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Primary and Secondary Education in my Father’s time
By Sunita Rajiv Chikhalikar
My father lived in a village in India. During that time, education up
to post graduation level was a FOUR+SEVEN+FOUR+TWO pattern.
That means:
A child was admitted to school at the age of five. His /her education
pattern was as follows:
4 years - Primary school education
7 years - Secondary school education
4 years - Graduation
2 years - Post graduation
=A total of 17 years
Primary Education: Almost all villages had schools which
rendered primary education. Unlike the modern procedure, there was no
entrance examination for the admission.
All students gained admission to schools within a maximum distance of
three kilometers. In fact, sometimes teachers used to go door – to
-door and persuade parents to send their children to school. Mode of
transport was by walking or on bicycles.
The students did not have a uniform code.
Many a times, the teachers used to conduct lectures of three classes
simultaneously. For example, one class would be asked to do silent
rapid reading of one lesson; the second class would be told to do
copy-writing of one lesson, while the third class would be given a
dictation test.
Though class tests were conducted regularly, there was no ‘failure’
system. All the students would be promoted to the fifth standard.
Secondary Education: Schools rendering secondary education were
located at a few towns and again, there would be no admission problems.
All students seeking admission to secondary schools would be granted
the same, in schools within a vicinity of ten to twelve kilometers.
Again, mode of transport was walking or on bicycles and there was no
uniform code.
In villages, after the fourth standard, many schools used to conduct
Board examinations in the seventh standard. More than fifty percent of
the students would drop out of school after the seventh standard, as
therefore, further education meant traveling to big cities which posed
problems due to difficulty in commutation, monetary matters and family
problems. In some schools, English was taught in the fifth standard
while in others, it was taught in the eighth standard.
Dedicated teachers took special care of meritorious students. These
teachers occasionally spent money from their own pockets to provide
books for needy students. Additional coaching was also provided free of
charge to bright, illustrious children whose parents’ financial status
was below average.
In those days, ‘Maadhukari’ (a Marathi term) was a socially accepted
tradition. As per this tradition, a family used to decide on taking up
the responsibility of feeding a poor student a meal per day for a
specific period of time; say one month. Accordingly, the family would
convey the type of meal: lunch or dinner to the student and he would
arrive each day at their home at the specified time.
Secondary school education culminated in the SSC Board examination in
the eleventh standard, unlike the present tenth standard. The three
languages taught were: Mother tongue, English and either Sanskrit or
Ardhamagadhi (a Pali language). The other subjects were: Algebra,
Geometry, Geography, History and Science.
In the olden days, the examination centers were restricted to schools
and places at district levels. Later, extending the centers to other
towns was being implemented. My dad recollects that till 1953, Belgaum
and Kolhapur were the centers for these exams. In 1954, Nipani, the
village where he stayed was made an additional venue. There was a lot
of excitement amongst the people of the village and celebrations began
in full swing. A Shamiana was erected for the purpose. The entire area
surrounding the test centre was sprinkled with water by the Fire
Brigade. A musical band was specially invited to play music. Students
from other villages were welcomed and accommodation was made for their
stay of four days. With the students appearing for two examinations per
day, they were provided free meals.
Thus concluded the secondary education of the students of Nipani and
neighboring villages in 1954 amidst an exciting ceremony.
Go
to Rewind the Fifties Home |
This is the
photograph of my father when he was due to start primary education
This is the
photograph of my father with his younger sister when he was pursuing
his secondary education
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