 APPRAISAL OF THE EXISTING SITUATION

HISTORICAL SURVEY

Origin of the Present System

In order to present clearly the background of the present system of Secondary Education and to show how it has developed its various characteristic features, it seems necessary to pass in quick review the various Government Resolutions as well as the reports and recommendations of the different Committees and Commissions which have studied this problem directly or indirectly. This will also enable us to understand on what lines the problem of the reorganisation of Secondary Education has been envisaged by educationists during the last fifty years.

The origin of the system of education which is prevalent today can be traced to the beginning of the nineteenth century when the Government of the day had surveys made of the then prevalent systems of education with a view to reorganising education to suit the needs of the times.- Consequent on Macaulay's minute regarding the edu- cational policy of the future, Lord William Bentinck's Government issued a communique wherein it was stated "that the great object of the British Government ought to be the promotion of European Lite- rature and Science among the natives of India. and that all the funds appropriated for the purpose of education would be best employed on English education alone". The Resolution also stated that provision should be made for the continuance of schools and colleges where indigenous learning was being imparted.

Important changes in the type of education to be imparted to the youth of the country were introduced in the first half of the 18th century. The minute of Lord Macaulay and subsequent resolutions passed by the Government (in 1835) led to the establishment of schools teaching European literature and science. These schools became imme- diately popular because of the great interest shown in English education by some of the educated Indians and more particularly by leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and others.

The education imparted in these schools became a passport for entrance into Government services. This was mainly due to the Proc- lamation issued by Lord Hardinge in 1844 that for service in public offices preference should be given to those who were educated in English schools. In consequence thereof education was imparted with the limited object of preparing pupils to join the service and not for life. In the new High Schools the standard of achievement in literary

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subjects was from the very beginning high but little or no progress was made in training the pupils in the practical side of science. We may, therefore, conclude that some of the defects persisting today owe their origin to the policy pursued in the past.

The Despatch of 1854

By 1853 a number of problems had arisen which required immediate solution. As a result of an enquiry made, a. despatch (known as 'Wood's Despatch') was issued in 1854 reviewing the development of education to date, and proposing certain new schemes for adoption. Among these the following may be mentioned : Departments of Public Instruction under an important officer to be called the Director of Public Instruction were to be created; a scheme to establish Univer- sities was to be formulated, whose functions were to hold examinations and confer degrees. It is interesting to note that the despatch recommended that a number of high schools should be set up. The despatch observed: "Our attention should now be directed to a consideration, if possible still more important and one which has been hitherto, we are bound to admit, too much neglected, namely, how useful and practical knowledge suited to every station of life, may be best conveyed to the great mass of the people who are utterly incapable of obtaining any education worthy of the name by their unaided efforts; and we desire to see the active measures of Government more especially directed for the future to this object, for the attainment of which we are ready to sanction a considerable increase of expenditure".

The establishment of Universities in the year 1857 had far-reach- ing consequences especially on the content, range and scope of Secon- dary Education. The Universities dominated secondary schools in every respect. Secondary Education instead of being a self-sufficient course preparing students to enter life after completing the course became merely a step towards the Universities and University colleges with the result that schools could not function with an independent programme of their own.

Certain specific defects grew out of the system of secondary edu- cation in vogue during the years 1854-1882: the mother-tongue was completely neglected as a medium of instruction; nothing was done to train teachers for the secondary schools; and the course of study became too academic and unrelated to life mainly because there was no provision for vocational or technical courses. One further defect that had now taken concrete shape was that the Matriculation Examination began to dominate not only secondary education but even the education imparted in primary schools.

The Hunter Commission of 1882

In 1882 an education commission, known as the Hunter Commission, was appointed by the Government to report on the whole question of education in the country. The following instructions regarding Secondary education were given: "The Commission was

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directed to enquire into the quality and character of the instructions Imparted in schools of this class. The great majority of those who prosecute beyond the primary stage will never go beyond the curriculum of the middle, or at farthest of the high schools. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the education they received should be as thorough and sound as possible. There are grounds for doubting whether there is 'not, in some provinces at any rate, much room for improvement in this respect."

Since it was very costly for the Government to maintain secondary schools it was thought that the Government should take over the entire responsibility of primary education, leaving secondary education to private enterprise. The Commission recommended that "Secondary Education as far as possible, be provided on the grant-in-aid basis and that the Government should withdraw as early as possible from the direct management of Secondary Schools".

The report of the Hunter Commission of 1882 is a valuable document which not only gave an excellent survey of the position of secondary schools at that time, but made certain fundamental recom- mendations concerning the type of education to be given at this stage. It anticipated what has, come to be recognised later as diversified courses of instruction in the secondary stage of education. With regard to vocational and technical education, the commission recommended that in a particular class of high schools there should be two avenues, one leading to the entrance examination of the University and the other of a more practical character intended to fit the youth for commercial, vocational or non-literary pursuits. In spite of such specific recommendations, neither the public nor the Government seem to have appreciated the value of the suggestions, with the result that the recommendations were practically ignored.

During the period 1882-1902 there was a considerable expansion in the field of secondary education. It was due partly to the enthusiasm of private enterprise and partly to the system of grant-in-aid. This unwieldy expansion without proper consolidation led to certain obvious defects.

The University Commission of 1902

In 1902 a University Commission was appointed, the main purpose of which however, was to review the position of the Universities regarding the higher grades of examination. As a result of the re- commendations of this Commission secondary education came to be even more under the domination of the Universities, under the Indian Universities Act of 1904, schools had to be recognised by the Univer- sities, and rules and regulations were framed for this purpose.

Boards of Secondary Education

The feeling that the Universities were dominating secondary edu- cation and that an attempt should be made to see that secondary

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education was conducted independently of the Universities, led to the creation, in certain States, of Boards of Secondary Education which were responsible for laying down syllabus and for conducting examina- tions at the school final stage. The Secondary School-Leaving Certi- ficate was expected to furnish full information as to the progress of the pupil during the whole period of the school course as well as in the Public Examination conducted at the end of that course. On the basis of these records it was left to employers and to principals of University colleges to entertain them in service or to admit them to college for such courses of study as in the opinion of the Principals concerned the pupils were best fitted.

The Calcutta University Commission of 1917

The next important stage was the appointment of the Calcutta University Commission in 1917 under the Chairmanship of the late Sir Michael Sadler. This Commission went into the question of secondary education and held the view that the improvement of secondary education was essential for the improvement of University education. The Commission made certain important recommendations among which were the following:

1. The dividing line between the University and Secondary courses is more properly to be drawn at the Intermediate examination than at the Matriculation.

2. Government should, therefore, create a new type of institutions called the intermediate colleges which would provide for instruction in Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Teaching etc.; these colleges. might either be run as independent institutions or might be attached to selected high schools.

3. The admission test for Universities should be the passing of the intermediate Examination.

4. A Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education consisting of the representatives of Government, University, High Schools and Intermediate colleges to be established and entrusted with the administration and control of Secondary Education."

Though the Sadler Commission was appointed to enquire into the conditions of the Calcutta University and to make recommendations, the report was so comprehensive. that many of the Universities in India began to implement the suggestions contained therein. For the first time a Commission had recommended the attachment of Intermediate classes to the high schools and the setting up of a Board of Education to control High School and Intermediate Education.

During the subsequent period there was a great expansion of secondary education and the number of secondary schools began to increase both in rural and urban areas largely owing to the interest evinced by the public and generous donations of individuals and institutions.

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But problems relating to the training of teachers, their salaries, and conditions of service were left unsolved. The unprecedented expansion of the academic type of secondary schools resulted in a failure to provide for technical schools or for bifurcated courses of studies in high schools.

The Hartog Committee

In 1929, as auxiliary to the Indian Statutory Commission, a Com- mittee was appointed known as the Hartog Committee, to review the position of education in the country. In the opinion of this Com- mittee, the Matriculation of the University still dominated the whole of the secondary course. In' order to obviate this defect, the Com- mittee recommended that a large number of pupils intending to follow certain avocations should stop at the middle school stage. There should be "more diversified curricula in the schools". The Committee also recommended "diversion of more boys to industrial and commercial careers at the end of the middle, stage, preparatory to special instruction in technical and industrial schools." It is interesting to note that the Committee reviewed the position of the training of tea- chers and the service conditions of secondary teachers and remarked "that enough cannot be done in the short space of nine months which is all that is usually available, to uproot the old methods of teaching to which many of the students are accustomed." The best pupils were not attracted to the teaching profession, the Committee held, because the best type of men cannot be attracted to the profession so long as the general conditions remain unsatisfactory and "only too frequently the teachers have no heart in their work", and "in no province is the pay of the teacher sufficient to give him the status which his work demands".

The Sapru Committee

The Sapru Committee appointed in 1934 by the U.P. Government which enquired into the causes of unemployment in Uttar Pradesh (United Provinces) came to the conclusion that much of the unrest was. primarily due to mass unemployment and that the system of education commonly prevalent prepared pupils only for examinations and degrees and not for an avocation in life. "In a situation like that", the Committee remarked, "the real remedy is to provide diversified courses of study at the secondary stage and to make that stage more practical and complete in itself and more closely related to the vocational re- quirements of different types of students. At the secondary stage, side by side with the general course leading to the University, there should be parallel courses offering instruction in technical, commercial, industrial and other vocational subjects".

The main suggestions made by the Committee were that-

(1) Diversified courses at the secondary stage should be introduced, one of these courses leading to the University degree

(2) The Intermediate stage be abolished and the Secondary stage be extended by one year; the secondary stage to consist of six years to be divided into two, the higher and lower, each covering a period of three years, the whole course thus covering 11 years, 5 for the primary and six for the secondary ; the general course to be of 8 years i.e. up to the lower secondary course ;

(3) Vocational training and education should begin after the lower secondary stage;

(4) The Degree course at the University should extend over a period of three years.

The Abbot-Wood Report

In 1936-37, two expert advisers, Messrs. Abbot and Wood were invited to advise the Government "on certain problems of educational reorganization and particularly on problems of Vocational education". One of the basic reasons for instituting this enquiry was "the fact that a large number of University graduates were not securing employment of a kind for which their education qualified them". The terms of reference included-

"(1) Where any vocational or practical training should be imparted in primary, secondary and higher secondary schools, and if so what should be its nature and extent?

(2) Whether the technical or vocational institutions already in existence can be improved and whether new institutions for vocational or technical training would be required, and if so, to suggest the type of institutions required for the purpose; the stage at which divergence from the ordinary secondary schools (lower or higher secondary) to such schools should be effected ; and the means to be adopted for effecting such diversion."

The report of Messrs. Abbot and Wood suggested a complete hierarchy of vocational institutions parallel with the hierarchy of institutions imparting general education.

One important result of their recommendations has been that "a new type of technical institution called the Polytechnic has come into existence." The provinces also started technical, commercial or agri- cultural high schools conducting non-literary courses.

The Sargent Report

In 1944, the Central Advisory Board of Education which is an all- India advisory body set up by the Government of India, submitted a comprehensive Report on Post-War Educational Development containing certain important recommendations. The report, more popularly known as the Sargent Report after Sir John Sargent who was Educational Adviser to the Government of India, visualised a system of universal,

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compulsory and free education for all boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 14, the Senior Basic or the Middle School being the final stage in the school career of majority of the future citizens. It was also recommended by this Committee that at the Middle School stage, provision should be made for a, variety of courses extending over a period of five years after the age of 11. These courses while preserving an essentially cultural character should be designed to prepare the pupils for entry into industrial and commercial occupations as well as into the Universities. It was recommended that the High School course should cover 6 years, the normal age of admission being 11 years and that the High Schools should be of two main types (a) academic, and (b) technical. The objective of both should be to provide a good all-round education combined with some preparation in the latter stages for the careers which pupils will pursue on leaving schools.

Recommendations of the Central Advisory Board of Education

The Central Advisory Board of Education at their 14th meeting held in January, 1948, considered the question of secondary education in the country. In view of its importance in the educational system in the country the Board resolved that a Commission be appointed by the Government of India to:

(a) Review the present position of Secondary Education in India, and

(b) make recommendations in regard to the various problems related thereto. This resolution was endorsed by the All-India Education Confe- rence convened by the Hon'ble Minister for Education in January 1948. In pursuance of these recommendations, the Government of India appointed a Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Tara Chand, the then Educational Adviser to the Government of India. This Committee made some important recommendations on different aspects of secondary education. The Report of this Committee was further considered by the Central Advisory Board of Education at its 15th meeting held at Allahabad in 1949 when it was resolved that the Government of India be requested to appoint a Commission for Secondary Education to which the questions raised by some of the conclusions drawn in the Report be referred and that it should, in addition to these items, go into the wider question of the aim, objective and purpose of secondary education and the relation of Secondary Education to-Basic and University Education. The Board again at its meeting held in January, 1951 reiterated its conviction that the reorganization of secondary education in the country was of such vital importance that the Govern- ment of India should appoint a Commission at an early date.