tries. The earlier researches of Paul Mort and his colleagues at Columbia University seemed to show that a period of 25 to 40 years was necessary in the United States for anything like full diffusion of a new practice, but the rapid spread of such innovations as the PSSC *95 Physics course (which started in 1957, and is now taken by about fifty per cent of the high school pupils studying physics in the United States) has shown that, under certain conditions, the period can be greatly reduced. This experience and some others of its type seem to indicate that the educational. administrator can encourage and hasten the diffusion of new teaching practices in a number of ways, the more important of which are indicated below:

(1) Almost all the factors which render the system elastic enough for the outstanding teacher to break new ground will also make it easier for the mass of average teachers to follow his example. However, mere permissiveness on the part of the authorities will not do the trick. They will need to play a more active part, with something that comes nearer to persuasion than to pressure but which still leaves no doubt in the teachers' minds that the Education Department and its officers favour certain changes. But it must be done with sensitivity and moderation, or the teachers will come to regard the new methods as the Department's latest fad, and may try to apply them, with or without understanding, to the detriment of the normal work.

(2) The main body of teachers will accept new methods more readily if the immediate goals set before them are limited ones. This means that the methods devised by the brilliant teacher or the subject specialist may have to be approached by stages, and that the stage demanded of each group of teachers may vary with their ability.

(3) The usual devices for in-service training such as refresher courses, workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions of work, and visits of quite long duration (days, not hours) to see the new methods at work in pioneering schools should be adopted on a large scale. Used with discrimination and skill, films, tapes or radio can bring whole lessons to quite isolated schools, though not so much for their effect on the pupils as for their usefulness in providing a model of good teaching for the teachers.

(4) Itinerant instructors, specialized in certain subjects and class-levels of techniques, and working under the general direction of the District Education Officer, are even more vital at the stage of diffusing new methods than at the earlier stage of the first experiments.

95* Physical Science Study Committee.

10

404 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 9.10

(5) Probably the quickest and most effective way of having new theories accepted is to embed them in the 'tools' of teaching-textbooks, teachers' guides, and teaching aids of all kinds. Some teaching of theory will, of course, still be essential. But it will spring from proposed practices instead of floating airily above them. The extent of the theory and the degree of detail with which the practices are set out will vary with the level of general education of the teachers. In the initial stages of development and with weaker schools, it might be necessary for teachers' guides to go into a fair amount of detail on the series of lessons to be arranged throughout the school years, the methods to be used, the teaching aids to be prepared, the activities to be encouraged, and the tests and techniques of evaluation to be employed.

9.10 The technique referred to in the preceding paragraph may be described as the laying down of 'tramlines' on which the average teacher can move forward with confidence in his teaching. This method is different from the traditional practice wider which the teacher is given lectures on general principles and is then expected to apply them with no more aid than is given by a mediocre textbook that often clashes with the very principles that are being advocated. It is, ofcourse, the administrator's responsibility to ensure that, while providing 'tramlines' for the mass of the teachers, there is still enough freedom left for the bold few to travel more freely. But with this precaution, there is no doubt that these 'tramlines' of progress are the techniques that will be particularly effective for diffusing new methods.

9.11 It is obvious that this laying down of tramlines is not a `once and for all time' business-it requires continuous renewal. When an administrator lays down a set of tramlines with immense effort (it takes some years to do so), he generally finds that his 'progressive' tramlines have become a new 'orthodoxy' and that he will have to start laying them down once again and that there will be the same old resistance for breaking away from the earlier tramlines. But that is an inevitable and perennial problem that every educational reformer must face. The provisions made to enable the outstanding teachers to leave the tramlines will help the rest also to leave them in course of nine, while the more adventurous teachers will go still further ahead to fresh fields and pastures new.

9.12 It will be seen that the essence of our recommendation is that only an elastic and dynamic system of education can provide the needed conditions to encourage initiative, experimentation and crea- tivity among teachers and thereby Lay the foundations of educational progress. We firmly believe that the risks of freedom and trust in

9.14 TEACHING METHODS, GUIDANCE AND EVALUATION 405

teachers that are implied in this approach are not greater than those of undue restriction and distrust and they are more worth taking. We should learn to delegate authority, to trust our teachers, to encourage the capacity for leadership amongst them, to treat every institution as having a personality of its own which it should try to develop in an atmosphere of freedom. This would need dynamic leadership at all levels, determined to give education a new deal and to make every teacher, educational officer and administrator put in the best of himself in this great cooperative endeavour.

TEXTBOOKS, TEACHERS' GUIDES AND TEACHING MATERIALS

9.13 The value of the textbook as an effective tool of learning and of diffusion of improved teaching methods has been indicated in the preceding section. A good textbook, written by a qualified and competent specialist in the subject, and produced with due regard to quality of printing, illustrations and general get-up, stimulates the pupil's interest and helps the teacher considerably in his work. The provision of quality textbooks, and other teaching and learning mate- rials, can thus be an effective programme for raising standards. The need to emphasize it is all the greater because it requires only a relatively small investment of resources. Moreover, a quality book need not cost appreciably more than the one that is indifferently produced.

9.14 Quality of Textbooks. Unfortunately, textbook writing and production have not received the attention they deserve. In most school subjects, there is a proliferation of low quality, sub-standard and badly produced books, particularly in the regional languages. This has been due to a number of factors among which mention may be made of

- the lack of interest shown by top-ranking scholars so that the writing of textbooks has been generally undertaken by persons whose abilities are far from equal to the task;

- the malpractices in the selection and prescription of textbooks which defy control;

- the unscrupulous tactics adopted by several publishers;

- the lack of research in the preparation and production of textbooks; and

- the almost total disregard by private publishers (who are interested only in profits) of the need to bring out ancillary books, such as teachers' guides to accompany textbooks.

406 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 9.15

9.15 State Production of Textbooks. As education began to spread, the textbook industry became one of the very profitable fields for investment and the evils of the type mentioned above became more and more conspicuous. The attention of State Governments was soon drawn to them and it was decided that, in order to eliminate them, the State Governments should take over the production of textbooks. At present, most State Governments have adopted this policy and taken over the production of textbooks. The extent to which this responsi- bility has been assumed shows considerable variations-some States have produced only a few books at the primary stage while others have produced all books till the end of the secondary stage. In one or two States, not only production but even distribution and sale of textbooks have been taken over by the State.

9.16 There have been some definite gains from this policy. Private profiteering has disappeared and prices have been kept low. The malpractices and intrigues which used to be so common a feature of what used to be called the 'textbook racket' have also disappeared. The quality of books has improved in several instances, although the general level of the books still remains poor and their standard does not often come up to that some of the well-established and efficient publishers. The main reason for this failure is that the Education Departments which have taken over the responsibility of textbook production have not adequately organized themselves for it. It is this weakness that is largely responsible for the shortcomings one often sees in the State-produced textbooks, viz., failure to revise books for long periods, misprints, poor production, failure to supply books in time, etc. We do not desire to underestimate these deficiencies. What we want to highlight are two points: the first is that these weaknesses do not lead to the conclusion, as some interested parties are ever eager to show, that State-production of textbooks is wrong; and the second is to emphasize the urgency for the Education Departments to organize themselves properly for this great educational responsibility they have undertaken.

9.17 State-production of textbooks, it must be noted, is only one step in the direction of improving the quality of textbooks. But by itself, it can achieve little and if adequate steps are not taken in time to organize the activity on right lines, it may even put the clock back. We, therefore, recommend that emphasis should be placed on developing the programme of textbook production on right lines. Some concrete suggestions from this point of view are made in the paragraphs that follow.

9.18 Programme at the National Level. It is essential that the best talent

9.19 TEACHING METHODS, GUIDANCE AND EVALUATION 407

available in the country should be brought together to produce the textbooks and other literature needed, both at the school and at the university stages. This can only be done at the national level by agencies set up by the Government of India.

(1) For the university stage, the Ministry of Education is bringing out a series of low-priced and subsidized books in collaboration with appropriate authorities in the USA, the USSR and the UK. This is a useful scheme and its significance has now become even greater. It should be expanded and vigorously developed, along with schemes for books written by Indian authors. We lay great emphasis on the latter schemes. We recommend that as a matter of national policy, nearly all books at the undergraduate stage, including those for professional subjects, should be written by Indian authors. In the preparation of these books, fullest use should, of course, be made of foreign sources. This goal should be capable of realization within 5 to 10 years.

(2) At the school stage, we welcome the steps taken by the NCERT to produce textbooks with the help of scholars available in the country. Some books have already come out; and more will come out soon. These books are meant for use by State Governments who can use them with or without changes. We hope that the State Governments will make full use of this pioneer venture to improve the quality of their books.

(3) The production of textbooks and allied materials at the national level will be greatly facilitated if the Government of India were to establish, in the public sector, an autonomous organization, functioning on commercial lines, for the production of textbooks. We have recommended the establishment of similar organizations at the State level also. But there will be a large number of books, especially in the scientific and technical sector, which can only be produced on a national basis. It would also be desirable to produce several other categories of books at the national level, either for reducing cost or for improving quality or for purposes of national integration. We, therefore, feel that an organization of this type at the national level is urgently needed. We recommend that the Ministry of Education should set up a small committee to work out the details of this project and take all the necessary steps to bring it into existence as early as possible.

9.19 Textbooks produced at the national level will have other advantages as well. One of our major recommendations *96 is that we should make an attempt to evolve national standards at the end of the primary, lower secondary and the higher secondary stages. The defini- tion of these standards as well as the organization of a programme for

96* Chapter X.

408 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 9.20

their practical implementation will be greatly facilitated by the pro- duction. of textbooks at the national level. Such books can indicate the expected standard of attainment far more precisely than any curri- cula or syllabi; and their practical use in schools is the surest method to raise standards and make the teaching in schools in the different parts of the country fairly comparable. In a subject like mathematics or science, for instance, there is not much scope for local variations and the adoption of common textbooks in all parts of the country is not only feasible, but also desirable from several points of view. The same can be said about a common textbook in citizenship prepared from the point of view of national integration and used in all schools of the country. History is another difficult subject to teach, especially from the point of view of social and national integration; and authoritative well-written books on the subject can be of immense help to all teachers. At present, there is hardly any common book which all the students in India read; and that is one of the reasons why our educational system contributes so little to national integration. On the other hand, if we had, say, a set of 100 books on different topics written by the best of our scholars which would be translated and be available in every school and if an average student were expected to read them in his school course as a matter of routine, the entire thinking of the rising generation would be different and national integration could be immensely strengthened.

9.20 Programme at the State Level. While attempts to improve textbooks at the national level are thus welcome, they cannot be the sole attempts for this crucial reform. Their most effective service is to stimulate other centres into activity and especially to promote similar enterprise at State levels. We recommend that each State should organize an adequately manned expert section for the production of textbooks for schools. They should make as much use of the work done at the national level as possible. But there is no escape from the fact that each State will have to produce several textbooks in areas where national books will not be available. Even in areas where national books are available, independent attempts by the States will stimulate each other and the Centre itself. We call hope for the best results only when the national and all the State centres for textbook production are functioning actively and in close collaboration.

9.21 The following points should be kept in view by the State Education Departments in organizing their programmes of textbook production:

(1) A separate agency, preferably functioning on an autonomous and commercial basis, should be set up, in close liaison with the

9.21 TEACHING METHODS, GUIDANCE AND EVALUATION 409

Education Department for the production of textbooks and teaching aids. would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to have within four walls of usual departmental procedures, the autonomy freedom which such an undertaking essentially needs.