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PART II FORMULATING THE SYLLABUS The Beginning Starting with the idea that we should have a multi-skilled course that would train students and give services at the same time, we began with a large number of short courses in the technical field as also arts subjects. But it was impossible to get teachers for any of them. We therefore had to give up that idea and then decided to have a common set that would be useful everywhere in India. | depended on my own needs in the village to decide the topics to include in the syllabus. The list included Water Resource Development, Construction, Workshop Technology, Energy and Environment, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Home and Health and finally Engineering Drawing. These topics were of immediate relevance to us in Pabal and I thought they should be relevant everywhere. Even though these topics would be common for all, there was a need for flexibility, to suit local needs. The project system solved this problem. The projects to be selected in the final year could be anything related to the above topics and that would be a good exercise of total planning and review. Also, even in the practical of the earlier stages, we did not aim at graded exercises but included some useful articles to be made. This change made the objectives clear to the students and also produced articles that could be tested in use and perhaps save money for the school. Thus, the syllabus was drawn up, based on the perceived needs of the rural community and services that could result from them. The < Rural Development Through Education System 43 --- --
