Selected parts from Constituent Assembly Debates on Education during the making of the Constitution of India

 

Selected parts from Constituent Assembly Debates on Education during the making of the Constitution of India

Monday, the 6th December 1948	Shri Sarangdhar Das "I must say here, that with the spread of western education in our schools and colleges we had loss contact with the villages, and it was our leader, Mahatma Gandhi,who advised the intelligentsia to go back to the villages, and that was some thirty years ago. For the last thirty years we have been going into the villages and making ourselves one with the villagers; and in reply to Dr. Ambedkar's accusation, I would say that there is no localism in the villages. There is ignorance,--yes, ignorance of the English language and also our various written languages, and that situation is due to the kind of Government we had, a Government that destroyed our educational system. As far as knowledge of nature and wisdom gathered from Shastras and Puranas are concerned. I would say that there is more wisdom and more knowledge in the villages than in our modern cities. I am not a hater of cities. I have lived in cities in two continents, but unfortunately our cities in India are entirely different from the cities in other countries. Our people living in the cities are far away from the villagers, from their life, and that is why we have become such that we think there is nothing good in the villages."
the 9th November, 1948	Shrimati Renuka Ray " I would appeal to the House to include a proviso whereby a definite proportion of the budget is allotted for this  purpose. This is nothing very new; it is already therein the Constitution of China which says: "Educational appropriations shall set apart not less than 15 per cent of the total  amount of the budget of the Central Government and not less than 30 per cent of the  total amount of the provincial, district and municipal budgets respectively." If we are to progress and prosper I suggest that in the matter of the two nation-building services of education and public health there should be some provision in the Constitution of the type that is there in the Chinese Constitution"
war and education	Shri B. H. Khardekar "there are two important fronts in life, first there is the war front, and then there is the front of education. When we will have war, God alone knows;we may have a major war at any time and we must be prepared for that. There is some trouble in Kashmir; there was some in Hyderabad. We have got to be prepared. It must also be remembered that we are a very poor country and we must gather up all the resources that we have, so that we can attend to first things first. In a country where democracy has to flourish, where democracy is in its infancy, the front of education is the most important one. You know the appalling condition of the people so far as education is the most  important one. You know the appalling condition of the people so far as education is concerned. About sixty to seventy years ago, in several, countries free and compulsory  primary education was introduced. As a result of freedom, that should be our first business. Only yesterday, we discussed the necessity of having such a clause in the Draft  Constitution. In a country like ours, even free compulsory primary education would not be  enough, because the poor boy, who goes to plough, forgets even to put his signature after a  few years, and so, in proportion, even secondary education for the backward communities, rather I may say for the poor would have to be provided. Sir, we are an infant democracy  and if we are going to have really a democratic Government, we must have education. You  know the great saying "Democracy without education is hypocrisy without limitation"
29th April, 1947	Sri V. C. Kesava Rao "education is the birth-right of every citizen ".420
Friday, the 31st December 1948.	Hindi for -qualification of Supreme court Judge   Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad-"It could perhaps be safely assumed that, with the spread of compulsory primary education, lawyers would be literate, and if one is not literate, he cannot be a lawyer. To be a lawyer and also an Advocate, one has to pass certain tests in literacy and commonsense. So that if one is not literate he could not be an Advocate and so he could not be appointed a Judge of a High Court and he could not also be appointed Judge of the Supreme Court.  Then with regard to expressing themselves in the national language, I think if and when English is to be discarded, Advocates and Judges must necessarily possess the minimum literacy qualifications which are required of them and they ought to be able to express themselves in the national language. With in a foreseeable period of time, an Advocate, a Judge of the High Court or of the Supreme Court must necessarily be able to express themselves in the English language, so long as it is current, and thereafter, of course, in the national language."
8th December, 1948	"The Central Advisory Board of Education in their report on postwar educational development in India, published in 1944, recommended that the medium of instruction in the secondary stage should be the mother tongue of the pupils."
the 9th December, 1948	Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena (United Provinces : General) "The Fundamental Rights Committee was appointed before the partition took place. In fact, these rights were written in this form before the partition had taken place. The minorities' rights were laid down on the basis that there will be no partition. Yet, we have not changed them. I am not letting out a secret when I say that our great leader Sardar Patel told us, "kindly do not interfere with these rights, religious and cultural, because they form part of an agreement arrived at before the partition." If anybody says that these rights are not enough, I think it is the height of ungratefulness. I think  we have guaranteed rights which our people will, probably, tell us in the future that  we bartered away these rights. We have now declared that no religious education shall   be given in the schools. Thirty crores of our people are Hindus; yet they shall not have the right to be taught even the universal religious book, the Gita, in the schools. Why have we done that? Because, at that time, before the partition, it was thought that in view of the fact that there are various religions, let it not be done. Now, when only three crores out of thirty-three are the minority, still, the majority is denying itself the opportunity of teaching the children the religious precepts of its community. Yet, we have not changed these rights, because our leader has told us not to interfere with them. I think the way in which the majority has tried to accommodate the minority will be taken note of and it shall not be right for anybody to come forward and loudly accuse the majority that it has not provided sufficient safeguards. I think the real guarantee of the minority is the good will of the majority. "

 

Amendments in the Articles related to Education from Draft Constitution to Constitution of  India till date

 

 

1948	Draft Constitution (CAD 23 Nov 1948)	Art 36	Every citizen is entitled to free primary education and the State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.
1950	Constitution of India  1950	Art 45	“The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years”.
	Schedule 7  State List	entry11	Education including universities subject to the provisions of entries 63,64,65,and  66 of List I and entry 25 of List III
1968	National Education Policy		10+2+3
1975	ICDS  ANGAWANWADI
1975	NCR
1976	42nd amendment Schedule 7  concurrent list	entry  25	25. Education, including technical education, medical education and universities, subject to the provisions of Entries 63, 64, 65 and 66 of List I; vocational and technical training of labour.
1986	National Education Policy
1988	National Curriculum Framework
2000	National Curriculum Framework
2005	National Curriculum Framework		Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE)
2010	86 th amendment	Article 21A	The State shall provide free and compulsory education to children between 6-14 years of age.
2010	86 th amendment	Article 45	The state shall endeavour to provide early childhood education and care for all children upto 6 years of age.
2010	86 th amendment	Article 51A	The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years."
wef 1.4.2010	THE RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION ACT, 2009	Section 2(c)	“child” means a male or female child of the age of six to fourteen years;
2020	National Education Policy		5+3+3+4 Currently, children in the age group of 3-6 are not covered in the 10+2 structure as Class 1 begins at age 6. In the new 5+3+3+4 structure, a strong base of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) from age 3 is also included, which is aimed at promoting better overall learning, development, and well-being.