The foundation of the modern education system at all levels of all the countries of our subcontinent was built during the past colonial rule of British empire. The colonial education system was university-centred. The universities conducted only various degree-granting examinations. In 1857, three such universities were established in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, in the model of the University of London, which was founded in England in 1826 and was officially recognized in 1836-1837. The studies were mainly carried on in their affiliated colleges. The Presidency College of Kolkata was one such example. There was no such accrediting body for primary and secondary level schools. However, the educational departments of the colonial administration in various regions monitored these schools. The aim of these schools was to prepare their students for the entrance examinations to qualify for the university education. For a student, the prime motivation behind availing higher education was to get a government job. The education system was designed to make the boys of upper castes loyal and useful for the governance of foreign rulers. The foreign rulers and the native aristocrats had no botheration for the education of the boys of the lower castes and the girls of all castes. The colonial rulers tried to institutionally stifle the desire of modern Indian intellectuals to study modern science and technology, medicine, arts, literature, law and in many other subjects of humanities, and to take part in carrying out research in various branches of human intellects. A few years after the establishment of the first three universities, two more universities were established on the same model in Lahore (1882) (presently in Pakistan), and in Allahabad (1887).
The report of the First Commission on Indian Universities (1902), chaired by Sir Thomas Raleigh (1850-1920), the then Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University, recommended the provision of higher education in universities, but no such system was developed in our universities before 1915. Foreign rulers resisted building a modern environment of higher education and research for the ruled subjects as far as possible. But later they could no longer deny its pressing demands. Towards the end of their tenure, Indian participation in educational administration increased, with a few providing leadership in the expansion of higher education. Due to this pressure, several more universities were established in different provinces after 1915. Post graduate level studies also started in the universities. Among them were some regional universities run by native royal houses.
In 1917, the colonial government set up an Education Commission on Calcutta University with Michael Ernst Sadler (1861-1943), the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, as its chairman. The members of this commission visited most of the educational institutions in India, and submitted a report in 13 volumes in 1919. The recommendations of this huge report of the Sadler Commission played a very important role not only for the growth of Calcutta University but also for other universities across India in later times. At the time of independence, only 19 universities were functioning in this subcontinent. Among them were Calcutta, Madras and Bombay Universities established in 1857, Sagar University in Madhya Pradesh and Rajputana (later Rajasthan) University in Rajasthan established on the eve of independence. After partition, some universities in British-ruled India, such as those in Dhaka (in Bangladesh) and Lahore (in Pakistan), continued to operate in East and West Pakistan. Initially there was no central organization to coordinate the work of the universities. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was formed in 1920 with the intention of establishing such an organization. However, before this council could start its work, the government closed it down in 1923 due to economic difficulties. The council was reconstituted in 1935, although it did not play much of a role then. This organization submitted a report in 1946 for the expansion of Government-directed higher education. They propose to set up a University Grant Commission (UGC) in India in the model of Britain's University Grants Committee (UGC) of that time to allocate and disburse money for higher education. This proposal was accepted. In the post-independence period, this organization (UGC) played an important role in formulating policies, approving and providing grant to universities. A few more features of the colonial education system need to be mentioned here. Although teaching in schools were carried out in a few provincial languages, English was the medium of instructions in higher education in all subjects other than the studies of languages of India. Under William Bentinck's rule (during 1828-1834 as the Governor General of Bengal and then 1834-1835 as the Governor General of India), the Education Ordinance of 1835 left no place for the official promotion of religious ideology in the education system, although there was no restriction on the provision of religious education in educational institutions under different denominations. The spread of universal education was either taken with indifference, or vehemently opposed by the colonial rulers and social higher-ups of our caste based society. When India and Pakistan became independent, the literacy rate in the country was only 19%.
In spite of the reluctance of the colonial rulers to expand higher education, the British left a higher education oriented education system, and there was a considerable urge among the middle class for strengthening the University education. Thus the Interim Government of India very soon after the independence formed a 'University Education Commission' in 1948 under the chairmanship of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1882-1975), who later became the President of India during 1962-1967, to reform University education. The universal basic education was not the primary agenda of this committee. This was like attempting to put the cart before the horse. As a result, our current education system is still sitting on top of its head. Notably, the first General Education Commission was formed earlier (in 1882) and the first University Commission 20 years later (in 1902) during the colonial rule. The new rulers of independent India formed the University Education Commission first (in 1948) dedicated to reform tertiary or higher education, created a Secondary Education Commission 4 years later (in 1952), and a General Education Commission 16 years later (in 1964), which was meant for reforming education at all levels, including primary and secondary, the foundation of higher education. It reflects how the past Governments neglected the basic education for more than two decades after the independence. As a result, today even after 75 years of independence, the quality of education of the majority of our population, the children of lower castes-Dalit-Adivasi masses, is deplorable. In the coming days, the impact of the working culture, structure and proposals of the educational commissions of the colonial era in the reports of the education commissions of independent India needs to be examined more closely for their critical assessment.
The Radhakrishnan Commission decided on the goals and objectives of the educational system of universities for the development of a newly independent country, and considered its restructuring, expansion, administration, financial allocation, development of infrastructure, teaching methods, role of religion, subject matters including studies of languages, medium of instructions, salary structure of teachers and non-teaching staff, establishment of new universities, etc. The commission was tasked to shed light on the above issues and formulate policies. But, at the same time the question of overall educational reform at all levels, and policy formulation relating them could not be ignored by this commission. For that reason, the report of this commission, like the reports of the commissions of 1882, 1902 and 1917 during the colonial period, contained various recommendations on primary and secondary education. The Radhakrishnan Commission report had an immense influence on the formation and development of the education system of independent India. Subsequent education commissions, recognizing the core tenor of this report, emphasized some structural changes and reforms. The recently launched National Education Policy (NEP) – 2020 is an exception. This may be discussed separately.
University Education Commission or Radhakrishnan Commission
As we mentioned, the University Education Commission was formed on the 4th November 1948. Apart from its chairman Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the other members of this commission were distinguished persons in various branches of science, and humanities of that time. Notable among them were the renowned physicist Meghnad Saha (1893-1956), Dr. Zakir Hussain (1897-1969), who was one of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamia University and its first Vice-Chancellor and later became the third President of India, Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar (1887-1974) , the Vice-Chancellor of Madras University, Arcat, Dr. Tara Chand (1888-1973), a renowned archaeologist and the then Education Secretary and Advisor to the Government of India. etc. Apart from them, some foreign academics and scholars were members of this commission. They are James F. Duff (1898-1970), vice chancellor of Durham University in England, Arthur E. Morgan (1878-1975), first chairman of the Tennessee Valley Corporation, and John James Tiggert IV (1882-1965), former commissioner of the United States Department of Education and the former president of the University of Florida. The commission began functioning in December 1948. Its first meeting was held on the 6th December under the chairmanship of the then Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958). This commission visited a total of 29 universities and discussed with principals, professors, other academic staff, administrators, students etc., and collected their opinions. Apart from this, at the beginning, a questionnaire was prepared on various issues related to education, and sent to about 2900 representatives of various segments of society including, educators and social workers. About 600 people answered the questionnaires. The commission submitted its report in August 1949. The speed with which this commission presented its well-thought-out and direction-oriented report on Indian education system, was a shining example of wisdom, dedication and sincerity of our Indian political leaders and thinkers of that era towards serving their own social interest. Today, we observe the eye-catching fame and prestige of the children born in the homes of our historically powerful and educated upper castes across generation in the higher wage market of industrialized foreign countries in many areas of science, arts, humanities, and technologies. Its institutional basis was created following the recommendations of this commission.
The commission placed universities in a central role in shaping and developing the education system of independent India. The universities, till then, were seen as only degree-granting institutions. Now these institutions were aimed at fulfilling new responsibilities and duties in the larger arena of society. The commission felt that, as the universities contain the lifeblood of our civilization, they must become the seat of all intellectual exercises and explorations. It was hoped that the next generation of politicians, economists, lawyers, managers, technologists, doctors, educators, literary persons, writers, poets, scientists, philosophers, inventors and innovators of our societies would emerge from these universities, who would shape the political and socio-economic system of India. In view of this, the rapid expansion of higher education establishments was considered crucial to the political economy of independent India in response to the growing demand for neo-elite administrators-managers educated in modern education. In other words, the education system in new India needed to be based on modern knowledge and research. The commission was aware of the blind adherence and belief of conservative policy makers to the ancient wisdom and scriptures of India that could stagnate this education system. Thus a clear declaration was made in this report, which reads as follows:
“We must give up the fatal obsession of the perfection of the past, that greatness is not to be attained in the present, that everything is already worked out and all that remains for the future ages of the world is a pedantic imitation of the past. When we are hypnotized by our own past achievements, when all our effort is to repeat a past success, we become fetish worshippers”
Let us now discuss the various issues that the commission shed light on and the recommendations that have been made.
Role of education
The main goal of modern education is to present a coherent picture of the interrelationship of human society as a part of nature with the rest of nature on the foundation of observable data, rationale theories and assumptions that have evolved and been verified since the enlightenment of Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In line with this goal, syllabi of subjects should be arranged in the form of a consistent, upward, progressive and multidimensional spiral track, maintaining the continuity of subjects and analyses from the beginning to subsequent higher levels. Education is not only the training of human mindfulness, it is also the training of our self-development. Not only the assimilation of knowledge, but the pursuit of wisdom also is a goal for teachers and students.
When the Radhakrishnan Commission was formed, the Constitution of India had not yet been adopted. But its draft was being circulated and discussed for quite some time. The report resonated with the spirit and aspiration of the draft Constitution, which got approved later in 1951. In the preamble of the Constitution, a democratic state and a socialist system have been identified as the aspiration of the new independent country. In line of them, the report discussed and recommended curricula, teaching methods and various other guidelines for building the education system. The commission declared that the educational programs and activities are to be organized around five main themes, especially focussed to nurturing democratic values and rational thoughts among students. These are, respectively, democracy, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. Let us briefly discuss how the commission connected these themes with education.
• Democracy
Education should play a role in developing the personality of a student engaging her(him) in studies and learning thriving in a free and fair academic environment to inculcate democratic values. The students should be made aware of individual freedom and social justice. The fundamental condition of a democratic education system is to recognize the unique role of an individual in social and state activities and to nurture her (his) spontaneous development. This democratic trend and character of modern education, autocrats, who do not believe in democracy, do not want to accept. For them, the purpose of education is only to create valuable human resources capable of being exploited according to the needs of the society and the state. Individual development is secondary there. Rather, if a person's individual thought goes against the ideology of the rulers, those rulers want the destruction of that individual. On the other hand, in a democratic system, the right of each person to flourish in their unique individuality is recognized. One of the roles of education under a democratic government is to guide that development.
• Fairness
In a multi-ethnic society like ours, suffered for ages in divisive rules by empires and divided in orders of genders, castes, races and religions, to achieve social justice, we need to see how universities can educate working people of different genders, castes and indigenous communities in such a way that they can become social leaders and administrators in new India. With education, they would participate in the management of these societies and foster democracy. In this way, the development of democracy is inextricably linked with the establishment of social justice in an education system.
• Liberty
Universities should be developed as campuses of free thought, grooming free thinkers and liberals. Freedom of expressions of students and teachers should be ensured and recognized by the Government. For this, management of universities should run independently and should be free from the control of the Government. The clear statement of the commission in this regard is that in the interest of maintaining the democratic system, the Government should not govern the education system through its ministries and bureaucrats for serving their political interests and purposes. It is detrimental to resist against all such government attempts. The commission reminded the Government that it is undoubtedly the duty of the State to make higher education available to the people. But, government funding does not mean that educational institutions are to be under its control. While running different government agencies, the market driven maxim that 'money rules everything and the financier has the last word, hence the Government has the ultimate say’, this false simplification, must be discarded, in particular, in the field of education. Due to the professional responsibility of teachers and in the interests of the healthy development of the society, like free citizens of any democratic state, students and teachers should enjoy the rights to express their independent opinions, even on various controversial issues. The campus of higher educational Institutes should become a pasture of free thoughts. Running of affairs of Universities should be kept free from the influence of political leaders, office bearers and members of political parties.
The commission emphasized the need to develop a scientific mindset for rational thinking. Decision-making on any question of life requires the practice of scientific methods, which gets developed through reason-based judgment. One of the hallmarks of the scientific temperament is the pre-emptive rejection of existing social prejudices and dogma driven by scientific arguments and evidences. The habitual nurturing of outdated reforms for the sake of tradition is against this spirit.
This was what the commission envisioned to build an education system inculcating scientific temperament and democratic spirit immediately after our independence. The academicians and personalities of that era, who were leading and building the Institutions of higher learning, also shared that vision. But the scenario has changed largely in recent years. As a contrary, we observe today that many of our Institutions of higher learning are led by persons, who are indoctrinated by religious dogma and superstition, and actively oppose to running an enlightened educational system consistent with scientific progress and democracy.
• Equality
In a democratic society, access to all levels of education are to be guaranteed to people from all walks of life. If only the elites of the society and the people of the new professional strata enjoy this right from their advantageous economic and social position, the corrupt hybrid social system tainted by gender-bias, casteism and racial discrimination is maintained and strengthened. Development of social equality gets hindered. To establish the principle of equality in education, it is necessary to provide equal opportunities for the spread of education among all the people of the politically, economically, culturally and socially neglected communities of the country by keeping the cost of education low, increasing public spending in infrastructure and manpower and establishing a fair and transparent admission process. Intensive remedial teaching, honorary scholarships and financial support should be arranged for the talented and hardworking but poor students in terms of cultural and financial conditions in the field of higher education. The amount of this scholarship should be such that it is possible to meet not only their tuition fee, but also the incidental expenses of general living including food and lodging. For that purpose, provision of higher education at different levels should be made, so that it reaches the talented students of the very poor and socially Dalit families of the society. Special assistance should be provided to girls, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other underdeveloped communities in getting higher education. That is why, although the Constitution prohibits any special benefit for caste and religious groups, the commission recommended that at least one-third of the seats sanctioned for admission to higher education should be reserved for the children of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It considered the measure as a temporary measure and to be kept in force for next ten years. At that time the weakness of other backward castes and the reality of gender discrimination were not reflected much in the media.
• Fraternity
To create an environment of harmony between students-teachers-nonteaching staff in educational institutions, various programs of intellectual and cultural exchange should be initiated at both national and international levels. Universities should be made residential and institutions should develop their own social life with all stakeholders. Especially they should be educated about the culture and history of different regions of India. Also, other countries and cultures of the world and their contribution to human civilization should be introduced. This important part of education would help students and residents build institutional social life.
It is against the modern temperament to stick to one's own narrow circle by following only one's own culture and customs. Therefore, national ideologies should be enriched in the development of free thinking in the atmosphere of world brotherhood. Knowing each other is necessary not only to advance scientific research with international collaborations, but also to achieve success in international diplomacy and in all activities of life. In order to maintain the independent existence of any nation in the modern world, it has to share the knowledge of science and technology while keeping in touch with the outside world and at the same time develop its own culture. We must not remain confined to the stagnant resources of ancient knowledge with myopic allegiance to traditions ignoring modern epistemology.
Role of schools
According to the commission, schools will not only play a role in providing admission to colleges and universities of higher education for students, but will also help in choosing higher education neutral professions in future careers of students. Accordingly it highlighted three aspects of school education.
(1) To provide classroom lessons to students, which will make them interested, intellectually stimulated, and creative in the process of learning. It is also necessary to provide them physical education, and train them in corporate activities,
(2) To guide the students in disciplined participation in the various activities of the school to develop them as civilized members of the society and to engage and encourage those who are capable of providing leadership among them, and
(3) To judge and evaluate the physical, mental and intellectual development of the students at various levels with a series of tests and examinations.
At that time, the schools were focussed only to the assessment of students' reading and learning, but neglected in providing intellectual, physical and corporate training. Universities were seen by the commission as the platforms for the intellectual pursuit of free citizens of a democratic country. There, the students will get higher education from their teachers, as well as make contact with their classmates and alumni, and plan their future career. A student should be treated as an adult citizen there. For that reason, enforcing discipline in university campuses differs from that of schools. University environment should be more open and free. Responsible behaviour is expected from students. That is why it is necessary to check the quality of general education, attitude and mental maturity of those entering higher education.
According to the commission, students need to have adequate knowledge and familiarity with at least four subjects related to a branch at the school level, before advancing for specialization in that branch in higher education. The entrance examinations for higher education should be conducted with utmost care and seriousness. The commission also warned against the dishonest tendency of money-hungry management of higher education institutions, who indiscriminately admit students without any quality check. As a result, learning subjects becomes a difficult burden for those students, and the intellectual levels of environments of those Institutes get spoilt.
The observation of the commission on the then prevailing state of higher education in our country was that the number of graduates in Science, Technology and Medicine was very low compared to the number of graduates in Law and Arts. But, those are the areas, where the country's economy needed the most. As the cost of education in all these categories is high, these categories remain neglected due to financial constraints. That is why the long report of the commission lays special emphasis on State expenditures on the education of these subjects. The commission feels that special attention should be given to the expansion of education in various fields, especially agricultural science and technology, general technology, rural development, leadership training, and social science.
Curricula and the structure of graduate-level education
In formulating the Arts and Science curricula, the commission kept in mind three objectives for the physical and mental development of students in higher education. Accordingly, the selection of higher education courses was suggested. For example,
(1) General subjects related to environment and science (such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, geography, geology, astronomy, etc.) to make a person rational to judge available information and facts,
(2) Subjects related to the Arts and Culture to facilitate fostering of free thoughts, and
(3) Vocational courses offering a student to choose a profession in the next stage of education.
The recommendations regarding the structure of higher education were as follows:
(1) Only the twelfth year of high school education is sufficient for admission to higher education. No separate training is required for this. Students would be considered for admission to colleges and universities according to their eligibility and meeting other admission criteria, only if they pass the higher secondary (or senior school ) examination successfully.
(2) For obtaining a postgraduate degree (at Master’s level) an ordinary graduate (Bachelor degree without Honors) would study for two years and a Honors graduate (Bachelor degree with Honors) for one year.
(3) The curricula of the students of the school level education (secondary and higher secondary) or any branch of higher education should also include the components of general education (such as language, literature, environment, science and art) according to the standards of that level. The syllabus of a subject should be designed so that the students learn the subject matter in a very natural way of reasoning and accumulation of facts, which are relevant and consistent with the main field of study. The same applies to professional education. The commission strongly felt the need for comprehensive education with exposure to the wider arena of our life and society, not just keeping it restricted to a profession-centred curriculum. This is what the commission termed as the general education, which should remain as an integral part of education to any specific or specialized stream of knowledge and profession.
Post Graduate Education and Research
The commission lays special emphasis on the promotion of postgraduate education and research. In this regard they referred to the quote of British educationist Alfred North Whitehead, "a progressive society depends on its inclusion of three groups : Scholars, discoverers, inventors." Thus the commission championed the cause of University education as they felt that universities are the place to create such people. They also acknowledged the role of Ashutosh Mukherjee, former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, who despite the opposition and reluctance of the colonial rulers, was first to introduce post-graduate education in Calcutta university in India in 1914, and attracted scholars from all over the country to engage in teaching and research. As a result, within a few years, the University's outstanding research in Arts and Science brought international recognition to Indian scholars and scientists. Keeping this experience in mind, the commission advises the universities to make all out efforts to offer high quality postgraduate education and research. Their proposals in this regard were as follows:
(1) In universities, where post-graduate programs are available, research programs are to be initiated in various branches of Science and Humanities. It certainly depends on the study, scholarship, and interest of the teachers working there. On the other hand, it is recommended to develop post-graduate education infrastructure and introduce teaching and learning in those institutions, which did not have their own academic discourses.
(2) Every university should provide a certain number of merit scholarships for students to engage in research, so that they can take up the profession of study and research in later life. It should also be seen that these scholarships are awarded only to students who are suitable for carrying out talented research. So their selection and regular evaluation needs to take place with proper scrutiny and care.
(3) There should be provisions of award of D. Sc and D. Litt degrees from universities for publication of original research of the highest quality.
(4) The teachers of the university will be engaged in teaching, as well as working on new ideas and solving critical problems in their domains of expertise. They will place themselves as role models among the students by demonstrating their skill, discipline, and research practice in the pursuit of knowledge and mastering a subject.
(5) Our academicians in Humanities, and in relevant areas may make full use of the vast resources available to them for doing research in language, literature, philosophy, religion, art, etc. of our country.
(6) There is acute shortage of qualified teachers and non-teaching staff to teach science subjects. That is why special emphasis should be placed on training and research in Science, so that we can get a large number of scientists within a few years. That is why the Ministry of Education should introduce more scholarships for scientific research, and should provide free education for MSc and PhD degrees in various Higher Education Institutions. Appropriate process should be introduced for selection of these students in these institutions.
(7) More and more teaching positions should be created in various branches of science at different levels of the university, and selection of candidates in those positions should be based on the quality of their knowledge and research work in the subject rather than just going by numbers of their years of experience and publications, etc..
(8) It is understood that basic research in the universities will be predominant, but the universities will also engage in applied research to solve various local and regional problems.
(9) Adequate funds should be allocated for the maintenance of science departments and purchase of materials and equipment for laboratories, so that the faculty members can carry out high quality post-graduate training and research.
(10) As there was insufficient arrangements of training and research in subjects related to biology in the universities, the commission recommended the establishment of five marine biological stations across the country at that time. Among these were proposals to convert some of the then existing centres, such as the Central Fisheries Station at Mandapam, into advanced research centres. Also, the Universities of Bombay, Andhra, Madras and Travancore were to be provided government grants for establishing such centres. All these institutions were advised to start courses of six to eight weeks initially. It was also recommended to gradually introduce postgraduate level education and research in other branches of biology and also in biochemistry, biophysics, geochemistry, geophysics, etc.
Professional education
The branches emphasized by the commission in professional education were: (1) Agriculture, (2) Commerce, (3) Education, (4) Engineering, (5) Law, and (6) Medicine. Apart from this, the commission had given importance to some other upcoming branches of that time. Let us have a look at the proposals and suggestions of the commission in these branches.
• Agriculture
(1) Agricultural education should be given special national importance.
(2) Since agriculture dominates the economy of our country, we need to educate more and more persons, who can take part in the planning of agricultural education. It is necessary to introduce courses on agricultural subjects at the secondary and higher secondary levels as well.
(3) Associations, individuals and experts directly related to agriculture should be engaged in the formulation and planning of agricultural education, research and policies.
(4) As far as possible agricultural education should take place in rural areas, so that education becomes relevant through practice and experimentation in agriculture.
(5) Adequate teachers should be appointed in running colleges of agricultural education and funds should be allocated for supply of equipment. General education and agricultural education should be consistent in the curriculum. There must be provision of practical farming experiences. Apart from this, experimental farming by forming agricultural cooperatives and arranging necessary funds through micro-credits, etc. may also continue.
(6) Wherever possible, new agricultural colleges should be brought under newly established agricultural universities, so that these colleges get the help of university experts and infrastructure. These colleges would play an important role in monitoring and studying the regional characteristics of agriculture.
(7) Every agricultural educational institution shall establish its own experimental farm. The farm should develop infrastructure to study agriculture in different environments and soils. In this regard, the commission referred to various teaching experimental farms in the United States of America and Rothamsted Farm in England, as examples.
(8) Henceforth agricultural research centers should be supported according to the quality of their research. However, universities need to establish more higher-research centers above the postgraduate level.
(9) The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) should be provided with necessary assistance. This council will take the role of the coordinating body of all the agricultural research centers of the country, and will document and publish the important results of all research related to agriculture. Along with this, new facts, and experience in agriculture will be disclosed, and made aware to the public with the help of mass media.
(10) It is needed to establish an Institution for determining agricultural policy. It may also be under the supervision of ICAR. This institution will plan long-term agricultural education and research. For that purpose, the help of foreign workers and experts may also be taken.
(11) A special panel should be constituted to approve and evaluate educational and research projects in agriculture under the UGC with financial support.
(12) The UGC and the ICAR shall jointly consider the merits and demerits of allocating portions of duties, levies, etc. fixed for various agricultural products to fund agricultural research and education and formulate a policy in this regard for public interest.
(13) Since the Department of Fisheries has been historically associated with the Department of Agriculture, the ICAR should also support research and education in various aspects of technology and science in fisheries. Especially in the development and utilization of marine resources, appropriate planning should be done.
• Commerce
(1) In the curriculum, there should be provisions of training and practical education of students in three or four different organizations.
(2) After graduation they should be encouraged to specialize in a particular discipline of Commerce (e.g. Accountancy).
(3) The component of text book based lessons will be reduced in the post-graduate course in lieu of offering practical knowledge through practice and internship. Acquiring experiences in their field of work would be given more importance and priority. Accordingly this sessional component of education should also be a part of evaluation.
(4) The number of postgraduate students should be kept low.
• Education
(1) Existing curriculum (at that time) on education should be changed. Students should have more experiences of direct teaching and evaluation in schools. Assessment of their performances in these regards are to be included in the curriculum.
(2) Appropriate schools should be selected for the training of teaching and evaluation.
(3) Students should know about the rules and regulations of a school for class room teaching and evaluation, and make proper use of them.
(4) Most of the teaching and nonteaching staff of the educational training colleges should be appointed in such a way that they have previous experiences of school teaching and evaluation.
(5) The curriculum on theory of education shall be flexible accommodating regional characteristics.
(6) Graduates should be advised to undertake post-graduate education, after a few years of practical teaching experience only.
(7) Professors of Universities should consider testing their innovative and novel ideas in teaching and learning processes, and sharing their experiences with their peers.
• Engineering
The commission felt that the main hurdle that the engineering education faced then was to maintain its relevance and quality in keeping with the advancement of modern technology. At that time, there was no post graduate education and research eco-system in any engineering college in the country. The introduction of that system in the existing colleges also faced various obstacles. First, there was a lack of quality teachers. Then, it was not easy to bring fundamental changes in their traditional set up. That was why the Nalini Ranjan Sarkar Committee (N.R. Sarkar Committee) appointed by the colonial government in 1945 proposed to establish a new higher education institution of engineering education on the model of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in America. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) accepted this proposal in its first meeting in April/May, 1946. Accordingly, it was proposed to introduce postgraduate level education and research programs along with undergraduate level education in such institutions. For that purpose, it was contemplated to hire foreign teachers and technical assistants, and to train students in foreign institutes. For each of these institutes at least 1000 acres of land were promised to build quality education infrastructure. The committee proposed setting up such institutions in four corners of the country, the first two of which would be established in the Eastern and Western parts of the country. The Government accepted the committee's proposal, and immediate action was taken in this regard (immediately after independence). Later the West Bengal Government provided around 2,200 acres of land to establish the first Institution at the Hijli Detention Camp of the colonial era near Kharagpur. Similarly, the Bombay Government reserved 800 acres of land in Kurla, west of Bombay. The AICTE approved the site selection of these institutes in April 1948, and recommended the same to the Government. The first Indian Institute of Technology started its academic programmes in the campus and infrastructure of the old Hijli Jail at Kharagpur. The commission concurred with the steps taken to implement the report of the Sarkar Committee and recommended their implementation. Their overall recommendations about the engineering education are summarized below.
(1) All the engineering and technical education institutions of the country then in operation shall be considered as national resources, and shall improve their expertise and quality. An advisory committee will be formed for this, and their recommendations will be implemented.
(2) Technical education institutions of different levels (or grades) should be established. There is an urgent need to increase the number of establishments of the fourth and fifth grades especially, as the country requires sufficient skilled workers in the positions of foremen, draftsmen, craftsmen, overseers, etc.
(3) Education should be provided in all branches of engineering and technology. Many colleges (at that time) tended to focus on only a few special disciplines. As a result, it was not possible to meet the needs of other branches. On the other hand, many of the students who graduated in all those branches, did not have enough job opportunities.
(4) The curricula of engineering branches shall include general education and basic subjects of Science. Apart from this, some fundamentals related to technology may also be included. Towards the end of the course, the special subjects of that branch should be taught in depth. On the other hand, the same syllabus should be followed in the first year of study with only general and basic subjects, relevant for all branches.
(5) As the engineering education requires work practice along with the study of theory, the curriculum should include technical training during the course of study in various institutions, and post-graduate training thereafter. Students may even work part-time to supplement their studies.
(6) Wherever possible existing engineering colleges should be upgraded to provide post-graduate education and research in selected subjects of Engineering. However, the commission also noted that, this may require creation of new cadres of academic and non-academic staff, which may not be sometimes possible in the then existing colleges.
(7) The recommendations of the Sarkar Committee of High Grade Technological Institutions should be immediately implemented to meet the needs of technologists and engineers capable of advancing technology and innovation in the country.
(8) In the above activities it should also be seen that after the completion of education all these scientists and technicians may work in USA and other industrialized countries and after returning home they may quickly apply their knowledge in Indian industry.
(9) While opening such new technology and engineering education institutes, decisions should be taken with deep caution and judicious consideration as to what kind of engineering graduates are needed by the country. There should be no mere traditional following of the existing system or blind imitation of foreign models. The training in this education system should be such that the students are self-reliant, innovative, enthusiastic and enterprising. As a result, they may have their own start-ups, however small, on their own initiative. If this model of individual enterprise succeeds, the country's economy will not be controlled solely by high-powered bureaucrats.
(10) Engineering colleges shall not be regulated by Government Ministries and Departments. These will be under some university. Government ministers or bureaucrats will not be involved in the selection of their executives. They will be controlled by the university administration.
(11) The Faculty of Engineering of the Universities shall henceforth be named as 'Faculty of Engineering and Technology'. The faculty may consist of faculty members from various disciplines, scientists, commerce and arts faculty, and working engineers and technicians.
(12) Governmental assistance with appropriate allocation of funds shall be provided to the UGC for implementing the recommendations of the commission.
• Law
(1) We need to bring radical changes in the governance of law colleges.
(2) The staffing of the Faculty of Law shall be similar to the staffing of the Arts and Science Departments of the Universities.
(3) Three years of pre-legal and general education in any department must be obtained before entering the legal education.
(4) Three years graduate level courses will be introduced in special subjects and branches of law. Its final year will be mainly devoted to practical training. For example, an advocate must gain experience as an apprentice in chambers.
(5) Two types of teachers will be employed - full time (regular) and part time (irregular). Regulars will teach fundamental or basic subjects. Part-time teachers will impart practical knowledge in their workplaces. They will be engaged only on contracts, and will be paid only after rendering their services.
(6) Law classes will be held at regular scheduled times of the week and day like other departments of educational institutes.
(7) Graduates of Law shall not be eligible to undertake graduate level education in any other department. However, those desirous of higher educational training in any subject of law, may be granted that exemption.
(8) Teachers should be given opportunities for research, especially on the Indian Constitution, International Law, Administrative Law, Judiciary and the legal provisions of Hindus and Muslims of our country.
(9) Departments of Law shall regularly assess the progress of students and conduct examinations at the end of the study of the subjects.
• Medicine
(1) A medical institution may admit a maximum of 100 students per year, provided it has adequate infrastructure and staff.
(2) All departments requiring hospital facilities shall be located on the same campus.
(3) For every admitted students there should be 10 beds in the indoor patient department of the hospital.
(4) Training in rural medicine is mandatory for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
(5) Post graduate education is possible only in those colleges, where suitable infrastructure and medical faculty are available.
(6) Special emphasis should be laid on Public Health engineering and Nursing.
(7) Research infrastructure on indigenous medical systems should be developed and opportunities should be provided.
(8) The history of medicine, especially the history of ancient Indian medicine, should be taught in the first degree course.
Apart from the above specialized professional branches, the commission also recommended the introduction of higher education in several new categories. They were Business Administration, Public Administration and Industrial Relations.
Maintaining quality in Education
The commission was ever vigilant to maintain quality and nurturing excellence in education. Hence its long report contained various warnings, suggestions and recommendations on checks and balances to maintain the quality. The commission discussed in details on various aspects and put forward its recommendations on those issues such as, for creating modern and scientific curriculum, selection and training of teachers, evaluation for approval of teaching institutions, limiting the number of students according to the infrastructure, giving importance to research in higher education, establishing an eco-system for doing research, providing merit scholarships to meritorious students, initiating and planning the education in new branches of Science, Social science, Arts and Humanities, appointing foreign experts if necessary and arranging for training of students abroad, taking initiatives to establish new types of institutions of higher education, maintaining the standard of entrance examinations and all other examinations for evaluating students, emphasizing on making education and teaching methods relevant and practical, etc. Some of the recommendations of the commission in this regard are discussed here.
The commission felt that one of the reasons for the low quality of education was that teachers were highly underpaid and neglected because of their social status. For this, it proposed to provide a pay structure and pensions to teachers in higher education institutions at various levels comparable to other prestigious posts in the Government bureaucracy. It also recommends similar measures in schools. Keeping in mind that without improving the quality of schools in particular, the quality of overall education will not improve, the commission had some recommendations regarding school education. Notable among them are:
(1) Syllabus of higher education entrance examination should be selected in accordance with the curriculum of school education, so that it does not require students to learn new subjects separately.
(2) High-quality high-schools should be established in every province with a large number of suitable infrastructure and staff, where students will study from the sixth to the twelfth standard or from the ninth to the twelfth standards.
(3) Universities will introduce refresher courses for upgradation of school teachers.
Apart from this, the commission also shed light on various methodologies and components related to nurturing excellence in the system such as on (i) restricting the maximum number of students in universities, (ii) guaranteeing the minimum number of working days in a year, (iii) use of library as a supplement to classroom teaching, (iv) consistent planning of problem solving tutorials and written exercises, (v) augmenting lessons with demonstration, experimentation, hands-on experiences, tutorials, etc., (not just routine lectures from any typical textbook), etc. They even recommended a cap on the student teacher ratio in tutorials. Along with this, they also suggested the development of libraries and laboratories in each institution in general.
Influence of Indian philosophy and spiritualism
It may be noted here that although the commission's report focused on modern science, literature and art, it was in agreement with the view that ancient Indian philosophy and spiritualism have positive influence on the development of an individual. It recalled the words of the Upanishads on the Guru-Shishya (Master and disciple) tradition in the context of how a student avails education. One-fourth of the learning comes from the Guru, another (1/4th-) part comes from the student's own study and perseverance, a third is available from his fellow students and the rest is his life-long experiences and feelings.
"Acharyaat Padam Adhatte Shishya, Padam Swamedhya, Padam Cha Brahmacharivya, Padam Kalakramen Tu."
According to the commission, since the manifestation of personality takes place in the triad of knowledge, devotion and work, the curriculum at all levels should also be designed in such a way that students get opportunities to develop their analytical mindset, artistic creativity and practical problem-solving skills. In the development of the personality of a student, she (he) should be nurtured and guided accordingly by assessing the manifestation of the main stream of these threefold traits in her (his) personality. Secondary level education is of immense importance in this regard. If this nurturing is not done according to a student’s natural interests and abilities, her (his) development gets disrupted at the next stage, and dampens realisation of the objectives of the education system. That is why there is a need to arrange various vocational training at the school level as well. Education at the secondary level should develop equal respect for all types of work useful to society.
This influence of spirituality among the members of commission also affected their attitudes towards accommodating religion in education. The British rulers consciously avoided preaching of religion as a part of curriculum in the education system. Lord Bentinck made this position of Religious Neutrality clear when he first introduced Western education. Let us next review the position and recommendations of the commission in this regard.
Religious education
The colonial rulers consciously avoided religious contact in education from the beginning. This decision was based on the foresight that religious sentiments of the subjects were not to be hurt in any way, and that there should not be any accusation of favoritism towards any particular religion, especially for Christianity. In this regard, Lord Bentinck very clearly prohibited the inclusion of any religious content in the curriculum of education, implying that there was no official intention to spread Christianity through the then newly introduced Western education using English as the medium of instructions. Subsequent British governments followed this policy. However, the Christian missionaries had objections to this policy, and times and again had raised demand for the introduction of religious lessons in different ways to various education commissions. Under the guise of spiritual and moral education, they tried to get the official stamp on preaching religion in educational institutes. But, the colonial Government did not pay attention to their request. However, this policy was enforced only in the Government educational institutions and the Government run education system. Various religious organizations were permitted to provide religious instructions in their established educational institutions.
The commission first examined the position of secularism in relation to the education system under various clauses in the Indian Constitution (as a draft then). One of them was that no educational institution, run entirely by government funds, is allowed to carry out any religious instruction and propaganda. This permission will be granted only if the resources administered under a trust or endowment with the objectives of imparting religious instructions. Another clause in the Constitution states that no person shall be compelled against her (his) will to join any religious program or organization in such government-aided institutions. In this context, Government-aided educational institutions (such as the Sanskrit College of Kolkata), where the teaching and researches on Vedas, Upanishads, Gita etc. were being carried out, were permitted to continue as before. In this context, the commission highlighted B.R. Ambedkar's statement –
“My own view is this, that religious instruction is to be distinguished from research or study. These are quite different things. Religious instruction means this. For instance, so far as the Islamic religion is concerned, it means that you believe in one God, that you believe that Pagambar the Prophet is the last prophet and so on, in other words, what we call dogma. A dogma is quite different from study.”
They have also examined the position of Gandhiji in this context. In 1938, Gandhiji's speech about religion in the Wardha Plan was,
“We have excluded religion from education in the Wardha Education Plan. Because we feel that the way religion is taught and practiced creates conflict instead of unity. But on the other hand I also think that truth, which is recognized in all religions, should be included in children's education.”
Judging by all these views, the commission held that even though the State religion is absent as per the Constitution, the Constitution favors spiritual training. The State shall not show favoritism to any particular religion. But being secular does not mean being uneducated or ignorant about religion. Hence the search for spirituality with depth rather than following a narrow religion is desirable. For this reason, as a practical application of this philosophy in education, they recommended that students are to be engaged in a short period of prayer or meditation each morning before the start of class. In addition, their recommendations regarding religious education in graduate level courses are as follows:
(1) Biographies of great religious leaders and philosophers like Gautama Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Socrates, Jesus Christ, Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhav, Hazrat Muhammad, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Gandhiji, etc. should be taught in the first year.
(2) In the second year subjects of universal application of religion and scriptures may be taught.
(3) In the third year the critical issues of religious philosophy may be studied.
Women's Education
The commission shared prevailing conservative views on the expansion of higher education among women. According to the commission, the primary role of a woman is of a homemaker. A man and a woman in a family assume two different roles. Men interact with the outer world, whereas women take care of family and home. However, to bring the patriarchal family into line with modernity, women also need higher education. But its nature may not be the same as that for a man. In this case, higher education for a woman was meant for modernizing and streamlining their various activities, such as housekeeping, child rearing, taking care of health and hygiene, home beautification, etc. Yet, the commission did not deny the objectives of creating opportunities of higher education for those women, who chose their career outside the domestic world. Notably, even now in this male chauvinist education system in the third decade of the twenty first century, the subject matters related to teaching of cooking, housekeeping and child rearing to men do not excite grey cells of our educationists, and are kept as natural choices for girl students.
The commission recommended the introduction of general undergraduate level education for women. In order to control expenditures on education, instead of setting up colleges only for women, it was considered pragmatic to introduce co-education in the colleges. However, it had been suggested to develop separate infrastructure for women's health and mental development in those colleges. Proposals had also been made to formulate appropriate programs for their participation in college life, to develop housing systems and to appoint more number of female teachers.
Since women are mainly engaged in raising family, participation of women in various professional educations was not in the agenda of the commission. Rather, they thought that as all these professional educations were expensive, and since women mostly would not be in a position to take those professions socially, the allocation of budget for that purpose might not be justified. Special vocational trainings were recommended for women only in Education, Nursing, and Fine Arts. From today’s perspective this view of the commission was definitely indicative of their gender bias, and it hindered the promotion of gender-neutral higher education. However, it must be remembered that the question of women's freedom had not yet come before our policy makers and heads of the societies then. It should also be noted that there was no woman member among the members of the commission.
Let us take a look at some of the key recommendations of the commission regarding women education.
(1) The then existing colleges which had been established only for the education of men and the infrastructure created as such, were to be made co-educational and to admit more number of female students. The administration of these institutes needed to take proper measures of health and grooming.
(2) The opportunities of women in higher education should not be reduced in any way, and arrangements should be made to admit them in greater numbers.
(3) Educational counselling should be provided to female students with the help of experienced teachers. Their learning and development should not be a carbon copy of the same process meant for men, but it should take care of developing the characteristics and character of a woman. In many respects, the methods are similar, but there are also some differences that need to be identified and practiced.
(4) Supportive measures should be developed so that female students participate with dignity as a female member of the society like other citizens.
(5) Educational counselling should remove the present unreasonable reluctance to acquire education in home economics and domestic management and encourage female students to acquire that education.
(6) Men in co-educational institutions should be taught decency and observing responsible behaviour towards women.
(7) New higher educational institutions shall always be co-educational.
(8) Salary and other facilities of female teachers shall be equal to that of male teachers.
The medium of instruction
As regards the medium of instruction, the commission hoped that Hindi would become a common federal language for the whole country. That is why the commission proposed to enrich the language by assimilating words from all other languages. Apart from this, the words of other languages which had entered Indian languages, should also be retained, so that the languages are not confined to their own geo-political boundaries. Along with this the commission had several other recommendations:
(1) The international technical and scientific terminologies should be adapted in Indian languages. Wherever possible they may be assimilated with phonetic analogies. Their spelling should also be standardized.
(2) The medium of higher education shall be English in the beginning. It should be converted into Indian languages soon. But Sanskrit should never take that place because of its stagnation and unintelligibility.
(3) High school and university students will be exposed to three languages, their regional language, the Federal language and English. The medium of higher education shall be the regional language and optionally provision should be made for the use of the Federal language in some or all subjects.
(4) Devanagari shall be the only written character of the Federal language.
(5) Urgent steps should be taken to improve the national and regional languages. They are:
(a) A board of scientists and linguists should be constituted, whose role would be to compile scientific terminologies in regional and national languages, and to prepare textbooks.
(b) The Provincial Governments shall initiate the provision of teaching Federal language in higher secondary and higher education institutions.
(6) English as a language will continue to be taught in high schools and higher educational institutions, so that we can keep in touch with the progress of modern knowledge.
Conducting examinations
The commission suggested to develop proper infrastructure for holding examinations, and administrative reforms to maintain the quality of the education system. For this, each university had been asked to form a Board of Examiners. Appointing regular full time staff at administrative and clerical level was recommended to support the work of that board. The examination board was proposed to have mainly two types of responsibilities:
(1) Advising and making teachers aware of different types of material evaluation methods. Apart from this, this board will also suggest changes in the syllabus of the subjects.
(2) Conducting examinations and evaluating training at regular intervals to maintain the quality of education in subordinate colleges.
Apart from this, other recommendations of the commission were as follows:
(1) There shall be oral examination only in post-graduate and professional courses.
(2) Provision shall be made for taking mental and intellectual tests for the students of class XII, appearing for the final examination. Admission to higher education may be granted on material judgment of the results of these examinations and other relevant information.
(3) A method of taking objective progress tests should be developed to assess the progress of classroom learning.
(4) University degree shall not be required for appointment to Government administrative posts. For that, special tests may be arranged according to different types of work and the workers will be selected based on the results of those tests.
(5) One third of the assessment of undergraduate and postgraduate subjects will come from regular assessment of work done during the course of instruction. It is to be adopted without any delay in the teaching universities for the B.A., B.Sc., M.A. and M.Sc. examinations.
(6) Selection of examiners should be done with utmost care. No subject shall be examined by a person who has not taught that subject for the last five years.
Programs related to students
The commission highlighted their thoughts and suggestions on various issues related to students’ participation in various processes and events during their education. They include ensuring fairness and transparency in the selection and admission process, coordinating various constructive activities of student life, provision of various amenities and societal benefits, etc. In this regard, creation of a post of the Dean of Student Affairs had been recommended for the student welfare. It had also been suggested to form an advisory board for the student welfare. Let us review some of the key recommendations in this regard.
• Merit based admission process in Higher Education
According to the commission, the admission process should be conducted only on the basis of merit through a non-biased mechanism. Meritorious students, who are economically weak, should be awarded merit scholarship through proper examination and evaluation. Various degree programs should be introduced in colleges so that the local youth also have access to higher education. Universities on the other hand will only engage in postgraduate and professional education, and research. At that time there were some universities, which only supervised the affiliation of colleges and conducted examinations. The commission directed all these universities to begin post-graduate academic programs, and recommended to set up all universities of that character in future.
• Health
The Commission made several recommendations for the supervision of students' health. These include the following.
(1) Regular health check-up of students at the time of admission and during the course of their education.
(2) Establishment of hospitals and health centers in all universities to meet the needs of students. Similar arrangements are to be made for teaching and non-teaching staff.
(3) To ensure regular monitoring of the environment, checking of health of staff and students of higher educational institutions and to submit regular reports to the Vice-Chancellor or responsible officers.
(4) To prepare nutritious food for students’ mid-day meals at fair prices.
(5) To provide regular vaccination against various infectious diseases to the students.
• Co-curricular education
Considering the overall development of the students, the commission proposed three types of co-curricular education, namely (i) Physical Education, (ii) National Cadet Corps (NCC) and (iii) National Social Service (NSS). Students might choose any one of them. Every student had to participate in this co-curricular program for two years.
That was why, every university was asked to appoint a Director of Physical Education. Also, the university should have a gymnasium, a playground, sports equipment, etc. Similarly, it was suggested to open a branch of NCC in every university to acquaint the students with the life and activities of the armed forces. The activities related to NCC were suggested to be managed directly by the central government instead of the provincial governments. The central government was asked to appoint appropriate officials and allocate funds for this program. Apart from sports and NCC, social service was another form of co-curricular program for students to participate in. This comes under the National Social Service (NSS) program.
• Housing
In this report, the commission had given instructions to follow various suggestions and policies for the management of accommodation and food for the students. According to the commission, since many students would come from far-flung areas, especially rural areas, it was one of the duties of universities to provide them with suitable accommodation and hostels. Therefore suitable infrastructure for accommodating students, and existence of a system for maintaining them, were made necessary conditions of accreditation of universities. Let us review some of the key recommendations of the commission in this regard.
(1) In hostel rooms, apart from a student’s own bedding, other necessary furniture such as bed, table, chair, cupboard etc. are to be arranged.
(2) All residences shall have dining halls, and food shall be prepared under the supervision of a dietician. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food shall be provided. No other arrangement will be allowed.
(3) All hostels shall accommodate students irrespective of caste and religion. Henceforth, various communal housing arrangements are to be abandoned according to prevailing custom of that era.
(4) The hostel room allotment policy and preferences should be declared to the students, and accordingly rooms are to be allocated.
(5) Some staff members may stay in such hostels to interact with students, and take constructive part in their social development and interaction.
(6) Leading students of good character should provide leadership in various aspects of hostel life. Merit scholarship recipient students may be given various such minor duties including management of mess or canteens.
(7) Hostels shall not have more than 50 students in a block. Canteens and common rooms should be provided for every four or five blocks.
(8) There should be playgrounds for residents and suitable premises for celebrating various social events.
(9) Regular monitoring should be carried out for protecting environment and health of every resident.
(10) Students may stay only in University approved accommodation.
• Student organizations
The report also recommends to give permission to form student organizations. However, the organization needs to refrain from political activities as far as possible. It will act as a federative link of organizations formed for various constructive purposes of different groups of students. It will also organize institutional and social programs of the students. University administration will not interfere in the activities of this organization. This organization shall be run solely by students, and shall be solely concerned with matters relating to student life. Student representatives will participate in various regulatory committees to assist good governance and discipline among the students.
Administration and regulation of Education
The commission felt that higher education should be included in the joint list of the states and the center in the Constitution. According to them, the Centre's role in managing universities is only allocation of funds, coordination in creation of various infrastructures, promotion and improvement of quality of education in new and advanced subjects, formulation of national policies, maintenance of quality of administration, coordination of universities with national research centers, carrying out educational supervision, etc. The commission has proposed to constitute a grant commission for allocation of funds to educational institutes. It suggested setting up a panel of various experts including academicians, and scientists to help the grant commission. It also prohibited restricting the role of any new university for granting affiliation to colleges only. It suggested that the autonomous colleges should be gradually brought under the control of one or the other universities. It observed that due consideration may be given to improve the educational standards of private colleges, so that they become eligible for government assistance. Governing bodies of these colleges should be properly constituted. The number of affiliated colleges under the universities should be limited to maintain the quality of education. Initially, though the affiliated colleges will be centrally controlled by the university, in the later stage they may also participate in the administration with joint responsibilities. Apart from this, the commission recommended various administrative posts and committees in the structure of the university administration. These are - Visitor, Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Senate, Academic Council or Syndicate, Faculties, Board of Studies, Finance Committee and Selection Committee.
· Allocation of funds
Regarding financing the higher education, the commission had identified a fundamental debate on how overall spending should be done in the education sector. The issue was being raised at that time from politicians and other representatives from different segments of society on prioritizing such expenditures for educating the nation. A section of intelligentsia wanted to give emphasis and priority only on basic education, which includes education at primary, secondary and higher secondary levels. The other opinion was to put also emphasis on higher education in colleges and universities. Typical argument for the subscribers of the views on prioritizing education in basic sectors was that, since the country just got independence, and the resources and capacity were very limited, public spending on higher education for a limited segment of population was unjustified. According to them, only the efforts of the Government should be focused on the promotion of basic education. Government funding would be made available to higher education only when the overall enrolment rate to primary and secondary schools increases substantially indicating the wide penetration of basic education in society. Many leaders and activists of various political parties, administrative officials, and policy makers were of this opinion.
The commission opposed this view on limiting public fund in higher education by arguing that the expansion of basic and school education in the country was linked to the expansion of higher education. Higher education should not remain isolated from the process of overall expansion of education in our country. One complements the other. Therefore, in the development of overall education, funds should be allocated for both the basic and the higher education, and sufficient funds to be allocated for building new higher educational institutions.
But this argument of giving equal importance to the two types of education was later found to be flawed and biased. The enthusiasm and commitment to the expansion of basic education had not been commensurate with the government initiatives later seen in the expansion of higher education. By weakening the foundation of primary and secondary education, only the children of a few, hereditary educated families get access to higher education, while the children of the vast majority of the population do not. The commission considered the issues from the statesmen's point of view, the interest of the people and the fundamental human rights to education were not in its consideration. According to the commission, higher education has a greater role to play especially in the multifaceted development of the country, which include Industrialization and economic development, development of efficient administrative system, growth of trade and commerce, development of international relations, strengthening of Defence, etc. The progress and implementation of welfare projects were not possible without expansion of higher education. The commission's key recommendations for allocation of funds in higher education are as follows –
(1) The State should recognize the importance of higher education, and take full responsibility of allocating funds for its expansion.
(2) Funds should be allocated for infrastructure development of colleges established on private initiative. Along with this, partial financial assistance (one-third) can be given for their regular maintenance and staff salaries.
(3) Various income tax exemption schemes should be adopted for donations in the field of education.
(4) Colleges and Universities shall be provided additional assistance in implementing the program as recommended by the commission.
(5) In the first five years of planning, the government would allocate an additional five crore rupees annually for higher education.
(6) University Grants Commission should be formed to allocate and disburse funds to the universities.
Influence of the Radhakrishnan Commission on Education System of Independent India
The Radhakrishnan Commission report and its recommendations have had an immense impact on the development of India's education system after independence. In 1950 the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) accepted almost all the recommendations of the commission. However, the recommendation to include higher education in the joint Centre-State list in our Constitution was not accepted then. At that time, under the federal framework of the Constitution, education as well as higher education was under the control of provincial states. By amending the constitution in 1976, education was included in the joint list. As recommended by the committee, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has assumed crucial responsibility of coordination, formulation of policies, and, allocation and disbursement of funds for the promotion of higher education.
Accepting an education policy by the state does not mean that all its recommendations were implemented in subsequent years. There are goodwill pledges and promises written in our Constitution and legal notifications, but in reality those are not followed in many cases. But in general, the principles accepted in a policy guide in making decisions while working on various details of running a system. The report of the Radhakrishnan Commission not only provided directions in building an education system in our country in terms of defining overall educational objectives, democratisation of education, adhering to modern scientific practice and research, facilitating international exchange of ideas, etc., but also discussed various issues on fixing nuts and bolts of running the system. For that reason, even the need to provide minimally furnished housing with dining and other facilities to the students in an education system of a newly independent State did not escape the attention of its members.
Let us now discuss how the implementation of the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Commission are (were) reflected in the higher education system. We need to look at both its benefits and limitations, and understand how they have influenced our education system and subsequent education policies.
(1) Active participation of the state in the expansion of higher education
The commission in its report very logically established the importance of the expansion of higher education in the economic and social development of the country and its beneficial role in building a democratic state. For that reason, the commission formulated the policy of the Government’s direct funding for the promotion of higher education. Accordingly, it advised the Government to take initiative in fiscal, administrative and legal reforms. It is this principle, that has largely driven the post-independence Government initiatives to build up a higher education system.
(2) Building high quality higher education institutions
This commission was vigilant about maintaining the standards of higher education. It felt that it should be wise to build a new type of higher education institution instead of trying to bring radical reforms in old Institutions of the colonial legacy to improve the quality of higher education. Along with this, the recommendations of the Nalini Ranjan Sarkar committee formed during the last years of British rule to establish such institutes of technology also influenced the commission. In the following years, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)s were established in various parts of the country. Special funds were allocated to the development and management of their infrastructure and resources. The Parliament passed acts allowing various independent measures to be taken in providing education and carrying out researches. This step had helped these organizations to gradually achieve international standards. Similar measures were taken in other branches of Science. For example, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) was established for medicine, National Law University (NLU) for law, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) for education in management and business administration, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi for general studies in Science, Social Science, History, Arts, etc. Along with this, reputed institutions were also nationalized to improve the quality of education. A few such examples include the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in Bangalore founded by the Nobel Laureate Prof. C. V. Raman, Visva Bharati in Santiniketan, Wet Bengal founded by another Nobel Laureate and the literary doyen Rabindranath Tagore, and the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata founded by internationally renowned statistician Prof. Prasant Chandra Mahalanobis. Along with these efforts, the provincial governments also took initiatives to establish new engineering colleges, medical colleges, universities and their affiliated colleges. To implement and coordinate all these programmes, the central government has constituted various central bodies, such as the University Grants Commission (UGC) for university education, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) for engineering education, Indian Medical Council (now, National Medical Commission (NMC)) as the regulatory body for medical education, etc. These organizations allow affiliation of relevant educational institutions to maintain the quality of higher education.
(3) Study and research in modern branches of Science and Technology
Higher education institutions has been taking various initiatives in this regard since the beginning of the introduction of this education policy. Academic programs and courses were being introduced and offered at graduate level in various new disciplines. The commission laid special emphasis on Agriculture. Various agricultural universities and research centers were established. Indian Council of Agricultural Research was formed as per the proposal of the commission to coordinate these activities. Agricultural Engineering courses were also introduced in various engineering colleges. Apart from this, with the development of modern science and technology, higher education has been introduced and developed in Radio Physics, Electronics, Computer Science and Engineering, Biotechnology, Aviation and space technology, Nuclear science, Particle science, etc. Similarly, studies and research activities have been undertaken in various branches in Medicine and Biology. Various educational Institutes were founded and supported for studies and researches in Social Sciences and Statistics. Despite being an economically weak country, reputation of Indian education and scholars has been increasing at the international level. Not only in Science, Technology and Medicine, Indian academics have gained international recognition in Arts and Culture as well. India did export skilled technicians, teachers, and researchers to the markets of America and Western Europe many years before today's Russia and China.
The process of setting up various research institutes at the central level to develop their linkages with universities was also initiated for moderating the direction and quality of research. Its administrative and governing structures include various central departments, such as Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Information Technology (DIT), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), etc. Funding and coordination of research activities in educational institutions have been established through these organizations.
(4) Promotion of modern scientific education free from ancient dogma and rhetoric
The commission emphasized on inculcating scientific and democratic values in the education system. Besides recognizing the necessity of studying and researching ancient epistemology, mythology, epics, philosophy, etc. to build Indian culture and national identity, the commission prioritized the study and research in modern epistemology, science, literature, art as an urgent need. It envisioned that a new independent country like India, needs an educated society with a democratic spirit - whose torch bearers will be poets, writers, historians, philosophers, intellectuals, scientists, engineers, doctors, inventors, innovators, creative people, etc., Hence, they felt that education of the people of this country should not be confined to the stagnant knowledge system of the past. Moreover, to overcome the effects of casteism, religious communalism, various prejudices and backwardness in the society, there is a need for rational and science-based education. This policy of Radhakrishnan Commission affected not only higher education but also school education in general. Accordingly, the contents of the textbooks of various subjects were written and compiled.
(5) Creation of open and free democratic environment in educational institutions
The commission had given considerable importance to make the social status of teachers objectively honourable, and ensuring their freedom of thoughts and expressions. At the same time, it championed creation and maintenance of such an academic environment that nurtures the independent individual development of a student. This is one of the characteristics of a democratic education system. This policy of the commission was recognized by the Government by giving autonomy to the Institutes to run its own academic and administrative affairs. However, the question of transgression of its boundaries has repeatedly arisen times and again. Reforms and changes in the educational system depend on the pace of reforms, and cultural and economic development of the society. It is also associated with the peoples’ awareness and struggle in protecting democratic rights not only for education, but also in general in day to day transactions of livelihood. It is not rare to observe that one of the methods of suppressing antigovernment sentiments, is to policing the education arena and putting various restrictions on teachers and students alike, prohibiting their free expressions of criticism and opinions against the rulers of the land.
(6) Keeping the management of educational institutions free from government control
The Commission made a very clear and strong statement on this matter. Allocation of government funds does not mean that educational institutions will be run under the supervision of government administration and ministries. Yet, in present days, a simplistic argument favouring this type of administrative control is often put forward in the discourse of chief administrators (i.e. Directors, Vice Chancellors, etc.) of Higher Education Institutes and top bureaucrats of Government Departments. According to them for the public funded Institutes, the Government, like any other financier of a business organization, should have the ultimate say in running academic and administrative affairs of these Institutes. In the contrary, the commission was very much against this kind of argument. Instead, it recommended to build a system of independent administration and management from academicians, teachers and educationists. It recommended to build autonomous governance in universities with administrative offices and academic decision making bodies such as Vice-Chancellor, Senate, Syndicate etc. This policy has had a considerable impact on the governance of universities in post-independence India, as the Publicly funded Higher Educational Institutes were given such autonomy. However, since the eighties of the last century, the factors such as political and governmental allegiances have been becoming necessary components in the recruitment of these administrative posts. Eventually, we observe today many signs of blind allegiance and submission of these administrators to the dictates of the government departments. As a result, the independent environment and activities of the academic institutions are getting withered away, compromising the maintenance of quality of education and research. This shows, how relevant was the Radhakrishnan Commission's warning in protecting and accepting the autonomy of Institutions as a matter of principle.
(7) Following the principle of secularism
Although the report reveals the commission's weakness and bias towards ancient Indian religions, the constitutional commitment to secularism has been emphatically maintained in characterizing academic programs and curricula. The religion is left out of the curricula except for the recommendation of prayer and meditation. No one can be forced in any way to participate in religious activities in the premises of educational institutes. Publicly funded religious events and campaigns are also prohibited. However, while explaining secularism, the commission also said that it did not mean that students remain ignorant of religion. It also advocated inclusion of philosophical discourse and study of various religions in the curricula.
(8) Introduction of co-curricular education
Following the recommendations of Radhakrishnan Commission, co-curricular education in various disciplines is included in higher education. Sports or Physical Education, NCC, and NSS are the three branches, under which this education is provided. For that, the administrative infrastructure for management and coordination of each of them is also developed at the national level. Even in schools, it is optionally introduced to students.
(9) Developing international linkages in education
The commission supported learning about international affairs, participating in cultural exchanges and fostering international communication in education and research in areas of Science and Technology. It recommended to provide assistance to students and teachers to receive training in established foreign universities and organizations. The commission also recommended inviting international experts and scholars to domestic institutions and employing them in teaching and research.
(10) Providing educational opportunities and support to meritorious students
One of the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Commission was to give priority to meritorious students in higher education, and to provide financial assistance to the students from poor families. Along with that by establishing high quality higher education institutions, higher education was made affordable to a large section of the society. All these institutes conduct various entrance tests regularly at national and provincial levels to select students on the basis of merit. Only according to the merit lists of those entrance examinations, students get the opportunity to avail higher education in their preferred institution and department. As a result, students from the poor families of the larger society also get this opportunity though very limited in numbers. In this way, higher education has reached to different sections of the society. Along with this, a policy is introduced to give priority and financial assistance to the meritorious students of socio-economically weaker sections by making reservations for Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
Limitations of the higher education policy
The recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Commission were aimed at establishing a fair, equitable and science-based education system for the citizens of a democratic country. The commission also made government policy makers aware of the key role of higher education in building nation and a democratic state. At the same time, it championed the view that it is of utmost importance to nurture and groom excellence in the education system. Almost all of these proposals were accepted by the then Government. But, their implementation was largely dependent on the country's progress in economy, and the development of its democratic system and institutions. That is why we may observe that although initially various programs and principles, as recommended by the commission, were followed by the Central and Provincial Governments and their administrative departments, gradually that commitment loosened. In the absence of appropriate administrative and infrastructural reforms to implement these recommendations, the principles suggested by the commission have been violated times and again in running the education system. Below we briefly review the eventual states of affairs on some of the major recommendations of the commission.
(1) On nurturing democracy: As the Radhakrishnan Commission wanted to give legal protection to the freedom of expression of teachers, the governments initially protected it. But gradually various restrictions were imposed on the expression of anti-government views. Under the pretext of territorial integrity and security of this country, various laws were enacted to control the free expression of intellectuals. The administrators of educational Institutes, under the indirect and direct pressure of various police surveillance and government spy agencies, are habituated to comply in bringing various restrictions in the atmosphere of free discussion in the educational institution.
(2) On providing autonomy: One of the principles of the commission in running the educational system was to develop an independent and autonomous governing system of the institutions. Academicians, teachers, and educationists were considered to be primary stakeholders of that governance, and were supposed to function independently under the public rules and regulations. Government Departments and Ministries were not supposed to interfere. It was made emphatically clear that government financial support does not mean that the curricula, research, and other activities of educational institutions are to be under the government control. The commission also emphasised this principle by explicit warning in this regard. However, the implementation of this policy largely depends on the goodwill of a government. Without the development of a modern civil society and democratic administrative structure to complement this policy, Institutions of Higher Education increasingly came under the scanner of government ministries and departments, and the selection of their Directors / Vice-chancellors became dependent on their loyalty to the ruling political parties. As a result, institutions cannot make independent decisions regarding their education and research. Gradually these Institutions have been run as traditional government departments with inflexible and nonchalant bureaucracy, and many of them lost their past reputations. In some cases, we see this consequence in the present plight of once famous institutions. This disease has gripped the provincial universities since the eighties of the last century, the result of which we see in the turmoil of those universities. In recent years, the aggressive interference of the ministries and their bureaucrats have been increasing in the central institutions of higher education also. They are too probably going to be in the same situation of losing their glory, what they enjoy today.
(3) On fairness and equal opportunity across the population: Most of the students in the society are deprived of the opportunity of higher education as they do not cross the threshold of higher secondary education. Also, with the nonuniformity in the quality of education at the school level across various parts of country (in particular low resources available to the education system in rural and semiurban India) and making the syllabus of the entrance examinations onerous, it becomes difficult for the economically and socially weaker sections of the society, especially those who study in rural or semi-urban settings, to succeed in the entrance examinations. These entrance tests require separate preparation in violation with the spirit and recommendation of the Radhakrishnan Commission. It is not possible for many to meet its expenses. For all these reasons, only students from affluent and urban families have a higher chance of success. Talented students from poor rural families are deprived of the opportunity to pursue education in high quality higher education institutions. For the same reason, reservation system does not guarantee entry to the higher education to most people from Scheduled Castes and Tribes, who are socially and economically deprived. Along with this, it is necessary to give equal importance to the expansion of basic and school education for them. Overall, the government's efforts and initiatives to promote quality basic and school level education in the education system of rural society are insufficient and neglected. Because of this, the access of students from this section to higher education is extremely limited.
(4) On secularism and religious neutrality: The vacillation of the commission on the question of religious neutrality has left the possibility of infiltration of various unscientific and pseudo-scientific ideas into the education system. The commission did not fully recognize the principle of secularism introduced by William Bentinck (1774-1839) on this question. On the other hand, it also supported the beneficial role of spirituality in the mental development of students. Our religions are ensnared in abhorrent casteism. In all kinds of spiritualism, various unscientific beliefs and superstitions are involved, due to which the process of formation of scientific temperament among students gets disrupted. The commission did not sound any warning in that regard. The question of secularism has been seen as a practical means of preventing religious divisions. This limited interpretation and application has not been effective in creating a truly secular society and education system.
(5) On women’s education: The commission's views on women's education were traditional and patriarchal. Because of this, women's entry into many fields of higher education immediately after independence was either prohibited by law or socially discouraged. For example, for many years female students were not allowed to take admission to some Engineering departments such as Mechanical, Mining, etc.. Girls were also not interested in higher education in various departments of Science, Technology, and Medicine due to this reason or they were discouraged. At present some of these backward reforms are coming to an end. But still this traditional educational philosophy of the commission continues to influence the wider society and education system.
(6) On the medium of instructions: The Radhakrishnan Commission hoped that a mixture of the languages of all the provinces of India would develop into one pan-India language, which would become the medium of instruction of the country. This thinking of the commission was greatly exaggerated and unrealistic. The individuality of the provincial languages is so great that the idea of developing such a hypothetical mixture is far from a possibility. Although Hindi was not directly identified as the common language, the recommendations were consistent with the language policy of the Constitution. It should also be noted that Hindi itself is not a language, it is only a register of the Hindustani language. Likewise Urdu is also another register of the Hindustani language. The replacement of provincial languages by a register of a particular language in this way is contrary to the evolving Indian federal system, and is not acceptable to the people of many provinces and territories. The commission ignored the question of equal rights of all languages in this regard. This view of the commission has also affected the subsequent central education policies in general and hampered the formulation of a realistic policy of delivering higher education in mother tongues in the federal framework.
Impact on subsequent education commissions
The Secondary Education Commission or Mudaliar Commission (1952-1953) was formed immediately after the University Education Commission. The commission began its work under the leadership of the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, Arcot Laxmanswamy Mudaliar (1887-1974), in October 1952 and submitted its report in June 1953. This commission approved admission to university education at the end of 12 years of schooling as recommended by the University Education Commission. Also in the earlier system, two years of intermediate higher secondary education were provided in colleges. Under the new system, this level of education has been included in the senior school curricula. However, following the proposed restructuring by this commission, school education was kept up to Class XI and college education was made three years at the graduate level. Along with this, co-curricular education, especially physical education, is included in schools along the lines suggested by the Radhakrishnan Commission. The system of NCC training in schools was also introduced as per the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Commission. Vocational courses had also become part of the school education. For promotion of women's education, Mudaliar Commission prioritized the opening of more schools for girl students. Co-educational schools were also asked to develop suitable infrastructure for female students. Like the Radhakrishnan Commission in declaring the objectives of female education, women's role as housewives was given priority in its recommended curricula. In teaching languages, introduction of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking provinces and any other Indian language in Hindi speaking provinces were recommended in the school curricula. This was in addition to learning of a provincial language and English. However, in the higher classes only two languages were to be taught, one of which was the mother tongue or the provincial language.
The next education commission, which was formed with the aim of reforming the education system at all levels, was the Education Commission or Kothari Commission (1964-66) formed in 1964. This commission was formed under the leadership of the then UGC Chairman, Professor Daulat Singh Kothari (1906-1993). In 1966 this commission submitted its report. To prepare this report, the commission constituted 12 task forces on various subjects related to education, namely - school education, higher education, technical education, agricultural education, adult education, education and research in science, training and promotion of teachers, student welfare, introduction of new techniques and methods, recruitment of staff, administration and allocation of funds. If we carefully look at the themes of survey and planning of these task forces, we find that they had also been discussed in various ways in the Radhakrishnan Commission report. The Education Commission also acknowledged in its report that most of what it said in the report was similar to what the previous University Education Commission had said. But as the implementations of those recommendations were incomplete in many ways, the Kothari Commission proposed various structural and procedural reforms. The importance given by the Radhakrishnan Commission to the expansion of agricultural education, in particular, had not yet been seen to be expanding then. So the Kothari Commission recommended to adopt special initiatives in this regard. Regarding the purpose of education, following the Radhakrishnan Commission's line of thinking, it also maintained the same stand in developing a science-based curricula in harmony with Indian culture and values. One of the recommendations of the Kothari Commission was to formulate a policy of State responsibility to provide free and compulsory school level education to all children up to the age of 14 years. Language education at school level adopted the principle of teaching three languages along with mother tongue and English. The proposed third language was Hindi in non-Hindi speaking areas and any other Indian language in Hindi speaking environments. To improve the quality of education at the school level, the commission emphasized the establishment of high-quality public schools, and called for the admission of students on the basis of merit. It recommended introduction of 10 years of secondary education along with primary education, 2 years of higher secondary education, and 3 years of graduate level education. This structural reform of the commission was implemented in the following years and these phases of education were introduced uniformly throughout the country.
The structural reforms as recommended by the Kothari Commission got accepted in a subsequent report known as the National Policy on Education (NPE) in 1986 . In 1992, the programmes of this educational policy were further elaborated. It adopted the policy of having a unform structure of education from the primary to higher education levels throughout the country according to the recommendations of the Kothari Commission. Accordingly, the first five years of the ten years’ study in schools were divided into stages as primary or lower-basic, the middle three years into upper-basic, and the last two years into a high school (i.e. secondary). This was followed by two years (11th and 12th class) of higher secondary or senior secondary level of education. Apart from bringing uniformity in the number of school years, the policy of introducing a minimum compulsory curriculum common to all parts of the country and taking into account regional characteristics in the inclusion of special subjects on top of it, was also adopted. Subjects like Science and Mathematics were made compulsory in this curricula. History of India's freedom movement, constitutional obligations, and topics related to nurturing national identity were also proposed to be made compulsory in the course. One of the key proposals in creating infrastructure of education at the school level was the establishment of model schools or Navodaya schools in every district of the country. In the development of educational infrastructure, open schools and distance learning courses were also planned. It also called for the creation of a national education system to coordinate and manage the education system by reorganizing the education regulatory bodies. In higher education in this system, UGC, AICTE, ICAR and IMC acted as coordinating and regulatory bodies for university education, engineering and technical education, agricultural education and medical education, respectively. School level education was coordinated by National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT), National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, National Council of Teacher Education and National Institute of Adult Education. Apart from this, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) played a role at the national level and the State Advisory Board of Education (SABE) performed the role at the provincial level for regular review and formulation of education policies. The District Education Board was responsible for the management of school education at the district and regional levels.
All these three education commissions after the Radhakrishnan Commission shared the views of the Radhakrishnan Commission on the objectives of education, curricula, teaching-learning methods, etc., and had only adopted the policy of revising and expanding the education system in accordance with the available resources and infrastructure, and recommended structural reforms and new methodologies at different levels of education by taking consideration of technological progress. Accordingly, our education system has been and continues to be conducted. However, in the report of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, on various basic conditions of previous education policy, silence has been maintained. Neither those pledges were made, nor they were denied. Chief among these is the complete neglect of the issue of secularism. Apart from this, some other views contrary to the spirit of Radhakrishnan Commission report has also emerged directly or indirectly in this education policy. We will be able to feel its impact in curricula, teaching methods, administration and overall education system in the coming years.
27/7/24
(Translated from an original Bengali article written on 30/11/23.)
(Ack. Pradip Baksi for editing the Bengali article, and https://translate.google.com)
