According to Dr. Radha Krishnan, “It is my earnest desire that the Commission should survey all aspects of educational system at all levels and give suggestions that may help the educational system in progressing at all levels.
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According to Kothari Commission, “One of the important social objectives of education is to equalize opportunity, enabling the backward or underprivileged classes and individuals to use education as a tool for improvement of their social and economic condition”.
The most important and urgent reform needed in education is to transform it, to relate it to the life, needs and aspirations of the people and thereby make a powerful instrument of social, economic and cultural transformation, necessary for realization of the national goals. For this purpose the commission has suggested the following objectives of education:
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(a) Increasing productivity.
(b) Social and national integration.
(c) Acceleration the process of modernization.
(d) Developing social, moral and spiritual values.
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Education for Increasing Productivity though India is a land of vast resources, yet it has not become self-sufficient for this purpose, the resources must be exploited and education must be related to productivity to increase national income.
In order to create a link between education and productivity the following programmed has been suggested by Kothari Commission:
Science Education
Science education must become an integral part of school education and ultimately some study of science should become a part of all courses in the humanities and social sciences at university stage also.
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The quality of science teaching must also be improved considerably so as to promote a deep understanding of basic principles, to develop problem solving and analytical skills and to promote the spirit of enquiry and experimentation.
Work Experience. In the programmed of relating education to life and productivity, work experience must be introduced as an integral part of all education general and vocational.
To commission work experience implies participation in productive work in school, in the home, in a workshop, on a farm, in a factory or in any productive situation.
All purposeful education should include study of languages, humanities and social sciences, study of mathematics and natural sciences, work experience and social services.
Work experience is a method of integrating education with work. In the present education system work experience and social services have almost been totally neglected. Along with other elements of education work experience should be greatly emphasized for the following reasons:
(a) It will bridge the gap between intellectual and manual work.
(b) It will decrease the over academic nature of formal education.
(c) It will make the entry of youth into the world of work and employment easier by enabling them to adjust themselves to it.
(d) It will relate education to productivity and also as a means of social and national integration.
Vocationalisation
Every attempt should be made to give a vocational bias to secondary education and to increase the emphasis on agricultural and technological education at the university stage.
This will surely bring education into closer relationship with productivity. In the modern Indian society which is heading towards industrialization, it is essential to considerably expand professional education at the university stage, especially in agricultural and technological fields.
Education for National Integration
India is a land of diverse social groups. Unity and harmony among these groups is the basis of national integration. Social and national integration is an important objective of a national system of education. The Commission has suggested the following steps for strengthening the nation through education.
The Common School System
The present educational system in our country instead of bringing social groups and classes together is tending to increase social segregation and class distinctions.
The schools for the masses (generally maintained by the government) are of poorer quality than those run by private bodies. Good schools are not within the reach of a common man’s pocket.
This is one of the major weaknesses of the existing educational system. In the opinion of the Commission, “If our educational system is to become a powerful instrument of national development in general, and social and national integration in particular, we must march toward the goal of a Common School System of public education.”
The common school must be opened to all children irrespective of caste, creed, community and economic or social status.
I. It should charge no tuition fee.
II. It should maintain a good standard of education in order to meet the needs of average parents so that they may not ordinarily feel the need of sending their children to other expensive schools.
Social and National Service
Social and national service should be made obligatory for all students at all stages. It should form an integral part of education at secondary school and university levels.
This programme will prove an effective instrument for building character improving discipline, inculcating a faith in the dignity of labour and developing a sense of social responsibility, if it is organised concurrently with academic studies in schools and colleges. The following are the main forms of organizing such a programme:
(a) At the primary stage this programme should be developed in all schools on the lines of Basic Education.
(b) At the lower secondary stage social service should be made compulsory for all students for thirty days a year, at the higher secondary for twenty days and at the undergraduate stage it should be made obligatory for all students or sixty days a year, to be done in one or more stretches.
Every educational institution should develop a programme of social and community service of its own in which all students must be involved for the periods as indicated above.
(c) Labour and social service camps or N.C.C. should be organised in each district as alternative forms of such service for those students for whom no other programmers of social service have been organised in their own institutions.
Promoting national consciousness
India is a land of different castes, peoples, communities, languages, religions and cultures. The main role of our schools, colleges and universities should, therefore, be to enable our students to discover ‘unity in diversity’ and in this way, foster a sense of national solidarity and national consciousness among them. This can be done by-
The Promotion of Understanding and Re-evaluation of Our Cultural Heritage this can be achieved by the well-organized teaching of language and literature, philosophy, religion and history of India and by introducing the students to Indian architecture, sculpture, painting, music, dance and drama. Holiday camps and summer schools on inter-state basis can also be organized fruitfully, for breaking down regional and linguistic barriers.
Creation of a strong faith in the future towards would involve an attempt to bring home to the students, the principles of the constitution, the great human values, referred to in its preamble, the nature of the democratic and socialistic society.
Education for International Understanding
There is no contradiction between national consciousness and developing international understanding. Schools should promote international outlook through the study of humanities and social sciences, simultaneously with developing national consciousness.
Democratic Values
The educational programme in schools and colleges should be designed to inculcate democratic values, such as scientific temper of mind, tolerance, respect for the culture of other national groups etc. This will enable our young citizens to adopt democracy not only as a form of government but also as a way of life.
In a modern society stock of knowledge is far greater, the pace of its growth is infinitely quicker and social change is very rapid. This needs a radical change in the educational system.
Education in a modern society is no longer concerned mainly with the imparting of knowledge or the preparation of a finished product but with the awakening of curiosity, the development of proper interests, attitudes and values and the building up of such essential skills as independent study and capacity to think and judge for oneself, without which it is not possible to become a responsible member of a democratic society.
Therefore the process of modernization will be directly related to the pace of educational advance. Education brings modernization in following ways:
(a) The way to modernize quickly is to spread education.
(b) By producing educated and skilled citizens.
(c) By-training an adequate and competent intelligentsia.
(d) By banging a radical change in the method of teaching and in the training of teachers.
Education for Social, Moral and Spiritual Values
The expanding knowledge and the growing power which it places at the disposal of modern society must be combined with the strengthening and deepening of the sense of social responsibility and a keener appreciation of moral and spiritual values. For this purpose, active measures should be adopted to give a value-orientation to education. These measures are:
(a) The central and state Governments should introduce education in moral, social and spiritual values in all institutions.
(b) The privately managed institutions should also follow the same steps.
(c) Some periods should be set apart in the time table for this purpose.
(d) University department should undertake preparation of special literature for this purpose by students and teachers.
(e) For this purpose, syllabus giving well chosen information about each of the major religions should be included as a part of the course in citizenship or general education to be introduced in schools and colleges.
We may say that education is the most vital forces which can help in the realization of national objectives. While keeping in view the best features of the modem European culture and civilization, the Commission did not ignore the essential characteristics of our ancient culture and civilization as well as the needs and aspirations of our present day society.
It is for the first time that we have been given an integrated picture of Indian education in all its wide and diverse dimensions.