Kothari Commission (1964-66)

सन् 1964 में भारत की केन्द्रीय सरकार ने डॉ दौलतसिंह कोठारी की अध्यक्षता में स्कूली शिक्षा प्रणाली को नया आकार व नयी दिशा देने के उद्देश्य से एक आयोग का गठन किया। इसे कोठारी आयोग के नाम से जाना जाता है। डॉ कोठारी उस समय विश्वविद्यालय अनुदान आयोग के अध्यक्ष थे। आयोग ने स्कूली शिक्षा की गहन समीक्षा प्रस्तुत की जो भारत के शिक्षा के इतिहास में आज भी सर्वाधिक गहन अध्ययन माना जाता है। कोठारी आयोग (1964-66) या राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा आयोग, भारत का ऐसा पहला शिक्षा आयोग था जिसने अपनी रिपार्ट में सामाजिक बदलावों को ध्यान में रखते हुए कुछ ठोस सुझाव दिए।
The Kothari Commission was the National Education Commission which was appointed post-independence by the Government of India. The Kothari Commission was headed by Daulat Singh Kothari.

• The Kothari Commission was formed on 14 July 1964, by the Government of India and it was an ad-hoc commission i.e. a temporary commission that was formed to perform a specific task.
• Professor Daulat Singh Kothari, who was the then chairman of the University Grants Commission, was appointed as the Chairperson of this educational commission. Along with him,the core group of the committee consisted of 17 members in total.

 Task
• The Commission consisted of 12 task forces-:
1. School Education,
2. Higher Education,
3. Technical Education,
4. Agricultural Education,
5. Adult Education,
6. Science Education and Research,
7. Teacher Training and Teacher Status,
8. Student Welfare,
9. New Techniques and Methods,
10. Manpower,
11. Educational Administration and,
12. Educational Finance.
Need of Kothari Commission
• The Kothari Commission was felt to be necessary after some flaws in the nation’s current educational
system, such as -:
• The idea of national reconstruction is not mentioned in the educational system.
• The education system does not give adequate importance to agriculture.
• The development of students’ moral and spiritual values was not prioritized in the educational system.
• The academics part was emphasized too much.
• The education system does not focus on the formation of character.
Objectives
Towards the end of the third five-year plan, the educational commission called Kothari Commission was appointed with the following objectives-:
• To review the educational system comprehensively with a view to initiating a fresh and more determined effort at educational reconstruction.
• To formulate an educational pattern and policies, which would develop the education at all aspects and at all stages and recommend the same to the Government of India.
Major Recommendations
Some of the key recommendations made by the Kothari Commission are discussed below-:
1. In order to increase the enrollment percentage, it recommended free and compulsory education for the children of the age group 6 to 14 years.
2. A new pattern of the educational structure was recommended by the Kothari Commission which was commonly known as 10+2+3. According to it, the structure of education in the country should be as follows,
o Pre-school stage: Here education should be of 1 to 3 years.
o Primary education stage: The 7 to 8 years of primary education are to be divided into 4 or 5 years of lower primary stage and 3 or 2 years of the higher primary stage.
o Lower secondary education stage: 3 or 2 years of general education or 1 to 3 years of vocational education.
o Higher secondary education stage: 2 years of general education or 1 to 3 years of vocational education.
o Higher education stage: 3 years or more for the first-degree course followed by courses of varying durations for the second or research degrees.