Hereditary Education Policy
Encyclopedia
The Modified Scheme of Elementary Education or New Scheme of Elementary Education or Madras Scheme of Elementary Education dubbed by its critics as Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary Education Policy) , was an abortive attempt at education reform introduced by the Indian National Congress
Government of the Madras State
, led by C. Rajagopalachari
(Rajaji) in 1953. The scheme proposed the introduction of two shifts or sessions in elementary schools. In one session regular teaching would be done and during the second session, the students would be sent home to learn the occupations of their parents. It became controversial and was accused of being a casteist scheme to perpetuate the caste hierarchy. The opposition to the scheme was led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK). Public opposition and internal dissent within the congress led to the deferment of the scheme. The discontent it triggered among the Congress legislature members forced the resignation of Rajaji as Chief Minister. The scheme was dropped completely by Rajaji's successor Kamaraj
in 1954.
was 20.86%. During fiscal year 1950-51, the Madras State Government spent 6.87 crore Rupees (6,870,000) - about 11.5 % of total revenues for the state - for Elementary education. The enrollment rate for children of school-going age was around 47.8%. The Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution
require the Indian state to provide education to all citizens. In accordance to this directive, in 1950 the Madras State's Directorate of Public Instruction prepared a ten year plan to provide education to all children of school-going age. This plan called for an allocation of one crore Rs (1,00,00,000) per year for enrolling 500,000 additional students for the next ten years. Against this, the actual allocation in 1950-51 was only Rs. 500,000. The cost of educating a student was estimated to be around Rs.22.80 per year, out of which the government's contribution was only Rs.16.30. Out of the 12,22,775 students who had enrolled in standard I in 1946-47, only 4,61,686 (37%) had reached the Standard V in 1950-51. It was against this background, the Congress party with Rajaji as chief minister took power on 10 April 1952.
, the girl students of standards III to V and those belonging to Scheduled Castes had been allowed to attend school for only three hours a day and spend the rest of the day helping their parents. In the academic year 1949-50, during the Chief ministership of P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
, an experimental shift system had been introduced in ten taluks
and later expanded to other areas as an optional measure. Schools which adapted this system functioned in two shifts or sessions. Teachers who worked during both sessions were paid an additional allowance of 10 Rupees per month. However this system was not widely adopted and by 1951 only 155 elementary schools (out of a total 38,687) in the state were functioning in shifts.
. The Dravidar Kazhagam
organised a conference in Erode
protesting the scheme's introduction. The teachers' unions also opposed their move as they were not consulted before implementation. They also resented the increase in working hours without any increase in pay. The DMK
seized the opportunity and started a campaign against the scheme. They dubbed the scheme as the Kula kalvi thittam (Hereditary/Caste Education Scheme) and as the Acharyar Education Scheme. The Dravidian movement viewed the scheme as an attempt to preserve and perpetuate caste based discrimination through official means. They used Rajaji's notions about caste and village craftsmen to depict the scheme as a "Brahminist conspiracy". Rajaji had earlier expressed his opinion about castes and crafts as:
After the scheme was announced, Rajaji gave a speech to the washermen at the Adyar
river bank. In it he referred to Kuladharma, the social obligation of each clan or caste. The opposition used such incidents to lend credence to their "casteist motive" accusation. Rajaji and his education minister MV Krishna Rao
responded with a counter campaign in the scheme's defense. They gave speeches and made broadcasts in the All India Radio explaining their position. The month of June 1953 saw aggressive propaganda efforts by both the proponents and opponents of the scheme. On 13 July 1953, the DMK executive committee met and decided to conduct a marial (blockade) agitation outside the Chief Minister's residence. EVK Sampath
was nominated to lead the agitation. This agitation was part of a three pronged attack on the Government's policies by the DMK. On 14 July 1953, a possession led by Satyavani Muthu was organised to protest the scheme. Its destination was Rajaji's official residence at Bazullah road, T. Nagar
. It was stopped by the police as it was unlicensed. The next day (15 July 1953) the confrontation heated up with the Government introducing a motion in the Legislative Assembly for implementing the scheme from the academic year 1953-54. On the same day another DMK procession was stopped before it could reach T Nagar. In the next fifteen days as many as twenty such processions were attempted by the DMK.
leader K. P Gopalan moved a motion to drop the scheme. The house was deadlocked with 138 ayes to 138 noes on dropping the scheme. The speaker of the assembly J. Shivashanmugam Pillai
used his casting vote to defeat the motion. A second motion to defer the scheme and refer it to a committee of experts was moved by K.R Viswanatham
. This motion passed with 138 ayes against 137 noes. The Scheme was stayed and the Parulekar Committee was commissioned to review the scheme.
as members and S. Govindarajulu Naidu, the former Director of Public Instruction, Madras, and the then Director of Public Instruction, Andhra Pradesh
, as the Member Secretary. The Parulekar committee submitted its report on 23 November 1953. It found the scheme to be sound and endorsed the Government's position. It made additional recommendations including extending the scheme to rural areas, opening as many as 4000 new schools, revising the existing curriculum, providing training and remuneration to the craftsmen involved.
wanted Rajaji to withdraw the scheme as it was unpopular amongst the public and with the party members. On 20 October 1953, forty Congress Legislative Assembly members led by P. Varadarajulu Naidu
, sent a memorandum to Nehru objecting to Rajaji's unilateral conduct. Among the issues they raised was his refusal to budge on the education scheme issue. But Rajaji refused to drop the scheme. On 8 November 1953, Congress lost the by election for the Kangayam constituency
by a narrow margin. Pressure mounted from within the party to drop the scheme. On 9 March 1954, Congress leader and former Chief Minister O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar
made an open appeal to Rajaji in the legislature:
But Rajaji did not relent and his education minister C Subramaniam
upped the ante by announcing that the scheme would be extended to urban areas in June 1954. This spurred the Congress legislators into open revolt. They scheduled a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party on 21 March. Faced with certain defeat in the leadership election that was bound to happen in that meeting, Rajaji tried a last minute compromise - he would quit if C. Subramaniam was chosen as his successor and the scheme was kept. But Kamaraj, the leader of the anti-Rajaji camp, refused to accept the deal. The meeting was postponed by a week and when it happened on March 31, C. Subramaniam was defeated by Kamaraj. Rajaji resigned and Kamaraj took over as chief minister on 13 April 1954. This effectively ended the prospects of the new education scheme. On 18 May 1954, C Subramaniam announced in the assembly that the scheme was being dropped. The reason stated for the dropping was that the necessary acceptance, support and cooperation of the people were not forthcoming for the scheme and the atmosphere was not propitious for the success of the scheme.
Meanwhile, the composite Madras State had been reorganised along linguistic lines. The state of Andhra
had split from Madras on 1 October 1953. The Andhra Government constituted an Elementary Education Committee with Dr. B. Kuppuswamy as chairman to review the elementary education situation. The Kuppuswamy committee report recommended the rejection of the Modified Elementary Education Scheme. In 1954 the Andhra state canceled the scheme.
Writing in Viduthalai on 17 November 1953, Periyar
denounced the scheme as a Brahiminical conspiracy:
In another Viduthalai article written on 26 February 1954, he vowed to destroy the scheme by any means:
He kept up his harangue even after Rajaji resigned and C Subramaniam became the new Education minister. On 17 April 1954 he wrote:
The Andhra Elementary Education Committee Report also rejected the Modified Scheme and recommended an approach similar to the one eventually adopted by the Kamaraj Government.
About the casteist angle of the criticism, he reasoned that it was because of him being the author of the scheme:
After the Kamaraj Government scrapped the scheme, he again defended it as :
Replying to Papanasam
MLA Swayam Prakasam's concerns over the scheme, then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru
offered his endorsement to the scheme:
India's President Rajendra Prasad
offered his support in a letter written to the Governor of Madras - Sri Prakasa
- on 9 June 1953:
The Central Advisory Board of Education, passed a resolution endorsing the scheme during its 21st Meeting held in February 1954:
. Rajaji's successor Kamaraj was ever mindful of the fact that it was the issue of primary education that caused his predecessor's downfall. Knowing the public opposition to Rajaji's scheme he took the diametrically opposite approach in providing education to Tamil Nadu's children - imparting free and compulsory education till the age of 14. He set up a commission under R.M. Alagappa Chettiar to examine the means for providing compulsory primary education. Instead of sending children away from the school, the committee recommended active Government intervention to bring more children into the schooling system by building new schools and abolishing school fees. This approach was successful and by the end of Kamaraj's tenure as Chief Minister in 1963, enrollment in primary schools had been doubled.
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
Government of the Madras State
Madras State
Madras State was the name by which the Indian districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Northern Kerala, Bellary and Dakshina Kannada were collectively known as from 1950 to 1953....
, led by C. Rajagopalachari
C. Rajagopalachari
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari , informally called Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, independence activist, politician, writer and statesman. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India...
(Rajaji) in 1953. The scheme proposed the introduction of two shifts or sessions in elementary schools. In one session regular teaching would be done and during the second session, the students would be sent home to learn the occupations of their parents. It became controversial and was accused of being a casteist scheme to perpetuate the caste hierarchy. The opposition to the scheme was led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
(DMK). Public opposition and internal dissent within the congress led to the deferment of the scheme. The discontent it triggered among the Congress legislature members forced the resignation of Rajaji as Chief Minister. The scheme was dropped completely by Rajaji's successor Kamaraj
K. Kamaraj
Kumarasami Kamaraj better known as K. Kamaraj was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975...
in 1954.
Background
According to the 1951 Census of India, the literacy rate in the Madras StateMadras State
Madras State was the name by which the Indian districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Northern Kerala, Bellary and Dakshina Kannada were collectively known as from 1950 to 1953....
was 20.86%. During fiscal year 1950-51, the Madras State Government spent 6.87 crore Rupees (6,870,000) - about 11.5 % of total revenues for the state - for Elementary education. The enrollment rate for children of school-going age was around 47.8%. The Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution
Directive Principles in India
The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines to the central and state governments of India, to be kept in mind while framing laws and policies...
require the Indian state to provide education to all citizens. In accordance to this directive, in 1950 the Madras State's Directorate of Public Instruction prepared a ten year plan to provide education to all children of school-going age. This plan called for an allocation of one crore Rs (1,00,00,000) per year for enrolling 500,000 additional students for the next ten years. Against this, the actual allocation in 1950-51 was only Rs. 500,000. The cost of educating a student was estimated to be around Rs.22.80 per year, out of which the government's contribution was only Rs.16.30. Out of the 12,22,775 students who had enrolled in standard I in 1946-47, only 4,61,686 (37%) had reached the Standard V in 1950-51. It was against this background, the Congress party with Rajaji as chief minister took power on 10 April 1952.
Earlier attempts at change
In 1939, during Rajaji's first term as Chief Minister of the Madras PresidencyMadras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
, the girl students of standards III to V and those belonging to Scheduled Castes had been allowed to attend school for only three hours a day and spend the rest of the day helping their parents. In the academic year 1949-50, during the Chief ministership of P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
Poosapati Sanjeevi Kumarswamy Raja was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu , India from April 6, 1949 to April 10, 1952. He was born in Rajapalayam in Tamil Nadu.-Early life:...
, an experimental shift system had been introduced in ten taluks
Tehsil
A Tehsil or Tahsil/Tahasil , also known as Taluk and Mandal, is an administrative division of some country/countries of South Asia....
and later expanded to other areas as an optional measure. Schools which adapted this system functioned in two shifts or sessions. Teachers who worked during both sessions were paid an additional allowance of 10 Rupees per month. However this system was not widely adopted and by 1951 only 155 elementary schools (out of a total 38,687) in the state were functioning in shifts.
Reasons stated for the reform attempt
- The cost of educating all children in the 6-12 age group would be enormous. Besides enrollment, more than half of the elementary schools lacked proper infrastructure. The reform attempted to increase the number of school-going children within the financial limitations faced by the Government.
- There was an acute shortage of teachers. The state had an average of less than three teachers for five standards per school. There were 4,108 single-teacher schools and more than 60% of the schools with five standards had less than four teachers.
- This poor student-teacher ratio was putting a strain on the teachers and led to students being made to stay in school for longer hours. This directly contributed to the high drop out ratio. This plural teaching had to stopped without hiring new teachers.
- Rajaji favoured Gandhi's Basic Education Scheme over the existing elementary education system. He stated that he wanted to reduce the unemployment amongst educated people. The Basic education system called for learning through living and training in self reliance.
- The retention rate of 37% (between 1947 and 1951) had to be improved by making schools attractive to students of poorer sections.
Proposals in the new scheme
The Modified Scheme of Elementary education proposed the following changes in the school system:- Reduction of School hours from five hours per day to three.
- Introduction of shifts -the students were to be divided into two batches and the school would function in two sessions. Each session will be of three hours duration, consisting of four periods of 40 minutes each, with not less than two intervals totaling 20 minutes. The sessions will be arranged to suit local conditions. One batch will attend only one session a day. There were to be six working days per week.
- No dilution of the previous syllabus and no reduction in duration for subjects like Language, Elementary Mathematics, Nature Study, Drawing, History, Geography, Hygiene, Civics, Moral Instruction and Singing.
- The second session in which the students would be out of school was to be utilised for obtaining the objectives of the basic education system - learning through living and training in self-reliance.
- During the out of school session, the girl students were to learn house keeping from their mothers in their home environment. The boys were supposed to learn farming or other crafts from their respective fathers.
- Boys whose parents did not belong to occupational groups, were to be sent to work in farms or with other craftsmen in their villages.
- In addition to the learning the students were to be utilised in service to the village like building sheds,laying bricks, attending to village sanitation, improving roads, etc..
- The out of school session would have no strict attendance or work requirements.
Implementation
The Rajaji Government introduced the new elementary education scheme in all schools in the non-municipal (rural) areas for the academic year 1953-54 (from 18 June 1953). It was planned that eventually the scheme would be extended to 35,000 of the total 38,687 schools in the state. However due to public opposition, it was put on hold on 29 July 1953 and dropped altogether on 18 May 1954.Opposition
From the beginning, the scheme attracted heavy opposition from the Dravidian movement led by Periyar E. V. RamasamyPeriyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
. The Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...
organised a conference in Erode
Erode
Erode is a city, a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Erode district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.It is situated at the center of the South Indian Peninsula, about southwest from the state capital Chennai and on the banks of the rivers Cauvery and Bhavani, between 11° 19.5"...
protesting the scheme's introduction. The teachers' unions also opposed their move as they were not consulted before implementation. They also resented the increase in working hours without any increase in pay. The DMK
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
seized the opportunity and started a campaign against the scheme. They dubbed the scheme as the Kula kalvi thittam (Hereditary/Caste Education Scheme) and as the Acharyar Education Scheme. The Dravidian movement viewed the scheme as an attempt to preserve and perpetuate caste based discrimination through official means. They used Rajaji's notions about caste and village craftsmen to depict the scheme as a "Brahminist conspiracy". Rajaji had earlier expressed his opinion about castes and crafts as:
After the scheme was announced, Rajaji gave a speech to the washermen at the Adyar
Adyar
Adyar may refer to:* Adyar — a locality in Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu, India* Adyar River — a river in Chennai city* Adyar, Karnataka — a town in the state of Karnataka, India* Adyar, Bhandara, Maharashtra...
river bank. In it he referred to Kuladharma, the social obligation of each clan or caste. The opposition used such incidents to lend credence to their "casteist motive" accusation. Rajaji and his education minister MV Krishna Rao
Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao
Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao shortly M. V. Krishna Rao was politician and minister in Andhra Pradesh, India.-Brief life sketch:...
responded with a counter campaign in the scheme's defense. They gave speeches and made broadcasts in the All India Radio explaining their position. The month of June 1953 saw aggressive propaganda efforts by both the proponents and opponents of the scheme. On 13 July 1953, the DMK executive committee met and decided to conduct a marial (blockade) agitation outside the Chief Minister's residence. EVK Sampath
E. V. K. Sampath
Erode Venkatta Naicker Krishnasamy Sampath , usually referred to as E. V. K. Sampath was a prominent politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He was an advocate of Dravidian Movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and was considered by some as his political heir. He later split from Periyar's Dravidar...
was nominated to lead the agitation. This agitation was part of a three pronged attack on the Government's policies by the DMK. On 14 July 1953, a possession led by Satyavani Muthu was organised to protest the scheme. Its destination was Rajaji's official residence at Bazullah road, T. Nagar
T. Nagar
Theagaraya Nagar , popularly known by its abbreviated form T. Nagar, is a neighbourhood in the city of Chennai, India. Though originally conceived as a residential locality, it is presently one of the principal shopping districts of the city....
. It was stopped by the police as it was unlicensed. The next day (15 July 1953) the confrontation heated up with the Government introducing a motion in the Legislative Assembly for implementing the scheme from the academic year 1953-54. On the same day another DMK procession was stopped before it could reach T Nagar. In the next fifteen days as many as twenty such processions were attempted by the DMK.
Deferment
By the end of July, public opinion started to turn against the scheme and at least four public petitions were tabled in the Legislative Assembly about the scheme. On 29 July 1953, M.V Krishna Rao, the minister for education moved an motion for considering the new scheme. After a discussion, CommunistCommunist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
leader K. P Gopalan moved a motion to drop the scheme. The house was deadlocked with 138 ayes to 138 noes on dropping the scheme. The speaker of the assembly J. Shivashanmugam Pillai
J. Shivashanmugam Pillai
Jagannathan Shivashanmugam Pillai was an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress. In 1938, he became the first Dalit mayor of Madras...
used his casting vote to defeat the motion. A second motion to defer the scheme and refer it to a committee of experts was moved by K.R Viswanatham
K. R. Viswanathan
K. R. Viswanathan was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as a Tamil Nadu Toilers Party candidate from Jayankondam constituency in 1952 election, and as an Indian National Congress candidate in 1957...
. This motion passed with 138 ayes against 137 noes. The Scheme was stayed and the Parulekar Committee was commissioned to review the scheme.
Parulekar committee
On 20 August 1953, the Government passed an order (Education G.O # 1888) to constitute a committee of experts for reviewing the scheme. The committee was composed of Prof. RV. Parulekar, Director of Indian Institute of Education Bombay, as the Chairman; Dr.B.B. Dey, Retired Director of Public Instruction, Madras; Prof. Mohammad Mujeeb, Vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Millia UniversityJamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia is an Indian Central University located in Delhi. It was established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920. It became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988...
as members and S. Govindarajulu Naidu, the former Director of Public Instruction, Madras, and the then Director of Public Instruction, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, as the Member Secretary. The Parulekar committee submitted its report on 23 November 1953. It found the scheme to be sound and endorsed the Government's position. It made additional recommendations including extending the scheme to rural areas, opening as many as 4000 new schools, revising the existing curriculum, providing training and remuneration to the craftsmen involved.
Cancellation
The opposition campaign was successful in creating doubts about the scheme in the minds of the general public. There was dissent within the Congress party and KamarajK. Kamaraj
Kumarasami Kamaraj better known as K. Kamaraj was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975...
wanted Rajaji to withdraw the scheme as it was unpopular amongst the public and with the party members. On 20 October 1953, forty Congress Legislative Assembly members led by P. Varadarajulu Naidu
P. Varadarajulu Naidu
Perumal Varadarajulu Naidu was an Indian physician, politician, journalist and Indian independence activist.- Early life :...
, sent a memorandum to Nehru objecting to Rajaji's unilateral conduct. Among the issues they raised was his refusal to budge on the education scheme issue. But Rajaji refused to drop the scheme. On 8 November 1953, Congress lost the by election for the Kangayam constituency
Kangayam (State Assembly Constituency)
Kangayam is a state assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu.- Madras State :*By election- Tamil Nadu :- References :...
by a narrow margin. Pressure mounted from within the party to drop the scheme. On 9 March 1954, Congress leader and former Chief Minister O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar
O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar
Omandur Ramasamy Reddiar was an Indian freedom-fighter and politician of the Indian National Congress. He served as the Premier of Madras Presidency from March 23, 1947 to April 6, 1949.-Early life:...
made an open appeal to Rajaji in the legislature:
But Rajaji did not relent and his education minister C Subramaniam
Chidambaram Subramaniam
Chidambaram Subramaniam , was an Indian statesman...
upped the ante by announcing that the scheme would be extended to urban areas in June 1954. This spurred the Congress legislators into open revolt. They scheduled a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party on 21 March. Faced with certain defeat in the leadership election that was bound to happen in that meeting, Rajaji tried a last minute compromise - he would quit if C. Subramaniam was chosen as his successor and the scheme was kept. But Kamaraj, the leader of the anti-Rajaji camp, refused to accept the deal. The meeting was postponed by a week and when it happened on March 31, C. Subramaniam was defeated by Kamaraj. Rajaji resigned and Kamaraj took over as chief minister on 13 April 1954. This effectively ended the prospects of the new education scheme. On 18 May 1954, C Subramaniam announced in the assembly that the scheme was being dropped. The reason stated for the dropping was that the necessary acceptance, support and cooperation of the people were not forthcoming for the scheme and the atmosphere was not propitious for the success of the scheme.
Meanwhile, the composite Madras State had been reorganised along linguistic lines. The state of Andhra
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
had split from Madras on 1 October 1953. The Andhra Government constituted an Elementary Education Committee with Dr. B. Kuppuswamy as chairman to review the elementary education situation. The Kuppuswamy committee report recommended the rejection of the Modified Elementary Education Scheme. In 1954 the Andhra state canceled the scheme.
Criticism
The main arguments made against the Modified Scheme of Elementary Education were :- That the scheme was casteist by design. It aimed to preserve and perpetuate the caste hierarchy by ensuring that children took up their parents' profession. It was designed to help Brahmins corner positions of authority.
- That it intended to reduce the schooling imparted to children by not monitoring them during out of school sessions.
- That it would increase the workload of teachers as it would increase their working hours and force them to handle more children without the appointment of new teachers and without an increase in their pay.
- That it was undemocratic and dictatorial as Rajaji had not consulted his cabinet or the assembly in his decision to implement the scheme (In Rajaji's own words - This is an executive matter, no law is involved and Did ShankaraAdi ShankaraAdi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
and RamanujaRamanujaRamanuja ; traditionally 1017–1137, also known as Ramanujacharya, Ethirajar , Emperumannar, Lakshmana Muni, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete...
announce their philosophy after consulting others?). - That it was deliberately targeted at rural children alone to keep them from getting an education.
Writing in Viduthalai on 17 November 1953, Periyar
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
denounced the scheme as a Brahiminical conspiracy:
In another Viduthalai article written on 26 February 1954, he vowed to destroy the scheme by any means:
He kept up his harangue even after Rajaji resigned and C Subramaniam became the new Education minister. On 17 April 1954 he wrote:
The Andhra Elementary Education Committee Report also rejected the Modified Scheme and recommended an approach similar to the one eventually adopted by the Kamaraj Government.
Defense and endorsements
During and after his tenure as Chief Minister, Rajaji defended his scheme vigorously. He derided the critics as people who did not want to do physical labour:About the casteist angle of the criticism, he reasoned that it was because of him being the author of the scheme:
After the Kamaraj Government scrapped the scheme, he again defended it as :
Replying to Papanasam
Papanasam (State Assembly Constituency)
- Madras State :- Tamil Nadu :- References :...
MLA Swayam Prakasam's concerns over the scheme, then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
offered his endorsement to the scheme:
India's President Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad
Dr. Rajendra Prasad was an Indian politician and educator. He was one of the architects of the Indian Republic, having drafted its first constitution and serving as the first president of independent India...
offered his support in a letter written to the Governor of Madras - Sri Prakasa
Sri Prakasa
Sri Prakasa was an Indian politician, freedom-fighter and administrator. He served as India's first High Commissioner to Pakistan from 1947 to 1949, Governor of Assam from 1949 to 1950, Governor of Madras from 1952 to 1956 and Governor of Bombay from 1956 to 1962.Sri Prakasa was born in Varanasi...
- on 9 June 1953:
The Central Advisory Board of Education, passed a resolution endorsing the scheme during its 21st Meeting held in February 1954:
Legacy
The Modified Scheme of Elementary Education even after being dropped had the unintended consequence of bringing primary education to hundreds of thousands of school children in Tamil NaduTamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. Rajaji's successor Kamaraj was ever mindful of the fact that it was the issue of primary education that caused his predecessor's downfall. Knowing the public opposition to Rajaji's scheme he took the diametrically opposite approach in providing education to Tamil Nadu's children - imparting free and compulsory education till the age of 14. He set up a commission under R.M. Alagappa Chettiar to examine the means for providing compulsory primary education. Instead of sending children away from the school, the committee recommended active Government intervention to bring more children into the schooling system by building new schools and abolishing school fees. This approach was successful and by the end of Kamaraj's tenure as Chief Minister in 1963, enrollment in primary schools had been doubled.
Further reading
- Rajaji, a Life by RajMohan Gandhi ( Chapter: Downfall)