Mallika
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of History, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli.
Kamaraj, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu felt the necessary of education towards the socio-economic welfare of the society. He established schools in every Village Panchayats and reformed the existing educational institutions. To remove the ignorance of the people he made education compulsory up to the age of fourteen. To help the poor students free education, free uniform, free books and slates and free noon meal were introduced in 1960. This gave an golden opportunity to all the poor children to become literate.
In 1955 there were 81 full-fledged primary schools in the diocese. The government in those days took no direct part in the field of education. The remuneration of teachers was not paid out of the State’s coffers, but was contributed voluntarily by the villages themselves. The private teacher’s called Assans conducted schools in villages and imparted instruction required for day to day life of the ordinary people particularly moral flock. Such was the condition of the society and education in the native State of Travancore in the beginning of the 19th century.
Branches of School Education
The school education in the State can be divided into three main branches. Primary Schools imparted Elementary education, Middle and High Schools imparted Secondary education and Higher Secondary Schools imparted Higher Secondary Education.
Basic education in 1956
There was a change in the Education Policy of 1956. Basic education became the accepted pattern of National Education. Basic Schools were new concepts in the 1950’s. In these schools, the children besides the regular curriculum, had to learn many life oriented education. They included craft work like mat weaving and other handicraft works, gardening, moral instruction. The teachers were also specially trained in the newly opened Basic Training Schools for teaching in the Basic Schools. Basic education emphasized the dignity of labour.
Ordinary elementary schools in the State were converted into Basic Schools according to the facilities available in the schools such as space for gardening implementation of teaching crafts and the services of craft teachers. The ordinary normal schools or training schools were converted into either Junior Basic Training or Senior Basic Training Schools. Thus importance was attached to basic training to the pupils. No new pre Basic Schools attached to Basic Schools were opened during the year. During the year 1958 – 1959, 1000 elementary schools were converted in to Basic Schools.
Introduction of coir-making as a subsidiary craft in the year 1956-57 in four government Basic Training Schools in the Malabar District was sanctioned by government. Stipends at the rate of Rs. 18 per pupil per month continued to be given to those of the Junior Basic Grade as well as Senior Basic Grade.
Retraining of Teachers
In order to convert Elementary Schools into Basic Schools, a large programme of retraining of teachers in a three month course in Basic Training School was launched. The graduate teachers compraised Deputy Inspectors of Schools and School Assisstants from government institutions and graduate teachers from aided Training Schools were retrained.
Craft Equipment Stores
Three new craft equipments stores were opened during this year. In Basic Schools spinning is the main craft and gardening is the subsidiary craft. The craft equipment and raw materials are supplied at free of cost from the department of School Education to all Basic Schools. The school deposits either the entire finished products or the value of such products that might be sold, together with the unsold craft products into the government craft equipment stores. The required quantity of raw materials is issued from the same store in exchange for part of the craft produced delivered at the store. The value of the balance is credited to the fund of the government which supplied the original equipment and raw material. The disposal of craft produce relating to cotton craft has been deposited to the Rural Welfare Department of the government has agreed to take over the products and dispose them of and credit the amount raised to the State funds.
School Improvement Scheme
The School Improvement Scheme is also a voluntary movement. Under this Scheme, large sums of money have been colleated as donations from the general public. As many as 35 School Development Conferences have been held in various district of the State up to 11th March 1959. Therefore the government has constituted the “School Meals and School Improvement Schemes Assessment Committee” to make the assessment of the working of these schemes.
Under this the people living in a locality contribute to the all round improvement of their schools. Many of these nurseries of education did not have clean and decent place to function. Buildings in bad state of repairs, schools without the barest equipment were no unusual sights. This sub-standard elementary schools are turning out sub-standard products affecting in turn the standard in High School and Colleges. This sad state of affairs stressed to the urgency of the problem of improving the standard of schools right from the bottom, namely the elementary schools.
The existing conditions of every school were obtained and the deficiencies under various items were assessed. It was realized that we could not expect all the deficiencies to be made good in one installment in every village. The priorities were left to be divided by the local community depending on their resources.
Local Committee of Adhoc formed
The officers of the Education Department were working through the teachers. The teachers became the catalytic agents. The local committees began to realize that the local school is an integral part of their village and its proper maintenance is partly their responsibility. Villagers came forward either individually or jointly with others to undertake improvement schemes. District after district came forward to organize similar school improvement conferences for specified areas. The response from the public also grew in size. Donations in cash or kind are received and they are entrusted to an individual or a committee. Generally they try to form an adhoc village School Improvement Committee for every village. They are made to take the initiative and responsibility for the gathering local support-financial, material and moral.
The scheme undertaken as a result of this School Improvement over a wide range.
Hence the following were the few schemes
- Construction of school buildings.
- Electrification of school buildings.
- Construction of quarters for teachers
- Construction of latrines.
- Bhoodan for Mid-day meals, play area and gardening.
- Supply of uniforms to poor children
To help the children, teachers have come forward to conduct free supervised study outside school hours and the villages have come forward to provide necessary lights for such work out of school hours. An attempt is made to ensure that the basic needs such as sanitary convenience, drinking water and children’s library are provided. They also tried to build up some unofficial local arrangements for periodical repainting of blackboard and whitewashing of school building.
The rich and the poor have contributed according to their mite. Women have been equally enthusiastic about these schemes. There are also cases of low paid maid servants contributing equally generously. The most important result of the movement was the social emancipation. It has brought the school and people in close intimate contact and oriented the school to the community and made the people, education and school conscious.
Committee of legislators
The government had appointed a three member Committee of Legislators with Sri.K.S.Subramania Gounder as Chairman and Sri.R.Krishnaswami Naidu and Sri.K.Sattanatha Karayalar as member to make an assessment of the working of the school meals and school improvement schemes.
Mid-Day Meals Scheme of 1956
The origin and development of mid-day meals scheme in Madras State are an indication of a silent revolution taking place in the field of education in modern times. The increase in the number of schools and pupils were the major outcome of the Mid-Day Meals Scheme. Further the ameliorative measure to improve the status and condition of teachers and the various concessions to poor students bear testimony to the importance attached to education in this state.
Article 45 of the Constitution of India lays down that free and compulsory education should be provided for all children up to the age of 14. Towards the attainment of this goal a large number of schools were opened in school less villages with a population of 300 and above.
It is therefore to stimulate enrolment and retain the children for the full school course at least one noon-meal should be provided for them at the school. Every Elementary School especially in rural areas has at least a few children should go hungry. Such hungry children cannot be educated. This scheme was launched unofficially in an organized form purely as voluntary measures in July 1956 under the guidance of Director of Public Instruction.
Village people who are used to the idea of feeding others on special occasion responded to this call enthusiastically and generously. They realized that these are poor starving children not merely in the streets but also in schools. Provision for school-meals was organized in different ways in different places. The poor were equally responsive. The literate and the illiterate vied with one another in contributing their mite.
Government Subsidy
It was in November, 1957 the State Government decided to stabilize and to extend this programme of mid-day meals for school children, with financial assistance. The entire non-recurring expenditure on the supply of cooking utensils etc had to be borne by the local community. The recurring expenditure on the provision of mid-day meal was shared between the local community and the government. The local community has to provide 40 per cent and the government would give the remaining 60 per cent of the recurring. However the govt subsidy does not exceed 6 r-p per meal.
In big centers, regular cooks are employed. In small centers, the series of servants are employed for cooking either for a small remuneration or gratis. The Headmaster of an Elementary Schools in the locality is the ex-office secretary to the Mid-day Meals committee and maintains the accounts. More and more schools organized free meals centers. Number of pupils fed in the Harijan welfare schools and in Primary Schools in Kanyakumari District entirely from public funds reached about 1.26 lakhs.
In certain localities land holders contributed towards this scheme. At the time of harvest a specified quantity of food grains according to the extent of land owned by them were contributes generously. In bigger places donations are usually collected in cash. In several villages a few rich land-owners of the village came together and undertake that scheme to feed the poor children for a specified period of time, like a week, a month by rotation so as to cover the entire year. In certain places even daily wage-earners have come forward to contribute their mete to this cause. Teachers also have come forward to contribute generously for the scheme. In some High Schools the teachers have taken the initiative by agreeing to feed by turns some students per day. In course of time the villagers take up the working of the scheme. There are centers where food is cooked in the individual houses for a specific number of pupils and sent to the schools at the pointed hour. The houses in the villagers take their turn in cooking and supplying the Midday Meals. This scheme of free school meal is also in operation in many High Schools without any govt subsidy. The entire cost of feeding the student in High Schools is met by local subscriptions and contributions.
Benefit of the Scheme
It helped to bring into the school thousands of children who had been kept off the school on account of the poverty of their parents. It prevented the wastage caused by children who left the school prematurely in order to supplement the slender family resources with their own small earnings.
The scheme has also brought about a charge in the social outlook of the old and young. Poor children of all communities and creed sit together and eat the same meal. This has resulted in breaking down the caste barriers in the minds of the young.
Reorganization of Secondary Education 1964
In the field of secondary education also there has been considerable expansion both quantitatively and qualitatively. A scheme for the re-organization of secondary education was introduced in 1964. In the same year Government High Schools for boys were opened. There are six schools in Kanyakumari District.
The new scheme provided opportunity for a student to learn in mother tongue or a classical language and Hindi besides English. This made secondary education not merely academic, but also technically oriented. Under this scheme, engineering textile technology, agricultural, sectarian course and home science were included.
The Government of Madras also implemented the proposals made by the secondary education implementation committee headed by Dr. Lakshmana Swamy Muthaliar the Vice Chancellor of the University of Madras. The new scheme provided for a new pattern for the secondary education which consisted of eleven years of education.
To make Secondary Education more universal the government has abolished the levy of tuition fees in Secondary Schools from the beginning of the academic year 1964 – 65. Levy of special fees was continued to be regulated by the existing orders.
The schemes also suggest for improving the quality of secondary education, improvement of existing facilities for teaching Science, and improvement of libraries during 1964 – 65.
Syllabus and Text Books
Prior to the year 1963-64, government prescribed the syllabus. But, from the year 1963-64, the policy of nationalization of text books was introduced. Therefore major revision of syllabus took place in the year 1965-66 and the revised syllabus was introduced in various classes in the following years.
Introduction of Provident Fund cum Insurance cum Pension Scheme
The first important step taken towards the welfare of the teachers was the introduction of the provident fund cum Insurance cum Pension scheme with effect from April 1955. The scheme is to benefit all teachers in Elementary Schools under local Boards and aided management and secondary and other similar grades of teachers in Secondary Schools both under local Boards and aided managements. No other state in India has conferred this triple benefit on teachers serving in aided and local body schools.
State Award for Teachers
This scheme was implemented with effect from the academic year 1959-60 and two awards each comprising Rs.200 in cash and a certificate of merit to each of the 24 educational districts in the State. These State Awards were given to those teachers of Elementary Schools of the State government who had done signal and meritorious services in the course of elementary education. The teachers selected for award were called and given the prize in a public function by the Governor. The function used to be arranged on the Republic Day or any other day of public importance.
National Award for Teachers
To raise the prestige of teachers and to give public recognition to the service rendered by them, the Government of India held an annual function for the award of certificates and cash award of rupees 500 each to the teachers who hade rendered valuable services to the community in their professional life. This was confined to Primary and Secondary School teachers. To select the awardees for that award two committee with members each one with district level other at state level was appointed.
Conclusion
Owing to the educational activities of the Missionaries and the existence of innumerable schools even in the remote villages the erst while Travancore Native State stood first in the rate of literacy among other State and British Indian Provinces. Kanyakumari District maintains its old legacy of the highest rate of literacy from the beginning.
References
- M. Gopalakrishnan, Kanniyakumari District Gazetteers, Madras, 1995.
- Madras Information, 1959.
- Madras Information, 1963.
- Madras Information, 1965-66.
- Administrative Report of the Year 1957-58.
- Administrative Report of the Year 1966 – 67.