EDUCATION AND CULTURE

SECONDARY EDUCATION

Like primary education the growth of secondary education since 1947-48 was also quite significant. The growth in the number of pupils was comparatively less in secondary stage than that in primary stage. While the number of pupils in primary stage had increased four times, the increase in secondary stage was about two times only during the years from 1947-48 to 1958-59. The reason may be sought in the fact that at the primary stage, education is compulsory while at the secondary stage it is not so.

The following statement gives the percentage of students in secondary stage to those in primary stage since 1947-48 for a few years:—

Table No. 10 shows the number of students in secondary schools in the district for the years 1951, 1956 and 1961.

The total number of students on roll in the secondary schools in 1965-66 was 42,600. In the year 1970-71 this number stood at 61,031.

The following statement shows the taluka-wise increase in the number of pupils in secondary schools for the years 1962-63 and 1963-64:—

TABLE No. 10—TALUKA-WISE NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE AHMADNAGAR DISTRICT IN 1951, 1956 AND 1961

The above statement shows an increase of 16 and 17 per 100 in the number of boys and girls, respectively during 1962-63 and an increase of 33 and 35 per 100 during the two-year period from 1961-62 to 1963-64. As against the 33 per cent increase in the total number of pupils in secondary schools during 1961-62 to 1963-64, the corresponding increase in the Maharashtra State as a whole was 24 per cent. This shows that the growth of secondary education in Ahmadnagar district was at a faster pace than that for the whole State. Among various talukas, Rahuri taluka was found to have registered maximum increase in the number of pupils during the two years 1962-1964. The percentage increase was to the tune of 119. Increase in Nevasa (72 per cent) and Akola (58 per cent) talukas was also promising. Ahmadnagar taluka which had witnessed maximum increase in the number of primary school pupils had registered a meagre increase of 14 per cent in its number of secondary pupils. Considering the girls/boys ratio among the secondary pupils there were 24 and 25 girls per 100 boys during the years 1961-62 and 1963-64, respectively. The ratio among the pupils in primary schools during 1963-64 was 55 and this ratio among pupils in secondary schools during the same year, showed a very wide variation in the composition of pupils at primary and secondary stages.

The following statement gives the number of pupils learning in different media in secondary schools:—

Government have introduced various schemes to promote education by giving facilities for economically backward class population. All students whose parents' annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 1,200 are eligible for free education. In 1970 the income-limit was raised to Rs. 1,800.

The following statement shows the number of economically backward class beneficiaries:—

The students from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes or other back-ward class students whose parents' annual income does not exceed Rs. 1,800 get free education. In 1966-67 the total enrolment of backward class students was 29,894 including 4,308 girls. Among them 3,025 belonged to scheduled castes, 666 to scheduled tribes and 26,203 to other backward classes. The income-limit has now been raised to Rs. 2,400. In the year 1970-71 there were enrolled 3,885 scheduled caste students including 553 girl-students.

In the year 1951, the number of teachers in secondary schools was 323 as against 422 in 1956. The same rose to 869 in 1961. The highest number of teachers was 349 in Ahmadnagar taluka as against the lowest number of teachers which was 18 in Jamkhed taluka in the year 1961. In March 1962 the total number of teachers was 1,067. out of whom 764 or 71.6 per cent were trained. The proportion of trained secondary teachers in the district stood at 71.6 per cent in 1961-62 and at 74.5 per cent in 1963-64. During the same period, the corresponding proportion for the whole State stood at 63.00 per cent and 68.4 per cent, respectively. These figures show that Ahmadnagar district was better placed in this respect as compared to the State as a whole. In the year 1966-67 the number of secondary school teachers was 1,822, out of whom 1,424 were trained and 398 untrained. The male teachers numbered 1,490 and female teachers 332; out of them 1,142 and 282, respectively were trained. In 1970-71 the number of teachers was 2,439, of which 407 were female-teachers. Of 2,439 total teachers in the secondary schools, 1,943 were trained hands including 364 female-teachers.

Like primary education, there is appreciable growth of secondary education in this district. The oldest secondary school in this district is the American Mission High School, Ahmadnagar. It started functioning from 1833. All the educated and renowned persons in Ahmadnagar district, who made their name in social and educational field in the last generation, were the students of this high school. The Christian Missions have done a very good work in the spread of secondary education in the district. The Ahmadnagar Education Society followed in the foot-steps of the Christian Missions and started indigenous schools in Ahmadnagar city and Sangamner town, respectively. Government started one girls' high school in Ahmadnagar in 1920, for the spread of girls' education in the district. Up to 1955-56, there were only three full-fledged secondary schools for girls in the district. At other places and even in city girls were admitted to boys' high schools. There were only 26 secondary schools in 1947-48 in the district. The number increased to 54 in 1958-59.

The growth in the secondary education in regard to the number of institutions and pupils from 1947-48 to 1958-59 is shown below:

The number of institutions per lakh of population for secondary education in the district as compared to that for Pune division and for the State of Maharashtra is given below:—

The number of schools and their classification in the district as on 31st March 1962 was as follows:—

Other indices of secondary education in the district as compared to the State averages were as follows:—

The progress made in secondary education after 1961-62 was also quite striking. The number of schools which stood al 112 in 1961-62. went upto 147 in the year 1965-66. In the year 1970-71 there were 218 secondary institutions in the district.

For improvement of the secondary education in the country, the Government of India had appointed a commission under the chairmanship of Shri A. L. Mudliar, Vice-Chancellor of Madras University. The Commission recommended the introduction of different crafts in the syllabus of secondary schools to improve the standard of students receiving instructions in them. The ordinary secondary schools were converted into multi-purpose high schools in many parts of country. In western Maharashtra, the change was not appreciated so much and hence very few secondary schools adopted the syllabus for multi purpose high schools. Ahmadnagar district was not an exception to this general move.

Secondary School Certificate Examination Board. Pune conducts public examinations at the end of the Secondary School Course. Two examinations are held every year in March and October and Ahmadnagar, Kopargaon, Sangamner, Shrirampur and Karjat are the examination centres in the district. The number of candidates who appeared and passed from those centres during the year 1962 is as follows:—

TOP