Equality and Equity in Education as Suggested by Kothari Commission

Kothari Commission suggests that for equality and equity in education the following measures may be adopted :

No Tuition Fee

The country should work towards a stage when education should be tuition free. Tuition fees at the primary and lower secondary stage should be abolished. At the higher secondary and university stage tuition free education should be extended to all needy and deserving students.

Reducing Private Costs

Free text-books and writing materials should be provided at the primary stage. Book banks should be established in secondary schools and institutions of higher education. The libraries of secondary schools and institutions of higher education should contain an adequate number of sets of text-books so that the students can have an easy access to them. Grants for purchase of books should be given to talented students in educational institutions i.e., the universities, affiliated colleges and secondary schools.

Scholarships

There should be liberal schemes for scholarships at the primary, secondary and university stages. At the level of higher education the Government of India should assume the bulk of such responsibility. At the school stage this responsibility should vest in the State Government. The scheme of National Scholarships, University Scholarships, Scholarships in Vocational Education, Scholarships for Study Abroad and Loan Scholarships should be expanded.

Other Forms of Student Aid

Transport facilities should be provided imaginatively to reduce the cost on hostels and scholarships. Day study centers and lodging houses should be provided on a liberal scale. Facilities for students to earn and pay a part of their educational expenses should be developed. In all programmes of scholarships, preferential consideration should be given to the needs of girls.

Handicapped Children

There should be at least one institution for the education of the handicapped children in each district. There must be adequate Teachers Training programmes for the education of handicapped children.

Regional Imbalances

Regional imbalances should be reduced to the minimum. Wider programmes for reducing the imbalances in the socio-economic development of the different states and districts in the country should go side by side.

Education of Women

The education of women should be regarded as a major programme in education for some years to come and bold and determined efforts should be made to face these difficulties involved and to bridge the existing gap between the education of men and women in as short a time as possible.

Education of Backward Classes

The existing programme for the education of the scheduled caste should continue and be expanded. Greater efforts are needed to provide educational facilities for the nomadic and semi-nomadic groups. Hostels should be provided for the children of denotified communities.

Education of the Tribal People

The education of the tribal people deserves great emphasis and attention. at the primary stage provision of facilities will have to be improved and Asharam Schools will have to be established in sparsely populated areas. The medium of instruction for the first two years should be tribal language and then the regional language. At the secondary stage, provision of schools, hostel facilities and scholarships have to be greatly expanded. In higher education, the administration of the scholarships programme will have to be decentralised and made more efficient provision for special tuition will have to be made both at the secondary and university stages. It is essential to develop cadres of persons who will wrote themselves to the service of the tribal people.