15 Era of Social Education

S.Y. Shah and Vandana Chakrabarti

epgp books

 

Content Outline:

 

1.            Learning Objectives

 

2.            Introduction

 

3.           Centrally Funded Scheme for Adult Education

 

4.           Programme implementation

 

5.           Integration of social education with the community development programme

 

6.           Institutions

 

7.           Encouragement by the Government

 

8.           International support

 

9.           Achievements of the programme

 

10.        Gram Shikshan Mohim

 

11.        Conclusion

 

 

 

1.           Learning Objectives

 

At the end of the module the learner will be able to,

 

1.            Identify the objectives of the Social Education Programme

2.            Recognise the aspects included as core curriculum of the programme

3.            Explain the implementation strategies

 

4.            Integrate with Community Development Programme, contribution of Central Government in encouraging social education, international contribution, achievements of the programme, success of Gram Shiksha Mohim.

 

 

2.           Introduction

 

Indian history has ample evidences of advancement in science, arts and literature as well as an indigenous system of education. It is also known that women in general and men of certain castes were kept out of this system of education. It is not surprising therefore, thatin 1901 the overall literacy rate in India was only 5.35% and female literacy rate

 

.60%. Several reformists worked for inclusive education. Prominent educationists and nationalist leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Sir Visveswaraiyya, Rabindranath Tagore, SubaRao, LalaLajpatRai, B.G.Tilak and others as well as some voluntary organisations such as Bengal Social Service League, YMCA gave impetus to adult education. Adult Education Associations were formed in Bengal, Bombay and in South India. The Indian Adult Education Association was established in 1939. The establishment of night schools in many provinces and strengthening of public library movement contributed to increase in the literacy rate which increased from 9.5 in 1931 to 16.1 in 1941.

 

After independence from British rule, India adopted a policy of planned development whereby Five Year Plans were developed; the government assessed progress made in the previous plan, current needs and requirements for funds, set priorities and targets in different areas and funded developmental programmes. The treatment that adult education got in different Five Year Plans varied from plan to plan.The First and Second Five Year Plans emphasised provision of elementary education with the belief that universalization of elementary education would inevitably reduce the need for adult literacy programme. Nevertheless, adult education was embarked on in a very limited way. As emphasis was laid on Social Education in the first two Five Year Plans, this decade can be viewed as the Era of Social Education.

 

 

3.   Centrally Funded Scheme for Adult Education

 

The Centrally Funded Scheme for Adult Educationwas developed by a committee of seven eminent educationists under the chairmanship of the then Minster of Relief and Rehabilitation of GOI, Mohan LalSaxena. The other members were HumayunKabir, Mata Prasad, K,G. Saiyadain, V.S. Jha, M. AnanthasayanamAyyangar and M.K. Sidhanta. The committee laid great emphasis on the social aspect of adult literacy and coined the term, “Social Education”. The committee aimed at achieving the target of 50 per cent literacy among 12- 45 age group before the end of the first Five Year Plan.

 

The following were the objectives of Social Education as recommended by the

 

Mohan LalSaxena Committee:

 

a)  To instill a consciousness of the rights and duties of citizenship and foster a spirit of service to the community;

 

b)  To develop a love for democracy and impart an understanding of the way in which democracy functions;

 

c)  To disseminate knowledge of the outstanding problems and difficulties facing the country and the world;

 

d)  To develop love for the pride in our cultural heritage through the knowledge of our history, geography and culture;

 

e)  To teach the simple laws of personal and community health and develop habits of hygiene and cleanliness;

 

f)  To foster the growth of the co-operative spirit as a way of life;

 

g)  To provide training in crafts both as a hobby and as a means to economic betterment;

 

h)   To provide cultural and recreational facilities by way of folk dances, drama, music, poetry, recitation and other ways of spontaneous self-expression;

i)  To provide through these various activities as well as through reading and discussion groups, an understanding of the basic moral values;

 

j)  To give a reasonable mastery over the tools of learning – reading, writing, simple arithmetic and to create an interest in knowledge; and

 

k)  To provide facilities for continuation of education through libraries, discussion groups, clubs and institutions like peoples’ Colleges….

 

 

The committee also identified five aspects of social education to be the core-curriculum viz., (1) Health and Hygiene, (2) Family and Community living, (3) Vocations, (4) Literacy and Cultural activities, and (5) Recreational activities.

Social education defined as a “course of study directed towards the production of consciousness of citizenship among the people and promotion of social solidarity among them” had three aspects:

 

(i)           The spread of literacy among grown-up illiterates,

 

(ii)          The production of an educated mind in the masses in the absence of literacy education, and

 

(iii)        The inculcation of lively sense of rights and duties of citizenship – both as individuals and members of a powerful nation.

The recommendations of Mohan LalSaxena Committee were accepted by the Central Advisory Board of Education with minor modifications at its meeting held at Allahabad during 6-9 January 1949. These were placed in the Conference of Provincial Ministers of Education held in New Delhi during 19-20 February 1949 for detailed discussion on implementation of the scheme in States. These formed the basis of social education programme in India during 1950’s. However, the credit for popularising the idea and translating it into a programme goes to the then Minister for Education, Maulana Azad, who evinced special interest in the programme and was keen to make “an immediate start with the new scheme” notwithstanding the financial stringency.

 

 

4.           Programme implementation

 

By and large the programme was spread over three months. It was anticipated that the learner would be taught for 180 hours, with an average of about two hours per day. Each teacher was expected to teach 30 learners. A large number of primary school teachers participated in the programme. A detailed syllabus was prepared for training of instructors. The primary school teachers who participated in the programme were trained for their assignment. In lieu of this work they received a monthly honorarium of Rs. 10 along with an annual allowance of Rs.25 for contingencies.

 

Various State Governments worked out their own operational strategies. For instance,

i.     Delhi introduced an education caravan that visited 300 villages during 1949-50. A three-day educational mela held in each village. It had four vans. One served as a mobile stage. Another served as a moving cinema. The remaining two were exhibition vans for advancement of social education in villages.

ii.     West Bengal and Bihar stressed recreational and cultural aspects of social education.

iii.     Madras and Bombay focussed on establishing libraries.

 

iv.     In U.P. and M.P. social education camps were organised with the help of primary school teachers during summer vacations.

 

The Social Education programme picked up with the allocation of Rs.5 crores for social education in the First Five Year Plan. In 1952, a full-fledged Ministry of Community Development and Co-operation was created. Social education was then integrated with the community development programme.

 

 

5.       Integration of social education with the community development programme

 

In 1952, a full-fledged Ministry of Community Development and Co-operation was created. Social education was then integrated with the community development programme. This was done with the belief that such integration will make the social education programme more effective.

The Community Development Programme was conceived as a centre based programme at block level supervised by a Block Development Officer. A number of blocks constituted a project. The social education programme at the block level was supervised by Chief Social Education Officer. Programme of social education in the blocks included formation of -Community centres Youth clubs Mahila Mandals Adult literacy centres

 

Farmers groups Recreation centres and Training of gram sahayaks

 

The course content of social education programme under community development was the same as the earlier one. The duration of the programme was now increased to 10 months. The entire activity was divided into two stages of five months each. The main course was completed in the first five months. Follow up activities were taken up in the second stage.

 

 

 

6.       Institutions

 

Literacy House (1953), National Fundamental Education Centre (1956), National Book Trust (1957), Central Board of Workers Education (1958) were some of the key National Institutions contributing to adult education that came up during the first and second Five Year Plan period.

Mysore State Adult Education Council (1916), JamiaMillia (1920), Indian Adult Education Association (1939) produced material for teaching adults. There were other voluntary organisations too which produced and distributed suitable material for neo-literates.

 

 

7.       Encouragement by the Government

 

The Ministry of Education instituted prizes to encourage excellence in material production in different Indian languages. Best books for neo-literate were selected and their authors were awarded by the Ministry. The Ministry of Education organised workshops for literacy journalism.

 

Central Assistance was provided to voluntary organisations for,

 

Production of audio-visual aids Promotion of workers’ education Development of rural radio forums and Setting up of permanent adult schools on experimental basis SamajShikshan Mala (Social Education Series) was regularly published from 1950 to 1996, initially by Shri. K.B.Babar and then by Dr.Sarojini Babar from Pune to sustain literacy of neo-literates, give them access to new knowledge and enrich their lives.

 

SamajShikshan Mala produced one book on a specific topic each month. Subsequently, news items, regular features on Mananiyavichar(some useful thoughts), interesting episodes and other articles of readers’ interest were included in the publication. Some of the titles published by SamajShikshan Mala (Social Education Series) in the early part of the decade starting 1950 are Dussara and Diwali, The Village Hunter, You and Your Children, What is the Meaning of Vote?, We the Tribal, Human Rights, Sundri’s Marriage. The books included biographies, poems, short novels, essays and other forms of writing. SaakshartaNiketan, Lucknow published literacy primers as well as reading material of

 

interest to the neo-literate. Some of their publications in the early years include Clever Anand, Widow, Ideal House, Ideal Neighbour, Ideal Farmer, We are the Government, What should We Eat?

 

 

8.       International support

 

During the era of Social Education, India received some support from international institutions and experts towards the development of adult education. Dr. Frank C. Laubach, the literacy crusader who spent 40 long years advising governments, organisations and missions in over 100 countries, helped in training a number of Indian adult educators. Dr. Welthy Fisher, again an American, was committed to bring literacy to women of rural India established the Literacy House of Lucknow, the India Literacy Board and a publication section. The Ford Foundation provided grants for setting up Social Education Training Centres. The Indo-American cooperation in adult education did not last long due to political reasons. The World Literacy Inc. however, continued to provide financial support to Literacy House at Lucknow. Subsequently India received funds from the UNESCO for setting up a National Fundamental Education Centre and organisation of a regional seminar on reading materials for neo-literates.

 

While all these international inputs strengthened Indian adult education, it remained basically a centre based programme and did not develop into a popular movement. In 1950, Dr. Frank Laubach submitted a proposal to the Government of India for launching an All India Literacy Campaign. It was shelved due to paucity of funds.

 

 

 

9.       Achievements of the programme

 

The era of social education not only helped in drawing attention of people towards the importance of improving literacy amongst adults, it facilitated adult literacy amongst the non-literates. Some of the achievements of the programme are given below.

Ø  75 lakh illiterate became literate (35 lakh in the First Five Year Plan and 40 lakh in the Second Five Year Plan).

Ø  53000 community centres, 454 school-cum-community centres, 55000 youth clubs,

100 libraries and 5 Social Education organisers’ training centres were established during the First Five Year Plan.

 

Ø   Administrative infrastructure was strengthened.

 

Ø   Training facilities were augmented.

 

Ø   Library system was expanded.

 

Ø   Production of audio-visual programmes was increased.

 

The Social Education programme was well-conceived under the leadership of Maulana Azad. Well-known educationists like Mohan Singh Mehta, Sohan Singh, A. R. Deshpande, M. C. Nanavathy, B. N. Jha, T.A. Koshy were associated with it. Support was given by the UNESCO and Ford Foundation. Despite this, the programme did not penetrate deep into the rural areas and make the expected impact. It was calculated that the benefits of social education programme was actually derived by 0.3% of the population (need reference). The Social Education officers, who were crucial to the programme, were overloaded with multifarious responsibilities and limited support in terms expert guidance, suitable literature and adequate research.

 

10.  Gram Shikshan Mohim

 

The Gram Shikshan Mohim (Village Education Campaign) was the first successful literacy campaign undertaken in independent India during the late 1950’s. This campaign was masterminded by an imaginative official of the Education Department of Maharashtra-Shri B. R. Patil. The campaign which was a definite success, gradually spread over the entire state of Maharashtra during 1960’s. The Gram Shikshan Mohim significantly contributed towards increase of literacy in the state. During 1961-71, the literacy in Maharashtra increased by about 10% i.e. from

 

29.82% to 39.18% as against the 5% increase (from 24.02% to 29.45%) at the national level. It is estimated that about 10 million adults became literate through the campaign. The Gram Shikshan Mohim won international recognition in the form of UNESCO Pahalavi Prize for literacy in 1963. The Planning Commission considered it worthy of replication in other states. As noted in the Plan document, “the present stage of social education in the country is essentially experimental and needs Central guidance. The work should be coordinated with similar work in basic education and a common committee of experts should advise the Centre in the matter of initiating and aiding financially experimental work in both these fields in the States, and guide it, assess the results and make them available to other States. A common national platform, where the various agencies can meet at intervals for mutual discussion—so necessary for evolving a common outlook and securing coordination of different agencies—is already provided by the Indian Adult Education Association.“

 

 

During the 1960s, the official policy revolved around the expansion of elementary education. It was argued by the policy planners that by providing free and compulsory education to all the children by 1960, the problem of illiteracy could be tackled more effectively. The failure to achieve universalisation of elementary education by 1960, the successful emergence of Gram Shikshan Mohim and the paucity of resources, limitations of social education programme and the proclamation of Education Policy (1967) – all paved the way for change in the adult education concept and policy by mid-1960’s.

 

 

11.  Conclusion

 

This module has introduced the Era of Social Education and listed objectives of the Social Education Programme. The Centrally Funded Scheme for Adult Education laid

great emphasis on the social aspect of adult literacy. The scheme engaged with the adult learners as citizens who should be made aware of their democratic rights and

responsibilities; as people in the community who should live harmoniously with each other; and as individuals who have to master the tools of learning, viz.,

reading, writing and arithmetic. They should live healthy and hygienic lives, have sound moral values and develop hobbies, appreciate cultural activities such as

 

dance, music, poetry, folklore and various other ways of self-expression. The module has described a variety of operational strategies adopted by different states.

 

 

Integration of Social Education with the Community Development Programme in the First Five Year Plan brought about changes in its implementation and linkages with grassroots groups.

 

This period also saw establishment of some very important institutions. Government’s played an important role in encouraging adult education by providing central assistance to voluntary organisations to publish and produce material for adults and encourage workers’ education. International support was garnered.

 

At the end, the module has given information about the Gram Shikshan Mohim (Village Education Campaign) as the first successful literacy campaign which succeeded in making about 10 million adults literate and won international recognition in the form of UNESCO Pahalavi Prize for literacy in 1972.

 

 

you can view video on General Introduction to the Era of Social Education

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