments in the States show wide differences, and even wider differences are found between the districts. To remove such inequali- ties, deliberate policies of equalization of educational opportunities and educational development in the different districts will have to be adopted.
6.03 Another cause of inequality of educational opportunity is the poverty of a large section of the population and the relative affluence of a small minority. Even in the neighbourhood of an educa- tional institution, children from poor families do not have the same chance as those who come from richer ones. To overcome these handi- caps, it is desirable to abolish fees progressively, to provide free books, stationery and even school meals and uniforms. In addition, it is necessary to develop a large programme of scholarships.
6.04 Again, differences in the standards of schools and colleges create an extremely intractable form of educational inequality. When admission to an institution such as a university or professional college, is made on the basis of marks obtained at the public examina- tion
6.08 EQUALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY 199
at the end of the secondary stage, as often happens, the marks do not at all provide a common yardstick for a student from a rural area who attends an ill-equipped school in his village, and a student from an urban area who attends a good city school. To overcome this to some extent at least, it is necessary to evolve more reliable and egalitar- ian methods of selection, whether for admission to institutions or for award of scholarships.
6.05 Gross inequalities arise from differences in home environ- ments. A child from a rural household or an urban slum having non- literate parents, does not have the same opportunity which a child from an upper class home with highly educated parents has. These inequalities are obviously the most difficult to overcome and here progress essentially depends on the general improvement in the stand- ard of living of the population. But something can be done by ensur- ing that special attention at school is paid to children from the under-privileged groups and by the provision of day-study centres or boarding houses.
6.06 Two other forms of educational 'inequalities, which are peculiar to the Indian situation, need attention. The first is the wide disparity between the education of boys and girls at all stages and in all sectors of education. The second is the equally wide, or sometimes wider disparity of educational development between the advanced classes and the backward ones-the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. On grounds of social justice as well as for the furtherance of democracy, it is essential to make special efforts to equalize educational opportunities between these groups.
6.07 Like all ideals in life, perfect equality of educational opportunity is probably unattainable. In such matters, however, the essence of the problem is not the attainment of the goal, but an impassioned faith and earnest striving. In a good system of educa- tion, there should be a continuous attempt to identify factors which tend to create significant forms of inequality and to adopt measures either to eliminate them altogether or at least to reduce them to the minimum.
We shall address ourselves, in the course of this chapter, to an examination of the implication of this policy for Indian education during the next twenty years.
TUITION FEES AND OTHER PRIVATE COSTS 6.08 Fees in Education. The attitude towards tuition fees has undergone several changes in our modern educational history. In 1854, the Wood's Education Despatch, which laid the foundation for the present system of education, 'insisted that some fee, however small, should be charged in all institutions on two grounds: people
200 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 6.09
do not value anything which is given free; and the payment of a fee is an indication of the seriousness of purpose on the part of a student or his guardian. This view soon gave way to a concept of fees as a source of revenue for supporting schools; and in 1946-47, fees ac- counted for 25.6 per cent of the total educational expenditure. Since then dependence on fees as a source of revenue is diminishing and Government is assuming an increasing burden in the financing of educa- tion. This will be seen from the statistics given in Table 6.1.
TABLE 6.1. TOTAL REVENUE FROM FEES
(1950-51 to 1965-66)
1950-51 1955-56 1960-61 1965-66
(Estimated)
Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs.
1. Total receipts from
fees (in 000's) 233,272 379,033 590,258 918,077
2. Index of growth 100 162 253 394
3. As percentage of
total educational
expenditure 20.4 20,0 17.1 15.3
4. Contribution from
Government Funds as
percentage of total
educational expenditure 57.1 61.8 68.0 71.2
First Second Third All
plan plan plan plans
5. Average annual rate of
growth in fees 10.2 9.3 9.2 9.6
Source. Ministry of Education, Form A, except for 1965-66 which
has been estimated in the Secretariat of the Commission.
6.09 The incidence of fees varies from stage to stage and from one type of educational institution to another. The percentage of students paying fees, the rates of fees, the type of institution charging fees and the total amount of fees collected-all show consid- erable variations. The detailed statistics relating to these matters for 1960-61the latest year for which data are available-are given in Table 6.2.
It will be seen that pre-primary education is mostly supported by fees. *49 Fees have almost disappeared at the lower primary stage; but they do play a more significant role at the higher primary stage. Their contribution becomes very important at the secondary stage where the fees collected form 45.8 per cent of all fees collected in the educational system, and where they contribute 39.2 per cent of the total expenditure on secondary schools. *50 The position in vocational schools,
49 Except in the rural balwadis whose statistics are not included here and which are all tuition-free.
50 In 1960-61 the provision for free-studentships was rather meagre at this stage, although the position has considerably changed since.
6.09 EQUALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY 201
TABLE 6.2. FEES IN EDUCATION
(1960-61)
Total Percent- Average Percent- Percent-
amount age of annual age of age of
collected students fee fees fees
Stage-Object through paying collected to total collected
fees fees per expendi- at the
(Rs. in student ture on stage to
000's) (Rs.) the stage total of
fees
collected
at all
stages
1. Pre-Schools 2,184 77.5 23.3 37.2 0.4
2. Lower Primary Schools 17,169 3.9 16.4 2.3 2.9
3. Higher Primary Schools 31,677 16.4 18.2 7.4 5.4
4. Secondary Schools 270,394 64.8 55.6 39.2 45.8
5. Schools for Teacher
Training 1,856 20.0 84.2 5.3 0.3
6. Schools for Vocational
Education (excluding Teacher
Training) 13,604 72.0 65.0 17.2 2.3
7. Schools for Special
Education 1,378 10.0 8.1 4.3 0.2
8. University Teaching Depar-
tments 52,934 90.1 .. 37.4 9.0
9. Research Institutions 375 86.3 147.1 1.4 0.1
10. Colleges for Arts & Sc-
ience 101,384 84.9 172.7 48.5 17.2
11. Colleges for Teacher
Training 2,761 34.7 156.9 12.8 0.5
12. Colleges for Professional
Education (excluding Teacher
Training) 30,346 87.9 240.5 22.2 5.1
13. Colleges for Special
Education 1,447 52.4 109.0 15.9 0.2
ALL INSTITUTIONS 527,510 18.7 .. 20.7 89.4
14. Boards of Education 23,342 .. .. 96.7 3.9
15. Indirect Expenditure 39,406 .. .. 1.7 6.7
GRAND TOTAL 590,258 .. .. 17.1 100.0
Source. Ministry of Education, Form A.
universities, colleges of arts and science, and colleges of professional education is broadly similar; the proportion of free- studentships is
202 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 6.10
comparatively small; the fee collected per student is comparatively high; and the revenue from fees contributes a sizable amount towards the expenditure of the institutions concerned.
6.10 It is undesirable to regard fees as a source of revenue. They are the most regressive form of taxation, fall more heavily on the poorer classes of society and act as an anti-egalitarian force. Suggestions have been made to make them progressive by relating them, on a graduated scale, to the income of the parent and the size of the family. But this would not be administratively feasible and, in a country where sixty per cent of the population has an income of less than Rs. 20 per head per month, their yield would be almost negligible. It would, on the whole, be much better to raise the required revenue in some other and more equitable form than to depend on fees. We recommend, therefore, that the country should gradually work towards a stage when all education would be tuition-free. The implementation of this programme, however, would have to be spread over a period of time and the abolition of tuition fees will have to proceed from stage to stage, beginning with primary. It may be mentioned that school education is completely free in most countries, and all education from elementary school to the research degree is free in the USSR.
6.11 Fees at the Primary Stage. The Constitution requires the provision of free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 years. Even though the `compulsory' part of this directive may take about 20 years to realize, the `free' part of it should be implemented without delay. We, therefore, recommend that all tuition fees at the primary stage should be abolished as early as possible and preferably before the end of the Fourth Five Year Plan. This implies that there would be no tuition fees in government, local authority and aided private schools, grants-in-aid to the last group being suitably adjusted. Fee-charging independent private schools which receive no aid may, however, continue to exist.(51)
6.12 Fees at the Secondary Stage. At the secondary stage, the problem is a little more difficult. Two arguments have been put forward in favour of the levy of fees at this stage. The first is that the expansion of secondary education being still largely restricted to the middle and upper classes of the society, the abolition of fees will be more in favour of the haves than of the have-nots, and the second is that the revenue from fees collected at this stage being substantial, the abolition of fees would be neither feasible nor desirable from the financial point of view. We cannot agree with either of these arguments. For details see Chapter X.
6.14 EQUALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY 203
The levy of fees in secondary schools prevents several children from the poorer classes of society, and particularly girls, from receiving education and it is mostly among these groups that the expansion of secondary education will have to take place in the next two decades. The abolition of fees at the secondary stage is thus intended mainly for the benefit of such underprivileged groups who are now entering secondary education in large numbers. It is also necessary to point out that the total revenue from fees collected at the secondary stage has declined considerably in the Third Five Year Plan. Madras has made all education free till the end of the secondary stage. Uttar Pradesh and Orissa have made it free for girls. Mysore, which had already introduced a very large programme of free-studentships, has now decided to follow Madras from the current year. We understand that Andhra Pradesh is also proposing to adopt the same policy. Maharashtra and Gujarat now provide free-studentships to nearly 85 per cent of the total enrolment. In Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, it is free for girls in all government schools at least and very largely free for boys also. In all parts of the country, it has always been free for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and some other backward classes. If all these developments are duly allowed for, it appears that the provision of tuition-free secondary education is limited only in Assam, Bihar, Orissa (for boys), Uttar Pradesh (for boys) and West Bengal. The difficulty of making secondary education free of tuition or of finding alternative sources for the loss of revenue involved is thus no longer as formidable as it was five years ago.
6.13 There was a view in the Commission that the levy of tuition fees must continue to be the rule for lower secondary education, tempered by adequate and suitable provision for the grant of concessions and exemptions to all the needy students. On a careful consideration of the problem, however, we think that such a system does not have much to commend itself and involves several administrative difficulties. We, therefore, recommend that lower secondary education should be made tuition-free in all government, local authority and aided private institutions as early as possible and, preferably before the end of the Fifth Plan. Even where It is not possible to implement this recommendation in one step, a beginning should be made by making all vocational secondary education free; and as resources permit, the principle should be extended to girls and to children who come from the poorer families. Fees in higher secondary education should, however, be dealt with on the same lines as in university education, our proposals regarding which are given in paragraphs 6.14 and 6.15.
6.14 Fees in Higher Education. At present, fees play an important
204 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 6.15
role in higher education. Table 6.1 will show that in 1960-61 fees contributed 37.4 per cent of the total expenditure on universities, 48.5 per cent of that on colleges of general education, 22.2 per cent of that in colleges of professional education (excluding teacher training), 15.9 per cent in colleges for special education and 12.8 per cent in colleges of teacher training. For higher education as a whole, the contribution of fees was as high as 37.3 per cent of the total expenditure. This is even larger than that in the educationally advanced and richer countries. In the United States, for instance, only about 25 per cent of the income of institutions of higher learning is derived from fees and in Britain, it is less than one- eighth.
6.15 We do not advocate the immediate general abolition of fees in higher education, although this should be the ultimate goal of educational policy. This programme has a lower priority than that of making all school education free and should be considered only after tuition fees have been abolished in secondary schools. At present, when higher education is mostly being availed of by the top five per cent of the population, a policy of levying fees combined with that of liberal provision of free-studentships to all the needy and deserving students would prove to be better than that of general abolition of fees. We, therefore, recommend that, for the next ten years, the main effort with regard to fees in higher secondary and university education should be to expand the provision of tuition-free education to cover all the needy and deserving students. To begin with, the proportion of free-studentships should be increased to at least 30 per cent of the total enrolment.52 We also commend, for general acceptance, policies which have been adopted in some areas to provide tuition-free higher education to underprivileged groups, e.g., provision of free-studentships to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, girls, or children of persons whose income is below a prescribed level. This will be adequate to meet the social demand from the underprivileged sections of society that are now in secondary schools and are quickly moving up to seek admission to institutions of higher education. The problem may be reviewed again after ten years.
6.16 Other Private Costs. The private costs of education required for textbooks, supplies, co-curricular activities, etc., have increased very substantially in recent years and amount not infrequently, to several times the tuition fees. in fact, the greater financial burden that creates the non-egalitarian trends today is not so much tuition-fees
52 At present, the proportion of free-studentships to total enrolment in institutions of higher education is very small 14.6 per cent of students get tuition-free education in universities, 15.1 per cent in colleges of general education, 12.1 per cent in colleges of professional education, and 47.6 per cent in colleges of special education (1960-61 figures).
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