"IN CO-OPERATION WITH UNESCO :
 EDUCATION POLICY AND INSTITUTIONS
 IN INDIA" BY KULDEEP MATHUR
 

UNESCO was born in the aftermath of the havoc created by the Second World War Intellectual and cultural life. was disrupted and the destructive potential of ideas and information was a matter of serious concern. UNESCO was created in response to a genuine and deeply felt human desire, in all countries, for lasting peace and, for the pursuit of an international order that would bring about social justice,The Constitution of UNESCO rests on the basic premise:

That a peace based exclusively upon the political and economic arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, and that the peace must, therefore,be founded, if it is not to fail, Upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind.

As its first Director.-General, Sir Julian Huxley emphasized, UNESCO's principal concern is with peace, security and common welfare which can only follow from progress in education, science and culture amongst the peoples of the world. As, the UNESCO constitution says, "it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed".

India has always regarded UNESCO as a noble endeavour and is deeply committed to its aims and objectives. India has been its founder member and attended the Conference to set it up in November 1946, It ratified the constitution in. June 1945. It is therefore not surprising that India has made available many of its leading educationists, scientists and specialists in other fields to serve this Organization. Not only has India

I

159

been represented on the Executive Board of UNESCO since its establishment but Indians have also served as its Chairmen. Among them have been two of its former Presidents S. Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain. New Delhi also hosted the Ninth General Conference in 1956. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, India's then Minister of Education was the President of the Conference.

UNESCO's activities cover a very wide spectrum in the broad fields of Education, Science, Cultural and Communication. Education has always been the largest sector of UNESCO activity from its very inception. Beginning with help to reconstruct the wartorn education system in Europe and carrying out isolated modest projects elsewhere, UNESCO has moved to large scale undertakings in line with world trends. These aim. to achieve education as a human right, to democratise it, to benefit from new technology and reform methods in order to keep abreast of rapid changes and fulfil the goals of education for all.

At the institutional and policy levels, UNESCO has supported India in many of its reform endeavours. The Education Commission under the Chairmanship of D.S. Kothari (1964-66) had the benefit of UNESCO experts, The task of the Commission was to make recommendations for the realisation within the shortest period of a well balanced, integrated and adequate system of national education capable of making a powerful contribution to all spheres of national life.

A Centre for Educational Technology was set up at NCERT with the help of UNDP and UNESCO. Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) of 1974-75

160

was an aspect of the result of the establishment of this centre and had a great impact on the, development of software and technology using the audio-visual medium of TV network spread throughout the country, UNESCO supported these efforts too through seminars, workshops and project funds.

In another significant contribution, UNESCO helped establish the Delhi Public Library, It was the first library established under the UNESCO Public Library Project in 1951.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) of the United Nations declared that "Every one. has the right to education. Education will be free at leat in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory". UNESCO was first among the UN bodies to focus efforts of nations at this significant declaration. It sponsored several regional meetings: in Lima (1956), in Santiago (1963), in Karachi (1960), in Tokyo (1962), and in Addis Ababa (1961). It was due to this untiring efforts of UNESCO that primary education became an important focus of attention.

But perhaps one of the more significant contributions of UNESCO to education in India has been its advocacy of the concept of educational planning. A regional centre for the training of educational planners, administrators and supervisors in Asia was set up under the agreement of Government of India in 1962. It was redesignated as the Asian Institute, of Educational Planning and Administration in 1965. The functions of this Institute were the following:

161

(a) to provide short in-service training courses for the officers of the various ministries or departments of education of participating Asian member states and associate members of UNESCO.

(b) to undertake and promote research in the techniques of educational planning, administration and supervision and to place the results at the disposal of, such states, and

(c) to assist such states, upon request, in organising educational planning services and in holding national training courses.

UNESCO assisted the Institute by provision of international staff members, fellowships for trainees, equipment, books and publications. This Institute organised regional seminars on important topics such as educational planning, educational statistics, life long education, modern management techniques and their relevance to education, etc. This was possible because of the cooperation and support that the Institute received from UNESCO.

After the direct funding by UNESCO to the Asian Institute ended in 1972, the Government of India decided to continue the important work started by it and did not let it close down. National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) took shape and continues to function with full support from Government of India. The idea of planning and management of education as an important tool for improving educational performance was clearly established. NIEPA has continued to get support from UNESCO and particularly from its International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP). Paris which has collaborated with it in various programmes and activities. Over the years it has come to be recognised as a premier institution in India as well as in Asia.

162

Recently IIEP and NIEPA have collaborated to create an Asian network of research and training institutions (ANTRIEP). At a conference held in December 1995 in Delhi, NIEPA agreed to become the nodal agency for this purpose and is now preparing activities of cooperation in the field of educational planning and management among similar institutions in Asia.

Arising from Jomtien and the E9 Summit, UNESCO has been supporting major initiatives in the field of education. NIEPA is actively participating in many of these efforts by providing expertise, research back up and training Programmes to build capacities of planning among local level administrators and institutional, heads.

It is evident that in the area of educational policy and building institutions India has benefitted considerably from the support and initiatives of UNESCO. India. has always had a special regard for UNESCO and for the great, ideals that this Organization stands for. Today at the close of 20th century, we face die great challenge of making our population fully literate and we hope to continue to derive sustenance from the work of UNESCO.

163