[PDF]A Plan For Secondary Education

1 PLAN FOR
4 SECONDARY
EDUCATION


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: MINISTRY ae “asss angl


BRE E OF INDIA.


yo A PLAN FOR


SECONDARY EDUCATION


MINISTRY OF EDUCATI
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA


< 1955


FOREWORD


The need for reform and reorganisation of Secondary
education in India has been recognised fot many decades and
-proposals to that effect have been under discussion for at least
AQ years. There have been long and continuous debates about
the duration of tHe course, the nature and content of the sylla-
bus and the aims and objects of Secondary education in relation
to society and the individual. Commissions and committees
have examined the question time and again and made recommen-
dations which have been uniformly acclaimed but not generally
implemented.


The publication of the Report of the Mudaliar Commission
has highlighted both the need for and interest*in a radical re-
corientation of Indian Secondary education, A new urgency was
given to the task by the emergence of India asa free democratic
republic. Secondary education must on the one hand train up
the large body of intermediary leaders who are needed for the
effective functioning of such a State and on the other, help to
‘select the smaller band of higher leadership to guide its overall
policies. The decision to remodel Elementary education on the
Basic pattern has made such reorientation of Secondary educa-
tion even more urgent and necessary.


Long and detailed discussion and consultation among the
‘Central Government, the State Governments, the Universities
‘and the Boards of Secondary Education have taken and are
taking place. Ina series of Seminars and study camps organised
‘since 1933, headmasters and others immediately concerned with
the administration of Secondary education have discussed and
are discussing the measures proposed. It appears that agreement
has at last been reached in respect of both the aims and objects
and the nature and content vf Secondary education. A joint
Conference of Vice-Chancellors and Chairman of Boards of
‘Secondary Education held in January this year come to unani-
mous conclusions that were amplified and supported by the
Central Advisory Board of Education. Later, the Inter-
University Board endorsed the findings without a single dissent.


à (ii)

i The Central and the State Governments have now moved to the
= stage of taking specific action to implement the agreements,
Tt can now be said that the reorientation of Secondary education
in India has definitely begun. t:

: It is, however, necessary to ensure that there is a clear
understanding of what exactly is the pattern of Secondary

_ education which has met with such support. The first stages.
in reorientation have a decisive influence on the progress of
reform. If the schools which are upgraded first have been
selected carefully and have the necessary staff, equipment and
i facilities for carrying out the Purposes of the reform, the
success of the scheme is assured, The movement will gather
momentum with initial Success, This will make it easier to
Overcome obstacles and resolve difficulties that may from time
to time arise. If on the other hand, there is any set-back in the
initial stages, it is bound to have an adverse effect on the whole
movement for reform.


In spite of long and repeated discussions, it appears that there
uncertainty in Certain quarters about the implications of the
Proposals. This brochure seeks to describe as clearly and briefly


well as the general Public a clear picture of the proposals that
have now been accepted after careful exa mination by the various
expert bodies and indicate the direction in which Secondary
education in India is moving,

In conclusion, I would like to thank Shri Veda Prakasha of
the Ministry of Education for helping me in the preparation of
this brochure. a


Humayun Kabir


i Educational Adviser to
= April, 1955, the Government of India.


A PLAN FOR SECONDARY EDUCATION


.

Secondary education is admittedly the weakest joint in our
educational machinery and needs urgent reform. In his inau-
gutal address to the Central Advisory Board of Education, at its
last meeting Maulana Azad said“ ...[ think you will all agree
that this (Secondary education) has till now been the weakest
link in the Indian educational chain. It is yet in a sense
decisive in determining the quality of education both at the
Secondary and the collegiate levels. Secondary schools supply
teachers for Elementary schools and students for colleges and
other institutions of higher level. An unsatisfactory system of
Secondary education undermines the entire system of education in
the country.” `


In order to remedy this state of affairs, the Government
of India have decided to reorganise Secondary education on
the linesindicated in the following Resolution of the Central
Advisory Board of Education passed at its last (22nd) Meeting
held at New Delhi from 12th to 14th January, 1955:


“The Board after very careful consideration of the stage
of termination of Secondary education and the quali-
fications necessary for entry into the universities
arrived at the following unanimous conclusions :


(a) The first Degree course should be of three years
and 17+ should be the minimum age for entry into
_ universities.


(b) The end of Secondary education at 17+ should mark
a terminal stage in education and prepare students
for life, It should also be of a standard which would
enable them to participate with profit in a three-
year Degree course.


(c) The Government of India be requested to appoint
a Committee to draw up an integrated syllabus
for the School Final Examination to achieve the
above objective.

(d) The last class of the Secondary stage should be called


the 1th class and may be reached after schooling
of not less than ten years, the actual duration of


2


the school system in the various States to be deter-
mined by the State Governments concerned,


. “This Board is of opinion that for the implementation of
these recommendations, it is necessary that financial
assistance in a liberal measure should be provided by
the Central Government and the State Governments.
This Board, therefore, requests the Central and State
Governments and the Planning Commission to provide
necessary finances in the second Five-Year Plan for
the implementation of these recommendations."


A similar Resolution was passed earlier by the Conference
of Vice-Chancellors and Chairmen of Boards of Secondary
Education, held at New Delhi on 8th January 1955 (for text of
the Resolution see Annexure ‘A’), and endorsed by the Inter-
University Board at its meeting at Patna held on 25th
January, 1955,


In general, the future pattern of education, as envisaged in
the above-mentioned Resolution of the Central Advisory Board
of Education, will be as follows :


(a) Eight years of integrated Elementary (Basic)
education. This stage will generally cover the period
from six to 14, but the last year of this stage may
well be used as an exploratory year to find out the
aptitude and interest of the pupil ;


(b) three years of Secondary education proper where
there will be a marked diversification of courses.
Sie will generally cover the period from 14 to 17+ ;
an


(c) three years of University education after the Higher
Secondary school, leading to the first Degree.


It will be noticed that this Pattern differs in some minor
respects from that suggested by the Secondary Education Com-
mission. It will be in Place, therefore, briefly to recapitulate the
relevant recommendation of the Commission and indicate the
reasons for departing from it. This Commission which was
appointed by the Government of India in October 1952, re-
commended the following new Organisational structure for


Secondary education after the four or five years of Primary or
Junior Basic education : ` `


G) A Middle or Junior Secondary or Senior Basic stage
which should cover a period of three years.


— qg bas


r 3


rA A Higher Secondary stage! whith should covera,
period of four years. :


A study of the Report of the Commission will reveal that
while it gives q very competent analysis of the problems of
Secondary education and suggests remedies for them, ‘it leaves
the question of the duration of the Secondary stage undecided. On
the one hand, it suggests an increase of one year in the Secondary.
stage meaning thereby that the total duration of schooling at the
pre-University stage will be at least 11 years (even in States
where the School Leaving Certificate is now taken at the end of
ten years) ; on the other, it envisages a Secondary stage of four
years after eight years of Elementary education which gives a
duration of 12 years, Instead of giving a clear lead in the matter,
the recommendation of the Commission has thus made it more
difficult to correlate Secondary education with the universities
and provide a uniform pattern at the Secondary and University
levels in the country.


While considering the Report, the Central Advisory Board
of Education at its 20th Meeting, held in November 1953, found
it necessary to authorise the Chairman to appoint a Committee
(known as the Implementation Committee) to examine its
recommendations and formulate a scheme for their early imple-
mentation and to indicate priorities in the programme. This
Committee held several meetings in December 1953 and January
1054 and recommended to the Board that the eventual pattern of
Secondary education should be as follows :


(a) Eight years of integrated elementary (Basic) education


(b) three or four years of Secondary education where there
will be a diversification of courses. (The first year should

. be devoted mainly to orientation and exploration of
the students’ aptitudes, and diversified courses should
be normally taken during the last two or three years of
the Secondary stage).


It will be seen that the Implementation Committee also
could not recommend a uniform duration of Secondary educa-
tion in the country and left it to the States to have either an
ll-year or a 12-year Secondary course. Inequality in the
length of the course is bound to raise doubts about uniformity
of standards and make it difficult to evaluate the attainment of
pupils from different States. The matter needed further clari-
fication and was, therefore, taken up at the last meeting. of the


4


Central Advisory: Board: of Education which after a careful
consideration of the issues involved, unanimously passed the
Resolution referred to above.


In order to appreciate the advantages of the new educa-
tional pattern over the existing one, it is necessary to set forth
clearly the reasons for extending the duration of schooling
to 17+ for abolishing the Intermediate stage, as has been
recommended by the Secondary Education Commission and for
instituting a three-year first Degree course at the University
level in place of the present four-year one.


Extension in the Duration of the Secondary Stage


As stated in the Resolution of the Central Advisory Board
of Education, 17+ will now mark the end of the Secondary stage.
The total duration of formal education at the pre-University
level, therefore, will be at least 11 years, that is from six to 17.
This will mean an increase of one year in the Higher Secondary
or the post-Elementary stage. At present, the Matriculation or
the School Leaving Certificate Examination is taken in many
States at the end of ten years, According to the new arrange-
ment, the School Leaving Certificate examination will be held
everywhere after at least 1l years, If any State wishes formal
schooling to begin at the age of five, it will be free to do so,
but since the terminal age for the Secondary stage is fixed
at 17+, and since by-and-large children of the same age may be
expected to attain the same level of knowledge and skill,
the standard of attainment for the School Final Examination will
be the same. Further, the fact that the Constitution prescribes
that compulsory education shouid be provided toall up to the
age of 14, will mean that in effecc the Secondary course proper
will be of three years’ duration.


It may be asked: Why should there be this increase in
schooling as its extension is likely to ‘impose an additional
financial burden on the parents? While there appears to be
some substance in this objection, it should be pointed out that
if Secondary education is to serve the purpose it is intended
to fulfil, the present reform is inevitable. Secondary education
is required to be a unit by itself and not merely a preparatory
stage, and yet till now it has concentrated almost entirely om
Preparing students for entrance to the universities. If it is to
provide a terminal point for the majority of children, it should
be such that the bulk of boys and girls at the end of the stage
Should be able to qualify as far as possible for gainful employ-


7


ment and play their roles: as good citigęiis in ‘a democratic!
society. These two purposes, namely, ration for Jife and;
preparation for Higher education canno “be ful lied without’)
extending the present duration. y h


An objection from a contrary point “of View may be
raised in States where there already exis an- Tl-year
school course. It may be said that in such States, there will be
no change, and since the products of schools in these States
have to study in the Intermediate classes before they are in a,
position to join. the Degree classes, the elimination of the
Intermediate stage may lead toa lowering, rather than a raising
of standards. These objections are based ona misunderstanding.
The Central Advisory Board has purposely placed greater,
stress, not on the years of. schooling, but on the age at which
Secondary education is to end. At. present, even in some
States which have 11 years’. schooling before Matricula-,
tion, the examination is taken by pupils at the ageof 14 or,
15. Itis quite obvious that other things being the same, the
standard of attainment at 17 will be higher than at 14 or 15.
By raising the minimum school leaving age, if is sought to
ensure that the pupils will be physically, intellectually and
and emotionally sufficiently mature to be fit for collegiate
education and profit by it. There may be exceptionally bright
boys and girls who may reach that stage even before they are
17+ or there may be cases of retarded growth. In
framing a programme for the nation, such exceptions have to be
ignored and provision made for the average pupil, who in India,
will normally be towards the end of his or her adolescence at)
17+. As such it is the proper stage to mark the termination of
Secondary education in India. Emphasis on uniformity of
school leaving age will also largely resolve the difficulty which
may arise on account of any difference in the duration of the
preceding school form in different States. Experience proves
that it makes little difference ‘whether children stirt formal
schooling at five or six. for by the time they are nine or ten they
have by-and-large attained the same level of knowledge and skill.
That is why a uniform standard of attainment is to be pres-
cribed for the school leaving examination in all States.


It might be inquired : Instead of fixing the duration of
Secondary education at 11 years, would it not be educationally
better to make the Intermediate the end of Secondary education?
The University Education Commission, for example, has re-
commended that the standard of admission to the universities
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