Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
"There is a distinctive flavour to her personality. She has a lively interest in topical events and the world about her. She speaks and writes fluently in English and in at least one Indian language; she has sufficient mastery over mathematics and science to understand and appreciate the scientific basis of modem civilisation. She cherishes the fi-eedom of the mind, the humanity of the heart and integrity of the individual. In short she is the epitome of what a 'cultured' human being aspires to be." This description of a public school student on the web site of the Daly College, Indore is an ideal for which each of these schools strives. The above extract very aptly sums up the entire philosophy of the public school, its ethos, culture, aims and aspirations.
The Indian Public School has a distinct identity though it is often confiised with the large number of schools that have liberally adopted the words 'public school' with their names. Confiasion exists in the minds of people, and sometimes even in well informed educated parents about how to distinguish between a public school and another school imparting an ordinary classroom education only with 'public' prefixed before its name. Technically, an Indian Public School is one that is member of the Indian Public School Conference (IPSC)''
The public schools considered for the purpose of this study are those that are members of the Indian Public Schools Conference. Formed in 1939 the IPSC, as an organisation, has contributed significantly in providing unity of purpose and a fairly high degree of uniformity of structure to these schools. Currently the IPSC has 73 schools as its members, which include Sainik Schools and Military Schools. Predominantly residential, these schools hold the all round development of the child as their fiindamental guiding principle and driving force. They lay a lot of stress on providing extensive scope, opportunities and facilities for exercise and cultivation of various activities other than the academic. For this purpose, most of these schools are well equipped with the basic physical infrastructure and related academic and other prerequisites.
In spite of the visible western influence under which the Indian Public School has developed over the last two centuries, Indian culture has always had deep roots in forming the character and ethos of the public schools in the country. Though the hierarchical form of the public school is essentially a replica of its British predecessor and counterpart yet its essence is rooted deep into Indian culture and tradition of the Gurukal, the traditional Indian concept of residential schooling.
As a group the public schools believe in imparting value-based education to the growing boys and girls. This belief envisages the need for each student to be equipped with a fine blend of the eternal values cherished and nurtured by India and the latest in Science and Technology available in the western nations. The product of such an education will have the wisdom and strength of character to stand for what is right and face the fiiture with intelligence and courage.
1.1 Evolution and Development
The public school in India has its roots in its British ancestor - the British Public School that was not really "public" in the common sense of the word. In their initial years they were not intended for the children of the common or ordinary families. Rather they catered to the British aristocracy and to the affluent middle- class families. The elite British boarding schools were styled "public" because many of them were incorporated by (public) statute and because they were not privately owned. Also unlike some of the old English Grammar schools, they were open, on a fee paying basis, to the "public" - i.e., to students from any part of the country and not simply to children of local residents.
The typical great public school, such as Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Westminster in the United Kingdom evolved from charitable foundations, almost invariably for males only. These were initially intended to educate local boys from relatively humble backgrounds. As pupils paying the market rate became more numerous, the schools were increasingly transformed into boarding establishments. The public schools were seen as preparing students for the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and for public service—another origin of the appellation "public" school. Public Schools are also called independent schools in some countries and are one of a relatively small group of institutions educating secondary-level students for a fee and independent of the state system as regards both endowment and administration. The term public school also has links with the circumstances that emerged in the 18th century British society when the reputation of certain grammar schools spread beyond their immediate environs. They began taking students whose parents could afford residential fees and thus became known as public, in contrast to local schools.
The impact of the public schools in Britain was historically immense. Perhaps in no other post-Renaissance country did an ethos directly and concentratedly inculcated in so few citizens exercise such influence nationally—and internationally, given the crucial role of the public school ethos in helping Britain build its empire. The ethos in question was less an academic one than a class-conscious code of behaviour, speech, and appearance. It set the standard for conduct in the life of officialdom in Britain from the early 19th century to the mid-20th. "In the later days of Queen Victoria the English, without much consciousness of what they were doing, were building up an imperial ruling class of public school boys." (Philip Mason 1988)'
It was around this time that the concept of the public school took ground in India. There were of course some well known schools already in existence in the country and generally adhering to the public school concept in formation and function, most notable being the Doon School in Dehradun established in 1935 and the Rashtriya Indian Military College, established in 1922, also in Dehradun. Many of country's best-known public schools started in the first half of the twentieth century. Those already in place started moulding themselves according to the norms of the public schools in the United Kingdom.
These include some of the best known schools of India namely. The Lawrence Schools at Lovedale (the Nilgiris) and Sanawar (Shimla Hills); The Daly College at Indore; The Mayo College, Ajmer and The Raipur College, Raipur. However, more than half the strength of the current member schools of the IPSC came into existence after India attained independence.
The style and content of education at the public schools have changed as the schools have become more consciously part of wider groupings of independent schools and have developed multifarious links with schools in the state sector. Though successors of the famous English Public Schools, the Indian Public Schools have been successful in instilling a spirit of moral responsibility and intellectual integrity in their ethos which is essentially Indian in spirit and character and grounded in the traditional Indian concept of Guru-Shishya. High moral and ethical standards, gentlemanly conduct, and intellectual ability have been an enduring feature of the public schools in India.
Public schools that are mostly residential and are members of the Indian Public Schools Conference are considered in this study. At present there are 73 such schools spread and located across various parts of the country. Before the opening of the Doon School, Dehra Dun, in 1935, (arguably the most popular public school of the country) there existed in Dehradun itself the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (presently Rashtriya Indian Military College) which was, perhaps, the first institution to be organised on public school lines in India. The idea and inception of this school was primarily in response to the general Indian demand for the Indianisation of the officer cadre of our Armed Forces.
However there were, at that time, a number of chiefs' colleges in existence in India. These had been founded in the second half of the 19* century under the aegis of the Political Department of the Government of India to educate the sons and relatives of the ruling princes. The endowments were provided by the rulers of States and many of them were represented on the governing councils of the colleges. The number of pupils chosen exclusively from one class seldom exceeded 150 and the income from fees was only a small fraction of the total expenditure. The Government of India paid annual grants and these together with the interest accruing fi-omendowment s sufficed to meet expenses. The pupils were the fiiture rulers, ministers, Jagirdars and Sardars of their states who did not have to complete for a career and whose home influence had made them very conscious of their privileged position early in life. In such circumstances the school-master's job-that of creating interest and attention-was by no means an easy one. The curriculum was simple and consisted of English, arithmetic, history, geography, physics, chemistry, Hindi or Urdu, law and administration or advanced mathematics (elementary algebra and geometry). Boys were sent up for the Chiefs' Colleges' Diploma (lower in standard than the Cambridge School Certificate) recognised as equivalent to the Matriculation of Indian Universities. Academic achievement, however, was not the aim. A good general education for the nobility laid most of the emphasis on games and hobbies.
With an endowment fund of 141/2 lakhs of rupees ($100,000) collected from the Indian gentry, the Doon School was founded and the school was open to all fee-paying children, irrespective of caste, creed or community. Boys were admitted at the age of 11 on the result of an entrance test. The school, which was to be of an All-India character, had secured its Headmaster and Housemasters from the English public schools and was able to attract a good staff by offering a scale of salaries better than that prevailing in other institutions; it had well-equipped workshops, an art and music school, and was situated in very healthy surroundings. The idea of founding such a school was that of the late Mr S. R. Das, an eminent lawyer of Calcutta. Having educated his sons at English public schools, he realised that in English public schools some training was given which developed in boys the qualities that enabled them to take the responsibility of officering the Services and of managing business enterprises and administrations over a vast area of the world often thousands of miles distant and many weeks away in time from the source of their authority. The school made a good beginning and before long had a long waiting list. As a result, it was to exercise much influence on the growth of public schools in India.
From late in the 19th century a number of girls' public schools were established, as were also denominational or other special-purpose schools that were generally known as Public Schools. Institutions loosely termed public schools also sprang up overseas, predominantly in countries under British cultural influence. The growth of schools on the pattern of the Public School started in India around this time with the establishment of the Chiefs Colleges -the forerunners to the institution of the Public School in India. These were institutions set up by the British primarily for the sons of the Indian royalty. Two of modem day India's premier public schools - the Lawrence Schools in Shimla Hills and Lovedale, Nilgiris - had been set up a couple of decades before this.
1.2 The Process of Indianisation Several of the schools belonging to the public schools complex have evolved from the former Chiefs' Colleges. These were institutions of secondary education established by the British administration in the latter half of the nineteenth century for education of the sons of princes, Sardars, Taluqdars and the Jagirdars. These colleges were located in the former princely states which, after Independence, were merged in the present -day states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Rajkumar College, the first Chiefs College, was founded in 1868 at Rajkot (Gujarat); Mayo College, Ajmer (Rajasthan) in 1873; The Sadul School at Bikaner (Rajasthan) in 1893; Rajkumar College at Raipur (Chhatisgarh) in 1894; Scindia School at Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) in 1897 and Daly College, Indore (Madhya Pradesh in 1898.)
The establishment of the Chiefs Colleges, soon after the first war of independence in 1857, was, to some extent, the British government's effort at meeting some of the aspirations of Indian princely families. These colleges were expected to play an important role of influencing the royalty and ensuring political support of the royal elite. However the transformation of these colleges into modem public schools was initiated by a small group of remarkable English headmasters, viz., F C Pearce of Scindia, H W Barritt of Rajkot, Smith-Pearse of Raipur and A E Foot of the Doon School. In their attempt to reorganise the Chiefs' Colleges into public schools, these headmasters were supported by John Sargent, the then Education Commissioner with the government of India.
The first meeting of the Indian Public Schools' Conference (then called Head Masters' Conference - India) was held at Gorton Castle Committee Room in Shimla on 16"' and 17"' June 1939 under the chairmanship of Mr JP Sargent, Educational Commissioner with the Government of India. Mr THL Smith Pearce, Principal Raj Kumar College, Raipur was the first Organising Secretary. The meeting was convened mainly at the initiative of Mr FG Pearce, Scindia School, Gwalior. The following 8 Headmasters attended this meeting: -
(a) Mr THL Smith Pearce, Raj Kumar College, Raipur.
(b) Mr CH Barry, Aitchison College, Lahore.
(c) Mr EC Merchant, Daly College, Indore.
(d) Mr AE Foot, The Doon School, Dehradun. (e) Mr E Sprawson, Raj Kumar College, Rajkot.
(J) Mr FG Pearce, Scindia School, Gwalior.
(g) Mr JN Kayanade, Bhonsle Military School, Nasik.
(h) Dr BS Moorje, Secretary, Bhonsle Military School, Nasik.
This was just a preliminary meeting to consider the formation of the Indian Public Schools Conference. The second and regular formal meeting of the conference was held at Scindia School, Gwalior on 23"^ and 25* October the same year. It was in the third meeting of the conference held at Raj Kumar College, Raipur that the name of the Headmasters' Conference (India) was changed to the INDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS' CONFERENCE. National Defence Academy Khadakwasla had the privilege of hosting the conference on 2- 4 February, 1959 under the chairmanship of Mr JTM Gibson.
The objective of this conference was "to adapt all the good things of English Public School life and administration to Indian ways of life and thought and so build Public Residential Schools in India with their roots springing from the culture of the country, fertilised by the experience of the residential school in the UK".
After the advent of Independence in 1948, the Lawrence Military Colleges at Lovedale and Sanawar, which had been founded about the same time as the oldest of the chiefs' colleges, under the control of the Defence Department of the Government of India for the sons of the British Military personnel serving in India, and which were excellent residential institutions, the one in the Nilgiris and the other in Shimla hills, became vacant. In 1949, at the request of the Defence Department, they were taken over by the Ministry of Education as State controlled public schools. In this category, but remaining in the Defence Department, are also the five King George's Military Colleges, presently known as Military Schools.
The IPSC has an 'intermittent' structure. Intermittent organisations, as defined by Etzioni (1961)\ are those which are "deployed and then 'folded up' till their period of activity arrives again". The IPSC is activated once in a year and for the rest of the time it is managed by the Chairperson, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Joint Secretary and the Executive Committee. Tiie objectives of the IPSC have undergone changes with the passage of time from the first meeting at Shimla 1939 to the last meeting RIMC, Dehradun in November 2002. In 1939 the object of the conference was to "bring home to the Indian public the need for a number of first-class schools in India, the primary object of which is to prepare boys of ability for positions of leadership and responsibility in all walks of Indian life; and to encourage the establishment, development and expansion of such schools." However, about three decades later, in 1968, the word 'leadership' was replaced by 'service' and the emphasis had apparently shifted from the training of an elite to the preparation of responsible citizens. There has been fiirther shift in the objectives of the IPSC in keeping with the social needs and times.
According to the latest objectives of the public schools, the " life of the school is so organised that it meets the manifold needs of the adolescents such as intellectual, creative, emotional and physical. The school should also provide an environment and a range of opportunities that develop qualities of character such as integrity, social consciousness and a balanced sense of values." (IPSC Rules and Regulations, 2000)
The last meeting of the IPSC held at RIMC, Dehradun between 21-23 November 2002 deliberated, under the overall theme, " Roots and Wings", on issues like individuality of students, their extent of rootedness, ethics and values, and the need for liberal experimentation. The all round development of the child in a creative, congenial and friendly environment has become the leading object of public schools.
The stress on incorporation of modem scientific and technological advances in curriculum transaction is an important fiindamental of the public school education today.
The public school is well aware of keeping pace with the advancement in technology and yet keeps an unshakeable faith in the capacity and indispensability of the Indian value system, norms and standard of behaviour and the composite Indian culture. The fact that most of this is being part of a child's growing up in the school is not so much due to any deliberate efforts on part of the schools as it is due to the general environment, societal pressure and the value systems handed down by the families of the students. 1.3 Vibrant Organisations The public school is a highly specialised organisation with a fairly complex internal structure. It comprises a number of sub systems that divide the school society vertically. Among these sub systems, especially in residential public schools, the House system is the most important one in terms of the school's structure as well as functioning. The institution of the 'House' within the public school is the main edifice on which the system stands. There are other subsystems like the academic, sporting, co-curricular and the extra curricular each of which is relatively autonomous and has its own internal hierarchy and organisation. In the public school, unlike the ordinary secondary school, these subsystems tend to be clearly articulated and often physically demarcated. Thus each House is physically distinct and is generally located at some distance from the main school building.
1.3.1 The House System
School education ought to reflect the values of the society that it serves. Since society comprises individuals who are generally competing against one another, rather than co-operating, schools take it upon themselves to prepare their students for this kind of struggle by basing most of their activities upon competition in academic achievements, performance in games and co curricular activities. In public schools, however, there is an attempt to counterbalance the competitive atmosphere of the classroom and examination hall with a shot of group spirit. Hence the House system where students are divided into groups that compete with each other as groups for 'house points'.
The House is the administrative unit and provides the family atmosphere of which the Housemaster is the head. The scope of his duties is such that he can get into close personal touch with every child in his House and by watching over the development of character, body and mind, become a real and valuable influence in the child's life. Besides keeping note of a child's progress in academics, he maintains general supervision with the assistance of House tutors and House prefects over the tone, conduct and bearing of children in his House. General House meeting and House organisation of games are in his hands and new children are helped in acquiring the school routine. He concerns himself with the children's tasks and knows how a child's time is spent out of school when away from home. He sees that every member of his family develops a proper sense of loyalty to the House on which to build the greater loyalty to the school and to the country.
Each House is a self-contained community to which the children return from classes or games to study, eat and sleep. The Houses are overseen by Housemasters who, aided by their tutors, are responsible for the pastoral, acaderaiic and disciplinary well being of the boys. The aim of this care is to ensure that the boys and girls, by the time they leave school, have not just good academic qualifications, but also the ability to work effectively by themselves and in a group, with a well developed sense of values and a strong respect for others.
The system cannot obtain its full value without the sympathetic co-operation of parents. The Housemaster, therefore, makes a point of seeing a new child with his parents at the time of his admission in order to learn all that is important in his previous history and to start a record which is kept of every member of the school.
Summarised, it is the function of a Housemaster to get to know each child thoroughly by seeking his confidence and taking a personal interest in him. The Housemaster should be a man of the type of character capable of arousing children's admiration and respect.
The functions of a Housemaster in boys' schools are exactly the same as those performed by the Housemistress in a girls' school. In co educational schools, however, like in the Army Public School, Dagshai, there are separate houses for boys and girls supervised by Housemasters and Housemistresses respectively.
1.3.2 The Academic System Just as the House is a self-contained unit with its own hierarchy and organisation, so is the academic sub system. This is located in the main school building and is administered by the principal/headmaster or the vice principal together with the heads of various departments who are generally the senior most teachers of the principal subjects offered in the schools. Depending upon the provision of space these departments also tend to be housed in separate blocks in the same building.
The increasing stress on high academic performance in examinations poses perhaps the greatest challenge to the public schools' traditional concern for all round education
10 that lays considerable stress on development of personality and character. The very high cut-ofF percentages at almost all the common entrance examinations to various professional colleges and institutions has put a lot of pressure on the public schools with the result that there is a conflict now between the traditional ethos and values of the public schools and the market forces where percentage in the qualifying examinations is the sole indicator of success or otherwise of the students and by implication of the schools. The anxiety over examination result has led to the polarisation of the attitudes to the basic purposes of public school education between principals/headmasters, who would like to promote extra curricular interests, and parents, who are worried about the professional future of their children. This shift in emphasis from a general education to examination-oriented approach is evident from increasingly higher percentages achieved by public school students which are at par with the other day schools.
For the purpose of examination, the public schools are affiliated mainly with two central boards- the Central Board of Secondary Examination, New Delhi and the Council of Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi. Some of schools are also affiliated to various state education boards.
1.3.3. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
The Central Board of Secondary Education is the leading public examination board of the country.
A trail of developments marks the significant changes that took place over the years in shaping up the Board to its present status. U.P. Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board set up in 1921. It had under its Jurisdiction Rajputana, Central India and Gwalior. In response to the representation made by the Government of United Provinces, the then Government of India suggested to set up a joint Board in 1929 for all the areas and this was named as the "Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana". This included Ajmer, Merwana, Central India and Gwalior.
The Board witnessed rapid growth and expansion at the level of secondary education resulting in improved quality and standard of education in its institutions. But with the
11 advent of State Universities and State Boards in various parts of the country the jurisdiction of the Board was confined only to Ajmer, Bhopal and Vindhya Pradesh later. As a result of this, in 1952, the constitution of Board was amended wherein its jurisdiction was extended and the Board was given its present name "Central Board of Secondary Education". It was in the year 1962 finally that the Board was reconstituted. The main objectives were those of serving the educational institutions more effectively and to be responsive to the educational needs of those students whose parents were employed in the Central Government and had frequently transferable jobs.
All the schools granted affiliation by the Board follow the national curriculum framework of 10+2. The Board appoints territorial study teams to conduct regular academic visits to the schools.
The Board now has 6593 schools affiliated to it. About 200 new schools are affiliated each year. In order to sustain and upgrade academic standards of the affiliated institutions, the Board appoints territorial study teams to conduct regular inspections of the affiliated schools. The Board has ftirther made earnest efforts to streamline the affiliation procedures.
1.3.4. Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) In 1952, an All India Certificate Examination Conference was held under the Chairmanship of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Minister for Education. The main purpose of the Conference was to consider the replacement of the Overseas Cambridge School Certificate Examination by an All India Examination. This meeting set the agenda for the establishment of the Council.
In October 1956 at the meeting of the Inter-State Board for Anglo-Indian Education a proposal was adopted for the setting up of an Indian Council to administer the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate's Examinations in India and, to advise the Syndicate on the best way to adapt its examination to the needs of the country. The inaugural meeting of the Council was held on 3rd November 1958.
In December 1967, the Council was registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act 1860. In 1973, the Council was listed in the Delhi School Education Act 1973, as a body conducting "public" examinations.
12 The Council has been constituted to secure suitable representation of Governments responsible for schools (which are affiliated to it) in their States/Territories; the Inter- State Board for Anglo-Indian Education; the Association of Indian Universities; the Association of Heads of Anglo-Indian Schools; the Indian Public Schools Conference; the Association of Schools for the ISC Examinations and eminent educationists.
The object of the Council is educational, and includes the promotion of science, literature, the fine arts and the diffusion of useful knowledge by conducting school examinations through the medium of English. The Council exists solely for educational purposes and not for purposes of profit
1.3.5. The Prefect System Prefects are entrusted with various responsibilities and share the task of maintaining proper discipline in the school. The appointment of a prefect is done after a careful scrutiny of his previous record. A prefect can never be entrusted to look after discipline of others unless he has spent some years of fireedom fi-om indiscipline himself
Prefects are not allowed to inflict any serious penalties without reference to the Housemaster or the Principal/ Headmaster and without the. accused being given a chance to defend himself There is no fagging but junior boys are set jobs to do for the sake of the House or the community-bringing games material from the games store, acting as new boys' guardians or tidying up the House library or the common room. Good and conscientious prefects keep their duties and obligation before privileges; get proper training in shouldering responsibility by keeping in close contact with the source of their authority and one prominent virtue they acquire is a wholesome tolerance of other people's business.
1.3.6. Games In nothing else, perhaps, ha^e the Indian public schools so completely imitated the British prototype as in the unquestioned belief in the value of organised team games and competitive sport. No school advertisement these days is complete without a liberal mention of the number and extent of sporting activities available in a particular school.
13 Nothing demonstrates the group solidarity better than when the students struggle as teams in the playing field for the 'honour' of their 'House' team. In sports like boxing, swimming, cross country runs, cricket, tennis, hockey, football and athletics students are expected to develop the qualities of character such as - courage, self control, co operation, endurance, moderation in victory and dignity in defeat, obedience and responsibility. In competitive games the training of character, as the schools conceive it, is thought to be more a matter of organisation than instruction. Towards this end the IPSC organises between its member schools annual inter school competitions in various games and sports.
Games occupy an important place as a means to physical development and character training. To take defeat sportingly, to congratulate the opponents on their victory, to accept the verdict of the referee or the umpire without grumbling, and to carry out the instructions of the captain as a loyal member of his team, are some of the qualities acquired on the playing fields. What matters is to play keenly for the team and enjoy doing so.
In the public schools, individual competition and achievement is mostly secondary to the expression of team spirit and group co-operation. High social prestige attaches to individuals who excel in sporting activities. Institutional rewards for excellence in sports take the form of 'sartorial splendour' like caps, blazers, ties, scarves, sweaters and " colours". Other and more important rewards are elevation to the school hierarchy as prefect, House captain, and school captain. This is primarily because of the influence of games and sports on the personality of such students.
According to Alfred de Souza (1974)'', "achievement in games is the traditional avenue to power and privilege in the school community. This, perhaps, explains why the kinds of achievements that are admired in the public schools are those of the athlete, the mountaineer, the explorer rather than that of the scholar, the writer, the poet." This phenomenon of the sports persons being more readily accepted and recognised in school hierarchy is more prevalent in the Military and Sainik schools where high social prestige is attached to achievements in the field of sporting activities.
14 1.3.7. Social Service The enjoyment of special advantages must always be accompanied by a special responsibility, of noblesse oblige. But even apart from this the desire to serve others should be one of the main springs of human activity. In the Doon School all boys over a certain age are required to do a "quota" of social service every week. This may consist of editing the weekly paper, running the tuckshop, helping in the library or in some form of manual work, such as preparing the school gardens for vegetables, or sweeping up leaves. In other schools, social service takes the form of scouting, rural reconstruction, relief work in famine stricken areas, running a primary school for servants and their children, and holding debates, variety entertainment or plays for charitable purpose. The Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, sent a group of boys to help people in the earthquake-affected areas of Gujarat in 2001. So do many other schools in various forms during normal times and in times of natural calamities.
1.3.8 Extra-Curricular Activities Facilities are offered for spare time activities which give ample scope for the creation of a diversity of interests-art, music, carpentry, photography, swimming, riding, hiking, shooting, stamp collecting, gardening, etc. It is the established and firm belief in the public school environment that wide education fosters absence of petty- mindedness. If the mind is continually over such a diversity of interests, there is little place for petty pride, for cheap spitefulness and for gnawing jealousy. Personal pride soon withers against a background of the Universe; the individual quickly sinks into his rightful place.
Over the years the public schools have developed and acquired an impressive network by integrating various extra curricular activities into the normal school routine. Substantial sum of money is earmarked each year for the conduct of such clubs and societies as music room, art school, carpentry, computers, riding, photography aeromodelling, debating and quizzing. The extent and variety of extra-curricular activities offered by a school is often seen by parents as one of the major indicators of the quality of the school. The effect of this mode of evaluating the school by parents leads to a tendency amongst public schools to list more extra curricular activities in their prospectus than are actually available in the school. Each of these activities in schools is looked after by one or more teachers who have some interest and skill in the
15 said field. Among these clubs and societies are those which are not as popular amongst the students as the others are. In several schools visited by this researcher, it was found that some societies and clubs were over subscribed while other not much in demand. Special rush was seen towards computers, photography and debating etc while, surprisingly, there were not many takers for music and drama. It came out during discussions with the students that it was primarily due to the additional time required for rehearsals etc that students, who otherwise had a flair and talent for these activities, generally avoided to join them. This also throws some light on the attention the extra curricular activities receive vis-a-vis academic subjects in some schools, especially during the months December - March owing largely to the examinations. The increasing emphasis on higher percentage of marks in examinations is showing its impact on the approach of students towards extra curricular activities. However, the number and nature of such activities offered by particular schools continue to remain the cultural image of the school. The schools may not really be promoting all of them with the seriousness they deserve.
1,4 Traj ectory of the Thesis A major challenge developing nations face today is that of creating an environment conducive to the cultural, economic and social development of their people. Historically, education has been a determining factor of the progress of human civilisation. The modem world is using education increasingly as an instrument for all-round development. There is a growing and welcome realisation amongst the developing countries that education is the key to development. Education shapes the destiny of a nation. The quality of manpower in any coimtry ultimately determines the sustainable well - being of its people. Creation of social opportunities for all sections for society is a reflection of the progress of that society and education is the principal instrument for developing human capabilities. Education, as a liberating force, fosters growth, social equality and technological progress. Globalisation and the emergence of a new society more dependent on knowledge and information technology have further underlined the importance of education in pursuing developmental goals.
16 Figure 1.4.1 Various (Age Wise) Stages of Education in India
25 Doctoral Programmes 3.—.5 years
2* Graduate Programmes 23
22 . UndergrackiateJTrogrammes 21 2U Post Dip. Course 19 Higher Secondary Education Polytechnic 18 Courses ITI Trades 17 16 15 14 13 Secondary Education 12 11 10 9
a Primary Education 7 6 Age
The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986 and its Programme of Action (POA) as updated in 1992 are based on an in-depth review of the entire gamut of the educational process and have been formulated on the basis of a national consensus. It enunciated a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in its entirety. It envisaged a National System of Education, which would be based on a national curriculum framework containing a common core syllabus along with other flexible components. It has stood the test of time and continues to be relevant and operational. It has outlined the course of educational development in the country. Programmes, schemes and strategies have been formulated and implemented in the country in strict conformity with the Policy.
17 Figure 1.4.2 Structure of Education in India'
MdN. 1 II 111 IV V VIN'llNTIl IX X XI XII XllI XIV XV XVI XVII 5 Age d 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 2S
ElEMEniARY KD JCAUOfl. .. JEC. JXCHEREOJC nof 1 fr. UMIER GBAmATE MJMi nui S (SI CCXIBSES FGcnov p UPPER c. : .( • BEd 1 s PRIMARY SCHOOL » '"": •:c •• OIElfDinVEBSirY E FRIUARY C ? B£mr CEVTBES won FORMAL CENTRES — - coMFO-soirr Eincsioa Planners and administrators have realised the need for a national system of education suited to the needs and aspirations of a free and modem India. The successive Five- Year Plans have played a very significant role in shaping the educational policies and programmes of the Government. The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) treated education as the most crucial investment in human development. The thrust areas for educational development in the Ninth Plan included raising the quality of education at all levels, improving learner achievement, uplift of the educational status of disadvantaged groups including SC/ST/girls and disabled children. Removing of regional disparities, vocationalisation of education, updating/renewal of the curriculum to meet emerging challenges in information technology and support for the development of centres of excellence have been given prominence. 18 Table 1.4.1 Expenditure on Education in tlie five Year Plans ^ Total Five Year Elementary (%) Secondary (%) Higher (%) Expenditure Plans (Rs. lakh) I 85(56) 20(13) 14(9) 15300 II 95(35) 51(19) 48(18) 27300 III 201(34) 103(18) 87(15) 58900 IV 239(30) 140(18) 195(25) 78600 V 317(35) 156(17) 205(22) 91200 VI 803(30) 736(25) 530(18) 204300 VII 2849(34) 1829(22) 1201(14) 850000 VIII 4006.6(47) 1538(18) 1055.8(12.4) 852190 IX 16364.88(65.7) 2603.5(10.5) 2500.0(10.0) 2490850 Note: The figures in parenthesis indicate % to total allocation. The secondary school system in India is a complex blend of government schools, government - aided schools, private schools and schools with religious denominations. The number of secondary schools in India was 1,16,820 in 1999-2000 as against 7416 in 1950-51. While in terms of absolute numbers, state financing of secondary education continued to grow, financing of secondary education has shown a declining trend in terms of percentage spending on education fi-om the Sixth Plan onwards. Government spending on secondary education was 13 per cent of the total allocation on education in the First Five Year Plan that went on to 25 per cent in the sixth plan and has since declined to 10.5 per cent in the ninth Five Year Plan. 19 However, the participation of private sector in the management of secondary schools with official recognition and, in many cases, with financial assistance, has also increased. Private organisations currently manage around 51 per cent of secondary schools and 58 per cent of higher secondary schools. In this scenario of the education structure of the country, the public schools constitute a rather minuscule part, though disproportionately large in terms of importance, prestige, contribution and influence. Unlike in the past, the distance between these institutions and the national level educational research and training organisations is decreasing rapidly. There is healthy interaction between these schools and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT); an apex resource organisation set up by the Government of India. The NCERT provides academic and technical support for improvement of school education through its constituents. An integral part of the school education system in the country are the various education boards. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) conduct public examinations at the end of classes X and XII. Both are self-financing bodies which do not receive any assistance from the government. A total of 6593 schools are affiliated to the CBSE while the number of schools affiliated to the CISCE at present stands at 1119. In addition there are almost as many state boards of education as there are states in Indian though very few public schools are affiliated with state education boards. The key issues during the Tenth Plan (2002-2007) would be greater focus on improving access and reducing disparities by emphasising the Common School System in which it is mandatory for schools in a particular area to take students fi-om low-income families in the neighbourhood. The plan will also focus on revision of curricula with emphasis on vocationalisation and employment-oriented courses, expansion and diversification of the open learning system, reorganisation of the teacher training and greater use of new information and communication technologies, particularly computers. The public school.though not fimdedb y the government as the state-run schools, has also been duly influenced by the changes at the national policy level. These schools enjoy a much greater degree of functional autonomy in terms of finances, school admissions, selection of teachers, and the conduct of the day to day school activities. 20 As a result of this largely economic and, to a lesser degree, academic independence, public schools have been able to evolve a structure and a community within the overall countrywide school system which is distinct by its quality, character and ethos. The ethos in question is less academic than a class-conscious code of behaviour, speech, and appearance though with the passage of time the style and content of education at the public schools have changed as the schools have become more consciously part of wider groupings of independent schools and have developed multifarious links with schools in the state sector. The fact that these are affiliated to one of the two national-level school examination boards has contributed to bringing about uniformity of purpose and direction amongst the public schools. In spite of being relatively few in numbers the public schools enjoy considerable respect and prestige in our country. One of the finest institutions of our education system for a century, these schools, today, face a major challenge. They seem not only to be competing with other good schools of comparable quality but also face a lot of criticism fi-om public and government for their less-than-expected contribution to the good of entire educational set up in the country, especially towards the uplift of the less privileged. These schools have become centre of major controversy recently as they are believed to be offering the benefits of a modem and excellent education to an exclusively small and economically 'privileged' class of society. The criticism stems primarily from the issue of equality of educational opportunity in a democratic society like India. The argument of the critics is that the public schools have helped create in the country pockets of privilege and influence by making accessibility prohibitive to the masses. It is a fact that the public schools have all along enjoyed a very privileged existence and status given the inherent advantage in terms of resovurces, autonomy and flexibility. But at the same time these institutions have, by their very character, remained conservative in terms of keeping pace with the sociological aspirations of the community in which they function. They have changed with times but not quite. The basic edifice, ethos, culture and the character has not changed with the result that the institution of the public school now faces a situation wherein there are demands for it to be more sensitive to the needs of the society. The primary question here is the 21 contribution of the public schools in bringing about equality of opportunity among the aspirants for quality education in this county. Traditionally the public schools have had a bias in favour of all round education that lays greater stress on personality and character development. But over the last few years things seem to have changed. The public schools, like other day schools, are under great pressure to meet the market expectations of very high marks by the students in the Board examinations. This seems to have put under duress the public schools traditional and characteristic bias towards all round development of the child. Subsequent chapters of this study will dwell on how successfully the public schools have been able to withstand such stresses and strains. During the last quarter of the twentieth century the public schools have been face to face with the dilemma of how to keep a balance between being faithful to their collective mandates and the demands of a liberalised market and economy. The role of professional institutions of higher learning has also contributed in questioning the public schools suitability to cope with the market pressures and demands in their present form. There is, therefore, the need for change. The need to keep pace with the socio-economic changes underway in Indian society and be in tune with the expectations and requirements of professional colleges and universities. This study endeavours to explore the extent to which the process of globalisation has started dictating the course the public schools need to take. Information technology and cyber-age have made access to knowledge easier, faster and open. The participation of the corporate sector in the 'business' of education has added a new dimension to the scope and extent of competition that the established public schools now face. To add to this is the ongoing debate on the public schools' role in diminishing the gap between quality education and quantity education. This is one of the major challenges that present themselves to the public schools in the country. This study attempts to analyse the public schools from an institutional perspective. 22 1.5 The Rationale of the Study The purpose of the present study is to provide a systematic analysis of the structure, function and relevance of the pubUc school in India. Amongst the leading institutions of the country, the public school has a distinct social structure, an enviable history, and a culture and ethos which it is proud of The public school recognises quality education as its overarching goal. The study of the public school includes three aspects. First, efforts have been made to analyse the social structure of the school as an institution providing overall quality education to the children. Secondly, the study aims at a deeper understanding of the purposes of public school education and its social function in a democratic society like India. Thirdly, the current study also aims at analysing the relevance of type of education being offered by the public schools in the present socio-economic milieu .It attempts at evaluating organisational effectiveness of the public school vis-a-vis productivity, output and profitability though profit is generally not the motive in establishment of a public school. The main reasons for selecting the public school for intensive study are related to the socio-economic envirorunent in which these schools are functioning. The public schools have been successful in carving a niche for themselves in the country's education system as one of the most organised and well-run segments. It is common knowledge and an accepted fact in this country that public school education provides an effective instrument of learning, a realm of freedom, a precursor of opportunities to come and as potent vehicle of social mobility. Then there is this excessive and rather inexplicably unreasonable status attached to public school education. The expensiveness of the public schools is not grudged as it is taken as an investment in the professional future of the children. Like in the United Kingdom, public school education in India is still considered elitist in character. 23 The recent (October, 2003) draft Free and Compulsory Education for Children Bill* has added a new dimension to the whole issue of the contribution of the public school in realising the national goal of free and compulsory education. If the bill is passed by the parliament in its present form then almost every privately run school, including most of the public schools, will have to set aside up to 20 per cent of the total seats for economically disadvantaged children. This step of the government is aimed at bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged children. The exaggerated opinion that people have come to form about the quality of the public schools can be partly attributed to the rather dismal performance of the majority of the state run schools in various states. The system of elementary education has not performed as expected of it; as a result of which the secondary school system inherits a perennial handicap. The state run schools have failed to deliver even though consistent government funding and strong aspirations, particularly among the poor, back the drive for good education. The current situation, that thus prevails, is an example of an immensely discriminating system in which the foundational principles of equal entitlement to primary education is violated, against the interests of children from the poorer and less privileged families. The fee structure of the public schools and the limited number of seats make the public schools virtually out of reach of the economically less fortunate segments of the Indian society. The debate on public school is based on very limited data and knowledge about the nature, structure, value system and ethos of the public schools. There is not much empirical data available on the subject. Most of the writings on the public schools in India are restricted to listing out these schools in terms of the facilities, coiu^es and the academic opportunities being offered by them. The available literature on the Indian public school is either severe criticism or fond adoration depending on personal impressions rather than objective assessment. This research, therefore, is an attempt at a systematic, informative, incisive and dispassionate evaluation of the public school education in India. 24 There is a large amount of literature available on the British public school but not much in case of its Indian counterpart. Surprisingly, not much has been written by people who have spent considerable amount of time with one or other leading public schools of the country and contributed so much personally. The present study does not pretend to be a definitive work on the public schools, nor is it directly concerned with their transformation from being elitist to more public. The study, however, attempts to achieve a deeper understanding of the institutional structure and functioning of the public schools. The study also delves into the relevance of the public school ethos and tradition of all round development and its ability to withstand the current bias for academic excellence at the cost of personality and character development. Considerable attention has been devoted to find out the effect, on the public schools, of the intense competition for jobs in national and international markets. 1.6 The Present Study Tlie present study is an investigation into the state of the public school in India with special reference to its structure in terms of hierarchy within the school, function in the overall educational system in the country and its relevance as an effective tool in the upbringing of children, their education and character building. The study is descriptive in nature and is primarily based on survey that enquires into the perceptions and expectations that the society has fromth e public schools. 1.7 Statement of the Problem The problem was worded as The Public School in India: Its Structure, Function and Relevance. The public schools, over the years, have come to be understood as institutions where only the elite of the country are getting educated. It is felt in academic and social circles that admissions and final outcomes of education in these schools are determined more by parental background than other factors. In terms of structure most of these schools have relatively smaller student strength which is generally preferred by most parents. The function and relevance of the public school in overall education system of the country is linked with the kind of funding available to each school. 25 1.8 Objectives of the Study The objectives of this study are to: (a) Provide a systemic analysis of the Public School as an institution having its distinct structure and value system. (b) Study the role and function of the public school in the existing secondary education system in the country. (c) Study the normative, cultural and traditional values of the public school and its ethos. (d) Examine the contribution made by the public school in the academic and social upbringing of children. (e) Analyse the staffing pattern of the public schools as a male teachers dominated system. (f) Study the variation in seat availability in different public schools and reasons thereof (g) Compare the public school with the ordinary secondary school, other day schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas and the Navodaya Vidyalayas. (h) Determine the various factors that affect the quality of education in the public school. (i) Examine the academic reach and geographical spread of the public school across the country. (j) Study the fee structure of the public schools and the type of parents who patronise these schools. (k) Explore the extent of drop outs in public schools and reasons thereof (I) Study the classification and categorisation of public schools as boys-only, girls- only and co-educational. 26 I'ffi^ Assess the satisfaction of parents and guardian with the type and quality of education being provided in the public school. (n) Suggest measures for improvement of the institution of the public school. 1.9 Hypotheses The following were the hypotheses: A. The choice of the school for children depends on the paying capacity of the parents and on the waiting lists for admission to the schools and not on the streams offered by the schools and career paths available to the students after they pass out. B. The funding available to the school has an influence on the streams offered by it but does not have bearing on the career options available to the students. C. Parents prefer for their children public schools with smaller strengths. 27 References Indian Public Schools Conference-Articles of Association, and Rules and Regulations (2000). Mason, Philip (1988): A Matter of Honour (Henry Holt & Company, Inc.). Etzioni, Amitai. (1961) A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organisations (New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc.) De Souza, Alfred (1974): Indian Public Schools (Sterling Publishers). The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986; National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi. MHRD (2001): Selected Educational Statistics: 1999- 2000 (Government of India, New Delhi). Planning Commission of India - Five -Year Plans, Aimual Plans and MHRD Reports. The draft Free and Compulsory Education for Children Bill (October, 2003) 28 Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE The study draws upon a wide range of national and international, primary and secondary (published and unpublished) data sources. There is a lot of data available in term of books on the growth of the public school in Britain but not much equivalent literature is available on the progress of the public school in India. Though the structure of the Indian public school is primarily based on its English predecessor, yet there are pronounced differences in the way the two have evolved over time. In India the concept is just about a century old whereas in Britain leading public schools like Winchester College (1394), Eton College (1440), St Paul's School (1509), Shrewsbury School (1552), Westminster School (1560), Merchant Taylors' School (1560) Rugby School (1567; it started rugby football), Harrow School (1571) and Charterhouse School (1872) have been in existence for centuries. There is no authoritative work on the growth of the Indian public school as a group though some studies have analysed the sociological aspect of its growth. However these works have been very helpful in understanding the evolution of the public school over the last five decades of its existence. Philip Mason (1988)' has delved into the history of the public school and its origin in India. According to him, "in the later days of Queen Victoria the English, without much consciousness of what they were doing, were building up an imperial ruling class of public school boys." The important sources of secondary data that the researcher relied on were as follows: (a) Various publications of Government of India (b) Report of the Planning Commission of India (c) Bulletins of the Indian Public Schools conference (IPSC) (d) Magazines and Newsletters of the Public Schools (e) Newspapers 29 The literature on the working of the Indian Public Schools Conference (IPSC), the minutes and reports of its various meetings have been a major and very effective tool in following the success and expansion of the public school in India. The annual yearbooks, newsletters and other journals of most of the public schools have been invaluable means for providing deeper understanding and appreciation of the working of the public schools. The RIMC Chronicle, the Doon School Weekly, the Lawrence School Newsletter and publications of various other schools gave a useful insight into culture and ethos of these schools besides providing important inputs about the schools in general. The study has heavily relied on the literature available with some schools, primarily about their own growth (Doon School, RIMC, Welham Girls School, Military and Sainik Schools). Study of papers that chronicle the formation, history and evolution of the IPSC as a binding force to these schools has been of immense analytical use. Most of the leading public schools have been in discussion in various newspaper articles and editorials. Perusal of these and other literature available on the web sites of most of the schools has been an important part of valuable data referred and collected on the topic. The public schools in this study are analysed from an institutional perspective, that is, a network of stable, organisational arrangements devised by them for the attainment of their stated goals. For this purpose the analytical scheme developed by Amitai Etzioni (1961, A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organisations)^ has been adopted and supplemented to some extent by insights derived from Goffman's (1961)^ concept of 'total institution'. Following Etzioni's typology of organisations the public schools may be classified as normative organisation on the basis of compliance structure. He defines compliance as the relationship between those who have power and those over whom this power is exercised. He then differentiates organisations according to the kind of control exercised by those who have regular access to the means to power (higher participants) and the orientation of those who are subject to this control (lower participants) Etzioni refers to those in power position, who are higher in rank, as elites or as organisational representative; while those in subject positions, who are lower in rank, as lower participants. Power differs according to the means employed to make the 30 Picture 1 Winchester College Winchester (England) (Founded 1394) 31 subjects comply. These means may be physical, material, or symbolic. And the power thus exercised could be termed as coercive, remunerative and normative respectively. Etzioni further suggests that there are three types of compliance each of which is related to three types of power used. Thus we have alienative, calculative and normative compliance when the power used is coercive (physical pain, restriction of movement etc), remunerative (material rewards) or normative (symbolic rewards). According to this scheme the public schools are seen to be less typical of normative organisation because, though their dominant compliance pattern is normative, coercive power is used as secondary, but important, source of compliance. Increasingly in recent times, however, normative compliance pattern, through moral persuasion and social acceptance, has been more prominent in public schools. Normative organisations, Etzioni suggests, vary in "scope", but those that are concerned with education or expressive socialisation tend to be broad in scope. Through 'scope', he refers to the number of activities that the participants jointly share. When an organisation is so broad in scope that it encompasses practically all the activities of the participants, we have what Goffman has called the "total institution". According to Goffman, "a total institution may be defined as a place of residence and work where a large number of like- situated individuals, cut off fi-omth e wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life." Total institutions may either be normative organisations such as military academies and monasteries; or coercive organisations such as prisons and mental asylums. The residential public schools approximate to the normative type of total institution. Ian Weinberg (1967)^ has studied the British public school as total institutions. In the light of this, the mainly day schools cannot be described as total institutions. The conventional public school has a lot in common with tiie idea of 'total institution'. The concept of "total institution" originated with Erving Goffman (1961) in his study of mental hospitals. According to him, the following are the characteristic features of total institutions: "First, all aspects of life are conducted at the same place and under the same single authority. Secondly, each phase of the member's daily activity is carried out in the immediate company of a large batch of others, all of whom are treated alike and required to do the same thing together. Third, all phases of the day's 32 activities are tightly scheduled, with one activity leading to the other at a prearranged time into the next; the whole sequence of activities being imposed from above by a system of explicit formal rulings and a body of officials. Finally, the various enforced activities are brought together into a single rational plan purportedly designed to fulfil the official aims of the institution." He points out that all these features need not be found in any single organisation though they tend to occur together. The second and the third features of Goffman's total institution, which refer to scope and pervasiveness, imply that the lower participants share a great number of common activities and that the organisation has more opportunities to control and influence them. In the scope and pervasiveness of its organisation, the public school resembles a total institution. The public schools have devised institutional arrangements for socialisation of their students like the 'House' system, the academic system, the organisation of games and extra curricular activities and the authority structure in term of prefect system. Over the years, however, public schools have undergone some organisational changes that have been necessitated by changing societal values and functional requirements. Competition from other organisations (day schools), newer leadership, new technology, new markets, new interests, attitudes and values have all resulted in public schools being more flexible in order to meet the changes in organisational as well as societal enviromnent. Students in public schools are expected to undergo overall development of personality and character during a long period, on an average, of five to ten years that they spend there. Students live in various boarding Houses (most public schools have four to five), all within easy walking distance of the main school building, its classrooms and its facilities. Each House is a self-contained community to which students return from classes or games to study, eat and sleep. The Houses are overseen by Housemasters who, aided by their tutors, are responsible for the pastoral, academic and disciplinary well being of the boys. The Houses, in turn, are part of a greater school community and nearly all of the adults involved in the teaching and supervision of the students live amongst the boarding Houses and around the school facilities. This means that there are many opportunities, both formal and informal, for building those good personal and professional relationships, which are the basis of proper care. The aim of this care is to ensure that the students, by the time they leave 33 Picture 2 Eton College Eton (England) (Founded 1440) 34 the schools, have not just good academic qualifications, but also the ability to work effectively by themselves and in a group, with a well developed sense of values and a strong respect for others. In India, the Public schools have been in the forefront of all experimentation with a view to providing a broad -based, secular and contemporary education to young boys and girls. Most of them have tried various innovative methods to impart quality education that exercises not only the intellect but also other aspects and faculties of children in their formative years that they spend at the school. John S Taylor (2002) describes modem learning methodology as "concentrating first on the student's aptitudes, then on the skills and knowledge he or she needs to acquire." According to him, "traditionally teachers treat the entire class as a single entity without identifying individual needs. But there is an increasing need for student centred learning based on the principle of multiple intelligences, which identifies the following eight intelligences in a human brain-linguistic, logical or mathematical, musical, bodily or kinaesthetic, spatial, naturalist, inter-personal and intra-personal. This education would encourage the child to learn to think and not just accept what he is given."However it is quite fashionable these days to talk about giving fi-eedomt o the child to learn what he is inclined to learn within (and sometimes outside) the general framework of the school. It is easier said than done. Interviews with students as well as practising teachers have shown that though flexibility is desirable to some extent, it is not possible to cater to the individual needs of each student in a real life situation especially in a heterogeneous class comprising students of markedly varying aptitudes, talents and capabilities. So, somewhere, some children have to make adjustment with a view to be part of the overall classroom set up. This results in some added pressure on some student in comparison with others in the same class. It is indeed a myth that you can have a classroom or a school without pressure and stress. The child has to be taught to deal with pressure situations for this is what life is outside the classroom and the school. But at the same time, it is incumbent upon the teachers to ensure that the pressure is not excessive. Most of the public schools have now arranged for the services of professional and qualified counsellors to handle such pressure situations. The experiment is reported to be very useful and effective by most principals that this researcher met during the course of research. 35 India needs leaders but not more leaders than followers. To safeguard against that the oft-repeated phrase 'training for leadership', the emphasis on citizenship must precede the emphasis on training for responsibility (Krishnamurthi, 1953). Public schools being residential offer greater opportunities for boys to learn to subject their individual good to the good of the community in which they live. By living, eating and playing together, they think more of the fair name of the team, the House and the school, than of their individual gain or profit. Life at such schools with numerous group activities- National Cadet Corps, Physical Training Units, School and House Councils and various other societies- gets one out of the groove, destroys pettiness, unreality, selfishness and dishonesty. To continue to be in the forefront in the field of school education as the leading educational institutions of the country, the public schools have to adapt themselves to the new socio- economic realities. Each school seems keen to be recognised as a distinctive brand of efficiency and superiority. There is a need to debate the necessity and urgency of reform and change in the nature and structures of discipline, hierarchy and internal governance in the public schools. There is a need for re-thinking of educational aims and objectives. There is a need for incorporating the ideas on education of Indian thinkers like Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi and J. Krishnamurti. There is a need for sensitising students to human rights and inculcating in them a critical awareness of ruling establishments — nationally and internationally. Great Indian philosopher J Krishnamurti's (1953) philosophy of education is best expressed in his own words, "The purpose, the aim and drive of schools, is to equip the child with the most excellent technological proficiency so that the student may function with clarity and efficiency in the modem world. A far more important purpose than this is to create the right climate and environment so that the child may develop fiilly as a complete human being. This means giving the child opportunity to flower in goodness so that he/she is rightly related to people, things and ideas, to the whole of life. To live is to be related. There is no rightrelationshi p to anything if there is not the right feeling for beauty, a response to nature, to music and art- a highly developed aesthetic sense." 36 l^tureS Daly College Indore (Founded 1882) 37 The above words of the philosopher sum up the entire concept of the public school education. But the sense of competition that has got into the system in an unavoidable manner is bound to have an adverse effect on the quality of education being imparted in public schools. According to J Krishnamurti, "we must be very clear in ourselves what we want- clear that a human being must be the total human being, not just a technological human being. If we concentrate very much on the examinations, on technological information, on making the child clever, proficient in acquiring knowledge while we neglect the other side, then the child will grow up into a one sided human being. When we talk about a total human being, we mean not only a human being with inward understanding, with a capacity to explore, to examine his or her inward state and the capacity of going beyond it, but also someone who is good in what he does outwardly. The two must go together. That is the real issue in education: to see that when the child leaves the school, he is well established in goodness, both outwardly and inwardly." (Krishnamurti on Education, 1974)^ Public schools came into being with somewhat similar ideals of overall and complete education for the child. The residential character of the schools made the task of ensuring an overall and complete education and upbringing of the child much easier. But over the years the age of competition has had its effects on the way public schools have functioned. In the past, the public schools had been able to somehow keep themselves less affected by the competitive environment post class XII. It did not affect the functioning of the public schools as much as it has started doing now. It is affecting them and impinging upon the concept of overall and all round education. The destructive effect of examination is showing itself and the public schools have to do something to counter it if complete education has to continue to be the overall aim of these schools. Another major requirement of the children is that they be given opportunities to learn at their pace, according to their individual aptitude and, as far as possible, at their convenience. Then there are other complexities of the modem Indian society with a heterogeneous population, having diversities of religious beliefs and practices and social status, and the consequent presence of young students of different castes, creeds and economic status in the same classroom of a school. 38 How far these needs can be addressed depends upon the individual schools but efforts need to be made in this direction, as the issues involved are important. The root of the word 'educate' (Latin educare) is 'to bring out', to bring out the best that is in the child so that he blossoms. One of the major functions of education is to evoke in the boy and the girl a love of excellence. J. Krishnamurti (1974) refers to this as "flowers in goodness". Education is an evolution and the school must provide the right atmosphere in which the child realises his potentialities. The school system means that it is the collection of all the parts, working independently and together to get some previously specified job accomplished... the job to see that the educational mission is met, within the specified standards, utilising all of the factors at our disposal both individually and in interaction. (Kaufman, Roger A & Corringan, Robert E (1967)''. Parents look for a number of qualities in a school - high expectations of pupils; teachers who are enthusiastic about their subject; House Masters who are dedicated to the task of ensuring their pupils are happy and successful; the best quality facilities; a good level of discipline and care for every individual. You will find most of these at most of the leading public schools in the country. The basic culture and tradition of the public school makes its staff and students take pride in the name of their school, its ethos and its achievements. The author observed a lot of commitment amongst the students and the staff of the public schools to identify with their 'House' in various inter house activities. In order to provide opportunities to the pupils to imbibe the finer aesthetic qualities of human nature, most of these schools lay a lot of stress on the participation of their pupils in various activities called co curricular activities. In addition to giving the much-needed break from the academic regimen of the school, these qualities also go a long way in developing their character. Over the last few decades the number of such activities in schools has been on the increase and the children now have a large array of such facilities to choose from depending upon their interest and aptitude. Most of the schools do make conscious efforts to accommodate each child's individual interest. Facilities are available in most public schools for a wide variety of co curricular activities. Depending upon their 39 Picture 4 Donyi Polo Vidya Bhawan Itanagar (Founded 1981) 'Vr^- I3I2I 40 interest and aptitude children can chose any one or more of these interests. A comprehensive list of these activities is given below: Table 2.1 List of Co-curricular Activities Adventure Club Aero-modelling Chess Clay -modelling Creative writing Dance Debates Declamation Dramatics Drawing Educational Electronics Excursions Essay writing Fine Arts/Batik Geography Club Ham radio Journalism Karate Literary Societies Music Nature Club NCC/NSS Needlework News reading Photography Piano Quiz School Band School Band Ship-modelling Sculpture/Pottery Social Service Woodcraft/Bamboo Yoga craft However on closer examination of what most of the schools are offering by way of co curricular and club activities, it was observed that the following activities and interests were more or less missing from the list of most public schools but were available elsewhere in some day schools: 41 (a) Graphics (b) Red Cross (c) Tailoring (d) Cooking Public schools lay a lot of stress on providing opportunities to the student for developing interest in the above activities so that they can directly and indirectly imbibe certain artistic, creative, moral and cultural qualities. All these activities are closely integrated with the overall teaching set up of the school. But closer analysis of the scope and success of these activities and their influence and contribution towards the personality and character development of the children shows that the results are directly linked with the kind of teacher involved and the interest he or she takes. The development of children's personality and character has a direct link with how deeply the students recognise and identify themselves with the teacher concerned rather than the scope and extent of the activities available in the school. Sports too play an important part in the public school concept of character development. Sports have been recognised since the ancient Greeks and the first Olympics to be a major tool for character building. Sports belong in the core curriculum of character building and certainly are not " extra" from this viewpoint. Schools that cut back on team sports and physical education should note that they diminish one of the most potent sources of character education. The ways school sports are conducted can send widely disparate messages, ranging from the notion that "it does not matter if you win or lose but how you play the game" to notions that " winning is not the important thing, it is the only thing." The educational messages and issues involved are obvious- there is need for inter-school co-operation as much as inter- school competition. It is often felt, however, that the increasing sense of competition in all spheres of school activity is having an adverse impact on the development of the children. It is not only in sports but in the field of academics also that competition has become the driving force and motivation to excel. This trend needs to be curbed. Public schools, in the past, have somehow been able to keep themselves less affected by the competitive environment, especially at the school leaving stage. But it is now affecting them as 42 Picture 5 Kittur Rani Channamma Residential School for Girls Kittur (Founded 1969) 43 much as other schools and is impinging upon the concept of overall and all round education. Hence the danger of the destructive effect of competition looms large. Development of student's personality and character is one of the main cultural goals of the schools rather than the academic. It has been observed by Amitai Etzioni (1961) that organisations that serve cultural goals tend to have a normative compliance structure and as such have to rely on normative powers because the realisation of their goals requires positive and intense commitment of lower participants to the organisation- at least to its representatives, and such commitments cannot be effectively attained by other powers. Study of charisma, persuasion and influence shows that commitment (or identification) of followers to their leaders is the major lever by which the followers' commitment to values is created, transmitted, or extended (Parsons Talcott, 1964) Communication studies demonstrate the low effectiveness of formal communication not supported by informal leaders, and the importance of positive affective interpersonal relations between the priest and the parishioner, the teacher and the student, the political leader and his followers, for effective operation of their respective organisations. In short, the attainment of culture goals such as the creation, application, or transmission of values requires the development of identification with the organisational representatives. Hence the stress on the role, quality and commitment of teachers in Public Schools. It is clear from the above, therefore, that the personality and character of the teacher is of utmost importance in the public school for he has the destiny of so many children in his hands. Public schools, therefore, give utmost attention to the selection of teachers. They do enjoy a fair amotint of autonomy in this regard. Being mostly residential, public schools have an advantage over other schools with regard to the scope of influence they can exercise on the children in moulding their personality and character. One of the functions of the extra curricular activities in schools, Etzioni suggests, is to extend scope and, with it, the involvement of the student with the school and the school's influence over him. The liberal arts colleges best known for their impact on 44 the values and character of the students are residential. "The dire need for new halls of residence is of particular concern to British university authorities because of the intimate way in which corporate life within the two ancient universities has persistently contributed to the essential character and personality of their graduates. The traditional ideals and behaviour of academic life, forged in the colleges during the period of free association, become a model for national behaviour." (Aurther, James 2002)' Residential public schools are total organisations. The English 'public' schools, in which the British elites have been moulded for centuries, are boarding schools. When professional schools are compared, those that emphasise training in professional skills tend to have a narrow scope; they see development of the professional personality as a goal of limited importance. On the other hand, all professional schools that emphasise character building are total organisations. Etzioni (1961) compares medical, law, and engineering schools with theological seminaries, military academies, and political schools and suggests that "the scope of the organisation is closely associated with the type and effectiveness of the socialisation it employs. The reason for this relationship may be that the more completely students are isolated from other collectivities, the more they must find their 'significant others' in the school community. To the degree that these are teachers, guides, or students who share faculty values, organisational socialisation is likely to be effective. The above illustrates quite vividly how important the role of teachers is in character building of their students. The importance of this fact is duly reflected by the manner in which most public school select their teacher and initiate them into the schools system and culture gradually under the guidance of senior faculty. Almost the same process prevails for the student in term of their socialisation and eventually becoming part of the system. To that extent, personality and character education starts from the day the students enter the school. A lot of it is informal, indirect and an integral part of growing up in the school. It is with a view to ensuring overall development of personality and character that students in public schools are not judged only on examination results or only on 45 Pictured Mayo College Ajmer (Founded 1875) 46 achievements in the field of sports, both of which are measurable. There are a number of other qualities that they are expected to imbibe by virtue of the opportunities that they get in the school during their stay of five to ten years. Alongside scholastic performance, "it is also important to get a good opinion for such intangible qualities as leadership, an even temperament, the ability to put up with horseplay and leg-pulling without loss of temper, cheerfulness, quickness to obey, initiative and self reliance; above all-and hardest of all to define-'pulling one's weight." (Philip Mason, 1988) According to Blond's Encyclopaedia of Education (1969)'° "the Public School is a typically English institution. Most English-speaking countries also have their independent boarding schools; these often have the prestige of the English Public School upon which they were originally modelled, but they are too few to make a significant impact upon society. Nowhere, in fact, is there a system anything like so closely knit or so influential as in England." However the public school in India does seem to enjoy the prestige of its English predecessor. The work on public school by Alfired de Souza (1974)" has been one of the most comprehensive and incisive on the subject. He argues that, "the structural characteristics of the organisation of the public school influence, as we have seen, both the distribution of authority and the manner in which it is exercised. The concentration of authority at three levels-Headmaster, House Master and Prefects- is adapted to the requirement of the organisation to manage large group of boys with relatively few officials. He concludes that the public schools seek to control all the spheres of a child's activity. However, on the other hand, Kumar AK Shiva (2003)'^ has highlighted the need for greater role for the community in ensuring accountability and improved performance of schools. The public schools function in the overall national educational set up of the country and therefore cannot remain uninfluenced by the developments taking place at the national level of policy formation. The Resolution on the National Policy on Education in 1968 emphasised quality improvement and a planned, more equitable expansion of educational facilities and the need to focus on the education of girls. Almost two decades later, the National Policy on Education (NPE-1986) was formulated which was fiirther updated in 1992. The 47 National Policy on Education, 1986 document is an elaborate work in which educational policy and progress have been reviewed in the light of the goal of national development, and priorities set from time to time. There has been no fundamental change in the structure and organisation of the secondary and higher secondary education system since then. In the wake of the Policy (NPE, 1986) several centrally sponsored schemes have been in operation in the secondary school sector in the country. However, these developments haven't had much bearing on the public schools except in the field of syllabus and curriculum development. Other important sources of data and reliable reference have been the official publications and web sites of regulatory educational bodies like the National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi; National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA); State Councils of Educational Research and Training of various states; the examination boards, viz., the Central Board of Secondary Education; New Delhi (CBSE); the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi (CISCE) and the National Institute of Open Schooling, New Delhi and various state examination boards. All these organisations have provided state-wise, region-wise details of various types of schools as a result of which it was possible to compare the performance of the public schools with their other counterparts. The study of the proceedings, discussions and themes of the various IPSC conferences provided an invaluable insight into the working of the public schools; their relationship with each other and with the organisation. It has been certainly helpful in allowing the author reach a better and deeper understanding and appreciation of the working of the public schools. A careful study of the Articles of Association, and Rules and Regulations of the Indian Public Schools Conference (Appendix I) provided a window on the functioning of this organisation and its commitment to maintaining the desired standards in the affiliate public schools. With a number of international schools coming up in India over the last decade a lot has been written in newspaper articles and editorials. There has been a debate in the media on the merits and demerits of globalisation and intemationalisation of education. This researcher has intensely followed this debate which has helped him in carrying out an objective study of the public schools with regard to their functioning 48 Picture? Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) Dehradun (Founded 1922) 49 and important role in the process of nation building. On their part, the public schools have been part of this debate as front runners in experimenting with new ideas in educational technology, reach and delivery. The competition for providing quality education has increased indeed. Competition notwithstanding, the existing public schools are much better placed than any other organisation to help themselves as well as the state in implementing some non - government methods of subsidising public school education so that its reach is widened, its benefits shared by more Indians. There is an urgent need for more good and first rate residential as well as day schools. Simultaneously, all efforts should be made to guard against "degenerating trends like commercialisation of education and schooling for profiteering." (Ramnath Sharma, 2002)'^ 2.1 Public School and the contemporary Secondary Education System in the Country The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an apex resource organisation set up by the Government of India, with headquarters at New Delhi, to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on academic matters related to school education. One of its constituents, The National Institute of Education (NIE) in New Delhi through its various Departments carries out research and development functions related to pedagogical aspects of curriculum; prepares prototype curricular and other supplementary instructional material; develops school education-related database and undertakes experiments in pre school, elementary and secondary stages to nurture all- round development of the learner. It may also be recalled that Secondary Education Commission (1952) recommended a national system of education covering 11 years of education and the Kothari CommissionClPee)'" 10+2 pattern. The states have accepted 10+2 pattern but still the system is not imiform across the coimtry. State financing of primary education, though still inadequate, continued to grow. Financing of secondary and higher education has, however, shown a declining trend fi-omth e Sixth Five Year Plan. 50