Evaluation of the programmes of the centres of advanced study led the administrators to expand this project. The Programme of Action of the National Policy on Education (NPE) (1986) suggested that the programme of centres of advanced study and university departments receiving special assistance be further expanded and more funds provided for them. In pursuance of this recommendation, some more departments of education in a few more universities received support for research and training in specific areas. Mention may particularly be made of the departments of education of Himachal Pradesh University, Kurukshetra University, Kerala University, South Gujarat University, and ND University-Poona Campus.
The University Grants Commission is specially concerned with promoting interdisciplinary research. To achieve this, the commission set up a unit on Sociology of Education at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay, and a unit on Economics of Education at the School of Economics of the Bombay University. The department of psychology of the Allahabad University got a unit on Social Psychology of Education and the department of psychology of the Utkal University was recognized as the Centre of Advanced Study in Psychology, with a major thrust towards educational psychology. These institutional expansions were further supported by research programmes related to education in research institutes sponsored by the ICSSR. Among these were the Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore; the Madras Institute of Development Studies; the Centre of Social Studies, Surat; the, Sardar Patel Institute for Economic and Social Research, Ahmedabad; and the A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna. A large number of studies related to education have been undertaken by these institutes. There are other institutes started by the government or voluntary bodies which occasionally undertake research in a specific area of education. Some of these are the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, Indian Space Research Organization, Tribal Research Institutes in various states, Gujarat Research Society at Bombay, and all the State Councils of Educational Research and Training, and State Textbook Boards.
The country has thus been able to build up a fairly good network of institutional infrastructure for undertaking research in education. The existence of this infrastructure, however, does not necessarily imply educational research of considerable quality or quantity. Some of the institutes are dormant and, in absence of expertise to undertake research, they have diverted their funds and energy to training and extension work of doubtful validity. Despite this criticism, it has to be accepted that, in such a large country, a stable base exists for planning and undertaking educational research. It is now possible to undertake large-scale experimentation in education which could not be thought of in the sixties.
The existence of voluntary, research, institutes has provided the needed flexibility for trying out innovative practices. The most outstanding example is the innovative science programme of Hoshangabad-clearly the outcome of the activities of a voluntary institution. The countrywide evaluation of the National Adult Educa- tion Programme was made possible because of these voluntary institutes. For nationwide collaborative research to be undertaken, excellent infrastructural facilities now exist. The need is for preparing educational research leaders through rigorous training. These leaders should not only he sound in research methodology but they should also have insight to perceive the educational problems in the country and provide leadership for research which would bring about needed reforms in the national education system. This is a challenge to leaders of educational research in the country.
ROMOTION OF RESEARCH THROUGH FINANCIAL SUPPORT The Government of India was very much aware that
6 M.B. BUCH
improvement of the educational system was possible only through the application of research findings. As a result, during the First Five Year Plan, the Ministry of Education initiated programmes to make teachers of colleges of education and university departments of ed- ucation research-minded. Scheme 1-A was introduced, under which financial assistance was provided to approved research projects. It was continued during the Second Five Year Plan under the title, Scheme 2-B and also into the Third Five Year Plan, during which its function was taken over by the newly established NCERT in 1961. An effective strategy adopted by the Ministry of Education to create a research climate and develop research expertise was to organize national seminars on promotion of research in education. After 1961, the scheme was operated by the NCERT under the title, `Grant in Aid to Approved Research Projects'. At present, financial assistance is provided to institutions by the NCERT through the Educational Research and Innovation Committee (ERIC) which fixes priority areas for research and provides grants to approved projects. The researches financed by the NCERT are in the area of school education. ERIC used previously to screen the research proposals of various departments of the NCERT also, but this has since been given up. Apart from financial assistance to approved research projects, ERIC initiates centrally sponsored projects and assigns them to known research workers or well-established institutions. The NCERT also supports individual research scholars by awarding research fellowships. It ex- tends financial assistance for publication of research reports, including Ph.D. theses. Thus the NCERT promotes research at two levels. Within the NCERT research is undertaken by its departments, regional colleges and even field officers; outside the organization, the NCERT finances approved research projects. Table 1.1 presents information on the number of research projects undertaken or supported by the NCERT.
The UGC is the biggest supporter of educational research in the universities. Really outstanding departments are recognized as centres of advanced studies. The UGC gives research fellowships to eligible scholars, provides grants to departments and scholars and supports publication of scholarly research. The publication of A Survey of Research in Education was partly supported by the UGC.
The Indian Council of Social Science Research is another national organization which supports social science research, including educational research of an
Table 1.1
DEPARTMENTAL RESEARCH AND PROJECTS FINANCED BY NCERT
Departmental Research Total
Research Financed
Period by NCERT
1961-65 10 16 26
1966-70 53 39 92
1971-75 40 38 78
1976-80 19 38 57
1981-85 56 59 115
1986-88 (March) 11 7 18
Total 189 197 386
interdisciplinary nature. During the last 25 years, there has been a rapid growth of research and training organizations in the area of the social sciences and humanities. At present, there are close to 200 research institutions, 90 per cent of which are supported by gov- ernment. The Indian Council of Social Science Research, the Indian Council of Historical Research and Indian Council of Philosophical Research have supported research studies which have educational implications.
The ICSSR has set up twenty research institutions in partnership with state governments where considerable research competence has been developed. It has a scheme of financing approved research projects in other institutes and in universities also. It did pioneering work in initiating surveys of research in social sciences and undertook a nation-wide study of the problems of education of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The main thrust of the council is to support collaborative research in interdisciplinary contexts. It provides grants for publishing good research reports and theses in the social sciences.
Apart from national organizations financing research, there are also a few international organizations that extend financial assistance to research projects of national and social significance in India. The UNESCO, UNICEF, Ford Foundation, and Netherlands Foundation are among the international bodies known to have supported national-level, large-scale
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN INDIA 7
search projects.
It is evident from this review that there are in India a number of agencies to encourage and finance educational research. The same, however, cannot be said about training of research leaders though efforts have been made by the UGC, NCERT and ICSSR to do so. The NCERT used to have a regular programme of summer institutes in research methodology; the UGC supported such programmes; and the ICSSR had a well-planned programme of orienting young researchers. However, something more needs to be done about developing research leadership in education. Moreover, what is further lacking is a well-knit programme of monitoring and evaluating research activity. What is needed today is not proliferation of institutions but planned ac- tivities that would give greater stability and continuity to the progress of educational research and subject it to quality control.
QUANTITATIVE GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Educational research began in this country when the Bombay University awarded a Ph.D. degree in education to Dr D.V. Chickermane in 1943 for his research entitled `Factor Analysis of Arithmetical Ability'. Be- tween 1943 and 1988, over this period of 45 years, there has been an explosive growth of educational research all over the country. It has been particularly impressive after 1960 and the decade 1971-80 saw the maximum number of Ph.Ds. emerge from the education departments of Indian universities. The main reasons for this stupendous growth during 1971-80 are the increase in number of universities offering facilities for educational research, the Centre of Advanced Study in Education attaining critical mass and turning out a steady output of doctoral scholars, the UGC's drive in supporting and encouraging research in all disciplines through the institution of research fellowships and teacher fellowships, the NCERT staff getting involved in guiding Ph.D. research and the ICSSR supporting interdisciplinary research in education in other social sciences departments. In all, by March 1988, 4703 research studies in education have been identified. These include Ph.D. theses completed in education departments, Ph.D. theses on educational problems completed in other disciplines, and non-degree-project research in universities and research institutes all over India. The growth of these three categories of research during the last 45 years and their contribution to the total research output provides interesting data for researchers.
Doctoral Degree Research in Education The decade-wise distribution of Ph.D. theses in education is given in Table 1.2.
Table 1.2
DECADE-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF Ph.D. THESES IN EDUCATION
Years Number
1941-50 10
1951-60 62
1961-70 216
1971-80 887
1981-88 1097
Total 2272
The first survey, A Survey of Research in Education, reported that there were 342 Ph. D. theses in education by 1973. In 1983, when the Third Survey of Research in Education was completed (published in 1986), there were 1423 Ph.D. studies in education de- partments. Now, by March 1988, the number has risen to 2282. As can be seen from the table, there has been a sudden spurt in the number since 1971. This trend is likely to continue as, in 1987-88, more departments of education have received special assistance for educa- tional research and the NIEPA has also instituted a scheme of providing financial assistance to approved research projects.
There are certain universities which have produced a sizeable number of Ph.Ds. in education, The M.S. University of Baroda continues to occupy the position of leadership in educational research and innovations in education. Other universities that have made a sig- nificant contribution to educational research are Bombay, Punjab, Sardar Patel (Vallabh Vidyanagar), Kera-
8 M.B. BUCH
la and Kurukshetra universities. The number of Ph.D. theses in education awarded by the top ten universities is given in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3
TOP TEN UNIVERSITIES WITH RESPECT TO NUMBER OF PH. D. THESES IN
EDUCATION AS ON 31 MARCH, 1988
University No. of Ph.D.s
in Education
Agra University 42
Bombay University 145
Delhi University 70
Gorakhpur University 56
Kerala University 66
Kurukshetra University 80
M.S. University, Baroda 271
Panjab University 193
Patna University 43
Sardar Patel University 121
Total 997
It may be observed that these ten universities have together awarded 997 Ph. Ds. in education. This constitutes about 22 per cent of the total number of Ph. Ds. in education produced in the country. There are quite a few reasons for some of these universities occupying the present leadership position. The availability of facilities for research guidance, residential facilities for research scholars, good, motivating-research climate, location of the university, the feeder institutions and the status of the research guides among the educationists in the country, are some of them.
It is suggested that all these factors operate simultaneously in all the universities. Bombay University which awarded the first Ph.D. degree in education and which occupies a leading position in guiding educational research scholars did not have an education department till 1970. Yet the existence of a number of well-established colleges of education and research institutes like the HE and the Gujarat Research Society motivated scholars to develop educational research in Bombay University.
A question is often raised about departments of education selecting specific areas in education and concentrating their energy, efforts and resources on studying only these selected aspects of education. In other words, a department may be known as specializing in curriculum research or research in science education or studies in school management. A casual study of the research output of the departments of education of various universities was not adequate to justify conclusive comments on this important issue. It was therefore decided to undertake an exercise in studying the dynamics of a research centre in a university in the context of educational research. The resulting profile would throw light on the factors promoting the research programme of the centre, the quantitative growth of educational research at Ph.D. level, the content of the problems selected for study and the factors contributing to building up the research climate in the department. The Centre of Advanced Study in Education (CASE) of the M.S. University of Baroda which turned out 271 Ph.Ds. in education during the period 1955 to 1987, excluding project research and also Ph.Ds. on educational problems from other disciplines/departments, was selected for such a study.
The Centre of Advanced Study in Education The purpose of this study is not to evaluate the centre but to identify factors which help in building a learning climate in a research institute. The perceptions of teachers at CASE-both existing and those who have shifted to other institutions-and of research scholars who developed their research acumen at CASE, and introspec- tion by the author, helped to identify these factors. Some CASE alumni have put down their perceptions on paper, from which the following conclusions are drawn.
1. The Centre of Advanced Study in Education was the erstwhile Department of Education of the M.S. University of Baroda, upgraded to the status of a centre of advanced study by the UGC in 1963. It was envisaged that CASE, in addition to performing its traditional roles as a university department, would provide leadership for conceptual as well as method logical Advancement in the field of educational
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN INDIA 9
research and develop itself into an institute of academic excellence at par with international standards. The mainstay of CASE has been a strong doctoral research programme supported by institutional research. The doctoral output of CASE is given in Table 1.4. It is evident from the table that there was a sudden spurt in research activities in 1971. The upward trend got reversed after 1980 and there was a slow and steady decline in the eighties. It is actually during the late seventies that the process of deceleration appears to have started.
Again the table shows substantial amount of research in four areas of research priority. These had been identified and teams of researchers had worked in these areas. The total amount of research in the selected thrust areas constituted about 38 per cent of the total research in CASE.
2. There is a major change in the output pattern of doctoral researches from 1971 onwards. The results obtained in 1971 and onwards are essentially of the research projects initiated some time in 1968-69. A major change was initiated in CASE in 1969 when a new leadership was inducted, the recruitment pattern of scholars and teachers radically changed, and programmatic research on identified thrust areas initiated.