MEMBERS OF THE EDUCATION COMMISSION
 

New Delhi 29 June 1966 Asadha 8, 1888

Dear Shri Chagla,

I have much pleasure in submitting the Report of the Education Commission.

I would like to take this occasion to express to you my own and my colleagues' sincere gratitude for the support and encouragement you have always so generously extended to us in our work. The appointment of the Commission is largely due to your initiative and vision.

Education has always been important but perhaps never more so in man's history than today. In a science-based world, education and research are crucial to the entire developmental process of a country, its welfare, progress and security. It is characteristic of a world permeated by science that in some essential ways the future shape of things is unpredictable. This emphasizes all the more the need for an educational policy which contains a built-in flexibility so that it can adjust to changing circumstances. It underscores the importance of experimentation and innovation. If I may say so, the single most important thing needed now is to get out of the rigidity of the present system. In the rapidly changing world of today, one thing is certain: yesterday's educational system will not meet today's, and even less so, the need of tomorrow.

It is difficult, and it is certainly so for us, to say to what extent the Report will actually help in the reconstruction of the educational system which is so urgently necessary. We trust, however, that the Report will provide some basic thinking and framework for taking at least the first step towards bringing about what may be called an educational revolution in the country. The Report makes recommendations about various sectors and aspects of education. The main points that immediately come to my mind are:

Introduction of work-experience (which includes manual work, production experience, etc.) and social service as integral parts of general education at more or less all levels of education;

Stress on moral education and inculcation of a sense of social responsibility. Schools should recognize their responsibility in facilitating the transition of youth from the world of school to the world of work and life;

Vocationalization of secondary education;

The strengthening of centres of advanced study and the setting up of a small number of major universities which would aim to achieve the highest international standards;

Special emphasis on the training and quality of teachers for schools;

vi

Education for agriculture and research in agriculture and allied sciences should be given a high priority in the scheme of educational reconstruction. Energetic and imaginative steps are required to draw a reasonable proportion of talent to go in for advanced study and research in the agricultural sciences;

Development of quality or pace-setting institutions at all stages and in all sectors.

I apologize for the size of the Report. It could have been shorter, but that would have cost more money and time, and delayed action. What the situation urgently calls for is action, and this is what you have always stressed.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

D. S. KOTHARI

SHRI M. C. CHAGLA Minister for Education Government of India New Delhi