What is the full form of CABE ?

Introduction

The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was first constituted in 1920 and abolished in 1923. It is the oldest and most significant advisory body of the Government of India for education. It was brought back to life in 1935.

A national priority that strengthens the people, family, community, and country is education. States in India have been doing good work in improving school education experience. Most of the states have adopted digital learning and inclusive education.

Since the inception of CABE, many positive improvements and changes have taken place in school education in the country. Hence, in this article we will discuss the origin of CABE and its role in improving India’s education system.

Origin of the Board

The Calcutta University Commission (1917–19), which believed that the Government of India could undertake an extremely valuable role by specifying the general goals of educational policy, by offering guidance and support to local governments and to the creation of educational ideas in the various districts, as well as elsewhere other than in India. With this idea they were the first to propose the idea of a Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE).

The Government of India Act, 1919, made the decision to make education primarily a provincial and regional matter while limiting the amount of "control" the Central Government had over it. This made the Government of India an advisory body and recommended it provide advice, insight and research to improve education. Hence, an advisory board was created in 1920 with the name Central Advisory Board of Education. The Education Commissioner of Government of India was made the chairman of the board. Unfortunately due to economic difficulties the board was abolished in 1923.

Revival and Reconstitution of the Board

There was no central authority to advise the Indian government on educational issues for the following twelve years. Nonetheless, regret over the Board's demise started to spread, especially following the Hartog Committee Report (1928), which noted that the separation between the Government of India and education had been unfortunate. As a result, the Central Advisory Board of Education as we know it today was revived in 1935.

Role of CABE in education

CABE has been provided the responsibility of overall educational improvement and engagement of students. Some of the important roles and responsibilities of CABE includes −

• To periodically assess educational achievement.

• To evaluate the degree and style of the Central and State Governments' and other relevant agencies' implementation of the education policy and to provide pertinent advice in the area.

• To provide guidance on how to coordinate efforts between the UT Administration, State Governments, and non-governmental organisations to advance education in compliance with the education policy.

• To provide advice on its own initiative or in response to a request made by the Central Government, any State Government, the Union Territory Administration, or any individual student.

In 2018, the 65th meeting of CABE was conducted and chaired by Shri Prakash Javedkar, Minister of the Union Human Resource Development. The meeting considered various agendas including the concerns raised by the State governments. Some of the resolutions adopted in the meeting include −

• In five years from 2018, ‘Operation Digital Board’ will be launched in every school with the help of CSR, Central government, State governments and the communities.

• This initiative will improve the quality of school education, by providing students with vast information and making learning interesting.

• This will also improve accountability of teachers.

• The meeting outlined that the quality, equity will be maintained. Education will be made accessible and affordable through strategic plans.

• CABE would work towards promoting ‘Swachh Bharat’, ‘Padhe Bharat’, ‘Sugamya Bharat’, ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' and physical education.

• It also promised to promote life skills among students, human values and experiential learning in order to create better human beings through educational systems.

Conclusion

Opening residential schools, creating girls schools, implementing smart classrooms, strengthening the Mid Day Meal Program, using CSR funds, incorporating aptitude tests with Class X results, implementing the Adolescent Health Program, training teachers to prevent sexual assaults on children and ensure safety, educating students in soft skills, and creating the teacher training portal Guru Chetna are a few examples of the initiatives taken by states to improve their education system. By the advice of CABE, more such initiatives will be taken up.

FAQs

Q1. Write in brief about Calcutta University.

Ans. Calcutta University is a public university located in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was established on January 24, 1857. It is one of the top state research institutes in the country with specialisation in multiple subjects.

Q2. What is ‘Padhe Bharat’?

Ans. ‘Padhe Bharat’ is a campaign launched by Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister on 1st January 2022. This is a reading campaign for 100 days. It encourages childrens and students to read for a joyful learning experience. Through the campaign, students were asked to read literature on Indian languages.

Q3. What is the Hartog Committee?

Ans. In 1927, the Hartog Committee was formed by the British Government under the chairmanship of Sir Philiip Hartog to make a report on the existing system of education in India. In 1929, Hartog Committee submitted its report with certain suggestions regarding the improvement of education in India.