The following were the main recommendations of the Commission:

1. New Organization pattern.-(i) Secondary education should commence after four or five years period of primary or junior basic education and should include (a) the middle or senior basic secondary stage of 3 years, and (b) the

17 Ibid., P. 16; see also Mukerji, op. cit., P. 249. 18 See The Report of Secondary Education Commission, op. cit., p. 16

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higher secondary stage of 4 years; (ii) The present intermediate stage should be replaced by the higher secondary stage which should be of four years' duration, one year of the present intermediate being included in it; (iii) As a consequence of the preceding recommendations, the first degree course in the university should be of three years' duration; (iv) For those. who pass out of the High School, there should be provision of a pre-University course of one year; (v) Admission to professional colleges should be open to those who have completed the higher secondary course, or have taken the pre-University course; (vi) Multi-purpose schools should be established wherever possible to provide varied courses of interest to students with diverse aims, aptitudes and abilities.

2. Technical Education.-Technical schools should be started in large number either separately or as part of multi-purpose schools. Such schools should be located in close proximity to appropriate industries and they should function in close cooperation with the industry concerned.

3. Study of Languages-(i) The mother-tongue or the regional language should generally be the medium of instruction throughout the secondary school stage, (ii) During the middle school stage, every child should be taught at least two languages. English and Hindi should be introduced at the end of the junior basic stage, subject to the principle that no two languages be introduced in the same year. (iii) At the high and higher secondary stage, at least two languages should be studied, one of them being the mothertongue or the regional language.

4. Curriculum.-(i) At the middle School state, the curriculum should include, (a) languages, (b) social studies, (c) general science, (d) mathematics, (e) art and music, (f) craft and (g) physical education. (ii) In the second year of high school or higher secondary stage, diversified courses' of instruction should be provided. They- should include following seven groups: (a) humanities, (b) sciences, (c) technical subjects, (d) commercial subjects, (e) agricultural subjects, (f) fine arts and (g) home science. (iii) A certain number of core subjects should be common to all

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students whatever diversified course of study they may take. These should consist of (a) languages, (b) general science, (c) social studies and (d) a craft.

5. Miscellaneous.-(i) Educational guidance should receive much greater attention on the part of educational authorities; the services of trained guidance officers and career masters should be made available gradually and in increasing measure to all educational institutions. (ii) The number of external examinations and subjectivity in the essay-type tests should be minimised by introducing objective tests and also by changing the type of questions.

The Commission's recommendations were integrated in the succes- sive five-year plans and began to be implemented, both at the Centre and in the States, in 1954. *19

The National Committee on Women's Education, 1958

The problems of education of girls and women in the country, acquired a new significance since the attainment of Independence. The Educational Panel of the Planning Commission, in July 1957, re- commended that "a suitable Committee should be appointed to go into the various aspects of the question relating to the nature of education for girls at the elementary, secondary and adult stages and to examine whether the present system was helping them to lead a happier and more useful life". The Conference of the State Education Ministers in 1957 also agreed that a special committee should be appointed to examine the whole question of women's education *20.

The National Committee on Women's Education was accordingly set up by the Government in May 1958, with Shrimati Durgabai Deshmukh as Chairman. The Committee, in its report published in 1959, recommended that the highest priority should be given to establishing a parity between the education of boys and girls and a bold and determined effort should be made by the Centre and the States to face the difficulties and magnitude of the problem. It recommended co- education upto the middle school stage but separate institutions for girls at the high school stage where more diversified curriculum suited to girls should be introduced. The Committee desired ample provision for school mothers, creches, training of women teachers and employment facilities for adult women. It also

20 Report of the National Committee on Womens Education May 1958- January, 1959, P. I.

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desired that suitable atmosphere should be created for greater enrolment girls, for greater efforts by voluntary organisations, more provision for scholarships for girls at all stages and particularly at university stage *21.

Some of the important recommendations of the Committee are below:

1. The education of women should be regarded as a major and special problem in education for a good many years to come, and that a bold and determinate effort should be made to face its difficulties;

2. Steps should be taken to constitute as early as possible a National Council for the Education of Girls and Women;

3. A separate unit for Women's Education, under a Educational Adviser, should be set up at the Centre;

4. In each State, a women should be appointed as Joint Director and placed in charge of education. of girls;

5. Lady teachers should be appointed in all schools where there are no women;

6. There should be identical curricula for boys and girls at the primary stage. At the secondary stage, there is need for differentiation of the courses;

7. Vocational training courses with 'Primary' as basic qualification may be conducted in school during the day, along side general education. Courses with 'Middle' and 'Secondary as basic qualifications may be organised in vocational sections of middle and secondary schools, in multipurpose schools, in separate vocational schools, in apprenticeship classes, in training centres, in workshops and/or in continuation schools.

8. Educational facilities for adult women in the form of condensed courses (i) that prepare women for the middle

21 Ibid., pp. 196-225.

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school examination, and (ii) those that prepare them for the high school or higher secondary examination should be provided more extensively in all States; and

9. Part-time employment of women teachers should be encouraged as largely as possible in order to enable women to manage their responsibilities at home as well as to do some teaching work.

On the recommendations of the Committee, the Government of India has set up a National Council for Women's Education at the Centre *22.

22 See also Mukherji. op. cit., pp. 251-52

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