Kothari Commission (1964-66): Aims, objectives & major recommendations

The ‘Kothari Commission’ 1964 was constituted on July 14, 1964 under the chairmanship of Dr. D. S. Kothari with 17 other members. Kothari Commission is also known as National Education Commission, 1964.

Since independence, various commissions were formed to improve the Indian education system.

There was also a Kothari Commission, which was formed to make the quality of Indian education up to the mark.

Introduction

Kothari Commission was formed on July 14, 1964 under the chairmanship of Dr. D. S. Kothari, which is why it is also known as the Kothari Commission.

After its creation, the Government of India expressed the view that the Commission would provide assistance and appropriate suggestions to the Government of India in policy formulation of national education.

Official Name	National Education Commission, 1964
Formed in	July 14, 1964
Reports Submitted on	June 29, 1966
Chairman	Dr. Dulat Singh Kothari (D.S Kothari)
Total Members	17
Headquarters	New Delhi, India
Purpose	To remove the defects in the existing education system
Main Objective (s)	To review the Indian education system and provide appropriate suggestions to the Government of India for its improvement.

The commission collects various information to improve the education system of India and presents it to the Government of India and makes recommendations to the government in the formulation of education policy.

The commission presents the real education level of the country and exchanges various suggestions for improvement in it. Kothari commission’s main objective was to increase the level of education in the country.

The Kothari Commission conducts a survey of the entire country’s education system, after which by informing the Indian government, it submits appropriate suggestions to the Indian government regarding the changes in it.

Need for Kothari Commission

The need for Kothari Commission was felt after observing some defects in the existing education system of the country, for example –

Our education system had inadequate importance to agriculture.
The education system was not emphasizing character formation and cultivation of moral and spiritual values of the students.
It was not connected with the idea of National reconstruction.
It had too much academics portion

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Aims and Objectives of the Kothari Commission

The objectives of the Kothari Commission were to:

Do research to improve the quality of the Indian education system and to provide appropriate suggestions to the Government of India for its improvement.

Present appropriate suggestions to the government in the formulation of education policy in India, so that the level of Indian education can be increased.

Highlight the shortcomings of Indian education, and find out the reasons for those shortcomings and present constructive information to the Government of India.

Implement Indian education equally in every province and present suggestions to make education levels equal, bringing uniformity to the Indian education system.

Recommendations of the Kothari Commission

The Kothari Commission surveyed Indian education with various mediums, after doing research work in it, the commission presented some important suggestions to the Government of India which are as follows –

Suggestions regarding the structure of education:

Pre-primary education – 1 to 3 years.
Lower primary education – 4 to 5 years.
Upper Primary Education – Up to a duration of 4 years.
Secondary education – 2 years.
Higher Secondary Education – Up to 2 years.
Undergraduate education – up to 3 years.
Masters Education – Up to 2-3 years.
Research Education – 2 or 3 years.

Under this, it was said that primary and secondary education should be of 10 years. Higher secondary education should be of 2 years and vocational education should be of 3 years.

Suggestions regarding administration:

To appoint teachers who have experience in teaching work.

To arrange for promotion or transfer-related work in education administration and teachers.

The Central Advisory Board of Education should be given more powers to CABE.

Education policy should be made only by giving national importance to education.

Only qualified and experienced persons should be appointed in responsible posts related to education.

According to the commission, the curriculum of primary education should be the same for the entire nation, and according to the commission, special importance should be given to the study of the mother tongue and environment of primary education.

For secondary education, there should be a core curriculum in the entire nation and vocational education should be included as per the needs of society.

The commission has divided the syllabus into four bases –

1. Curriculum of pre-primary education – According to the commission, in pre-primary education, students should be developed skills related to cleanliness, eating and drinking, talking, making social adjustments and participating in functional activities.

2. Curriculum of primary education – According to the Kothari Commission, mother tongue, general mathematics, environment, health education, functional work, and creative work should be included in the curriculum of primary education.

3. Curriculum of Secondary Education – Under this, Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science, Art, Social-Service, Social Studies and Moral-Values etc. should be included in the curriculum.

4. Syllabus of Higher Secondary Education – Under this, the Commission should include subjects like History, Geography, Economics, Psychology, Social-Science, Mathematics, Science etc.

Suggestions regarding finance:

The central government should invest at least 6% of its income in the education sector.

Education should be made vocational so that the exchequer can be increased.

Provincial governments should also invest more of their income in education.

Gram Panchayats should also be compelled to make financial investments through which the level of education can be improved in rural areas also.

Municipalities should also arrange finance for education.

There should be a system of internal assessment at the primary level.

Objective tests should be organized so that the given numbers can be accurate and reliable.

A public examination at the end of class 10th should be conducted under the supervision of the Board of Secondary Education.

A grading system should be adopted instead of giving marks in board examinations.

Oral examinations should also be encouraged at the secondary level.

Suggestions regarding the university:

All the universities of India should be made members of the ‘Antavividyalaya’ council.

1/3rd members of the university grand commission should be representatives of the universities.

More institutions should be established in the center.

More and more financial assistance should be provided to the centers of higher studies.

It is mandatory to take permission from U.G.C for the establishment of a new university.

Universities should be established only when necessary.

Conclusion

According to the Kothari commission, education should be linked with the idea of National reconstruction.

The Kothari Commission has a very important contribution to the field of education, through this the Indian education system has been made more strong and more effective. It has started a new era in the field of education.

The entire work of increasing the budget of education has been completed only through the Kothari Commission. It has made a valuable contribution to the field of education.