*«w\
Chapter
IV
Changes in Secondary Education in Assam : 1964 to 1974
I,
The Development o f Secondary Education in Assam since
Independence.
In th is chapter the in v e stig a to r proposes to deal with the
education al changes that were introduced in Assam at the secon­
dary
le v e l during the p eriod 1964 to 1974. But b efore p r o o f i n g
to the
p e rio d , i t is considered necessary t o have a rapid survey
o f the system o f secondary education in the sta te a fte r indepen­
dence t i l l the p eriod o f study.
A r tic le 45 o f the C on stitu tion o f India d ir e cts that free
and compulsory education be provided fo r every c h ild u n til he
attain s the age o f 14 y ea rs. Consequently, education al f a c i l i t i e s
were s ig n ific a n t ly increased in the sta te a fte r independence,
The number o f educational in s titu tio n s o f d iffe r e n t ca teg ories
were m u ltip lie d , both in ru ra l and urban areas. The two catego­
r ie s o f sch ools provid in g secondary education — the ’ Middle
S ch ools1 and the ’ High S c h o o l s g r e w in number. The Middle
S ch ools, a lso known as higher primary s c h o o ls , provided a course
o f general education which was a contin uation o f primary
(77)
78
education. This course was intended for all students who were
required to undergo the course before leaving school at the age
of 14, or, at class VIII as it now stands. The High School
course was essentially a course of general education intended
for students who continue in school beyond the school leaving
age, that is, beyond class VIII, The number of secondary schools
functioning in the state on the eve of the First Five Year Plan
and in 1974 is stated below.
1949-50
1969-70
Middle schools
840
1953
3397
High schools
254
1116
1500
k
69
65
x
Types of schools
Higher Secondary schools
[x
Note :
1974-75
The fall in number is explained by the fact
that
Meghalaya and Manipur went out of the jurisdiction
of SEBA in 1971 and 1973 respectively.]
The increase in the number of institutions during the
period is evidently impressive.
The control and supervision of secondary education was under
Gauhati University till 1962. Though the Department of Public
Instruction was in overall charge of education in the state, the
academic control of recognition and supervision vested with
Gauhati University. The school final examination, known
as
79
M atricu lation
Examination which was e s s e n tia lly a gateway to
u n iversity education , was conducted by Gauhati U n iversity, The
courses and s y lla b i fo r M atricu lation Examination were p res­
cribed by i t . In 1961 The Assam Secondary Education Act was
passed by the State Assembly. As a r e s u lt , The Board o f Secon^
Assam.
darv E du cation .came in to being with the purpose o f re g u la tin g ,
su p erv isin g , and developing secondary education in the s ta te .
The Act provides that
from the date in which i t comes in to
fo r c e , Gauhati U niversity or any other u n iversity or Board o f
Education ceases to e x ercise i t s ju r is d ic t io n over the in s t it u ­
tio n s o f secondary education recogn ised by the Government
of
Assam, provided that Gauhati U niversity s h a ll continue as
H iitherto to have ju r is d ic t io n over the High Schools t i l l such
time as the sta te government may d ecid e. The Act a lso provides
fo r admission o f other s ta te s , t e r r i t o r i e s or Adm inistrations
which may lik e to come under the purview o f the Board su b ject
to such con d ition s as the Board may lik e to impose, and f o r the
appointment o f the Diredtors o f Education o f the t e r r i t o r i e s or
Adm inistrations concerned as
e x - o f f i c i o members o f the Board.
The Assam Secondary Education Act 1961 came in to fo rce with
e f f e c t from 29th January 1962 as n o t ifie d under Government o f
Assam Education Department N o tific a tio n No. 159/61/37 dated
29th January 1962. [Source ; Report on the working o f the Board:
1962-63.]
Accordingly the Board o f Secondary Education, Assam^was
co n s titu te d . Nagaland, the North East F ron tier Agency, and the
80
Manipur Administration were admitted to the privileges of this
Board and their Directors of Education were included in the
Board as Ex-officio members as per Govt.
Notification No.
ESS/61/89 dated 2nd November, 1962 and No. 159/61/52 dated
6.9.62. The Board also constituted the following committees for
the purpose of carrying out its duties s
i)
Examination Committee
ii)
Recognition Committee
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
Finance and Budget Committee
Curriculum and Syllabus Committee
Administration Committee
Physical Education Committee
Girls’ Education Committee
The Board assumed the responsibility of conducting the first
Higher Secondary School Final Examination and exercising control
and jurisdiction over the Higher Secondary and Multipurpose
Schools, from 1962. In accordance with Government Notification
No. Ess/123/62/8 dated 25.2.63 and No. Ess/123/62/12 dated
20.3.63* the Board assumed the responsibility of Matriculation
Examination and re-christened it as High School Leaving Certifi­
cate Examination with effect from 1.4.63. [Compare Report on the
Working of the Board (SEBA) 1962-63.] The Board of Secondary
Education is to function in cooperation with the Department of
Education, Government of Assam, for the promotion and develop­
ment of the quality of secondary education in the state and to
relate it, according to the needs and aspirations of the
81
adolescents so as to achieve the n ation al goals o f the country.
The p attern o f sch oolin g in the sta te was as follow s i
The primary le v e l con sisted o f k years o f sch o o lin g . It
was c a lle d 'Lower P rim ary',
'Lower Elementary' or 'Ju n ior B a s ic '.
The next l e v e l , co n sistin g o f 3 yea rs, was known as 'Upper
P rim ary', 'Middle S ch ool' or 'S en ior B a s ic ', The th ird l e v e l ,
co n sistin g o f 3 yea rs, was known as 'High S c h o o l', Thus, there
was 10-year sch oolin g
fo r graduation from a secondary s ch o o l.
The higher education le v e l con sisted o f two stages —
the
Intermediate stage o f 2 years and the Degree stage o f 2 years.
Before the Board was c o n stitu te d , the High School fin a l examina­
tio n was known as the M atricu lation Examination#. The Courses o f
Studies were p rescrib ed by Gauhati U n iversity.
The recommendation o f the Secondary Education Commission
(1952-53) were being implemented by the Government o f
from
Assam
1957, A number o f High Schools was converted in to Higher
Secondary
and Multipurpose S ch ools. The Government o f Assam
a lso form ulated the courses o f stu dies fo r the Higher Secondary
and Multipurpose S ch ools. I t has been mentioned e a r lie r that
t i l l 1962, the con trol
and su p ervision o f secondary sch ools
was the r e s p o n s ib ility o f Gauhati U niversity which a lso p res­
cribed the courses o f stu d ies fo r the secondary sch ools o f the
s ta te . From 1962, a fte r the
form ation o f the Board o f Secondary
Education, Assam, the Board was handed over the r e s p o n s ib ility
o f secondary education to supervise and organise i t in order to
improve -feta* q u a lity . The f i r s t Higher Secondary School Final
82
Examination^w
**
^!)OuA
held in 196^«|conducted by the Board o f Secondary
Education, Assam, and twenty Higher Secondary Schools presented
th e ir candidates in d iffe r e n t groups. For th is purpose,
the
Board adopted the courses and syllabuses prepared by the Govern­
ment o f Assam fo r Higher Secondary and Multipurpose School.
II.
Structure and Curriculum
The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) suggested
reforms at the secondary le v e l so that secondary education might
be a complete unit by i t s e l f and not simply a preparatory stage
fo r higher education. I t was stip u lated that at the end o f th is
period, the student should be in a p o s itio n , i f he so wishes, to
enter in to the re s p o n s ib ilitie s o f l i f e
and take up some useful
vocation. The Secondary Education Commission suggested to
reorganise the secondary le v e l o f education by making the dura­
tio n o f secondary course ll*y e a rs so that i t could provide
a
longer period o f train in g which would be useful fo r those who
want to pursue higher education, and also fo r those who fin is h
th e ir education at th is stage and take up some occupation.
The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) recommended
the follow in g educational pattern which was introduced in Assam
from 1957 :
1.
Five years o f Lower Primary or Junior Basic upto class I I I .
2.
fharwp years o f Upper Primary or Middle School,,classes
IV to VH.
83
3.
ThpBcyears o f secondary education, classes V lU to X ,
4.
FdvF years o f Higher Secondary and Multipurpose education,
classes VlUto XI.
5.
One year Pre-U niversity fo r the students completing a High
School course o f 10 years’ duration.
6.
Three years o f the f i r s t degree course.
I n i t i a l l y , the Board adopted fo r the f i r s t two years, i . e ,
1964 and 1965, the e x is tin g M atriculation syllabus o f Gauhati
U niversity. I t assumed the re s p o n s ib ility o f reorganising
the
curriculum by introducing some changes in the courses o f studies
fo r H.S.S.L.C. and H.S.L.C. Examinations from 1964.
I t is seen that in the year 1974 there were 65 Higher
Secondary and Multipurpose schools, 1500 High schools and 3397
Middle Schools providing secondary education in the s ta te (fig u re s
include also schools not recognised by S .E .B .A .) .
The stru ctu ral changes suggested by the Kothari Commission
(1964-66) were issued by the National P o lic y Statement o f Educa­
tio n in 1968
the Government o f India to be implemented through­
out the states and union t e r r it o r ie s fo r estab lish in g a uniform
educational pattern o f 10 + 2 + 3 with the follow in g purposes:
1.
A broadly uniform p a tte rjja ll over the country to strengthen
national in tegration .
2.
To send more knowledgeable and mature students to the
u n ive rs itie s.
3.
To reduce pressure on u n iversities and other centres o f
higher education.
84
4.
To provide an opportunity and a means to introduce aporopriate
vocationalisation at the higher secondary stage.
5.
To provide an opportunity and a means to modernise school
curricula and to restructure them on more s c ie n t ific lines as well
as to serve the so cia l and economic needs of the adolescents in
a better manner.
6.
A broadlyM uniform pattern in a ll the states and union
territo rie s to fa c ilita te implementation o f educational programmes,
production of books, reading materials and teaching aids, train­
ing of teachers, and their m obility, and reconstruction of syllabi
and improvement in examination practices.
7.
To reimove the d iffic u lt ie s in the matter of education of
children o f the mobile population, which is increasing in
the
country.
8.
To help solve educational problems o f the m inorities; at
least the minority language books produced in one area can
be
easily used in a ll other concerned areas.
The Government o f Assam^
b©©'n discussing from time to
time how the structural p olicy on education can be implemented in
Assam. In a meeting held by the then Minister of Education with
the Vice-Chancellors o f Gauhati and Dibrugarh Universities
and
others on 31 . 10 *68 , i t was agreed that 12 years of school educa­
tion upto the higher secondary stage should be followed by
the
state by making internal adjustment in school courses so as
to
make it conform ultimately to the national pattern. Gauhati and
Dibrugarh Universities decided to introduce the 2-year
University course with e ffe c t from 1973 to be followed by
Prea
85
2-year Degree course from 197^. The duration o f the Degree course
as decided by the u n iv e rs itie s is one year le s s than the pattern
la id down in the National P o lic y on Education.
The p attern o f education al stru cture was again discussed
in a meeting o f the o f f i c i a l s and the n o n -o ffic ia ls on 9 .5 .6 9 at
S h illo n g . It was decided in the meeting that the new p attern o f
education al structure in accordance with the n ation al p o lic y on
education should be follow ed in the sta te from 1971. However,
the new education al structure could not be implemented from 1971
due to ce rta in d i f f i c u l t i e s .
On June, 1971 a conference was held at S h illon g to discuss
the education al problems o f Assam where eminent e d u ca tion ists
and o f f i c i a l s and n o n -o ffic ia ls took part and recommended
the
fo llo w in g educational p attern along with other recommendations:
Elementary
-
Class I - IV and Class V - VII.
Secondary
-
3-year High S ch ool;C lass VIII - X, follow ed by
2-year Higher Secondary Course - Class XI - X II.
Degree
-
3-year Course with increased f a c i l i t i e s fo r
appearing at post-graduate and research stu dies
in advanced c o lle g e s .
The matter was again discussed in a meeting o f ed u ca tion ists
on 1.6.72 under the chairmanship o f the M inister o f Education,
Government o f Assam. The meeting recommended adoption o f
the
10-year sch ool course to be follow ed by a 2-year course o f Higher
Secondary Education and a 3-ye ar Degree Course. I t was a lso agreed
86
that the Pre-U niversity course, then attached to the c o lle g e s ,
should gradually, and in phases, he tra n sferred to s c h o o ls . This
meeting fu rth er recommended that the re v ise d pattern o f 10 + 2
years sch ool course should be sta rted with e f f e c t from the sch ool
se ssio n o f 1973. As regards the question o f converting the p ro­
posed 2-year Degree Course in lin e with the national p o li c y , i t
was agreed that the 2-year Degree Course proposed to be in tr o ­
duced by the two
u n iv e rs itie s may be continued u n til the
P re-
U niversity stage was taken over by the s c h o o ls . The change-over/
was to be e ffe c t e d at four p o in ts , v i z . Class I , Class V, Class
VIII and Class XI sim ultaneously. Although the Education Commi­
ssio n recommended that the P re-U niversity course should be exten­
ded to a 2-year course and should be merged with the sch ools and
be named Higher Secondary Course, the government o f Assam allowed
the P.U. in the c o lle g e s and the Higher Secondary course in the
schools to run concurrently with id e n tic a l sy lla b u se s.
The implementation o f the 12-year sch oolin g p attern
thus
f e l l on three agencies, v iz . the u n iv e r s itie s (Dibrugarh
and
Gauhati), the Board o f Secondary Education, Assam, and the State
Board o f Elementary Education. Since the Secondary stage is linked
with the Primary stage a ls o , the changed p attern is implemented
at the Primary le v e l as w e ll. The follo w in g p attern emerged :
Primary stage — 4 y e a r s ’ duration ( I - IV ), Higher Primary
or Lower Secondary stage — 3 y ea rs' duration (V - V II),
Secondary stage —
3 y e a r s ’ duration (V III — X)
Higher Secondary stage —
and
2 y e a rs’ duration (XI - X I I).
87
The change over was sta rted at the f i r s t cla ss o f each
stage. According to th is p la n , a new entrant to a lower primary
sch ool was to jo in the new cla ss I . A p u p il from the la s t cla ss
o f Lower Primary sch ool is to jo in the 1st cla ss o f a Middle
s ch o o l. Hence,a p u p il promoted from old cla ss I I I i s to be
admitted to new cla ss V. S im ila rly , a p u p il promoted from old
cla ss VI is t o be admitted to new cla ss V III. After passing
the
H.S.L.C. examination (o ld cla s s X) a p u p il is to jo in the f i r s t
year o f the Higher Secondary course.
This is how the 12-year sch oolin g system has been put in to
p r a c t ic e . The change-over to the new p attern was intended to
ra ise the standard o f education. I t was t r ie d to achieve th is
goal by introducing changes in the content o f education and
cu rricu la r reform , the adoption o f new methods o f teaching
and
ev alu ation , books and other reading m aterials.
While implementing the new 12-year (10 + 2) sch ool p attern ,
i t has been found that the State Government did not pay
due
a tten tion to the Pre-Primary stage which i t is necessary t o
do
in order to b u ild the foundation o f the education o f the c h ild ­
ren. The Kothari Commission not only recommended the reten tion
o f "in fa n t c la s s e s " as they e x is te d in Assam, but d esired that
such in s titu tio n s should be introduced in other s ta te s .
The
Commission remarked, "We b e lie v e that these Pre-Primary cla sses
are an advantage which these stages (Assam and Nagaland)
p ossess. We recommend that they should re ta in
i t as such."'*'
But i t is su rp risin g to fin d that the Pre-Primary cou rses, instead
o f being p rop erly organised, were badly n eglected . In the
88
symposium on "New Structure o f Education" in 1973 at Gauhati
U niversity, the fo llow in g recommendations were made fo r the
success o f the new sch oolin g p attern
1.
10+2+3
:
The Pre-Primary cla sses should be retain ed and modernised
in the lig h t o f the recommendations o f the Education Commission
(1964-66).
2.
While
agreeing in p r in c ip le to the national p attern o f 15
y ears' education (10 + 2 + 3 ) , the symposium was o f the considered
opinion that the new stru ctu re was introduced in Assam without
adequate preparation. So i t recommended that the change-over be
e ffe c t e d in a phased manner. Adequate care was recommended to be
taken fo r intensive coaching o f the new entrants to cla ss V III,
Further, i t recommended that old Class V III be maintained along
with the new Class VIII as was done in the case o f Class V,
Curriculum
Along with the change in the p a ttern , the curriculum o f the
secondary sch ools was su bjected to change^ because mere change
in the sch ool pattern would be fu t ile without changes in the
content and syllabu s to produce q u a lita tiv e e f f e c t on education.
I f we survey the h istory o f the development o f curriculum
Indian secondary sch ools we fin d that i t was drafted on
in
the
pattern o f the English grammar sch ools ca terin g to the needs o f
the p rosp ective entrants to the u n iv e r s itie s . Such a curriculum
could only serve the needs o f a lim ited few. Pupils with
89
s p e c ia l a b i l i t i e s , (e .g . a e s th e tic, a r t i s t i c e t c ) had
lit tle
chance o f coping s u cc e s s fu lly with such a curriculum . Moreover,
i t did not give importance to the in d ivid u a l d iffe r e n c e s o f boys
and g i r l s . I t is true that there were some m od ification s o f such
narrow and one track curriculum even b efore independence.
For
example, the in trod u ction o f p h y sica l education , a r t, hand-work,
scien ce and te ch n ica l su b jects were some additions t o the school
curriculum , but they could not
change the b a sic nature o f
the
curriculum . Sven a fte r independence, the curriculum was not marked­
ly changed t i l l 1957. A copy o f the syllabu s that was continued
in the High Schools o f Assam t i l l 1964 has been appended here
(Appendix I I ) .
The Secondary Education Commission o f 1952-53 found
the
p re v a ilin g curriculum to be narrowly con ceived , book ish ,
and
th e o r e t ic a l, f a i l in g t o provide fo r p r a c t ic a l su b jects not ca te r­
ing to the various needs and a b i l i t i e s o f the a d olescen ts, domina­
ted by
exam inations, and lackin g te ch n ica l and v oca tion a l
emphasis. The Commission recommended that "Curriculum" should
include the t o t a l it y o f experiences that p u p ils receiv e through
manifold a c t i v it ie s that go in s c h o o l, in cla ss room, lib r a r y ,
la b ora tory , workshop, playground and in numerous contacts between
teachers and p u p ils . In th is sense the whole l i f e o f the sch ool
becomes the curriculum which can touch the l i f e o f the students
at a l l p oin ts and help in the e v o lu tio n o f a balanced p e rs o n a lity .
The iecondary
Education Commission la id down p r in c ip le s
fo r
framing curriculum both fo r ju n ior and higher secondary sch o o ls.
2
90
The Commission a lso recommended that there should be va riety
and e la s tic ity »J .n the
curriculum to allow fo r in d ivid u a l
d iffe re n ce s and t o accommodate the needs and in te re sts o f the
p u p il. It emphasised that the curriculum must be v i t a l l y and
org a n ica lly re la te d to community l i f e , in terp retin g fo r the p u p il
i t s s a lie n t and s ig n ific a n t features and allow ing him to come
in to contact with some o f i t s important a c t i v i t i e s .
The Commission stressed the need fo r designing the cu rricu ­
lum in such a way as to provide r e cr e a tio n a l a c t i v it ie s in order
to arouse
in the p u p il an in te re s t in d iffe r e n t hobbies so that
he learns the proper use o f le is u r e .
The modern development o f education al psychology has brought
a new outlook to the f i e l d o f curriculum co n stru ction . The need
to p sych ologise the curriculum has been in crea sin g ly f e l t . The
im p lica tion is
that the su bject-m atter o f a curriculum fo r a
p a r ticu la r cla ss should be so designed as to s u it the stage
of
mental growth and development reached by the p u p ils reading
in
that c la s s . Further, i t is in s is te d that the p u p ils should have
spontaneous m otivation in pursuing a p a r tic u la r course o f study.
Such ideas imply that there should be a c o -r e la t io n among d i f f e r ­
ent su b je cts in the curriculum and the content o f d iffe r e n t
su b jects should be re la te d to the needs o f the p u p ils . The Secon­
dary Education Commission (1952-53) recommended that *^the
4.curriculum ) should not s t u l t i f y i t s education al value by being
s p l i t up in to a number o f is o la t e d , u nco-ordinated, w atertight
s u b je c ts ; su b jects should be in t e r -r e la te d and, w ithin each
91
subject, the contents should, as far as possible, be envisaged
as "broad fie ld or units which can be co-relfcted better with
lif e rather than narrow items
of information"^
The functions
of the Middle School curriculum is to introduce the pupil in a
general way to the sign ifican t areas of human knowledge and
a ctiv ity . Students are not expected to achieve knowledge in depth
but to gain a general understanding and appreciation o f the
sign ifican t elements o f human culture. The Commission also regar­
ded it as of utmost necessity to include art and music and craft
in the Middle School curriculum for proper development of
an
individual’s emotional l i f e , and thereby to foster proper growth
of the different aspects#) of
personality — in te lle ctu a l,
aesthetic and sp iritu a l. The Commission suggested a model curri­
culum each for the Middle Schools, the High Schools and the
Higher Secondary Schools. For the High and Higher Secondary
Schools, the Commission suggested that the educational programme
should give some vocational training to the student----not to be
narrowly vocational, but to have a definite vocational bias so
that they can successfully enter in a l i f e of work after leaving
school i f they so desire.
It also recommended that the courses
of High Schools and Higher Secondary Schools should follow the
same pattern by having core subjects and certain optional subjects
common to both. The difference in the period of education (three
years in High Schools and four years in Higher Secondary Schools)
made it necessary to have two levels of integration of the
subject-matter with the core subjects as well as the optional
subjects. The High School course would be ligh ter than the Higher
92
Secondary School course. The A ll India Council o f Secondary
Education prepared a d ra ft syllabu s fo r con sid era tion
o f the s ta te s . A s p e c ia l committee on each sta te examined
the
d ra ft syllabu s and framed the syllabu s fo r it s own s t a t e .
The Department o f Education, Government o f Assam, formed
the syllabus in the lig h t o f the above and i t was implemented in
the sch ools o f Assam from 1957. The same was adopted with l i t t l e
m od ifica tion by the Board o f Secondary Education, Assam, when
i t took over the r e s p o n s ib ility o f re-org a n isin g and supervising
secondary education in the sta te in 1962. A rev ised curriculum
fo r the high sch ools was adopted from 1964,
The fo llow in g courses o f stu d ies were o ffe r e d fo r the
H .S.S.L.C. course :
Subjects fo r Examination
S ection A :
I,
Languages.
F irs t Language :
Any one o f the follo w in g Modern Indian Languages recogn ised
by the Board o f Secondary Education, Assam.
(i)
Assamese, ( i i ) B engali, ( i i i ) Hindi, ( i v ) Urdu,
(v ) Khasi, ( v i ) N epali, ( v i i ) Lushai, ( v i i i ) Garo, ( i x ) Manipuri.
II.
Second Language :
E n glish .
93
I I I . T h ird Language
(i)
E lem en tary Assamese ! For th o se who ta k e up H indi as
or
!
E lem en tary B e n g a li J the F i r s t la n g u a g e .
( i i ) E lem en tary H indi — f o r o th e r s .
S e c tio n B : Core S u b j e c t s :
(i)
G en eral S c ie n c e .
(ii)
G en eral M athem atics
( i i i ) S o c ia l S tu d ie s.
S e c tio n C : E l e c t i v e S u b j e c t s :
Any th re e s u b je c t s t o be ta k e n from a group
Group ( a )
H um anities Groufc) :
(1 ) C l a s s i c a l s u b je c t s : ( i ) S a n s k r i t , ( i i ) A rabic
(iii)
P e r s ia n .
(2 ) H is to r y .
(3 ) Geography
(4 ) C iv ic s 1 , Econom ics
(5 ) L o g ic 1 , P sy c h o lo g y ,
(6 ) M ath em atics.
(7 ) E lem en ts o f Home S c ie n c e ,
(8 ) M usic V ocal or Music In stru m e n ta l or
Drawing 1 , Pairfcng or Dancing .
Group (b )
Commerce Group :
( l ) E lem en ts o f Commerce.
94
(2 ) Commercial Geography inclu din g C ivics
and
Economics.
(3 ) Book-Keeping or Short Hand and Typewriting.
Group ( c ) Fine A rts.
(1 ) A ppreciation o f Art (Compulsory)
(2 ) Music, Vocal
( 3 ) Music Instrumental
(4 ) M odelling and Sculpture
(5 ) Dance
(6 ) Drawing and p ain tin g .
( 7 ) Elements o f Home S cien ce.
Group (d ) Home Science
(1 ) Food, M ubtition and Cookery.
(2 ) T e x tile , C lothing, and Laundry
( 3 ) Household Management, Hygiene, Child develop
ment, Mother Craft and Human R ela tion sh ip .
P r a c tic a l Examinations
P r a c tic a l Examination was p rescrib ed fo r each o f the fo llo w ­
ing su b jects :
(1)
Short Hand and Type w ritin g ,
(2 ) Drawing and P a in tin g,
Jl3) M odelling and Sculpture
(4 ) Elements o f Home scien ce
(5 ) Music Vocal
(6 ) Music Instrumental
95
( 7) Subjects in the Home scien ce group
(8 ) Dancing
Group ( d ) : Science
(1 ) Chemistry
(2 ) Physics
(3 ) Biology
(4 ) Mathematics
(5 ) Elements o f Horae scien ce (fo r g ir l s on ly)
(6 ) Geography
Group (e ) : Agriculture
(1 ) A g ricu ltu re, B iology and Chemistry
(2 ) General Agriculture inclu din g s o i l management
and Crop
Culture.
(3 ) Farm Management in clu d in g Animal Husbandry
and Dairy.
Group ( f ) : Technology
(1 ) Applied Mathematics and Science
(2 ) Geometrical and Mechanical Drawing
(3 ) One o f the follo w in g su b jects :
(a ) Elements o f Mechanical and E le c t r ic a l
Engineering.
(b ) Elements o f B uilding Construction
(c ) Elements o f Radio Engineering.
P r a c tic a l examination was p rescrib ed fo r a l l the s c ie n ce ,
agricu ltu re and technology s u b je c ts .
96
The candidates fo r the Humanities and the Science groups are
allowed to o f f e r an a d d ition a l (fo u rth ) su b ject from among
the
E le ctiv e Subjects o f the same group. The excess marks obtained
over the pass marks o f the su b ject are to be added and counted
towards d iv is io n and p o s it io n o f the candidates in the pass l i s t .
The Higher Secondary School course fo r the Final Examination
was o f four years a fte r the Class VII Examination. The Examina­
tio n was held in two p a r ts , Part I — Internal Assessment and
Part I I — Higher Secondary School Leaving C e r tific a te Examination.
The Part I examination was held at the end o f the th ir d year ( i . e .
at the end o f Class X) and the Part I I was held at the fourth
year ( i . e . at the end o f Class X I).
In Part I Examination, the fo llow in g su b jects were examined :
S ection A;
The Third Language, S ection B # : 1. S o c ia l S tu d ies,
2. General Science 3. General Mathematics. The question papers
fo r Part I Examination were set by the Board o f Secondary Education
Assam, and the assessment was done by the sch ools although
the
Board s a t i s f ie d i t s e l f as regards the standard o f assessment
through in sp ection and other methods.
The Part I I Examinations were held at the end o f Class XI
in the fo llo w in g su b jects :
S ection A ( l ) F irst Language (as sta ted e a r l ie r )
( i i ) Second Language (E nglish)
S ection C ( i ) Any three E le ctiv e Subjects o f group (A) Humanities
or Group (D) Science
(A d d ition al s u b je c t)
( i i ) A fourth su b je ct from the same group
97
The number o f cla sses fo r p r a c t ic a l work and dem onstrations,
the equipments, the courses o f stu dies e t c . were p rescrib ed by
the Board. The curriculum fo r the High School course included
the fo llo w in g :
(i)
A Major Vernacular language v i z . Assamese, B engali,
Urdu ar Hindi
(ii)
English
(iii)
Geography
:
:
2 papers
2 papers
:
I paper
( i v ) H istory o f India/H istory o f England
s
I paper
(v )
Mathematics
: I paper
( v i)
A C la ss ica l Language, v i z . , S a n sk rit, P a li, Arabic, P ersian,
Greek, Latin, C la ss ica l American, Hebrew, S yriac
or
C la ss ica l Tibetan.
Or
An Indian Vernacular recogn ised by the Board other than the
vernacular o f the candidate already taken up as a compul­
sory su bject
Or
A Modern European Languages other than English v i z . , French,
German, Ita lia n or Portuguese — I paper.
(v li)
Elementary S c ie n t i f ic knowledge : I paper
Provided that Elementary S c i e n t i f i c knowledge s h a ll not
be regarded as a compulsory su b ject u n til fu rth er n o tic e . During
the p eriod o f tr a n s itio n , Elementary S c i e n t i f i c Knowledge s h a ll
be included in the l i s t o f a ctio n a l su b jects sta ted below :
98
The follow in g are the op tion a l su b jects :
(a ) Elementary S c ie n t i f ic Knowledge su b ject to the above
p ro v isio n .
(b ) Elements o f physics and chemistry
( c ) Minsuration and Surveying
(d ) Elementary Mechanics
(e ) Elementary Hygiene
( f ) Elements o f B iology
(g ) A dditional Mathematics
(h) Business Method Correspondence.
( i ) Commeriial Geography
( j ) Elements o f P u blic Adm inistration in India.
(h) Drawing and p ain tin g inclu din g an ap p reciation o f
Fine A rts.
For ^ i r l s , p ro v isio n was there fo r opting Arithm etic and
Domestic Science inclu din g Domestic Hygiene in lie u o f Mathematics
—- I paper
I t seems that the new syllabu s fo r the 11-year Higher
Secondary Course was a r e a l departure from the tr a d itio n a l High
School Course, and i t was expected t o brin g the desired e f f e c t
in the development o f the adolescen t. However, i t s success was
dependent
on the actual working o f the s c h o o ls .
It was found that the new scheme o f the 11-year Higher
Secondary and Multipurpose School could cover only a small section
o f the secondary s ch o o ls. In the year 1974, only 65 sch ools were
99
being converted in to Higher Secondary ^M ultipurpose S ch ools, the
remaining 837
s c h o o ls , recogn ised by the Board o f Secondary
Education, Assam, continued to be 10 - year High Schools where
a re v ise d curriculum
was follow ed . I t means that the new —
11-year Higher Secondary School course could e f f e c t only a small
group o f secondary sch ool students. I t was, however, found that
the curriculum
o f High Schools was rev ised by way o f introducing
a number o f v oca tion a l su b jects and by making p ro v isio n fo r option
t o o f f e r one or two or three v oca tio n a l su b je ct£ s)
two, or one s u b je c t(s ) in lie u o f other
and any th ree,
5 su b jects - Geography,
H istory, Mathematics, C la ss ica l language, Elementary S c i e n t i f i c
Knowledge o f the general course. The general course, though
sim ila r to the course that p rev a iled t i l l 1963, was, however,
revised in th e ir contents. Moreover, fo r g i r l s , Mathematics was
made an op tion a l s u b je c t, fo r they could take Arithm etic and
Domestic Science in place o f Mathematics t i l l 1968. H istory and
Geography were made o p tio n a l.
The follow in g su b jects were recogn ised by the Board
of
Secondary Education, Assam, as V ocational Subjects :
I . Telegraphy, 2. Spinning and Weaving, 3. Carpentry, 4 . Metal
work, 5. Agriculture and Gardening, 6 . T a ilo rin g , 7. Cane and
Bamboo work, 8. Type-w riting, 9. Shorthand, 10. Bookkeeping
I I . S e ricu ltu re .
In the rev ised c u r ricu la fo r the High S ch ools, the su b ject
’ E n glish ’ was m odified with regard t o the t o t a l marks by c u r t a il­
ing i t from 300 to 200 fo r 2 papers in p lace o f e a r lie r 3 papers.
100
Here i t may be mentioned that the t o t a l marks fo r English were
200 fo r 2 papers in the Higher Secondary School course a ls o . The
o b je c t o f the study o f languages was sta ted in the sy lla b u s. It
was to impart the s k i l l o f communication. The students were to
be taught to speak and w rite c le a r ly and e f f e c t i v e l y . The number
o f cla sses a lleg ed to the su b jects per week was a lso p rescrib ed
by the Board.
For scien ce su b jects in the Higher Secondary Schools the
cla sses per week were as follow s :
Class
T h eoretical p eriod
VIII
2
N il
IX
3
l(on e s i t t i n g p r a c t ic e )
X
3
1 cla ss means 2 consecutive
p e r io d s .
XI
4
2 p e rio d s.
P r a c tic a l s i t t i n g
The minimum number o f teaching days per year was fix e d at
150, and each student was to attend 75y£ o f the cla sse s held.
The p re cis e course and the manner to be worked out fo r other
su bjects a lso was p rescrib ed by the Board.
The new curriculum sta rted from 1973 fo r the 10-year High
School co u rse ,co n siste d o f the follo w in g courses o f stu d ies :
A.
Core Subjects
1. F irs t Language : any one o f the follow in g major languages:
Assamese, B engali, Hindi, Urdu, Manipuri, Khasi, Garo,
Mizo, Napali and Bodo
101
or
For pu p ils whose F irst Language is not one o f the above
Major Languages, any two o f the follow in g languages :
Ao, Angami, S a n th a li, Elementary Hindi, Assamese, Bengali,
E nglish.
2* Second Language : E nglish.
3. General S cien ce.
General Mathematics
5. S o c ia l Studies
6 . Work Experience.
B.
E le ctiv e Subjects : Any two o f the follow in g :
(i)
Assamese / Bengali / Hindi / Sanskrit /
Arabic /
Persian.
(ii)
H istory
( i i i ) Geography /
(iv )
Commercial Geography
Elements o f C ivics and Economics / Advanced Science /
Craft (Wood c r a ft , Metal c r a ft , Cane and Bamboo
work, Needle work and T a ilo r in g , Building Construc­
t io n , Applied E l e c t r i c i t y , Farm Mechanics^.
(v )
Advanced Mathematics / Book keeping and Commercial
Arithm etic / A griculture / Home S cien ce.
(v i)
Dance
( v i i ) Music
( v i i i ) Fine Arts / S e ricu ltu re .
C.
A dditional Subjects : Any one o f the su b jects mentioned
at ’ B’ above which has not been taken as E le ctiv e su b je ct.
102
D.
C o-cu rricu lar A c t iv it ie s .
III.
Adm inistration and S t a ff
S u ccessfu l working o f any in s t it u t io n la rg ely depends on the
manner in which i t is organised and adm inistered. It is already
mentioned that in Assam, Gauhati U niversity was c o n tr o llin g
secondary education in the sta te by su pervisin g and organising
courses o f stu d ies and holding the M atricu lation Examination t i l l
1961. I t was f e l t that the u n iv e rs itie s should be r e lie v e d o f
such r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s regarding secondary education as the pur­
poses o f u n iversity education and sedondary education are d i f f ­
eren t. So, a fte r the Board o f Secondary Education o f Assam
was
formed in 1961, the r e s p o n s ib ility o f organising and supervising
secondary education in the sta te was handed over to i t .
The adm inistrative set up o f the Education Department o f the
Government o f Assam is as follow s : The M inister o f Education is
at the to p . Next in rank is the M inister o f State fo r Education.
The permanent government machinery is headed by a S ecretary fo r
education who is an I.A .S . o f f i c e r . He is in charge o f the
fu n ction in g o f the Education Department at the S e cre ta ria t le v e l.
The main fu n ction s assigned to Assam Education Department at the
S e cre ta ria t le v e l are p o lic y matters and day t o day adm inistra­
tio n which includes crea tion o f p o s ts , tra n sfe r and p ostin g o f
4
o f f i c e r s , and the sanction o f grants and other expenditure.
The D irector o f P u b lic
In stru ction is in o v e ra ll charge
o f a l l matters r e la tin g to education o f the s ta te . He is a ssisted
103
by a se t o f o f f ic e r s o f subordinate ranks in the D irectora te.
At present there are 3 ca teg ories o f sch ools p rovid in g
secondary education in the s ta te , I. The Government s c h o o ls ,
I I . The Government Aided schools, I I I . The Private schools.
Obviously, the academic standard of a ll these school may not be
the same. The Board of Secondary Education, Assam, since
its
inception has been trying to raise the academic standard.
A
review of the a ctiv itie s of the Board o f Secondary Education,Assam,
proves the point.
As already stated, the fir s t thing the Board did was
to
redesignate the Matriculation Examination, t i l l then prevailing,
as High School Leaving C ertificate Examination (H.S.L.C,) . This
was done with a view to make it agree with Higher Secondary
School Leaving C ertificate Examination (H.S.S.L.C.) .
Secondly, for the sake o f uniformity o f standard, the Board
of Secondary Education, Assam, has laid down the conditions
of
recognition o f secondary schools of the state, and on the
recommendation o f the D.P.I. (Director of Public Instruction)
grants recognition and a ffilia t io n , stage by stage, to schools
on prior fulfilment of the required conditions laid by the Board.
The Board has stipulated a minimum standard for recognition
in respect of certain basic amenities like teachers, building,
library, play ground e tc . and minimum performance in the
fin a l
examination. As a follow-up o f th is, in the year 1967, the Board
adopted the policy of de-recognition based on examination results.
104
The f o llo w in g h igh s c h o o ls were d e r e c o g n is e d as t h e i r p e rce n ta g e
o f p a ss was b elow 20 p . c .
U .A .C . J orh a t
1 . D h ita ip u k h u ri High S c h o o l
P .C . o f pass
1 9 .8 0
2 . Karat ip ar a High S c h o o l
1 9 .0 0
3. N ahatia High S c h o o l
1 9 .0 0
4 . F u rk a tin g High S c h o o l
1 9 .7 0
5 . Teok G irls* High S ch o o l
1 9 .0 0
6 . Mahura High S c h o o l
1 7 .5 0
C .A .C .
7 . P u ra n ig u d a m G irls High S c h o o l
1 8 .3
8 . Becham ari High S c h o o l
18 ,4
n. a. c.
9 . North Jamuguri High S c h o o l
1 8 .8
1 0 . Dalanghat High S ch o o l
16.2
l . a. c.
1 1 . C hangsari High S ch o o l
1 8 .0
1 2 . Gohalkona High S ch o o l
19 .2
1 3 . Rangmahal High S c h o o l
1 9 .6
14 . Chandkuchi High S c h o o l
1 9 .1
S .A .C .
15 . Ram dila High S c h o o l
1 7 .7
The fo l lo w in g s c h o o ls were a ls o d e -r e c o g n is e d by the Boad
as t h e i r p a ss p e rce n ta g e was b elow 20 p . c .
105
1.
Rangajan High School
17.6
U.A.C
2.
Dharmtul High School
16.2
C.A.C
3.
Mayong High School
15.4
C.A.C
A.
Dorakohora High School
11.9
L . a .C
5.
Gashlari High School
14.3
L.A.C
6.
Pakasariha High School
13.2
L.A.C
7.
North Baitamari High School
14.6
W.A.C
8.
Republic tMizo) High School
15.6
S.A.C
[A b b rev ia tion s:
U.A.C. = Upper ^ssam C ircle
C.A.C. = Central Assam C ircle
N.A.C. e Northern Assam C ircle
L.A.C. a Lower Assam C ircle
S.A.C. « Southern Assam C ir c le .]
In 1971, 97 high sch ools were d e-recogn ised by the Board.
However, the p o lic y o f d e -re co g n itio n based on examination re su lts
was la te r withdrawn as i t was c r i t i c i s e d t o be an u n r e a lis tic
p o lic y .
Adm inistration is meaningful and s u cce ssfu l when i t is
supplemented by proper guidance r e la tin g t o the working o f the
s ch o o ls . Therefore,w ith a view to bringing about academic improve­
ment in the sch ools by provid in g su p ervision and guidance by
academic o f f i c e r s in a number o f su b jects lik e K nglish, Chemistry,
P h ysics, Mathematics and B iolog y , the Board appointed some acade­
mic o f f i c e r s who v is it e d sch ools and provided guidance to the
teachers in the teaching o f d iffe r e n t s u b je c ts .
106
The Board, a lso organised seminars in English and Mathematics
in d iffe r e n t c ir c l e s keeping in view the d i f f i c u l t i e s in the
su b jects faced by the teachers in the context o f changes introduced
in the c u r ricu la . The Board organised a number o f workshops
in
d iffe r e n t d is t r ic t s o f Assam in order to provide the secondary
schools with modern methods o f tea ch in g, and in it ia t e d the programme
o f examination reform . In c o lla b o ra tio n with N .C .E .R .T ., the Board
organised tra in in g workshops fo r tea ch ers. In the year 1974-75 the
Board organised the fo llow in g workshops :
Year
' D is tr ic ts
1974-75
' No. o f
workshop
Te achers
train ed
Amount spent
Kamrup
5
463
Rs. 60,240.75
Goalpara
3
315
29,070.63
Nowgong
3
298
29,801.34
Sibsagar
3
328
41,035.45
Lakhimpur
1
94
10,852.10
Dibrugarh
2
250
21 , 700.00
Darrang
2
208
16,223.91
Cachar
3
274
22,243.26
Karbi Anglong
1
48
4,738.64
23
2,278
235,911.11
Source : Chairman's Report on the working o f the Board o f Secondary
Education. Assam ,1977.
The adm inistration o f secondary sch ools is done by the
D irectorate o f P u blic In stru ction o f the sta te through in sp ection
by the sch ool in sp ectors. The a llo c a tio n o f grants and the
107
re co g n itio n o f schools under the d e f i c i t scheme
o f g ra n t-in -a id
o f the Government o f Assam are dependent on the recommendation
o f the sch ool in sp ectors. However, the r e co g n itio n o f High Schools
is given by the Board o f Secondary Education, Assam, on the f u l ­
film ent o f ce rta in con dition s fix e d by the Board. The Board o f
Secondary Education, Assam, thus c o n t r o ls , orga n ises, and super­
v is e s secondary sch ools in the s ta te . Thus^the extern a l adminis­
tr a tio n o f the secondary sch ools o f Assam is a jo in t venture o f
the Department o f P u blic In stru ctio n , Assam, and the Board o f
Secondary Education, Assam. However, the State M inistry o f Educa­
t io n , along with the government machinery at the s e c r e ta r ia t le v e l,
is the fin a l authority regarding p o lic y matter and other day to
day adm inistration o f education in the s ta te .
So fa r as in tern a l adm inistration is concerned, the Head
Master or the P rin cip a l is in o v e r a ll charge o f a government sch o o l,
and in the case o f the government - aided s c h o o ls , the Headmaster
and the Managing Committee are re sp o n sib le . It is the r e sp o n sib i­
l i t y o f the sch ool adm inistration to see that the b est available
persons are re cru ite d t o the teaching s t a f f and the teachers get
adequate f a c i l i t i e s fo r work. The adm inistration is su cce ssfu l
i f the teachers work as a team dedicated to the w elfare o f the
in s t it u t io n and the p u b lic co-operate in the implementation o f the
academic programme. The Managing Committee is to look a fte r the
maintenance o f the sch ool b u ild in g , fu rn itu re , equipments, and
enrolment
108
S t a ff
The qu a lity o f in s tr u c tio n imparted in a sch ool depends as
much on the q u a lity o f the teachers as on the q u a lity o f adminis­
tr a t io n . The success o f education at any stage la rg e ly depends on
the qu a lity o f the teachers and th e ir s in c e r it y and devotion to
th e ir p r o fe s s io n . Due con sid era tion , then, must be given t o the
various problems connected with the improvement o f the status and
working con d ition s o f the tea ch ers. The Secondary Education Commi­
ssio n (1952-53) recorded that the s o c ia l s ta tu s, s a la r ie s and
general s erv ice con dition s o f teachers were fa r from s a t is fa c t o r y .
The Commission’ s general im pression was that on the whole i t was
"even worse than what i t was in the p a s t ".
They recommended, as
a general p r in c ip le , that those with sim ila r q u a lific a t io n s and
sim ila r r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s should be trea ted at
par in the matter
o f s a la ry , irr e s p e ctiv e o f the type o f in s t it u t io n t o which they
belon g, and thus a uniform pay sca le fo r teachers
working
in
government sch ools and sch ools conducted by lo c a l bodies and
private agencies was recommended.
The p o s it io n o f secondary sch ool teachers has improved con­
sid erab ly o f la te as a r e su lt o f the e f f o r t s made by the govern­
ment t o improve th e ir sa la rie s and s e rv ice co n d itio n s. The
Government o f Assam has been able to remove the d iffe r e n c e s
in
remuneration between the Government and Aided sch ool teachers
by introdu cing the d e f i c i t system o f grants and by
making i t
co n d itio n a l that the sch ool w ill adopt the government scale
of
pay and allowances aporoved fo r tea ch ers. But even th is increased
109
salary is far from adequate against the cost of liv in g . The Kothari
Commission (1964-66) reviewed the situation and suggested a natio­
nal pay scale for teachers. Such r e lie f becomes inadequate in view
of the risin g cost of liv in g . Today i t is a common practice in the
country for a teacher to spend more time and energy in private
coaching than in school teaching. By this means he earns several
times as much as his salary.
The academic and professional qualifications of the teachers
of the High Schools and Higher Secondary Schools have been orescribed by the Board o f Secondary Education, Assam, and they
insisted that the schools should appoint teachers accordingly. It
was prescribed by the Board that for the Higher Secondary stage
the teacher should possess a Master's degree in the subject. For
the lower le v e l, the teacher should be a trained graduate.
To
provide the required number o f properly qualified teachers in the
secondary schools of Assam, the following measures were adopted:
(i)
Deputation of teachers to Cotton College for further training
in some science subjects.
( i i ) Deputation of teachers to Gauhati University for a condensed
course in some science subjects.
(iii)
Deputation of teachers for M.A./M.Sc./M.Com. courses.
(iv ) Award of post-graduate development scholarships to graduate
teachers of secondary schools to attain an M.A./M.Sc. degree with
the stipulation that they would serve their schools for 3 years
after completing the post-gradiiate course.
110
Table I b elow shows the number o f t r a in e d te a c h e r s in
the
secon d a ry s c h o o ls o f Assam d u rin g the p e r io d under s tu d y .
I t can be seen th a t the number o f t r a in e d te a c h e r s was
a la rm in g ly sm a ll in p r o p o r t io n t o the t o t a l number o f teachers*
Table
I
Showing the number o f t r a in e d t e a c h e r s and u n tra in e d te a c h e r s
in d i f f e r e n t High S ch o o ls and H igher Secon dary S c h o o ls in
s t a t e d u rin g the p e r io d o f stu dy
(<??$.'\
T eachers in H igh /H igh er Secondary S c h o o ls .
Y ear
1 T ra in ed
1964-65
2200
1 1 ,3 4 9
1 3 ,5 5 8
1965-66
2424
1 1 ,9 3 0
1 4 ,3 5 4
1966-67
2743
1 2 ,1 7 3
14,91 6
1967-68
2900
1 3 ,1 8 3
1 6 ,0 8 3
1968-69
3055
1 3 ,4 2 4
1 6 ,4 7 9
1969-70
3264
1 3 ,8 5 9
1 7 ,12 3
1970-71
3464
13,80 2
1 7 ,26 6
1971-72
3475
1 3 ,5 6 4
1 7 ,0 3 9
1972-73
3591
1 4 ,00 3
1 7 ,5 9 4
1973-74
3972
1 4 ,81 5
1 8 ,7 8 7
[S ou rce
U ntrained
: D ir e c to r a t e o f E d u c a tio n , Assam]
T ota l
the
I ll
IV. Evaluation and Guidance
Teaching and evalu ation are in te g ra l parts o f edu cation . The
e f f ic ie n c y o f teach in g, the achievement o f p u p ils , and the success
o f an edu cation al system can be te ste d with the help o f examina­
tio n s . It is necessary fo r parents and teachers t o know from time
t o tin e how the p u p ils are p rogressin g and what th e ir attainments
are at any p a r ticu la r sta ge. A kind o f check up o f the sch ool work
is e s s e n tia l in the in te r e s t o f a l l concerned----
p u p ils , tea ch ers,
parents, and the p u b lic . Examinations are the usual means* fo r
such a checkup.
The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) found the
system o f examination d e fe ctiv e fo r i t used t o lay ex clu siv e
emphasis on the in t e lle c t u a l attainments o f the p u p ils , and his
progress in in t e lle c t u a l p u rsu its. The scope o f education has
enlarged. The sch ool to day concerns i t s e l f not only with in te ­
lle c t u a l p u rsu its o f the p u p ils but a lso with th e ir em otional and
s o c ia l development,
h is p h y sica l and mental health and h is s o c ia l
adjustment. Hence the need t o rev ise the system o f examination
is an important one t o make examinations an e f f e c t iv e t o o l for
measuring a stu d en t's p rog ress. The Commission suggested that the
su b je ctiv e element in the essay type examination should
reduced as
be
fa r as p o ssib le and o b je c tiv e t e s t should be widely
introduced. The nature and type o f te s t s should be changed in a
way to
discourage cramming and to encourage in t e llig e n t under­
standing. The fin a l assessment o f the p u p il should not be based
e n tir e ly on the re su lts o f the extern al examination} other th ings,
112
such as in tern a l te s ts and the sch ool records maintained
tea ch ers, should be taken
by
in to con sid era tion , and due c r e d it
should be given t o them. The Commission a lso recommended that
the "Promotion o f a c h ild should depend not only on the r e su lts
o f the annual fin a l examination but a lso on the r e s u lts o f p e r io d ie te s ts and
progress shown in sch ool r e c o r d ."
5
In order
fin d out the p u p il’ s a l l round progress and t o determine
to
h is
fu tu re, a proper system o f sch ool records should be maintained
fo r every p u p il in d ica tin g the work done by him^&ffe-her from time
to time and hi^*a!tainments in d iffe r e n t spheres.
The Commission a lso recommended sym bolic marking rather
than numerical marking fo r evalu atin g and grading the work
of
the p u p il in external and in tern a l exam inations. They suggested
that on the com pletion o f the secondary sch ool cou rse, there
should be a p u b lic examination and the c e r t i f i c a t e awarded should
contain the re su lts o f the p u b lic exam ination, the r e s u lts o f
the sch ool te s ts in d iffe r e n t su b jects as w ell as the g is t o f the
sch ool re cord s.
The Board o f Secondary Education, Assam, in it s meeting on
16.5.66 decided t o accept the suggestions o f the 7th conference
o f the chairman and s e c r e ta r ie s o f the Boards o f Secondary
Education in India on Examination Reform with an aim at sw itching
over from the essay type questions to o b je c tiv e type qu estion s.
(Compare, The Report on the Working o f the Board 1966-67, p . 58-)^
A ccordin gly, as a f i r s t step in th is d ir e c t io n , the Board introduc­
ed short answer type questions in examinations from 1967 to the
113
extent o f 25 percent o f marks in a qu estion paper in order
to
cover a su bstan tival p o rtio n o f the p rescrib ed sy lla b u s.
As a second ste p , the Board decided to abolish o v e r fa ll
options in the question papers gradually, and introduced in tern al
options from 1967. Thus, the programme o f examination reform
was sta rte d . The Evaluation o f f ic e r s o f the Board were deputed
fo r tra in in g under N.C.E.R.T. on examination reform . A bold step
in the improvement o f education through examination taken by the
Board was t o c ir cu la te to a l l the sch ools the s p e c i f i c d e fic ie n ­
c ie s found in the answer s c r ip ts o f the candidates in English
and Mathematics in the H .S.S.L.C. and H.S.L.C. Exam inations,so
that those d efects could be removed in future exam inations.
The programme o f Examination Reform, was, however, taken up
by the Board in a large measure from 1974. The te a ch e r-o rie n ta tio n
programme
fo r orien tin g teachers to the new concept o f evalua­
t io n and the new method o f te s tin g according to the o b je c tiv e s
and covering d iffe r e n t question patterns was ca rrie d by the Board
with the help on N.C.E.R.T. from 1974 in 23 workshop! where
a
t o t a l o f 2278 teachers were tra in e d ; 4 teachers from every recog­
nised High School in 4 su b jects were tra in ed . The Academic
o f f ic e r s o f the Board a lso attended the gatherings organised by
tea ch ers’ organ isations fo r d iscu ssion on i mole mentation o f the
new curriculum and a lso fo r the d iscu ssion o f evalu ation programme
under the Examination Reform Unit. (Compare, the Annual Report o f
S .E .B .A ,, 1966-67)
114
Guidance
Guidance o f students fo r optimum adjustment with courses
o ffe re d in conform ity with th e ir growth i s considered t o he an
important fu n ction o f a modern sch o o l. The new scheme
o f secon­
dary education with the p ro v is io n o f d iv e r s ifie d courses
of
in s tru ctio n imposes on teachers and sch o o l adm inistrators
the
ad d ition a l r e s p o n s ib ility o f giv in g guidance to p u p ils in th e ir
choice o f courses and careers according to th e ir c a p a c it ie s , needs,
and in t e r e s t s . U ntil and unless system atic e f f o r t s are made to
develop the la ten t a b i l i t i e s o f the p u p ils and to s c i e n t i f i c a l l y
appra&a*/
th e ir in te re s t and a b i l i t i e s , and t o provide them proper
h elp , the scheme o f d iv e r s ifie d courses would bear no r e s u lt . The
Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) recommended that guidance
should be provided in an appropriate form at a l l stages o f
education, through the co-op era tiv e endeavour o f understanding
parents, headmasters, p r in cip a ls and guidance o f f i c e r s .
Following the Commission's recommendations, Government o f
India e sta b lish ed the Central Bureau o f V ocational Guidance
at
Delhi in 1954. It o ffe r e d assistance to the state governments to
e s ta b lis h th e ir sta te bureaux t o provide guidance serv ice to
the s ta te s . In Assam, the sta te government e sta b lish ed
the
V ocational Guidance Bureau in 1956 in the D irectorate o f P u blic
In stru ctio n , Assam,for organising Guidance Services in the High
schools and Higher Secondary s ch o o ls.
115
V. E ffe c ts o f the Changes at the Secondary Level
It is now obvious from the foregoin g paragraphs that
su bstan tial changes in Secondary Education in Assam in
the
post-independence p eriod have taken p lace only a fte r the imple­
mentation o f the Secondary Education Commission (1952-53)
recommendations. As sta ted e a r l i e r , the implementation o f
the
recommendations was sta rte d in Assam from 1957. A ccord in gly, many
10-year High Schools were converted in to 11-year Higher Secondary
and Multipurpose S ch ools. From 1957 t o 1973, there were a t o t a l
o f 65 Higher Secondary Schools fu n ction in g in the s ta te . Although
i t was hoped at the beginning that a l l the secondary sch ools would
be converted in to the 11-year Higher Secondary p attern in the long
run, i t was found la te r that the hope was only p a rtly r e a lis e d ,a s
there were only 65 Higher Secondary Schools out o f a t o t a l
of
1565 Secondary sch o o ls.
In 1973 the new sch ool p attern o f 12-year (10 + 2) secondary
sch ool course was introduced. Along with the change o f the pattern
o f the sch ool orga n isa tion , the curriculum , the methods
of
teach in g, the methods o f evalu ation were a lso changed. Thus,
w ithin a very short p eriod from 1957 to 1973, the secondary school
system was undergoing severa l changes. It was f e l t by many teach­
e r s , e d u c a tio n is ts , and parents that the changes were brought
rather h u rried ly and haphazardly without givin g s u ffic ie n t time
and thought t o th e ir proper implementation. T h erefore, the changes
which were much needed in the education system
t o keep pace with
116
the changing and developing situations in a society could
not
produce the desired e ffe c t. For the purpose of determining the
effects of the manifold changes at the secondary le v el, the
investigator prepared a comprehensive questionnaire covering a ll
important aspects of the High Schools and Higher Secondary and
Multipurpose Schools and circulated i t among eighty (80) senior
and experienced teachers of different High Schools and Higher
Secondary and Multipurpose Schools spread over tfe* different parts
of the state. The teachers worked in their respective schools
even before the introduction of the 11-year Higher Secondary
School course and also had the experience of working in
those
schools at least for a minimum of five years. The questionnaire,
comprising forty questions, covered the following areas :
1.
Personal data, 2. Types of school, 3. Curriculum, 4. Co-
curricular a c tiv itie s , 5. Methods of teaching, 6. Methods
of
evaluation, 7. Quality of students, 8. Social co-operation,
10. Institutional fa c ilitie s - building, furniture and laboratory
equipments, library, 11. Quality of text books, 12. Guidance.
A copy of the questionnaire is appended (Appendix I I I a) .
Out of the 80 teachers 40 teachers were from Higher Secondary
and Multipurpose schools, and 40 from the High Schools. The investi­
gator f e lt that the views expressed by those teachers presented
a fa ir sample of the views of the whole group. From the analysis
and synthesis of the independent views of the teachers of High
Schools, and Higher Secondary Schools, i t was quite possible to
f draw a fa ir conclusion.
117
An o v e ra ll impression created by t h e ir answers and opinions
was that out o f the t o t a l 65 Higher Secondary Schools the
fu n ction in g o f 12 Higher Secondary Schools was quite s a t is fa c t o r y .
They are :
1.
Vivekananda Vidyalaya H .S .S ., D igboi.
2.
O il India H .S.S chool, D uliajan.
3.
Jorhat Government Boys’ H .S.S chool, Jorhat
4.
B a ja li H .S.S chool, Pathsala.
5.
Nazira Multipurpose School, Nazira.
6.
S .R .H .S .S ch ool, Tinsukia.
7.
Lala Multipurpose School), Cachar.
8.
G ir ls ! Multipurpose S ch ool, S ilc h a r.
9.
Government Boys’ H .S.S chool, Mangaldoi.
10. Shakti Ashram H .S.M .P.School, Kokrajhar
11. Cotton C olleg ia te Higher Secondary S ch ool, Gauhati.
12. Arya Vidyapith Higher Secondary S ch ool, Gauhati.
Apart from the above mentioned Higher Secondary and M ulti­
purpose S ch ools, the others o f the kind did not fu n ction
very
s a t is f a c t o r ily mainly because o f dearth o f resou rces, both human
and p h y s ic a l. It is revealed from the response o f the teachers
and adm inistrators that out o f the seven streams o f courses o f
stu d ie s, the Higher Secondary Schools o f Assam o ffe r e d
only s ix
streams. Those were 1. Humanities, 2. S cien ce, 3. Commerce
4. A gricu ltu re, 5. Fine A rts, 6. Home S cien ce.
The follow in g ta b le shows the number o f H .S.Schools and
th e ir pass percentage t i l l 1973 :
118
T able I I .
Year
No. H.
S .S c h o o l
Number appeared
Number p a sse d
*/oo f pasi
1962
20
976
538
5 5 .1
1963
23
1548
784
5 0 .6
1964
37
1915
909
5 7 .5
1965
42
2566
1038
4 0 .9
1966
53
3205
1488
4 6 .8
1967
65
4067
1394
3 1 .8
1968
72
5534
2565
4 6 .4
1969
74
5909
2296
3 8 .9
1970
74
5895
3256
4 7 .2
1971
47
6932
2894
4 1 .7
1972
74
7614
3330
4 3 .7
1973
74
9745 + 4210
4358 + 2024
4 5 .7
A p r il
S e p t.
The number o f H igher Secon dary s c h o o ls in clu d e the H igher
Secondary., o f o th e r areas a l s o i . e . N agaland, M anipur, M eghalaya,
and Mizoram, as th o s e areas were in c lu d e d in S .E .B .A . in 1973.
The l a s t two b a tch e s o f 1 1 -y e a r H .S .S ,s tu d e n ts were com bined.
[S ou rce
: D ir e c t o r a t e o f P u b lic I n s t r u c t io n , Assam]
119
The follow in g ta ble shows the number o f H.8 .Schools
in
d iffe r e n t d is t r i c t s t i l l 1974.
Table I I I
Name o f D i s t r i c t s
No. o f i n s t i t u t i o n s
14
1.
Kamrup
2.
G oalpara
7
3.
Garo H i l l s
1
4.
K h asi and J a y a n tia H i l l s
2
5.
Darrang
8
6,
Cachar
9
7.
Nowgong
8
8.
M izo H i l l s
9
9.
Lakhimpur
9
8
10. S ib s a g a r
Other S t a t e s
:
N orth E a s te rn F r o n t ie r S ta te (n o w
7
A ru n a ch al)
T o ta l
92
-
As a lre a d y s t a t e d , because o f the s e p a r a t io n o f M eghalaya
in 1971 and Manipur in 1973 from under th e j u r i s d i c t i o n o f the
Secondary Education Board, Assam, the number o f Higher Secondary
Schools in the State in 1973-1974 was reduced to 65 on ly.
The number o f Higher Secondary sch ools could not be adequa­
te ly ra ise d t o en rol a major s e c tio n o f secondary sch ool p u p ils.
4*)- Te-
...
j
: MS’-
HS.
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ia i;if
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i
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i
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\
'L h
K*isr
T ^ U
^py
c i r - rt./
T -o i:
1“- . -r7 j
i. -t - r i
i-, «r;
-•*7*jf;
tnct,
* y^oii
$•/**> ‘
* ( 1‘V*v '■<?; *}
f ^ i, / !
r*i»«37
|
_i yrar
- v -s ? :
:- c r? ?i i
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bija'T
ft?
f-4 -
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3/; ?3
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I *4 f 5
U ’ ll *;>
Towever, the enormous in c r e a s e in ttie e n rolm en t o r s e c o n d a r y
schools as a vh'-ole can be seen from toe folj-Oivirv ^>.1 e .
,Pr g0 A.,n,i^=r Schools n'"”'ea on1:
<- table shors tc o-f tl-'
a small section of the entire sec on nr-hoa! noin 1 ation.
Table showln,'' enrolment in different i'iyh Schools _and _nighex
Secondary Schools in Assam from 1963-64 _tg_L9 Tl^H.
*-•
’ ' • ' - ■j
^7
'P
2 f -5
W /
•3/ i 3
2 * 1/
(
Ll 9?
0c i
121
It was stimulated that at the end of the primary stage
portion of students would step o ff from the school system
a
and
take up some occupations. Again, some would enter into different
vocational co u rse s. So, not a very large number of students w ill
continue further in the stream of general education. The Secondary
Education Commission (1952-53) remarked that Secondary Education
should be vocationalised in a large measure and that the enrolment
in vocational courses raised to 20 percent
of the to ta l enrolment
at the Lower Secondary stage and 50 per cent of to ta l enrolment
at the Higher Secondary stage by 1968. The idea behind it was to
increase productive technical and vocational e fficie n cy of our
students and to create a new attitude to work-an attitude that
implies an appreciation o f the dignity of labour. But the very
small number of secondary schools converted into Higher Secondary
and Multipurpose Schools shows that the goal of secondary educa­
tion has not been even p a rtia lly attained.
The aim of re-organisation of the structure of secondary
schools was, as envisaged by the Secondary Education Commission,
to make secondary education a terminal or life-entrance one for a
majority of students, and a preparatory stage for higher education
of a general or professional nature for a smaller number
of
secondary school students. As the present study shows, such an
aim was
never attained; rather, it affected adversely the quality
education. The reasons for this are explained by AO teachers as
follows :
1.
The Vocational Courses as provided in the Multipurpose
Schools were so weak that they could not help students for a
122
vocation.
2.
Some of the vocational courses like Agriculture could not
attract students.
3.
Both parents and students preferred general education only
(Science and Arts and even Commerce courses.)
4.
The students could not be properly motivated to pursue the
vocational courses.
5.
Many High Schools were converted into Higher Secondary Schools
which could have functioned better had they been allowed to
remain High Schools. Thus the Higher Secondary and Multipurnose
Schools, like the High Schools in the state, acted merely as a
gateway to higher educational institutions of a general nature.
According to the opinion of the whole group (80 respondents)
the following obstacles hindered the realisation of the goal of
new secondary education :
1.
An unconduc£i.ve and non-co-operatfctfgsocial environment.
2.
Lack of occupational f a c ilit ie s for school leavers.
3.
Lack of integration between schools and colleges and lack
of further educational and training f a c ilit ie s for students who
would not go to a college.
4.
Poor family background o f many students.
5.
The prevailing unrest among students due to socio-economic
conditions and malnutrition.
6.
Inadequate and unsuitable s t a ff.
7.
Poor teacher-oupil ra tio and lack of an ideal relationship
between the s t a ff and the uunils.
123
8.
Premature and arbitrary s p e c ia lis a t io n fo r the student due
to m al-functioning or non-functioning o f guidance s e r v ic e .
9.
Lack o f laboratory f a c i l i t i e s , reading m aterials, teaching
aids e t c . fo r e ffe c t iv e teach in g.
The fo llow in g are the con d ition s on w hich,according to the
teach ers,
the a u th orities should have focussed th e ir a tten tion
in deciding to upgrade the High Schools :
(a )
The sch ools should have been provided the adequate number o f
cla ss rooms, adequate fu rn itu re , and other equipments.
(b )
The sch ools should have had enough space fo r th e ir immediate
needs and future expansion.
(c)
The a u th orities should have given due con sid era tion to the
lo c a l needs o f the people while converting the High Schools in to
Higher Secondary S ch ools.
(d )
For the implementation o f d iv e r s ifie d cou rses, the schools
should have been provided with re q u isite number o f career masters
fo r proper guidance o f the p u o ils .
(e )
Continuous assessment and s c i e n t i f i c evalu ation along with
modern methods o f teaching in sch ools should have been arranged
in a way t o guide students and develop th e ir la ten t a b i l i t i e s ,
and in t e r e s t .
As the above analysis shows, the stru ctu ra l changes o f the
11-year Higher Secondary sch ool courses introduced from 1957 in
the secondary schools o f Assam could not y ie ld the d esired e f f e c t
upon the secondary sch ool ch ild ren . Yet another stru ctu ra l change
o f 12-year (10 + Z) course recommended by the Kothari Commission
was introduced from 1973 at the secondary le v e l.
124
According to the new 10 + 2 sch ool p a ttern , as already men­
tio n e d , a new entrant to a Lower Primary School was to jo in new
cla ss I . A student from the la s t cla ss o f the Lower Primary School
was to jo in the f i r s t cla ss o f a Middle S ch ool. Hence the nunil
promoted from cla ss I I I was to be admitted to new cla ss V.
S im ila rly , a p u p il promoted from old cla ss VI was t o be admitted
to new cla ss V III. A fter passing T^igh sch o o l Leaving C e r tific a te
course (H .S .L .C .) i . e . old cla ss X, a p u o il was to jo i n the f i r s t
year o f a Higher Secondary S ch ool. In cla ss V and V III there were
two se ctio n s o f p u p ils , one d ir e c t ly promoted from the lower
c la s s , and the other who jumped one c la s s . P rov ision was made
fo r an accelerated programme o f in stru ctio n fo r the new entrants
in cla ss V and cla ss V III who jamped one c la s s . It was found that
except fo r the
in trod u ction o f the new courses o f studies^ fo r
the new entrants in cla ss V and cla ss V III, no other accelerated
programme was taken.
While givin g th e ir opinions regarding the new 10 + 2 sch ool
p a ttern , i t was remarked by a l l the 80 teachers that mere change
o f pattern would not a ccelera te the q u a lity o f education at the
secondary l e v e l. For them, sin cere and t o t a l implementation o f
the pattern was the f i r s t r e q u is ite fo r i t s su ccess. They were o f
the opinion that the e a r lie r pattern o f 11-year Higher Secondary
course was a fa ilu r e more
fo r the incomplete nature o f imple­
mentation and dearth o f resou rces, both p h y sica l and human, than
fo r any inherent weakness o f the stru ctu re . The follow in g sugges­
tio n s were given by them fo r implementing the scheme;
125
1*
Utmost care should be taken to provide in the schools a ll
the amenities including different courses of studies, s t a ff,
library, laboratory and other extra-curricular f a c il i t i e s .
2.
It should be made compulsory for a ll students to pursue the
Higher Secondary course in the same school from where they passed
the High#** School Leaving C ertificate course,
3.
Due care should be taken before introducing the plus 2 stage
at a High School so that it can have su fficie n t enrolment.
4.
The plus 2 course, (now) taught at the colleges in the form
of the Pre-University course^should be gradually and systematica­
lly shifted to the High Schools by turning them into Higher
Secondary Schools. Proper fa c ilit ie s should be provided in such
schools so that a student would like to continue in his school
for the plus 2 course instead of Joining a college.
5.
To make the 10 + 2 school pattern a success, it is very im­
portant to give emphasis on proper education from the grass root
level in order to build the foundation of the pupils. Therefore,
the pre-primary course should be properly organised and then the
primary course should be made e ffe ctiv e in educating the children.
Regarding the curriculum presented for the 11-year Higher
Secondary and Multipurpose Schools, it was found that the new
curriculum was not able to produce the desired e ffe c t upon the
student. From the opinion of the teachers, the following picture
emerges:
Regarding the study o f three languages at the secondary
schools, it was remarked by a to ta l of sixty (60) teachers(75
)
126
that the study o f 3 languages at the school was r e a lly a burden,
fo r , as they maintained;
(a ) There was often l i t t l e
a ffin it y between the languages
to be studied and the mother tongue.
(b ) Suitably q u a lifie d teachers to teach the languages (as
foreign languages) were not ava ila b le.
Twenty teachers i.20) {2
5 remarked that the study o f langua­
ges would help children to have an easy access to people and
places within and outside the sta te.
Poin ting out one o f the defects in the language syllabus i t
has been remarked by the en tire group o f teachers that by lowering
the marks in the language subjects lik e English and Assamese from
300 spreading over 3 papers to 200 spreading over 2 papers,the
proper emphasis in teaching languages was cu rtailed baa
and
that
casued much harm to the learners. As a re s u lt, they b elieved ,
(a )
The pupils could not properly express th e ir thought.
(b ) The pupils generally fa ile d to acquire the a b ilit y fo r enjoy­
ing creative w ritin g.
The follow in g suggestions were o ffe re d by them fo r the success­
fu l teaching o f language :
1,
Due emphasis should be given to the teaching o f languages
by improving the content o f the language syllabus, and by raisin g
the marks from 200 to 300, s p ec ia lly in Assamese(or the mother
tongue) and English.
2,
Knowledge o f Sanskrit was indispensable fo r acquiring
proper p ro ficien cy in Assamese, fo r Sanskrit is the mother language
127
o f a l l o th e r the In d ia n la n g u a g e s. Hence S a n s k rit sh o u ld be
in c lu d e d as p a rt o f th e stu dy o f Assamese la n gu age.
3.
For supplem enting c l a s s room i n s t r u c t i o n r e g u la r arran ge­
ment sh o u ld be made f o r drama, r e c i t a t i o n , d e b a te , t a lk s e t c .
R egardin g the co re s u b j e c t s , the e n t ir e grouo o f 80 te a c h e r s
f e l t th a t the co re s u b je c t s c o u ld not se rv e th e b a s i c ou rn ose fo r
which th e y were in tr o d u c e d , A cco rd in g t o them,
1
.
b a se d , wOffe on ly b o o k is h , andj made heavy by a number o f i s o l a t e d
s u b je c t s .
2.
There was no p r o v i s i o n f o r p r a c t i c a l c la s s e s f o r the co re
s u b j e c t s , and th a t was a s e r io u s drawback o f the s y ll a b u s .
3.
Although in the co n te n ts o f the co re cu rricu lu m v a r io u s new
elem ents were in tr o d u c e d , th e r e was l i t t l e
c o r r e l a t i o n betw een
an$i two s u b j e c t s . As a r e s u l t , d i f f e r e n t s u b je c t s rem ained i s o l a t e d .
As fa r as the e l e c t i v e groups in th e cu rricu lu m are co n ce rn e d ,
i t was o b s e rv e d by a l l the f o r t y t e a c h e r s th a t not a l l the co u rse s
were s u it e d t o the needs and c a p a c i t i e s o f the s tu d e n ts .
e x p la in e d the rea son s as f o l lo w s
1.
They
:
D if fe r e n t groups o f s u b je c t s were not o f d i f f e r e n t l e v e l s
t o f a c i l i t a t e t r a in in g f o r d i f f e r e n t groups o f stu d e n ts o f
d iffe r e n t le v e ls o f c a p a c itie s .
2.
The e l e c t i v e
scop e and f a c i l i t i e s
co u rse s were in tr o d u c e d in k een in g w ith the
a v a i l a b l e , but not in k e e p in g w ith the needs
and a s p ir a t io n s o f the a d o le s c e n t .
128
However, they remarked that the e le c tiv e subjects provided
in the school courses widened the scope o f studies and f a c i l i t a ­
ted the pursuit o f courses according to the in terest and capaci­
tie s o f the student.
As regards S ocial Studies as a subject, a l l the teachers
o f the group (40) rep lie d that i t was ( l ) too heavy (2 ) not
s u ffic ie n tly integrated and (3 ) superfluous fo r the humanities
group. A sim ilar opinion was received from 18 ^ teachers (45 f0 )
about 'General Science' and 'Elementary Mathematics' which
they
considered to be "too heavy" and "superfluous* fo r the Science
group.
Regarding the d iv e r s ifie d courses, a l l the Higher Secondary
teachers (40) observed that the content o f the d iffe r e n t courses
was such as to prepare children fo r the next higher course in the
college but not fo r any vocation.
The curriculum fo r the 11-year Higher Secondary course,
according to the opinion o f the en tire group o f teachers, was
not academically and p sych ologically sound. The reasons they
stated are :
1.
Some knowledge o f certain subjects lik e Sanskrit, Geograohy,
and History is e ssen tia l fo r a ll students at lea st unto class X
without which th e ir very foundation o f knowledge becomes weak.
2.
S p ecia lisa tio n at an early stage (class V II) is psychologi­
c a lly unsound because the in terest and aptitude do not properly
develop at th is stage. The fe a r fu l p o s s ib ilit y o f a wrong choice
129
is always there and i t ultim ately resu lts in maladiustment o f
the student.
Regarding the curriculum o f the 10-year school course, while
expressing th e ir opinion on the relevant questions in the ques­
tion n a ire, the en tire game group (AO teachers) observed to the
e ffe c t that the revised curriculum prescribed by the Board
Secondary Education, Assam,
of
was improved only to the extent that
some m odifications in the courses and the contents o f the syllabus
were added but the nature o f the syllabus remained as i t was t i l l
196A, and perpetuated education only o f a general and bookish
nature without any re a l emphasis on other aspects o f a student's
l i f e namely, physical, emotional, vocational and cu ltu ral.
30 teachers, (75 *jo ) observed that the vocational subjects
introduced in the d iffe re n t schools o f Assam were la rg e ly neglec­
ted. According to them,
1.
The required amount o f p h ysical, human and in s titu tio n a l
f a c i l i t i e s were not provided in the schools, s p ec ia lly in
the
rural areas.
2.
The students showed l i t t l e enthusiasm fo r vocational courses.
3.
The authorities could not motivate the students fo r pursuing
vocational subjects.
10 (25 % ) teachers, however, opined that they had been
provided the necessary f a c i l i t i e s fo r vocational courses by the
authorities and that they had regular students fo r such courses
also.
130
30
teach ers,
(7 5 $
) remarked th a t the
in d i f f e r e n t s c h o o ls was
'c r a f t s '
in tr o d u ce d
tau gh t in a h a lf- h e a r t e d manner.
A ccord in g t o them,
1.
'C r a f t t e a c h e r s ' w ith r e q u i s i t e q u a l i f i c a t i o n were not
a v a ila b le and hence u n d e r q u a lifie d p e rso n s were a p p o in te d t o te a ch
the c r a f t s .
2.
The s c h o o l a u t h o r it ie s d id not ca re f o r r e g u la r te a c h in g o f
the s u b j e c t s . The 'C r a ft*
s u b je c t s in p a r t i c u l a r were b a d ly
n egle c t e d .
3.
In most o f the s c h o o ls i t was ta u g h t t i l l c la s s V III o n ly ,
and t h e r e fo r e l i t t l e
im portance was a tta ch e d t o i t .
R egardin g the f a c i l i t i e s
fo r c o -c u r r ic u la r a c t iv it ie s
in the
s c h o o l s , the fo llo w in g p ic t u r e em erges, from the r e sp o n s e s o f
the t e a c h e r s .
20 High S ch o o l t e a c h e r s
S ch o o ls te a c h e r s
(50$
) and 35 H igher S econdary
(8 7 .5 J0 ) remarked th a t such f a c i l i t i e s
were
p r o v id e d in t h e i r s c h o o l s . The m a jo rity o f stu d en ts c o u ld get
b e n e f i t s o f such c o - c u r r i c u l a r a c t i v i t i e s .
20 ( 50 ^ ) High S c h o o l te a c h e r s and 5 (1 2 .5 /J
) H igher
Secondary S c h o o l te a c h e r s remarked th a t they had on ly th e minimum
o f c o -c u r r ic u la r f a c i l i t i e s ,
(X,
f o r they had n e it h e r a p la y -g r o u n d
nor^sem inar room n or o th e r f a c i l i t i e s
fo r c o -c u r r ic u la r a c t iv it ie s .
E x p r e s s in g t h e i r view s on the p r o v i s i o n f o r p h y s ic a l edu ca­
t i o n in s c h o o l s , a very d e p r e s s in g p ic t u r e was p r e s e n t e d . From
131
the o p in io n o f 30
(75 £
) High S ch o o l t e a c h e r s , i t was r e v e a le d
th a t th e re was no t r a in i n g f o r p h y s ic a l e d u c a tio n in the r e a l
sense in th e s c h o o ls as th e c la s s e s f o r p h y s ic a l e d u c a tio n were
not done r e g u la r l y .
However 10 t e a c h e r s , (2 5 $ , ) r e p l i e d th a t they had r e g u la r
c la s s e s f o r p h y s ic a l e d u c a tio n in t h e i r s c h o o ls alth ou gh with
little
e f f e c t upon sttudents.
The K oth a ri Commission (1 9 6 4 -6 6 ) su g g e ste d th a t the secon d a ry
s c h o o l cu rricu lu m sh ou ld c o n t a in the n e c e s s a r y e d u c a t io n a l elem ents
f o r the c u l t i v a t i o n o f the h a b i t s , a t t it u d e s and q u a l i t i e s o f a
b a la n ce d p e r s o n a l i t y . The needs o f th e a d o le s c e n ts are r e la t e d
not only t o the a c q u is it io n o f knowledge and the p rom otion
in te lle c tu a l
of
a b i l i t y bu t a l s o t o the f u l l e r developm ent o f the
p h y s i c a l , e m o tio n a l, a e s t h e t ic and moral a s p e cts o f t h e i r p e rs o n a ­
l i t y . P r o v is io n h a s, t h e r e f o r e , t o be made in the cu rricu lu m on
a more s y s te m a tic s c a le th an b e fo r e f o r the programme o f p h y s ic a l
e d u c a tio n and s u b je c t s l i k e a r t , c a a f t , m usic, d a n cin g , and edu ca­
t i o n in m oral and s p i r i t u a l v a lu e .^ The c r i t e r i o n b eh in d
cu rricu lu m i s th a t i t
such a
i s t o a g r e a t e x t e n t b a sed on e x p e r ie n c e .
I t sh o u ld be s o m otiva ted as t o arouse the learnerte i n t e r e s t in
i t as b e in g p u r p o s e fu l and r e le v a n t t o h is p r e s e n t n e e d s , and
s u it e d t o h is normal grow th , b o th m ental and p h y s i c a l . The co u rses
in the s y l l a b i are t o be in t e g r a t e d , a n a ly se d , or i n t e l l e c t u a l i s e d
as an a id t o p o s s ib le r e d i r e c t i o n o f the l e a r n e r 's p u r p o s e s . A
v a r ie t y o f c o - c u r r i c u l a r a c t i v i t i e s s h o u ld be o rg a n is e d t o p r o v id e
th e stu d e n ts an o p p o rtu n ity f o r s e l f - e x p r e s s i o n . T his "e x p e r ie n c e
c u rricu lu m " sh o u ld c o v e r p r o d u c t iv e a c t i v i t i e s , c o - r e l a t i o n o f
132
productive a c t iv it ie s and environment, and provide fo r adjustment
with lo c a l community to make education rela te d t o the l i f e and
aspiration o f the people in general. The new curriculum as
introduced from 1973 is an attempt, with it s changed contents
and improved method, to keep pace with the speed o f modernisa­
tio n .
Regarding the new curriculum that was introduced from
1973 in the secondary schools o f Assam i t was revealed from the
responses o f the teachers that the curriculum was fa r from
achieving it s desired goal —
knowledge relevant to l i f e and
t o provide a wide spectrum o f
develop d iffe r e n t aspects o f
person ality and there2by to inprove the q u a lity o f education.
The en tire group o f teachers considered the syllabus fo r
the 10-year sc h o il as heavy and burdensome on the one hand and
d e fic ie n t on the other. They stated as follow s :
1.
The number o f courses and the contents in the syllabus
was increased to a large extent without a llo tin g s u ffic ie n t
time fo r i t .
2.
Very l i t t l e time was l e f t fo r extra -cu rricu la r a c t iv it ie s *
3.
Subjects lik e Sanskrit, fin e arty, drawing have been neglec­
ted which were necessary fo r young learners.
Unless adequate method o f teaching fo r such a course is
nst applied and adequate educational f a c i l i t i e s being not
provided^the teachers stated that such a situ a tio n would lead
to further d eterio ra tio n o f the qu ality o f education.
132(a)
As regards 'work experience* as a compulsory su b je ct in the
new curriculum fo r the high sch ools sin ce 1973 i t was the
opinion o f the e n tire group o f tmachers interview ed that although
i t was welcome, i t s implementation was rather perfur^tory. There
were sev era l reasons f o r t h i s .
F i r s t , there was no proper o r ie n ta tio n o f teachers fo r th is
work. As a r e s u lt , they could not impart proper in s tr u c tio n in
the r e la te d f i e l d o f the 'work* chosen fo r them t o tea ch .
Secondly, the re was no su p ervision t o check the work done.
N aturally,the execu tion o f the scheme was bound t o be casual
and p erfu n ctory. For in stan ce, in 'works* lik e cane work or bam­
boo work, the students were not in stru cted in the c r a f t j
they
were asked t o do c e r ta in items themselves and submit them to
the tea ch er-in -ch arge f o r ev a lu a tion . Many students found
convenient t o
it
buy the items in the market or got them done by
others and submitted them t o t h e ir tea ch ers. Thus the whole idea
o f in te g ra tin g education with work t o combine advantages
form al and inform al system
of
o f education and t o r e la te education
with l i f e and p ro d u ctiv ity by p a r tic ip a tin g in productive work,
in the s c h o o l, in the home, in workshops in farm e t c , as
e n v is a g e ^ by the commission^ m iscarried.
T h ird ly , the work s e le cte d fo r the students was not always
in te r e s tin g enough t o engage the a tte n tio n o f the students. The
scheme was not p rop erly organised. As a r e s u lt the parents had
l i t t l e say in the matter.
132(b)
Fourthly, the equipments and the necessary f a c ilit ie s were also
not provided in the schools. Apart from these, the a llotted tine com­
prising a period of forty minutes’ duration in a week was not enough
for continuous practice which is necessary for acquiring a proper s k i l l .
On the whole, the scheme was not given a fa ir t r ia l as it deserved and,
naturally, there was a strong public reaction against taking i t into
consideration for declaraing
a grade. No wonder, then, that very
recently SEBA has decided not to count ‘ work experience’ for the fin a l
gradings.
An e ffe ctiv e administration by regular supervision, inspection
and guidance in secondary schools is necessary for proper functioning
o f the secondary schools. It is revealed from the answers o f 50 tea­
chers out o f a to ta l of 8 0 ( 6 2 . 5 ) that regular inspection was not
done in the schools. They attribute th is lapse to the absence o f an
adequate number o f inspecting personnel,
30 teachers (37.5^, ) remarked that inspection was done in a casual
and haphazard manner because, as they stated,
1,
There was no close examination o f the actual working of the
schools,
2,
The inspection was a mere form ality.
So far as the internal administration is concerned, in many
Higher Secondary Schools, i t is revealed from the answers of 20 tea­
chers out of 40 Higher Secondary teachers, (504^ ) that the Principal
or the Headmaster could not run the administration smoothly. Accord­
ing to them,
1.
The Headmaster or the Principal in most o f the Higher Secondary
Schools was a ’ Bachelor degree’ holder while the subject teachers of
Higher Secondary Schools were ’ Master degree’ holders.
133
As such, a fe e lin g o f in fe r io r it y stood in the way o f th e ir
assertin g themselves over the adm inistration.
2.
In the absence o f the required f a c i l i t i e s , both p h y sica l and
human, i t was not p ossib le t o run the adm inistration smoothly by
the head o f the in s t it u t io n in most o f the s c h o o ls.
Thus i t was found that though many changes were introduced
regarding the adm inistration o f secondary s c h o o ls , fo r example,
by creatin g a separate body, i . e . the Board o f Secondary Education,
Assam, t o organise and supervise secondary sch ools in the s ta te ,
and by crea tin g a number o f Dosts to supervise and provide guidance
in the s c h o o ls , the s itu a tio n did not improve.
The success o f any education al in s t it u t io n prim arily depends
on the qu a lity and the devotion o f i t s tea ch ers. The Board
of
Secondary Education, Assam, p rescrib ed the academic and o r o fe s s io nal q u a lific a t io n o f teachers in secondary sch ools and a number
o f measures, as mentioned e a r l ie r , were adopted to p rovid e
the
secondary sch ools with properly q u a lifie d tea ch ers. In our ques­
tio n n a ir e ,
a good deal o f emphasis was la id on matters re la tin g
t o teachers t o fin d out whether the rig h t type o f teachers was
available in adequate number and whether the schools provided the
f a c i l i t i e s t o get th e ir best s e r v ic e . On the basis o f answers
t o s o e c i f i c questions r e la tin g t o
tea ch ers, i t has been seen
that the number o f teachers fo r the Middle School cla sses
was
adequate. Teachers fo r languages were e a s ily av a ila ble but th e ir
standard, p a r tic u la r ly in E n glish , was gen erally n oor. In the
case o f the Higher Secondary S ch ools, there was always a dearth
134
o f tea ch ers, s p e c ia lly in the scien ce s u b je c ts , and mathematics.
In the case o f commerce and fin e arts a lso only a few teachers
were a v a ila b le . The dearth o f teachers caused much inconvenience
to a l l the High Schools and Higher Secondary S ch ools. Moreover,
fo r the Higher Secondary Course,
only one teacher was provided
fo r one su b ject which was not at a l l s u ffic ie n t fo r the smooth
running o f a sch o o l. Furthermore, in many Higher Secondary S ch ools,
p a r tic u la r ly in rural areas, the Bachelor Degree holders were
engaged to take Higher Secondary cla sses in the absence o f Master
Degree h old ers. As a r e s u lt , the standard o f teaching f e l l .
In a memorandum to the M.N.Goswami Commission(l968) by the
scien ce teachers who were p a r tic ip a tin g in a summer in s titu te in
physics at Gauhati University in 1968, i t was poin ted out that
90
y
o f Aided High Schools had barely one scien ce teacher each.
It is a ls o revealed from the
answers o f 20 (25$,
) teachers thfet
due to the dearth o f teachers many equipments and teaching
m aterials o f the scien ce su b jects remained unused fo r y e a rs, and
then became u nserviceable.
As regards the methods o f teaching in High Schools and
Higher Secondary S ch ools, i t is revealed from the resnonses o f
a l l the teachers that the usual methods were chalk and t a lk ,
d ic ta tio n o f n otes, and demonstration o f p r a c t ic a l work in science
su bjects and use o f maps and ch a rts. Group d iscu ssion and other
modern methods o f teaching using modern tea ch in g-aid s were not
adopted.
Many teachers,who were train ed in modern methods
teaching^could not apply those techniques. The reasons they
of
135
sta ted were as follow s :
1.
The work-load o f the syllabu s and courses meant fo r each
cla ss was heavy in r e la tio n t o the a llo tte d tim e, and the number
o f actu al working days in the sch o o l. In a p eriod o f 35 minutes
or 40 minutes, i t was d i f f i c u l t to apply any teaching method.
The number o f working days, they f e l t , was i n s u ffic ie n t , because
the number o f actual working days was even le ss than 90 owing
t o various breaks in
the working schedule caused by a large
number o f c a n ce lla tio n o f c la s s e s , and h olid a y s.
2.
Due to large enrolment in the c la s s , i t was always d i f f i c u l t
t o use modern methods o f teach in g.
3.
Dearth o f su b ject teachers and teachers in e le c t iv e su b je cts.
4.
I n s u ffic ie n t teaching aids fo r use in the s c h o o ls.
5.
The teachers were overworked.
This was a lso the view o f the Academic C ouncil, Goalpara
D is t r ic t , expressed at the Annual meet o f the P rin cip a ls and
Headmasters at Gauripur on 1 7 .2.79 on (a ) Methods o f Teaching
(b ) Work E xperience, that the methods learn t through the in s t it u ­
tio n a l tra in in g could not be implemented in the s c h o o ls . To do
*
away with the problem they o ffe re d the fo llow in g suggestions :
1.
Extensive te a ch e r-tra in in g f a c i l i t i e s .
2.
Maintenance o f optimum tea ch er-p u p il r a t io and the lowest
p o s s ib le enrolment in a c la s s .
3.
Minimization o f teaching loads o f tea ch ers.
136
4.
Supply of su fficien t number of
teaching aids and laboratory
fa c ilitie s .
5.
Allotment of a minimum number o f subjects for teaching to a
teacher.
6.
Holding of demonstration classes and seminars.
Thus i t was found that e ffe ctiv e teaching with appropriate
method, though badly needed for the success of the new school
curriculum, was neglected. For supplementing and amplifying
class-room instruction in the new curricula, it was also necessary
that proper arrangements were made regularly for talks, debates,
recitation s, drama,seminar e tc. It was seen from the responses
of iI6f
Higher Secondary teachers (40% ) that such fa c ilit ie s
were not at a ll available in their schools, 24 (60%, ) Higberf
Secondary teachers replied that they had only the minimum f a c i l i ­
tie s
provided to them, and they were not at a ll s u ffic ie n t.
As regards examination and evaluation, it is revealed from
the responses of a ll the teachers that though the nature
of
examinations was changed from the essay type to the objective
type, the purpose for examination — to test the e fficie n cy
of
teaching and the assimilation of pupils, remained elusive. This
is because,
1.
it could not discourage cramming and encourage in telligen t
understanding,
2.
it enlarged the scope for malpractices like copying in the
examination h a ll,
137
3.
(ch. tfi.
it reduced the scope-ifathe^y
student to analyse and synthesise
his thoughts.
The respondent teachers recommended that the following points
should be erimhasised for a proper evaluation of the students :
1.
External examination should be carried along with internal
examination,
2.
Proper care should be taken for regular evaluation of
a
students class work.
3.
Records of a student’ s
performance in his cla ss, in d iffe r ­
ent examinations like weekly te s ts, half-yearly examinations,
tutorials e tc. should be properly recorded for oromotion to the
next higher class. This would ensure that promotion is s t r ic tly
on merit and unworthy .students w ill not be sent up to a higher
class.
A well-planned programme for educational and vocational
guidance in secondary schools was much needed to help parents
and pupils in selecting the most suitable educational course and
the most satisfying vocation to pursue.
It is , however, revealed from the responses of a ll the tea­
chers that in Assam the vocational guidance programmes was
not
properly organised. The reason for this failure they stated thus :
1.
The career masters^who were also teachers, were usually over­
burdened with a heavy work. They were to provide guidance
addition to teaching.
*,
th
in
138
2.
The career-m asters were very few in number,
usually one
teach er in a s c h o o l. As a r e s u lt , guidance se rv ice was
not
properly p rovid ed,
3.
The State Guidance Bureau did not have e f f e c t iv e adminis­
tr a tiv e c o n tro l over the d i s t r i c t c o u n s e llo r s , sch ool co u n s e llo r s ,
and guidance tea ch ers. As such, the Guidance S ervice programme
was ir r e g u la r ,
4.
The parents did not show much enthusiasm fo r the guidance
programme. As i t is the general p r a c tic e fo r parents t o choose
the academic course fo r t h e ir ch ild re n , th e ir lack o f in te re st
was a great hindrance in implementing the d iv e r s ifie d courses
in the Higher Secondary and Multipurpose S ch ools.
5.
Lack o f co -o rd in a tio n among agencies lik e the Employment
Exchange, Guidance Bureau e t c . made the v oca tio n a l guidance
programme in sch ools i n e ffe c t iv e .
The Kothari Commission (1964-66) suggested t o gear voca­
tio n a l guidance programmes t o manpower-planning. This would
inclu de an alysis o f trends in the labour market in d iffe r e n t
employment f i e l d s , both p riv a te and p u b lic , and c o ll e c t io n o f
u p-to-date inform ation in occu pation , and organising career
conferences that would help the student and th e ir
parents
in th e ir choice o f a ca reer.
It is seen from the present study that although changes
at the secondary le v e l were introduced in every sphere, v i z .
139
structure, and curriculum, organisation and administration,
teaching, and evaluation, they were only partia l and haphazard.
Therefore, the result was disastrous. The quality o f secondary
education was gradually fa llin g . The high rate o f failu re in
the High School Leaving C ertificate and the Higher Secondary
School Leaving C ertificate examinations year after year is an
indicator of the quality o f secondary education prevailing in
the state.
It was also observed that the absence of vocational
courses to draw the academically deficien t student from the
main stream o f general secondary education at the end o f the
compulsory period, was one o f the main causes o f the
fa ll of
educational standard at the secondary le v e l. The following table
(Table V)shows that enrolment in differen t schools fo r vocational
and professional
training
is sig n ifica n tly
small in
number.
k
includes unrecognised in s titu tio n s , N.A. • not a v a ila b le .
[source : 1. D irectorate of P ublic In s tru c tio n , Assam.
2. D irecto rate o f T echnical E ducation, Assam.
3. D irecto rate o f Employment and Craftsmen T rain in g , Assam
2m
enrolm ent In d iffe re n t in s titu tio n s fo r v o catio n al and p ro fe ssio n a l tra in in g
i960- * 1$7'(S- » 1^4. 1975- k 1976- T T§77- ' I W - * 1979Tyoes of I n s titu - ’1950tio n s
1951
____ 1971 1975 22Z6 ____ 1977__ 1978 1979 I960
(a) P olytechnic
941
1961
2128 2157
2179
2347
2484
(b) In d u stria l T ra1936 2148
2220 2344
2660
2434
2 367
inihg In s titu te
(c) Gram Sevak
43
31
59
59
57
57
61
tra in in g
(d) S e ric u ltu re
29
40
38
38
40
40
40
(e) Land Survey
H.A. N.A.
255
264
256
240
288
245
248
(f) Music and
434 1336
1568
2095
2111 2059
2187 2347 2461
Dance
(g) Nursing and
Midwifery
56
49
50
50
50
60
52
(h) Arts and c ra f ts 315 1824
191
222
228
267
282
276
301
U> n lS a fs X o o !
919
359
335
446«
124
169
( j) Pharmacy
57
75
80
70
N.A. N.A.
(k) V eterinary
98
116
113
166
168
N.A. N.A.
( l) F orestry
39
37
38
39
62
N.A. N.A.
141
The M.N.Goswami Commission which was apoointed by the
Government o f Assam in 1968 t o report on the -problem o f secondary
education due to rapid
expansion o f edu cation al in s titu tio n s in
the s ta te , found that secondary sch ools in Assam were not
'p rop erly plann ed.' New High Schools sprang
ud
in clo s e proxim ity
with the old w e ll-e sta b lish e d sch ools and a ffe c te d them by a ttr a c t­
ing students away to the new. The process o f m u ltip lica tio n o f
High Schools was described in a memorandum to the Commission by
the Aided School Teachers' A ssocia tion , Assam, as "mushroom growth",
It observed : "the establishm ent o f Aided Schools is p ostin g a
grave problem t o education and as such ir r a t io n a l growth o f
schools besides lowering the standard o f education at a l l le v e ls
has greatly a ffe c te d the already esta b lish ed b ig or old s c h o o l." 8
The Goswami Commission found that the Middle Schools in Assam,
a fte r g e ttin g re co g n itio n upto Class VI, have a tendency to go
in fo r opening cla sses upto Class V III and the Education Depart­
ment, e ith e r on lo c a l or o fte n on p o l i t i c a l p ressu re, gives
re co g n itio n upto Class V III fo r that is w ithin the ju r is d ic t io n
o f the education department o f the Government o f Assam. As soon
as cla sse s are opened, or recognised upto Class V III, the schools
go on opening Class I* and X p riv a te ly and present candidates for
H.S.L.C. examination as p rivate candidates fo r a few years and
then approach the Board o f Secondary Education, Assam, fo r
r e co g n itio n fo r presenting candidates t o H.S.L.C. Examination as
regular candidates. Thus, gradually, the number o f p rivate candi­
dates is in creasin g fo r H.S.L.C. Examination. The increasin g
number o f p rivate candidates has lowered the pass per cent age in
142
t h e H .S .L .C . e x a m in a t io n w h ich a f f e c t e d t h e
th e
secon d a ry
l e v e l as a w h o le .
I t was re m a rk e d b y t h e
" u n l e s s th e
sta n d a rd o f e d u c a tio n at
g r a d u a lly
A id e d S c h o o l T e a c h e r s '
in c r e a s in g
H .S .L .C . e x a m in a t io n i s
number o f p r i v a t e
c o n tr o lle d e ff e c t iv e ly
p u b l i c e x a m in a t io n w i l l f u r t h e r d e t e r i o r a t e ,
w a s ta g e
o f m oney, tim e
and e n e r g y o f t h e
show s t h e num ber o f r e g u l a r and p r i v a t e
e x a m in a t io n and t h e p e r c e n t a g e
o f pass
T a b le
A s s o c ia tio n th a t
c a n d id a te s
fo r
th e s ta n d a rd o f t h is
r e s u ltin g
c o u n t r y .”
c a n d id a te s
q
in
c o lo s s a l
The f o l l o w i n g t a b l e
i n t h e H .S .L .C .
i n t h a t e x a m in a t io n .
VI
*
'
N o. afro e a r e d
N o. M a ssed
'
’ IE x p e lle d
P r iv a te
R e g u la r
P r iv a te
R e g u la r
i
i
»
....
». .
............... f...
Y ear o f
E x a m in a t io n
19 6 4
2 2 ,4 3 6
1 5 ,2 5 2
9 0 8 2 (4 0 .5 )
3 3 3 6 (2 2 .3 )
98
19 65
2 4 ,0 0 8
1 9 ,1 1 5
1 0 3 5 0 ( 4 3 .1 )
4 2 9 7 (2 2 .5 )
98
19 6 6
2 4 ,2 5 8
2 4 ,1 8 9
1 1 8 5 2 ( 4 8 .8 5 ) 6 4 2 1 ( 2 6 . 5 4 )
1967
2 4 ,4 1 0
3 2 ,0 1 6
1 0 4 1 0 ( 4 2 .5 )
4 8 6 6 (1 5 .2 )
113
19 68
2 0 ,9 2 0
4 3 ,2 6 3
8 3 7 0 (4 1 .3 )
9 6 5 6 (1 4 .4 )
18 9
1969
1 8 ,9 3 1
5 1 ,5 8 0
9 9 9 2 (5 2 .6 )
1 0 0 0 0 ( 1 9 .3 )
154
19 7 0
2 1 ,0 6 8
5 6 ,7 9 0
1 0 4 1 0 ( 4 9 .4 3 )
19 7 1
2 2 ,7 3 3
5 5 ,2 7 4
1 3 2 4 0 ( 5 8 .2 5 ) 1 1 4 3 2 0 ( 2 3 .4 1 )
12
1972
2 4 ,9 9 5
5 8 ,5 7 8
1 5 6 5 0 ( 6 2 .6 )
1 4 7 7 0 ( 2 5 .2 )
22
19 73
2 8 ,6 6 3
5 3 ,5 6 0
1 7 2 0 0 (6 0 )
1 1 5 7 0 ( 2 1 .6 )
13 0
1974
2 9 ,1 8 0
5 8 ,2 5 4
1 8 5 8 0 ( 6 3 .6 )
1 3 8 0 0 ( 2 3 .7 )
312
[S o u r c e
ta b le
: O ffic e
it
is
s ig n ific a n tly
9 7 6 8 (1 7 ,2 0 )
o f th e B oard o f S e co n d a ry E d u c a t in g
r e v e a l e d t h a t t h e num ber o f p r i v a t e
111
From t h e
c a n d id a te s
w h e re a s t h e i r p a s s p e r c e n t a g e was d e p l o r a b l y
14
above
in c r e a s e d
lo w .
143
A fter independence, fo r the p rogressive implementation o f
the C on stitu tion a l D irective r e la tin g to free and compulsory
education, the expenditure incurred by the State Government at
a l l le v e ls has rap id ly increased. From Ks.76
lakhs in 1947, the
education budget o f the Government o f Assam has gone upto Rs.21
crores in 1969-70 and has gone upto R s.74.48 crores in 1979-80.
Under the present circum stances, i t was found that even such
mounting eatpenditure in education could not bring the desired
r e s u lt . The huge wastage in the form o f fa ilu r e in the High
School Leaving C e r tific a te and Higher Secondary School Leaving
C e r tific a te Examinations prove the d e fic ie n c ie s o f the system.
They may be summarily c la s s if i e d as follow s :
1.
Unplanned growth o f secondary edu cation al in s t it u t io n s .
2.
Lack o f s in c e r it y , d evotion , and co -o p e ra tio n on the part
o f the adm inistration, tea ch ers, and the p u b lic .
The Committee o f Secondary Education, Assam (M.N.Goswami
Commission) (1968) suggested that the D is t r ic t Educational
Planning Boards should be more c a r e fu l in granting perm ission
t o s ta rt new schools and fo r s e le c t in g sch ools fo r the d e f i c i t
system o f grant. The Committee a lso suggested that the Board
should be con stitu ted in a manner that would in sp ire confidence
in the p eop le. It should include the D is tr ic t Inspector o f
S ch ools, a represen tative o f the Board o f Secondary Education,
two e d u c a tio n ists, one M.L.A. to be e le c te d by the State
L eg isla tu re, and the Deputy Commissioner o f the D i s t r i c t . ^
The Board should refuse to recommend a sch ool fo r the
d e f i c i t system o f grant when i t is s a t is fie d that the existen ce
144
o f the sch ool in the area has hampered the growth o f an already
esta b lish ed sch ool en joyin g government grant under the d e f i c i t
s y s te m .^ The Commission f e l t that there was great need fo r
proper d is tr ib u tio n o f secondary schools to improve the standard
o f secondary education.
The e f f e c t o f several changes in secondary education d eta iled
in the foregoin g chapters cannot be said t o be sp ecta cu la r. The
wastage in the form o f high percentage o f fa ilu r e is as great
as $ever. The d iv e r s ific a t io n o f courses has not y ie ld e d any
p e rce p tib le change. On the con tra ry, there is a rapid d eclin e
o f standard. Slackness in teaching and
evalu ation is rather
the rule than the excep tion . In e a r lie r decades, i t was seen that
a boy (o r a g i r l ) who fared w ell in his School Leaving Examina­
tio n
continued to show brigh t r e su lts in h is la te r career a ls o .
But now a days many f i r s t d iv isio n e rs o f the Board f a i l to make
the grade even in the f i r s t c o lle g e examination. This is a p ro­
blem
not in v estig a ted here system atically and in d e t a il. But
i t is a common experience and leaves much scope fo r d eta iled
a n a ly sis.
The changes as such were su rely w ell-plann ed, but the rot
was in the fa ilu r e t o imolement them in rig h t earn est. It is
the adm inistration that is at fa u lt . It has not shown the firm ­
ness o f r e s o lu tio n that is absolu tely necessary fo r implementing
the
changes. On the contrary, i t has often y ie ld e d to various
unacademic pressu res. One sin g le instance to prove th is poin t
is the contin uation o f the rid icu lo u s p r a ctic e o f awarding
145
'grace marks' which, in p r a c t ic e , means that even the unsuccessful
must be declared to have 'p a ssed ' fo r extra-academ ic considera­
t io n s , thus reducing the e n tire process o f evalu ation t o a
mockery. The courage to take hard d ecision s fo r improving qu ality
has not been evident y e t. The o v e ra ll impact o f secondary educa­
t io n in Assam so fa r , n ot^w ith standing i t s avowed aim o f giv in g i t
a much needed v oca tion a l th ru st, has been minimal. Lack o f proper
planning fo r meaningful v o ca tion a l education and a scheme
to
motivate the students fo r i t are the main reasons fo r the fa ilu r e .
The unplanned growth o f many venture High Schools which promote
unworthy students to the next higher cla ss only t o maintain it s
r o l l s and send up undeserving students fo r the sch ool fin a l exami­
nation have aggravated the s itu a tio n by in crea sin g the number o f
students at the secondary l e v e l. The Board o f Secondary Education,
Assam, cannot be sa id to have checked the r o t . The ultimate r e s u lt
is decline o f standard.
A very important th ing
here is that among the vast number
o f students there are a few brigh t ones. In the p re v a ilin g situ a ­
t io n , they do not get proper a tten tion . That is indeed a p ity fo r
i t means the n eglect o f m erit. A lso, the large number o f dropouts
at the term inal stage means a huge wastage o f resou rces: that
creates fr u s tr a tio n among the secondary sch o o l students. This is
su rely harmful fo r s o c ie ty fo r the obvious reasons,^ No orien ta ­
t io n o f secondary education th erefore must overlook th is p o in t.
A ll it s planning must take th is in to proper account.