UNIT-1 ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

Mudaliar commision (Seconadary Education Commision

1952-1953)

The Secondary Education Commission was appointed under the Chairmanship of Dr. A.L. Swami Mudaliar on September 23, 1952 to study the problems of Secondary Education in India and suggest measures for the reforms of its various aspects, such as aim, curricular, examination system, teaching method, teachers’ training, building, administration and control. The Commission considered the defects of Secondary Education and determined its objectives in the light of the following needs – (i) development of qualities of character through education, propagation of nationalism and secularism, (ii) increase in productive capacity so as to bring about an increase in national wealth, and (iii) improve in education.

The objectives of Education are as follows: –

(i)                 Development of democratic citizenship,

(ii)                Training in the art of living

(iii)              Development of personality,

(iv)             Supply of professional skills,

(v)                Training for leadership, and

(vi)              Propagation of love of the country.

The Secondary Education Commission determined the period of education at 7 years, intended for children between 11 and 17 years of age. It was divided into two parts – (i) three years for middle education and (ii) four years of higher secondary education. Provision was also made for a three-year degree course. The Commission considered it important that technical schools and other kinds of schools should be developed. It also provided for co-education.  It views that the mother-tongue or the state language should be used as the medium of instruction and students should be taught at least two languages at the Junior High School Stage. At the Secondary Stage a student should learn at least three languages, the national language, the mother tongue or the regional language and a foreign language. The Commission had emphasised the necessity of reorganising the Secondary School Curriculum in order that the aims of education may be realised. In this connection the commission wants that the curriculum should be reorganised according to the needs of the students, keeping in view the demands of the time and those of the country, meeting all the social aspirations. It should also be organised in such a way that the student’s time and leisure may not be wasted. The commission also advocated the nationalisation of the textbooks. Textbooks should be selected on the basis of their merits and utility. For this purpose the commission has recommended the appointment of a High Power Committee which will select books for all the classes. The commission also suggested that the textbook once chosen should not be changed soon. In addition to textbooks each school should have some such books which may impart general knowledge to students. The teachers should also be provided with new literature books in order to keep their interests alive.

has given the following suggestions –

(i) The post of the Director of Education should be equivalent to the Joint Secretary of the Secretariat and he should advise the minister in this capacity.

(ii) The Secondary Education Board should be organised under the Chairmanship of the Director of education who should arrange for Secondary Education in his state.

(iii) A board for teachers’ training should be established.

(iv) Central and State Committees should be organised for giving advice on Secondary Education.

(v) The District Inspector of Schools should assist the teachers in performance of their duties and in solving their problems arising from time to time. 

(vi) New schools should be reorganised only when they fulfil all conditions.

(vii) The State Government should organise a committee for management and administration of schools.  For finance, the commission has suggested that the government should be responsible for providing Vocational and Technical Education and the Centre should give financial aids to State Education

 other allied problems So that a sound and reasonable uniform system of secondary education suited to our needs and resources may be provided for the whole country. The commission submitted its report in June 1953. 

The recommendations regarding educational administration were as follows:

Recommendation # 1. Organisational Pattern of Secondary Education:

1. The commission has observed, “We have to bear in mind the principle that secondary education is a complete unit by itself and not merely a preparatory stage, that at the end of this period, the student should be in a position, if he wishes, to enter on the responsibilities of life and take up some useful vocations. The age at which the child is to begin his secondary education and the age up to which it should be continued is therefore, a matter of considerable importance. It is now generally recognized that the period of secondary education covers the age-group of about to 17 years. Properly planned education, covering about 7 years should enable the school to give a thorough training in the courses of study taken by the student and also help him/her to attain a reasonable degree of maturity in knowledge, understanding and judgement which would stand him/her I rood stead in life

 (i) A middle or Junior Secondary or Senior Basic stage which should cover a period of 3 years;

(ii) A Higher Secondary stage which should cover a period of four years.

2. Abolition of Intermediate Classes:

The commission recommended for abolition of intermediate classes. The senior intermediate class (XIIth class) should be combined with the degree class and the junior intermediate class (XIth class) with the high school class.

3. Diversification of Courses:

For diversification of courses, multi-purpose schools should be established as agricultural schools, technical schools, commercial schools etc., to enable the students to acquire education according to their interests, aims and diverse abilities.

4. Stress on Agricultural Education in Rural Schools:Special facilities should be provided for agricultural education in rural schools. Horticulture and Animal Husbandry as allied subjects of the agriculture should also be taught.

5. Technical Education:

(i) Technical schools should be set up in large numbers either separately or as part multi-purpose school and these schools should be located near industries and should function in close co-operation with the industry concerned.

(ii) Suitable legislation should be passed making it compulsory for the industry to provide facilities to students for particular apprenticeship training.

(iii) Industrial Education Cess should be levied and the” proceeds of this Cess should utilized for the development of technical education.

6. Other Type of Schools:

(i)Public schools should continue to exist for sometime say for about five years. During this time, organization of these public schools should be in consonance with the general pattern of education.

(ii) A number of residential schools should be established more particularly in certain rural areas to provide greater opportunities for teacher–pupil contact and for development recreational and extra-curricular activities.

(iii) A large number of schools should be established to meet the needs of handicapped children.

7. Education of Girls:

The commission did not like having a different type of education for girls. But it recommended for the study of Home Science in all girls’ schools. State Govt. should make effort to open girl schools wherever there is demand for them.

8. Study of Languages:

(i) Three languages should be taught in the schools. The medium of instruction at the secondary stage should be either the mother tongue or the regional language.

(ii) At the middle school stage, every student must be taught at least two languages. Hind and English should be taught after the junior basic stage of education on the condition that no two languages should be introduced in the same year. At the high school a higher secondary stage, the student must be taught at least two languages, one of which being the mother tongue or the regional language.

(iii) Hindi should be made a compulsory subject of study in the school course due to the following reasons; Official language of the centre, languages of correspondence, an means of promoting national unity and integrity.

(iv) English shall be the compulsory subject of study at the secondary stage in all the state due to the following reasons: widely known among the educated, means of national unity, useful in international sphere and harmful effect due to exclusion of English.

9. The centre should assume certain amount of direct responsibility for the contemplate reorganization of secondary education and give financial aid for the purpose.

Recommendation # 2. Organisation of Secondary School Curriculum:

1. At the Middle-School stage, the curriculum should include:

(i) Languages,

(ii) Social Studies,

(iii) General Science,

(iv) Mathematics,

(v) Art and Music

(vi) Craft and

(vii) Physical Education.

2. At the High school Pre Higher Secondary stage diversified courses of instruction should provide to the students and curriculum would be of two types:

(i) Core curriculum, which is common for all the students, includes language. General Science, Social Studies and Craft.

(ii) In addition to the core curriculum every student has to take three subjects at the higher stage out of the following seven groups:

1. Humanities (classical language, History, Geography, Economics and Civics, Psychology and Logic, Mathematics, Music, Domestic Science),

2. Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Mathematics. Physiology and Hygiene not to be taken with Biology),

3. Technical Applied Mathematics and Geometrical Drawing, Applied Science, Elements of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering),

4. Commercial (Book Keeping, Commercial Practice, Commercial Geography. Short-hand and Type-writing),

5. Agricultural (General Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture and Gardening, Agricultural Chemistry and Botany),

6. Fine Arts (History of art, Drawing and Designing, painting, Modeling, Music, Dancing),

7. Home Science (Home Economics, Nutrition and Cooking, Mother Craft and Child Care, Household management and Home Nursing).

(iii) Besides the above, a student may take at his option one additional subject from any of the above groups.

(iv) The diversified curriculum should begin in the second year of the High School or Higher Secondary stage.

Recommendation # 3. Text Books:

(i) With a view to improving the quality of text books prescribed, a high power text books committee should be constituted.

(ii) The committee should have the following functions : to prepare a panel of expert reviewers, to appoint expert committees, to invite experts, to co-operate with similar committee, to arrange for the publication, to maintain a fund, to grant suitable honoraria to authors and to utilize the balance of funds for different purposes.

(iii) The text books committee should lay down clear criteria for the type of paper, illustration, printing and format of the books.

(iv) The Central Government should set up a new institution to develop training in the technique of book illustration.

(v) The central and state governments should maintain libraries for improving of book illustrations.

(vi) Single text book should not be prescribed for every subject of study. A reasonable number of books conforming to the standards laid down should be recommended.

(vii) In case of languages, however, definite books should be prescribed for each class to ensure proper gradation.

(viii) No book, prescribed as a text book or as a book for general study, should contain any passage or statement which might offend the religious or social susceptibilities of any section of the community or might indoctrinate the minds of the young students with particular political or religious ideology.

(ix) Frequent changes of textbooks and books prescribed for study should be discouraged.

Recommendation # 4. Methods of Teaching:

The commission believed that even the best curriculum and the most perfect syllabus remains dead unless quickened into life by the right method of teaching and the right kind of teacher. The methods should be dynamic and scientific.

The following recommendations were made:

(i) The methods of teaching aim at inculcating desirable values and proper attitudes habits of work in the students besides imparting knowledge.

(ii) The methods of teaching should help the students for attachment to work.

(iii) The emphasis in teaching should shift from verbalism and memorization to learn through purposeful, concrete and realistic situations. For this purpose, the principle “Activity Method” and “Project Method” should be followed in practice.

(iv) Methods of learning should enable the children to apply practically the knowledge gained in the classroom to various problems confronting them.

(v) Methods of teaching should provide ample opportunities for students to develop clear thinking and clear expression both in speech and writing.

(vi) Emphasis should be given on acquiring knowledge through personal efforts and initiative and training the students in the techniques of study.

(vii) A well thought out attempt should be made to adopt methods of instruction to the nee of individual students as much as possible so that dull, average and bright student’s may all have a chance to progress at their own pace.

(viii)They should be given adequate opportunity to work in groups and to carry out group projects and activities to develop the qualities for group life and co-operative work.

(ix)In order to popularize progressive methods of teaching, ‘Experimental’ and ‘Demonstration’ schools should be opened.

(x) Co-curricular activities should form an integral part of education.

(xi) Library, class library and subject library should be utilized for promotion of study habit

Recommendation # 5. Discipline:

(i) The education of character should be envisaged as the responsibility of all teachers.

(ii) In order to promote discipline, personal contract between the teacher and the pupil should be strengthened, and the pattern of self-government with observance of code o conduct should be introduced in all schools.

Recommendation # 6. Moral and Religious Education:

The commission realized that religious and moral instruction plays an important part in the promotion of character. Religious instruction in schools may be given only on a voluntary basic and after the regular school hours. Such instruction should be confined to the children of the particular faith concerned and be given with the consent of parents and the management.

Recommendation # 7. Guidance and Counselling:

(i) Educational guidance should receive much greater attention on the part of educational authorities.

(ii) Guidance service should be the work of various personnel’s like parents, teachers, headmasters/headmistress, and principals.

(iii) In order to broaden the pupil’s understanding of the nature, scope and significance of the occupation or industries, film should be prepared to show the conditions of industrial, technical, agricultural or vocational aspects and this should be supplemented by actual visits.

(iv)The services of trained guidance officers and career masters should be made available gradually and in an increasing measure to all educational institutions.

(v)There should be opening up training centres in different regions for training of guidance officers and career masters to which each state may send a number of teachers and other suitable persons for training.

(vi) A Central Research organisation may be established for carrying out research in educational guidance and for the preparation of tests with particular reference to Indian conditions and the needs of pupils.

(vii) In every state there should be a Bureau of educational and vocational guidance to plan and co-ordinate various activities which have been recommended as above.

Recommendation # 8. Supervision and Inspection:

(i) The true role of an inspector should be to study the problems of school and view them comprehensively in the context of educational objectives, to formulate suggestion for improvement and help the teachers to carry out his advice and recommendations,

(ii) Special Inspectors should be appointed to inspect the teaching of special subjects like

Domestic Science, Art, Music etc.,

(iii) In addition to direct recruitment, inspectors should also be drawn from:

(a) Teacher’s of ten years experience.

(b) Headmasters of High Schools, and

(c) Duly qualified staff of training colleges who may be allowed to work as such for a period of three to five years.

The duties of inspectors should be administrative and academic. The former related to the annual inspection of records, accounts, office routine etc. For this purpose he must have assistance of a competent staff.

The latter duties are to choose teachers to visit schools in the company of the inspector and to spend two or three days with the staff to confirm about library and laboratory facilities, the curriculum and the organisation of extra-curricular activities.

Recommendation # 9. Organisation and Administration:

(i) The Director of Education should be the officer mainly responsible to advise the minister regarding the spread of education.

(ii) A committee should be constituted both at the centre and in each state in order to discuss how best the resources of the department could be pooled for the furtherance of education of all types.

(iii) There should be coordinating committee consisting of the departmental heads concerned to consider methods of improvement and expansion in the fields of education.

(iv) There should be a Board of Secondary Education consisting of not more than 25 members with the Director of Education as its chairman. A sub-committee of the Board should deal with the conduct of examination.

(v) There should be a Teacher’s Training Board for supervising and training of under-graduates.

(vi) There should be another Board, namely Central Advisory Board of Education to function as a coordinating agency to consider all India problems concerning education.

(vii) State or provincial Advisory Boards should be constituted on similar basis in each state to advise the Department of Education on all educational matters.

Recommendation # 10. Health and Physical Education:

(i) A properly organised medical service should be available in all states.

(ii) A thorough medical examination of all pupils and necessary follow up and treatment, where necessary, should be carried out in all schools.

(iii) Some of the teachers should be trained in the first aid and general principles of health.

(iv) Proper nutritional standards should be maintained in the hostels and residential schools.

(v) The school should assist, where possible, in the maintenance of sanitation of the area,

(v) Physical activities should be made to suit the individual.

(vi) All teachers below the age of 40 should actively participate in many of the physical activities of students.

(vii) The training in physical education should be comprehensive enough to include all aspects of health education.

(viii) The existing facilities for training of teachers of physical education should be expanded by increasing the seats in the existing colleges,

(ix) Full records of physical activities of students must be maintained.

Recommendation # 11. Improving the Systems of Examination and Evaluation:

I. The number of external examinations should be reduced.

II. There should be minimization of subjectivity by introducing objective tests of attainment and by changing the type of questions.

III. Cramming should be discouraged and rational understanding should be encouraged.

IV. It is undesirable to set two papers of 03 hours duration each on one day and the same day.

V. In order to find out the pupil’s all round “progress, a proper system of school records should be maintained for each and every pupil.

VI. In the final assessment of the pupils due credit should be given to the internal tests and the school records of the pupils.

VII. The system of symbolic rather than numerical marking should be adopted for evaluating and grading the work of the pupils in external and internal examinations and in maintaining the school records. A five point scale may be used: A (excellent), B (good), C (fair and average), D (Poor), E (very Poor).

VIII. There should be only one public examination at the completion of secondary school course.

IX. The system of compartmental examination should be introduced at the final public examination.

X. A candidate who has passed the examination and wishes to qualify in any additional subject(s) may appear at a subsequent examination.

XI. The certificate awarded should contain the results of the school tests in subjects as well as the gist’s of the school records besides the results of the public examination in different subjects.

Recommendation # 12. Teacher Education:

1. There should be only two types of institutions for teacher training.

(i) For those who have taken the school Leaving Certificate or Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate, for whom the period of training should be of two years; and

(ii) For graduates for whom the training may, for the present, be of one academic year, but extended as a long-term programme to two academic years.

2. Graduate teacher training institutions should be recognized by and affiliated to the universities which should grant degrees, while the secondary grade training institutions should be under the control of a separate Board appointed for the purpose.

3. The teacher trainee should receive training in one or more co-curricular activities.

4. Importance should be attached to teaching practice in schools.

5. During the period of training all the pupil-teachers should be given suitable stipend by the state.

6. The training colleges should, as a normal part of their work, assist to the in-service teacher training by providing the following:

(i) Refresher courses,

(ii) Short intensive courses in special subjects,

(iii) Work-shop,

(iv) Seminars and

(v) professional conferences.

7. Training institutions should be in close with the Department of Education and the schools.

8. For research work in all aspects of Pedagogy, every training college should have under its control an experimental or demonstration school.

9. Recruitment to training colleges should be carefully made so as to admit only those who hold the highest promise of becoming successful teachers.

10. The selection of students for teacher training may be made some months in advance of the opening of the course. The period of training may be increased to a minimum of 180 days by eliminating the number of unnecessary holidays.

11. The commission strongly advocates residential type of training colleges for all students. All these colleges should provide adequate residential facilities to cultivate community life and foster self-reliance.

12. In order to meet the shortage of women teachers, special part-time training courses should be provided.

13. The normal period of probation for a trained teacher should be one year.

14. Teachers possessing same qualifications and performing same work should be treated alike as far as salary is concerned.

15. The system of triple benefit scheme, i.e. Pension- Cum-Provident Fund-Cum-insurance scheme should be introduced in all States.

16. Arbitration Boards of committees should be set up to look into the appeals of teachers.

17. The superannuation age should he 60 for physically fit and competent teachers with the approval of the Director of Education.

18. The children of teacher should be given free education throughout the school stage.

19. Through a system of co-operative house building societies, teachers should b>e provided with quarters so as to enable them to live near the school.

20. The practice of private tuition by teachers should be abolished.

Recommendation # 13. Management of Schools:

(i) The managing Boards of all schools should be registered and should consist of a limited number of persons with headmaster as an ex-officio member.

(ii) No member of the Board should directly or indirectly interfere with the internal administration of the school.

Recommendation # 14. School Building and Equipment:

(i) The open spaces available in cities must be conserved and be utilized as playground by groups of schools.

(ii) Normally, in designing buildings for schools, care should be taken to see that an area of not less than 10 sq. ft. is provided per student in the class room.

(iii) The optimum number of boys to be admitted to any class should be 30 and the maximum should not in any case exceed 40; the optimum number in the whole school should be 500 while the maximum should not exceed 750.

Recommendation # 15. Hours of Working and Vacation:

1. As a rule the total number of working days in a school should not be less than 200, the working hours per week should be at least 35 periods about 45 minutes each; the schools should work regularly for 6 days in the week. One of the days being a half day when the teachers and students might meet informally and work together on various extra-curricular and social projects.

2. Normally during the year there should be a summer vocation of 2 months and breaks of 10 to 15 days at suitable periods during the year. Report of Secondary Education Commission is truly called as “Bible for teachers” an is a landmark in the development of education in India.

In-spite of its various drawbacks, commission has paved the golden way to improve the system of secondary education and major of the recommendations have been incorporated in to the present educational system.