Sadler Commission Report-1917
Objectives
After going through this unit, students will be able to
1) Discuss about the circumstances leading to the appointment to the Calcutta University Commission.
2) Discuss the composition of the Sadler’s commission.
3) Describe the main recommendations of the Sadler Commission.
4) Discuss the contribution of Ghandiji in the field of education.
5) Describe the fundamental principles of basic education.
6) Discuss the objectives of Basic Education.
7) Discuss its relevance in modern times.
Introduction
The
Resolution on Educational policy (1913) had recommended that a
university should be established for each province, the teaching
activities of universities should be encouraged and that the colleges
located in mofussil towns
should be developed in to teaching universities in due course. But n
action could be taken by the Government primarily because of the
outbreak of the Great World War. In 1917, the Government of India
appointed the Calcutta University Commission which is also known as the
Sadler, the Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University. The commission visited
all university centers and after 17 months submitted its report in 13
volumes, giving a critical and comprehensive survey of educational
problems. Although it deals with Calcutta University only,
the problem it studied were more or less common to the other Indian
universities. The report had greatly influenced the subsequent course of
secondary and higher education the country. The ommission had 6 members
besides the chairman.
To enquire into the condition and prospects of the University of Calcutta and to consider the question of constructive policy in relation to the question it presents.
Essential Features Of the Sadler Commission
Broadly speaking, recommendations of the Commission may be studied under the following heads:
1. Recommendations Relating to Calcutta University.
2. Recommendations Relating to All Universities in India.
3. Recommendations Relating to Muslim Education.
4. Recommendations Relating to Teacher Training.
5. Recommendations Relating to Technology.
6. Recommendations Relating to Professional and Vocational Educations.
7. Recommendations Relating to Modern Indian Leagues.
8. Recommendations Relating to Secondary Education.
1. Recommendations Relating to Calcutta University and its Problems
The Commission thoroughly examined the problems of Calcutta University and
reached the conclusion that the size of the university had become
abnormally large and that the number of students and colleges affiliated
to it had increased too much to be efficiently dealt with under a
single university.
The Commission put forth three suggestions in this respect.
I. There should be establish a teaching and residential University at Dacca;
II. The teaching resources should be organized in Calcutta in such a way as to create a real teaching University; and
III. The
development of mosfussil colleges should take place in such a way as to
ensure the encouragement of gradual rise of university centers at a few
places by concentrating all possible resources for higher education on
them.
2. Recommendations Relating to All Universities
A. Important recommendation on university of Education
i. Intermediate
classes should be separate from university and a curriculum spreading
over three years should be prescribed for the degree of B.A. The stage
of admission to the university was to be intermediate and not
matriculation examination.
ii. Intermediate
colleges should be established for the sake of completing the first
stage. These colleges should conduct teaching in arts, science,
medicine, engineering, education, agriculture and commerce.
iii. A
separate High School and Intermediate Board should be formed in every
province, consisting of representatives of the Government, universities,
high schools and intermediate colleges, for the sake of managing
secondary education. The Board should be made free from the control of
the Department of Education.
iv. The mother tongue should be used as medium of instruction in intermediate colleges.
B. Internal Administration and organization of Universities
The Comission expressed their general views upon the internal administration and organization of the universities as follows:
1) The teachers of the universities should be given more power with a view of removing unnecessary State control over them.
2) Regulations governing the working of universities should be made less rigid.
3) Provision should be made for the institution of Honours courses, as distinct from Pass course for the sake of abler student.
4) The duration of degree course should be three years after the intermediate stage.
5) For
the internal administration of university, a representative court in
place of Senate and small Executive Council in place of the syndicate
should be setup.
6) A
special commite should be constituted for making appointments to
Professorships and Readerships. The committee should include external
experts also.
7) An
Academic Council and Board of Studies be set up to settle academic
question pertaining to courses of study, examination, degrees and
research work etc.
8) Different faculties should be created.
9) A full-time and salaried vice-chancellor should be appointed.
10) A Director of physical training should also be appointed to pay attention to the health and physical welfare of the students.
11) The
Department of Education in the universities should be established and
education included as a subject for B.A. (Pass) and intermediate
courses.
12) It
also recommended the establishment of an inter-university board
coordinating the activities of the various Indian universities.
3. Recommendations Relating to Muslim Education.
1) The Muslims should be provided all education facilities in view of their backward state in this field.
2) It provided for organizing ‘Purdah School’ for the gorls up to the age of 15 or 16 years.
3) It empowered the Calcutta University to institute a ‘Special Board of Women’ s Education’ and set up special curriculum according to the educational needs of women.
4. Recommendations Relating to Teacher Training
The Commission recommended that the output of trained teacher should be substantially increased.
5. Recommendations Relating to Technology.
The
Commission observed , “It is an important and indeed, a necessary
function of the university to include applied science and technology in
its courses and to recognize their systematic and practical study by
degrees and diplomas.
6. Recommendations Relating to Professional and Vocational Educations
The
commission recommended that Universities must provoke provision for the
efficient training in personnel need for the industrial development of
the country.
7. Recommendations Relating to Modern Indian Leagues
The
Calcutta University Commission (1917) stated: “ We are empathically of
opinion that there is something unsound in the system of education which
leaves a young man, at the conclusion of his course, unable to speak or
write his own mother tounge fluently and correctly. It is thus beyond
controversy that a systematic effort must be henceforth be made to
promote the serious study of the vernaculars in secondary school,
intermediate colleges and the university. The elaborate scheme recently
adopted by the university for the critical, historical and comparative
study of the Indian vernaculars for the M.A. examination is but the
caping stone of an edifice of which the base has yet to be placed on a
sound foundation, and it is only when such a structure has been
completed that Bengal will have a literature worthy of greatness and
civilization of its people.”
8. Recommendations Relating to Secondary Education.
The commission held that reform at the stage of secondary education was essential for the improvement of university education. In this regards it made the following recommendations:
1) Separations of intermediate classes from the universities.
2) Establishment of intermediate colleges.
3) Formation of separate high school and intermediate Boards.
4) Use of mother-tongue as a medium of instruction.
Implementation of the Recommendations
There were important political developments in the country in the wake
of Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1919) under which universities were
transferred to provincial government. Besides several problems arising
out of the consequences of First World War had to be given priority.
Hence, the recommendations could not be put to immediate implementation.
However, after the policy resolution of 1920, recommendations received
attention. Several universities came in to being.
Evaluation of the Sadler Report: Fore-Runner of the New Pattern of Education 10+2+3
According
to A.N. Basu, “The report of the Commission contains the most
comprehensive and authoritative study of the Indian education system
from the secondary stage to the university. It is, therefore, quite
natural that they have greatly influenced the subsequent course of
secondary and higher education in the country.
In
the world of Arthor Methew, “ the report of Calcuttaniversity
commission has been a constant source of suggestion and information. Its
significance in the History of Indian Education has been incalculable.
When we look at the present education scenario, we find that some of the important features
find their mention in the Sadler Commission Report. The beginning of
introduction of new pattern of education 10+2+3 in 1975 has been hailed
as a landmark in the reform of education in India.
It may be recalled that the 12 years of schooling and 3 years of degree
course were recommended by the Sadler Commission (1917-1919). In this
sense the Sadler Commission may be said to be the fore runner of the
present national education structure.
Likewise the present emphasis on vocational education and technology education may be tracked back to Sadler Report.
THE WARDA SCHEME
OF
EDUCATION (1937)
The
Wardha Scheme of Education derives its name from the education
conference of National Workers held at Wardha under the president ship
of Mahatma Gandhi. The scheme is also known as Nai Talim/Basic
Education/Buniyadi Talim (Shiksha)/Basic Shiksha.
The
scheme is the outcome of the philosophy of Gandhiji. It was given
definite shape by the Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Zakir
Hussain who later on become the President of India.
ORIGIN OF THE SCHEME
Ghandiji
found the main defects of the system of education as, “I am fully
convinced that present system of education is not only wasteful but
positively harmful. They would pickup evil habits. English has created a
permanent bar between the highly educated few and the uneducated many.”
He further said, “let us now cry a halt and concentrate on educating
the child properly through manual work not as a side activity but as a
prime means of intellectual activity.”
The
scheme was the outcome of sound thinking of Ghandiji. Perhaps Gandhiji
is the only freedom fighter in the world who initiated and strengthened
several constructive programmes for the economic, educational and social
development of the people. He considered education as an effective
instrument of national reconstruction.
Ghandiji emphasized self-sufficient aspect of education along with other aspects. In fact he wanted India to be self-sufficient in every walk of national life.
In
July 1937, Ghandiji wrote in the Harijan, “By education, I mean an
all-round drawing out of the best in child and man – body, mind and
spirit… Literacy itself is not education, I would, therefore, begin the
child’s education by teaching it a useful handicraft and enabling it to
produce from the moment it begins its training. Thus every school can be
made self-supporting, the condition begin that the state takes over the
manufacture of these schools.”
Conference of Ntional Workers
The
same year, in October, a conference of National workers was called at
Wardha under the presidentship of Mahatma Gandhi and, after considering
his idea, passed the following resolutions.
1) That in the opinion of this Conference, free and compulsory education be provided for seven years on a nation-wide scale;
2) That the medium of instruction be the mother-tongue;
3) That
the conference endorses the proposal, made by Mahatma Gandhi, that the
process of education throughout this period should centre around some
productive form of manual work, and that all other abilities to be
developed or training should be given, as far as possible, be integrally
related to the central handicraft chosen with due regard to the
environment of the child.
4) That the conference expects that the system of education will be gradually able to cover the remuneration of the teachers.
Appointment of a Committee
The conference appointed a committee of distinguished educationists
under the chairmanship of Dr. Zakir Hussain to prepare a detailed
syllabus. Among others who serve on the committee, Prof. K.G.
Saiyidain’s name is prominent. The report of the committee published in
March 1938, has come to be known as the Wardha Scheme of Education. It
was approved by Mahatma Gandhi and was placed before the Indian National
Congress at its Haripura Session held in March 1938. The Congress
accepted the scheme.
WARDA SCHEME OF EDUCATION AT A GLANCE
The fundamental features of the scheme which was evolved in due course are as follows:
1) A school of say 5 ½ hours could roughly be divided on the following basis:
Physical activities… 20 minutes
Mother Tongue… 20 minutes
Social Studies & General Science 60 minutes
Art 40 minutes
Arithmetic 20 minutes
Craft work including study of correlated subjects… 2 ½ hours
Thus the craft work will have 2 ½ hours instead of 3 hrs & 20 min.
2) Free and compulsory education to be given for 8 years ( from 6 to 14 years) in two stages, instead of 7 to 14. the jounior stage covering 5 years and the senior 3 years.
3) The medium of instructions is to be the mother tongue.
4) Education
is to centre round some form of productive work. The social and
physical environment to be used for correlation in addition to craft.
5) The
self-supporting aspect is not to be over-emphasized. The sale-preceeds
of he finished goods should be able to help the school to cover some
part of its expenditure.
6) External examinations are to be abolished. The day-to-day work of the student is to be the determining factor.
7) Text books to be avoided as far as possible.
8) Cleanliness and health, citizenship, play and recreation are to be given sufficient importance.
EVALUATION OF THE WARDHA SCHEME OF EDUCATION
Merits of Wardha Scheme
I. Craft Work in School: Modern
educational thought is practically unanimous in commending the idea of
educating children through some suitable form of productive work. This
method is considered to be the most effective approach to the problem of
providing an integral all-sided education. It is useful on account of
the following:
1) Psychologically,
it is desirable, because it relieves the child from the tyranny of a
purely academic and theoretical instruction against which its active
nature is always making a healthy protest. It balances the intellectual
and practical elements of experience, and may be made an instrument of
educating the body and the mind in coordination.
2) Socially
considered, the introduction of such practical productive work in
education, to be participated in by all the children of the nation, will
tend to break down the existing barriers of prejudice between manual
and intellectual workers, harmful alike for both. It will also cultivate
in the only possible way a true
sense of dignity of labor and of human solidarity – an ethical and
moral gain of incalculable significance.
3) Economically
considered, carried out intelligently and efficiently, the scheme will
increase the productive capacity of our workers and will also enable
them to utilize their leisure advantageously.
4) From
the strictly educational point of view greater concreteness and reality
can be given to the knowledge acquired by children by making some
significant craft the basis of education. Knowledge will thus become
related to life, and its various aspects will be correlated with one
another.
II. Activity Carriculum: In
order to work out an effective and natural coordination of the various
subjects and to make the syllabus a means of adjusting the child
intelligently and actively to his environment, the Wardha Scheme laid
stress on three centres, intrinsically inter-connected, as the foci for
the curriculum, i.e. the Physical Environ ment, the Social Environment,
and Craft Work, which is their natural meeting point since it utilizes
the resources of the former for the purpose of the latter.
The
Wardha Scheme of Education attempted to draft an ‘activity curriculum’,
which implies that our school must be places of work, experimentation
and discovery, not of passive absorption of information imparted at
second hand. It stressed this principle by advocating that all teaching
should be carried on through concrete life situations relating to craft
or to social and physical environment, so that whatever a child learns
becomes assimilated into his growing activities.
III. Learning by Doing: Learning
by doing sums up the educational methods of basic education. It is
absolutely wrong to think that true education is acquired from books
alone. There are other methods and sources which are more helpful in
acquiring true knowledge. ‘Chalk’ and ‘Talk’ lessons are also not very
useful. All educationists have condemned bookish knowledge. Ghandiji
believed that school must be a ‘doing things’. In basic system of
education children acquire the knowledge of the formal school subjects
as a bye-product of purposeful activities.
IV. Social Activities and Community Life: the
corner-stone of Basic education lies in the activities and the
community life of school. Apart from craft, productive activities and
occupations find an important place in the curriculum of a basic school.
Living together and doing together is the soul of any progressive
system of education and basic system fully incorporates this in its
curriculum and methods of teaching.
V. Self-Sufficiency: Ghandiji felt that the educational system as introduced by the foreigners in India was expensive and it was very difficult for a poor country like India to
spread education if it follows that system. So Ghandiji went a step
further and declared that New Eduaction must not only be worked centered
but must also be self-supporting.
“…You have to start with the conviction that looking to the need of the villages of India our
rural education ought to be made self-supporting if it is to be
compulsory. This education ought to be for the kind of insurance against
unemployment.
Not
only from economic point of view, must this education be
self-sufficient, but also from social and moral point of view. This
means that at the end of the period of basic education the individual
should become self-reliant and self-supporting.”
VI. Modification of the Views of Mahatma Gandhi on Self-sufficiency: Dr.
Zakir Hussain Committee pointed out the danger of overdoing of craft
work and warned that oral work, drawing and expression work should not
be lost sight of. The educative aspect is more important than the
economic aspect. It thus shifted the emphasis from complete support to
partial self-support. It was felt that with the earnings through sale of
craft products, uniform for the students or mid-day meal or purchase of
some necessary equipment may be made.
Free and Compulsory Education: Seven
years free and compulsory education is one of the fundamentals of his
scheme and this cardinal principle has been emphasized due to two
reasons:
(i) India is
a democratic country and success of democracy depends upon the
enlightened citizens. Our great leaders like Gokhale worked for the
introduction of compulsory education for long time. In his historic
speech, Gokhale said that if elementary education was to spread in India, it must be made compulsory and if it was to be compulsory it must be free.
(ii) Ghandiji dream of classless society, free of exploitation -- economic and social—can be realized only if everyone is educated.
VII. Mother Tongue as a Medium of Instruction: It
is now universally recognized that the young child can learn with great
facility if the medium of instruction is its mother tongue. Ghandiji
asserted that no education is possible through foreign medium and all
elementary education must be imparted through the medium of mother
tongue.
VIII. Education through Correlation: Correlation
is one of the important feature and crux of basic education. In this
scheme of education, Ghandiji wished to give knowledge as a compact
whole. The modern educationist also advocated this. The basic education
is therefore, an effort to correlate the life of the child with his
immediate physical and social environment. It is an effort to make
knowledge easier and at the same time more meaningful.
IX. Integrated knowledge: Basic education treats knowledge as an integrated whole. Curriculum is build around three integrally related centers: (i) Physical environment, (ii) Social environment, and (iii) Craft work.
X. Relationship with Life: A
basic school must become an active environment where teaching is not
cut off from the life of the miniature community of the school and
community itself. Education is to be directed to the need of life. It is
not to pursue an idea which has no relation with or is totally isolated
from the real situations of life.
XI. Training in Citizenship: Basic
education aims at developing ideas of mutual understanding and habits
of cooperative and mutually helpful living among the students through
its various practical and constructive programs the new education aims
at giving the citizens of future a keen sense of personal warmth,
dignity and efficiency. It is likely to strengthen in them the desire of
self-improvement and social service in a cooperative community.
XII. Greater freedom for the teacher and the taught: In
basic education, discipline does not mean order and external restraint
but an intelligent use of freedom. The teacher gets many opportunity to
make experiments, think for himself and put his idea and plan to
practice.
XIII. Basic education is not a class education: the
ultimate objective of basic education is to create a social order in
which there is no unnatural divisions between ‘have’ and ‘have-nots’ and
every one is assure of a living wage and the right to freedom.
XIV. Basic education in rural as well as in urban areas: It
is wrong to assume that basic education is intended to be imparted in
rural areas only. “In fact, in one sense there is greater need for basic
education in urban areas than in rural areas. In rural areas the
children who participate in the life of the farm or allied occupation of
their families have certain types of further education. In performing
their jobs the children come in to direct contact with actual life and
with the experience they get forms the basis of further education. On
the other hand in large towns and big industrial cities the children
miss the opportunity for rich experiences and direct contact with life”,
observed Dr. K.L. Shrimali.
Significance of the word ‘Basisc’
One.
The word ‘Basic’ is derived from the word ‘Base’ which means the bottom
or the foundation of a thing upon which the whole things rests or is
made.
Two. It is basic because it is based on ancient Indian culture.
Three.
It is basic because it lays down the minimum educational standards
which every Indian child is entitled to receive without any distinction
of caste and creed.
Four. It is basic because it is closely related to the basic needs and interests of the child.
Five. It is basic because it make use of native potentialities of the child.
Six. It is basic because it is intimately related to the basic occupations of the community.
Seven. It is basic because it is for the common man of the country, who is the foundation and backbone of our national life.
Eight. It is basic because it comes first in time, i.e., it is the primary period of one’s education.
Criticism of Basic Education
1) Unsound Psychological Foundations of Wardha Scheme of Education: “The
delicate but inexorable laws governing the development of the tender
mind of the child have been completely ignored. The child is treated
just as a policeman or a soldier, merely as a unit in a homogeneous
mass. His individuality is ignored. He is viewed merely as a means to an
end—the end being earning capacity and citizenship of sorts.” P.S.
Naidu
“play
is the only means by which creative energy can be released. Enlightened
and informed educational opinion all over the civilized world is
dedicatedly against forcing the child to learn a craft before he is
twelve plus. It is nothing short of cruelty to make the child earn an
anna or half an anna per hour during the stage when he ought to be
playing and enjoying himself.” P.S.Naidu
“There
are three aspect of human nature—cognitive, affective and co native.
The Wardha Scheme emphasizes the last aspect piously hoping that the
student will wily-nilly get trained in the first through his training in
the last. The middle aspect is completely ignored.” P.S. Naidu
2) Undue Emphasis on Craft as the Only Basis of Correlation: “
It is impossible to establish any natural association between craft and
all the subjects of cultural value which any sane system of education
should cover through its curriculum. Teaching should be concrete and
should be based on the child’s active experience in his environment. But
it is absurd to hang all knowledge from the peg of single craft.” P.S. Naidu
3) No Place for Religious Education: “Education
suited to our national genius should have definite religious basis,
with contempt of worldly pursuits in its core. Craft-centered education
is decidedly alien to our ancient ideals.” P.S. Naidu
4) Basic Education not Suited in an Age of Industrialization: As
ours is a system of education which claims to produce an integrated
individual, the emphasis is out of place in a community which has its
face turned towards developing its economy to the full. So far Basic
education fails to relate to the economic policy of state. But if this
point is ignored, we shall find ourselves burdened with an educational
system which turns out misfits even more rapidly than the one with which
we are so dissatisfied.” S. Natarajan
“With rapid industrialization of India, knowledge of science and mathamatics may become more desirable than skill in handicrafts.”
Editorial, Educational Review
5) Ruinous Competition: “This scheme will hit the professional artisans hard by creating ruinous competitions.” P.S. Naidu
6) Deficient Working of Basic Schools: “There is some loss in mechanical arithmetic and spelling; lack of sufficient intensive and respective drill.” J. Lahri
7) Neglect of the child: “ In a hurry to pay more attention to craft, it has neglected the child.” Anath Nath Basu
“Basic education is looked upon more as a social and economic duty than as a joyful adventure.” Anath Nath Basu
“Craft is only a slogan, a fiction, which is practiced on commercial occasions for the benefits of visitors.” R.K. Singh
8) Faulty Time-Table: “
In a basic school only two-third or half the normal time is given to
academic education, the rest being taken up by crafts. And further,
since on the time-table academic subjects generally come after the craft
work, mostly agriculture, students are sometime too tired to take to
academic work kindly.”
R.K. Singh
9) No Dexterity in Any Craft: “Students spend one-third or half the time for craft work without acquiring any dexterity worth speaking of in any craft.” R.K. Singh
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