Ali Akbar Kazimi
| Ali Akbar Kazimi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 December 1897 British India |
| 💀Died | 3 October 1959 (aged 61) Patna, Bihar, India3 October 1959 (aged 61) |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
| 💼 Occupation | Educationist, education administrator |
| Known for | Chairman of the Kazimi Committee (1950); first Director of Education of Jammu and Kashmir; author of An Inquiry into Indian Education in East Africa (1948) |
Ali Akbar Kazimi (21 December 1897 – 3 October 1959) was an Indian educationist and senior education administrator. He served as the first Director of Education of Jammu and Kashmir under Sheikh Abdullah, where he chaired the 1950 Education Reorganisation Committee (the "Kazimi Committee") which laid the foundation of the state's post-independence education system. He was also the first Indian Dean of the Faculty of Education at Patna University, the Director of Education of Bihar in the early 1950s, and the author of An Inquiry into Indian Education in East Africa (Nairobi, 1948), a colonial government report on the educational condition of the Indian diaspora in Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar.[1][2][3]
His name is variously transliterated in academic sources as Kazmi, Kazmini, and Kazemi; the form Kazimi is that used on his 1948 published report and in the Library of Congress and OCLC authority records.[1]
Early life and education
Kazimi was born on 21 December 1897. He matriculated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he read for two triposes, taking a Second in Part I of the Geography Tripos in 1922 and a Third in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos in 1923. He was awarded the BA on 19 June 1923 and proceeded MA on 17 October 1930.[4]
Career
Kazimi was appointed to the Bihar Education Department on 6 July 1925. On 23 February 1929 he was posted as Inspector of Schools, Chota Nagpur Division, at Ranchi. On 14 April 1935 he was appointed to the Bihar Educational Service and subsequently served as Inspector of Schools for the Bhagalpur Division.
In April 1947, Kazimi was seconded by the Government of Kenya to undertake an inquiry into Indian education across British East Africa, covering Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar. The manuscript report, 153 pages long, was submitted through the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India (OVERSEAS-I branch) in 1947 and is held at the National Archives of India as file 24-15/47 O.S.I.[2]
The condensed report was published in 1948 by the Government Printer in Nairobi as An Inquiry into Indian Education in East Africa (111 pp.), with the imprint "Colony and Protectorate of Kenya" and the subtitle "Report made for the Director of Education of Kenya." Copies are held at the New York Public Library and at the Library of the Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization.[1][3]
The report appeared in the same year as the Beecher Report on African education in Kenya and represents the only inquiry of the period conducted by a seconded Indian education officer into the educational condition of the South Asian diaspora communities in British East Africa.
On 15 July 1947 Kazimi was appointed Principal of the Teachers' Training College and Dean of the Faculty of Education at Patna University, becoming the first Indian to hold the deanship.
Around 1949 Kazimi was sought out by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and appointed the first Director of Education of the state.[5]
In his capacity as Director of Education, Kazimi was appointed chairman of an eleven-member Education Reorganisation Committee. The Committee began its work on 18 August 1950 with an inaugural address by the Prime Minister and submitted its report on 4 December 1950. The Committee's recommendations included free education at all stages, the appointment of female teachers at the kindergarten stage, a seven-year primary stage starting at age five-plus in urban areas and six-plus in rural areas, and the integration of craft and handwork into the primary curriculum.[6][7]
Institutional outcomes attributed to the Committee's recommendations include the establishment of two women's colleges (one each in Jammu and Srinagar), intermediate colleges at Sopore and Anantnag, and the constitution of a Textbook Advisory Board.[5] Free education at all stages was subsequently incorporated as a basic right in the constitution of the state.[6]
The Kazimi Committee is recognised in historiographical surveys of Jammu and Kashmir education as the foundational committee for the state's post-independence education system, succeeding the Sharp Commission of 1916 and the Saiyidain Committee of 1938.[5][7]
By 1952 Kazimi had returned to Bihar as the state's Director of Education. In that capacity he was named on the Bihar co-opted member list of the Secondary Education Commission (the Mudaliar Commission), which was inaugurated by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in New Delhi on 6 October 1952 under the chairmanship of A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar of the University of Madras. The Commission's report, submitted on 29 August 1953, was the basis for the reorganisation of Indian secondary education from 1956.[8]
Publications
- Kazimi, Ali Akbar (1948). An Inquiry into Indian Education in East Africa. Nairobi: Printed by the Government Printer. p. 111. LCCN 48024225. OCLC 3988210. Search this book on
Death
Kazimi died in Patna on 3 October 1959, aged 61.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kazimi, Ali Akbar (1948). An Inquiry into Indian Education in East Africa. Nairobi: Printed by the Government Printer. p. 111. LCCN 48024225. OCLC 3988210. New York Public Library call no. SB p.v. 831. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Report by Mr. A.A. Kazimi of Bihar Education Service, on Indian Education in East Africa and Zanzibar, submitted to the Govt. of Kenya". National Archives of India. File No. 24-15/47 O.S.I., Ministry of External Affairs, OVERSEAS-I branch; Bundle Barcode NAIDLB00031984. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "An Inquiry into Indian Education in East Africa". CiNii Books, Library of the Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization. Call no. FE||37||I111341237. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
- ↑ Trinity Hall, Cambridge, college records.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Governing Higher Education in Jammu and Kashmir". Indian Institute of Public Administration, GyanKOSH series. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Development of Higher Education in Jammu and Kashmir: A Critical Review". Acta Scientiae. 7 (2). September 2024.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "From White Elephants to Centers of Learning: The Need for Higher Education Reform in Kashmir". Jammu and Kashmir Policy Institute. 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
- ↑ Government of India, Ministry of Education (1953). Report of the Secondary Education Commission, October 1952 – June 1953. Delhi: Controller of Publications. Internet Archive identifier dli.ministry.21515. List of co-opted members: "Shri A. A. Kazmi, Director of Education" (Bihar). Search this book on
External links
- Library of Congress catalog record, LCCN 48024225
- WorldCat record, OCLC 3988210
- National Archives of India, Abhilekh Patal portal — File 24-15/47 O.S.I.
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