School as a Specialised Agency of Education according to the Secondary Education Commission, “The secondary school must make itself responsible for equipping its students adequately with civic as well as vocational efficiency and the qualities of character that go wide it -so that they may be able to play thier part worthily and competently in the improvement of national life. They should no longer emerge as helpless, shiftless individuals who do not know what to do themselves.
“The school is one of the most important formal agencies of education. It plays a major role in moulding the ideas, habits and attitudes of the children with a view to producing well balanced personalities culturally sound, emotionally stable, mentally alert, morally upright, physically strong socially efficient, vocationally self-sufficient and internationally liberal.
Informal agencies of education such as the church and the home fail to satisfy the increasing educational requirements of a complex society and thus are losing their hold on the people. The school is a social institution set up by the society to serve its ends. It is a place where men of tomorrow are trained and disciplined in certain forms of activities.
Regarding the management of the present day school, Dr. Zakir Hussain said, “All our educational institutions will be communities of work. At these educational institutions the pupils will have facilities to experiment, to discover, to work, to live, where work will fashion character and living will shape lives and like healthy work and like all good life they will form into homes of cooperative communities engaged in elevating cooperation, initiative and accepting responsibility, through an inner urge for self-discipline, self- realisation and mutual helpfulness. “
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Organisation of the Traditional School: H.G. Wells has said, “If you want to feel the generation rushing to waste like rapids – you should put your heart and mind into a private school.” This remark was meant for some of the private schools of England of the past and is certainly not applicable to the present day school of that country but is a absolutely true of the large majority of our school whether public or private.
A traditional school was considered to be a place where knowledge was manufactured and this used to be bookish, mechanical and stereotyped. Education being uniform: no importance was attached to the individual needs of children. Rote memory and memorization played die dominant role. Children were regarded just like dump-driven cattle. Examination dominated the entire system of education. Rod was the chief weapon to educate the educand.
‘The fear atmosphere’ prevailed in the school. The teacher was called a policeman and drill sergeant. Co-curricular activities were unknown. No attempts were made to enlist the co-operation of the parents.
The Management of the Present-day Schools:
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The functions of the present-day schools have undergone a great transformation in India since the advent of independence. Ours is a country wedded to the ideals of democracy. Democracy imposes many responsibilities on the citizens of a country.
It is based upon love, cooperation, tolerance, open-mindedness, truthfulness and fellow-feelings. If democracy is to survive, education must develop certain qualities needed for its survival. It must enable an individual to take part effectively and freely in the affairs of the group to which he belongs. Education is essentially a social affair. According to Dr. Radhakrishnan, “all education is social.” Education is the transmission of technical skill and cultural traditions from one generation to another.
The concept of a well-managed present-day school has been very beautifully summed up by S. Bala Krishna Joshi, “A school is not a mere brick and mortar structure housing a miscellany of pupils and teachers; a school is not a market place where a heterogeneous crowd gathers with divers objects; a school is not a rigorous reformatory where juvenile suspects are kept under vigilant watch, a school is a spiritual organism with distinctive personality of its own; a school is a vibrant community centre, radiating life and energy all round; a school is a wonderful edifice, resting on the foundation of goodwill – goodwill of the public, good – will of the parents; goodwill of the pupils. In a word, a well conducted school is a happy home, a sacred shrine, a social centre, a state in miniature and bewitching Brindavan, all beautifully blended into a synthetic structure. “