In this essay we will discuss about the growth of education in India:- 1. The Indigenous System 2. Elementary Schools 3. Education in Britain 4. Policy of East India Company 5. Missions and English Language 6. Controversy Over Medium of Instructions 7. Downward Filtration Theory 8. English and Government Jobs 9. Vocational Education and English 10. Private Enterprise and English and Other Details.
Essay Contents:
- The Indigenous System
- Elementary Schools
- Education in Britain
- Policy of East India Company
- Missions and English Language
- Controversy Over Medium of Instructions
- Downward Filtration Theory
- English and Government Jobs
- Vocational Education and English
- Private Enterprise and English
- Contributions of Missionaries
- Contributions of Non-Missionary British Officials
- Contribution of the Indians
- Aims of Wood’s Despatch
- Organisation of the Education Department
- Establishment of Universities
- The Hunter Commission
- Education under Lord Curzon
- The Sadler Commission
- The Wardha Scheme of Education
- Sargeant Scheme of Education
- Education in Free India
- The University Grants Commission
1. The Indigenous System:
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were two types of educations— education for learning and elementary education. The schools of learning i.e., Pathshalas and Madarsahs were run on religious basis by the Hindus and the Muslims respectively. These schools were assisted by the rulers, chieftains and religious citizens.
Learned and reputed teachers taught in these schools at a very low remuneration. Dakshinas were the normal practice of payment of fees by the pupils: and the teachers were remunerated by grants of lands made by the respective rulers, Dakshinas by pupils and people, alms by rich, and payment in the form of food, clothes and other articles.
The pupils were also provided food and lodging in these Pathshala and Madarsahs. These Schools, with few exceptions, were run in temples, mosques or in the houses of some local magnates or patrons or the teachers. The State did not interfere in these schools and the learning was imparted more for religious than for pecuniary considerations. These were the features of both the schools.
Education in Pathshalas, in almost all the cases, was, however, imparted by the Brahmins only to the Brahmin pupils. It was, and remained so, one of the basic force in, what M.N. Srinivas has described, sanskritizing the Indian society. Sanskrit was the medium of this type of religious instructions.
The Madarsahs, where the education was imparted in Persian and Arabic, were thought to be the preserve of the Muslim teachers, but appointment of a Hindu teacher knowing Persian was not a taboo. Besides, Hindu pupil also attended the Madarsahs to learn Persian generally to get government service. In short, on the eve of the establishment of British rule in India, the education was imparted in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic languages.
2. Elementary Schools:
The elementary schools consisted of Persian schools and schools of modern Indian languages. These schools corresponded with the modern colleges. Then, these schools were doing yeoman service to the cause of mass education. They imparted mass education to man the staff requirement of petty jamindars, the bania, the wealthy farmers and others.
These schools did not receive any State assistance. Therefore, the teachers were not paid better than the teachers of the schools of learning. Rather these teachers were either the tutors or the counterparts of the teachers of the teaching shops of modern times.
These schools also had girl students. They had no building. The house of the patron or the house of the teacher himself or the space under a tree was the school building. The teachers did not use any printed material. Locally produced slates and pencils were the equipment.
There was no time bound session or periods and no limit to numerical strength. The teaching consisted of reading, writing, arithmetic and accounts. “A pupil joined the school at any time, became a class by himself, followed his own pace of study and left the school when he had acquired all that he desired to know or the school had to teach. In bigger schools there was in vague a system under which the senior pupils were appointed to teach junior ones.”
A network of this kind of “centres of domestic instruction” was existing throughout the country and it continued unabated even after independence. Since the pupils came there to learn for getting a job, these schools, therefore, taught the languages needed by the employers.
When the British establishments provided opportunity for employment, these schools were the first to teach English enabling their students to get a job with them. It became necessary after the British Company Government started liquidating the native rulers and the avenues of employment with them were closed.
But the English education could not be imparted at a large scale. As the British Administration expanded, the industrial activities declined, and the economic activities were monopolized by the British, the elementary education was the first to bear the brunt of decadence.
This decadence was due to, as Adam Report tell us, “inability to pay for school instruction” and because the teaching shops ‘ found something mere profitable to do elsewhere.” He death-knell of the elementary education was finally rung by the policy of Cornwallis who deprived the Indians of any entry into Slate Administration. With no future of their education, the elementary schools could not attract the students.
Campbell, the Collector of Bellary, has summed up the position in his report thus:
“I am sorry to state that this is ascribable to the gradual, but general, impoverishment of the country. The means of manufacturing classes have been of late years greatly diminished by the introduction of our own European manufactures in lieu of the Indian cotton fabrics.
The removal of many of our troops from our own territories to the distant frontiers of our newly subsidized allies has also, of late years, affected the demand for grain, the transfer of capital of the country from the native governments and their officers who liberally expanded it in India, to Europeans who restricted by law from employing it even temporarily in India and daily draining it from the land, has likewise tended to this effect, which has not been alleviated by a less rigid enforcement of the revenue due to the State.
The greater part of the middling and lower classes of the people are now unable to defray the expenses incident upon the education of their offspring’s especially when there was no demand of their education by the State (Emphasis added)â€.
3. Education in Britain:
The decline of education in India was ‘ not altogether due to British economic policy. It was also due to the approach of the British. In Britain, the Government did not interfere in education. It was the preserve of the Church. (It may be noted here that though the Church was declared independent of the Pope, but it was simply replacement of the head. Thereafter the King of Britain became the Head of the Church. In other matters, the Church continued its functions).
Like the tutorial system practiced in India, the rich got their children’s educated by employing a tutor and later sent them to schools run by the Church. The middle class parents generally sent their wards to dame schools which can be identified with the modern nursery shops in the urban centres; or in private schools which were no better than the elementary schools of India. Rather, this kind of institutions were borrowed from India.
It was Dr. Bell, the Presidency Chaplain at Madras, who introduced Indian elementary schools’ network in England. It was cheap and efficient method of educating the poor. England could supply the required administrative staff of the East India Company through this system.
It was called the Monitorial or Madras system in England. Besides, the Church, supported by the Liberals, imparted the religious instructions to the children of the industrial workers to make them “an honest, upright, grateful (and) industrious” in the Industrial Schools or Sunday Schools associated with the parishes.
Their curriculum mostly consisted of spinning, winding, knitting, plaiting, sewing, gardening, cobbling etc. Michel Sadler reported that “several schools possessed no books whatsoever save the Bible and the extracts from the Bible.”
Macaulay described the teachers also “the refuse of all other callings, discarded footmen, ruined paddlers men who cannot work a sum in the rule of three, men who do not know whether the earth is a sphere or a cube, men who do not know whether Jerusalem is in Asia or America” and deplored that to these men whom “none would entrust the key of his cellar…the mind of rising generation, the freedom, the happiness, the glory of the country were entrusted.” It shows the indifference of the British Government towards education in their own country. India could not hope for a better deal for her education.
4. Policy of East India Company:
Before assuming political power, the East India Company had made some arrangement for the education in the factories. But these steps were more for the conversion of Indians -mostly in their employment -to Christianity and for this reason they had established some charity schools run by subscriptions and donations rather than by the grants.
But the pupils got the opportunity to get the knowledge of English language. The knowledge of English language created a better prospects for them after the Company assumed political power and it obviously recruited these people in their administrative machinery.
The policy of the Company, however, underwent a change after it assumed political authority. The Company Administration was very cautious not to interfere in the socio-religious affairs of the Indians. Since education was the foundation of the socio-religious institutions in India, interference in the educational spheres was considered to be a taboo for the Administration.
At the same time the Company subscribed to the view that it should shoulder the responsibility of Hindu and Muslim rulers who extended State assistance to classical learning in Sanskrit and Arabic on traditional lines. It was politically desirable to conciliate the influential people by continuing welfare projects. At the same time the Company needed the assistance of people knowing the Hindu and Muslim jurisprudence to assist the European Judges appointed by the Company.
They could hope assistance from them only if the State assisted in continuing the indigenous education. Therefore, the Company Administration not only allowed the continuance of Pathshalas and Madarsahs with their earlier syllabus and medium of instruction, but also provided material assistance to them.
The founder of Banaras Sanskrit College in 1791, Jonathan Duncan, the then Resident of Benares, for example, himself explained:
“Two important advantages seemed derivable from such an establishment, the first to the British name and nation in its tendency towards endearing our Government to the Native Hindus; by our exceeding in our attention towards them and their systems, the care shown even by their own princes… The second principal advantage that may be derived from this institution will be felt in its effect upon the natives…by preserving and disseminating knowledge of the Hindu law, and proving a nursery of future doctors and expounders thereof, to assist European judges in the due, regular, and uniform administration of its genuine letter and spirit to the body.”
In this way the Oriental education was extended full protection. This political expediency was not conducive to the growth of English education. After Cornwallis closed the doors of administration, the Indians, especially with meager means, had no inducement to go for English education.
5. Missions and English Language:
The only institution which continued teaching English language was the Church. The Company Administration in India, were, however, very susceptible of the missionary education. They feared, first reappraisal from the religious leaders against the missionary activities, and, secondly, they were afraid of the converted Indians.
An equal treatment to them would have been costly to the political interests in Britain. Therefore, the Company was not only against missionary education but also worked against them. Instead, they extended the assistance to the Oriental education which was imparted in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and other vernacular languages and was the basis of religion in India as well. The missionaries were very critical of the policy.
They had already started a trade against the Company Government for extending assistance to the Oriental education and working against the missionary activities who were dedicating their services in “genuine civilizing” missions. They had their powerful spokesman, William Wilberforce in the House of Commons. They did not miss any opportunity to exploit religious sentiments in Britain.
The pressure brought about by the missionaries strained their relations with the Company and the latter even expelled several missionaries who tried to convert Indians to Christianity pleading their action politically unwise. The missionaries fought their battle and came out victorious. The fight between the Company Government and the missionaries became a burden to the ruling party in Britain.
The ruling party, therefore, tried to avert this situation by provisioning in the Charter Act, 1818 that “a sum of not less than one lac of rupees in each year shall be set apart and applied to the revival and improvement of literature and the encouragement of the learned natives of India, and for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of sciences among the inhabitants of the British territories in India.” This was the first landmark, in the evolution of modern educational structure in India and facilitated the growth of English education.
After the new policy was announced in 1813, the next four decades were occupied by the conquest and consolidation of British rule in India. Therefore, all through these years the Company Government was more concerned about relations with the native Rulers and establishment of law and order in the annexed lands. This preoccupation did not allow them to give desired attention to the education.
It becomes clear from the fact that separate Departments for Education were not created in all these years. Rather, the educational affairs were looked after by the Company officers in their honorary capacity. Therefore, any progress depended on the individuals rather than on the State policy.
Besides, there were few Indians like Raja Ram Mohan Roy or Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar whose voice carried weight in policy decision.
Above all, as already stated, the Charter Act had not found a solution to the controversies between the missionaries and the Orientalists. Instead, it was a compromise which could be interpreted by the concerned advocates of different approaches.
The Charter Act had also not clarified the objects, medium, agencies and methods for the ‘ revival and improvement of literature”, “the encouragement of the learned natives of India”, and “the introduction of promotion of a knowledge of sciences among the inhabitants of British territories in India.”
6. Controversy Over Medium of Instructions:
The controversy over the medium of instruction was somewhat serious. There were two opinions in the Administration: one who stood for Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit; and the other who argued for adopting modern Indian languages. The missionaries were all for English medium. But the policy makers were still in the era of experiment.
They were in favour of “wait and see”. This attitude led to encouragement to each group who could wield influence in his area. Therefore, we find encouragement to official schools in the North West Provinces; English as medium of instruction in Bengal; and mother tongue i.e., modern Indian language in the Bombay Presidency. Still there was a considerable advancement in different parts of British India towards the learning of literature in English.
The Governor-General appointed a General Committee of Public Instruction for the Bengal Presidency. This Committee stood for encouragement to Oriental learning. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, urged for education in European literature and sciences and protested to “the retention of oriental learning to the exclusion of European learning.”
However, he helped in increasing public opinion in favour of English education which helped them materially since the study of English was rapidly becoming the royal road to a black-coated profession with a decent income and an important status in the society.
It brought fruits to them and English classes and schools were introduced at Calcutta, Banaras, Agra and Delhi. But the Committee were not prepared to risk offending the Indians by dropping classical languages. The issue came to a head in 1884.
The Committee got equally divided into Classicists and the Anglicists. The Classicist led by the then Secretary to the Government of Bengal in Education Department were the staunch supporters of the continuance of the education through the medium of classical languages.
The younger members of the Committee were opposed to Government’s assistance to institutions giving instruction in any kind of oriental literature and science, “the whole of which they declared to be immoral, profane or nonsensical.” They were supported by famous President of the Committee, Macaulay.
Macaulay argued, in imperial fashion, that it was the duty of British to teach Indians what was good for their health, and not what was palatable to their taste. He further argued that Indians’ urge was sufficient evidence for their love of English. The matter was referred to the then Governor-General, William-Bentick. He accepted the viewpoint of Macaulay.
Accordingly a Resolution was passed in 1835 declaring that “the great object of the British Government ought to be the promotion of European literature and science among the natives of India; and that all the funds appropriated for the purpose of education would be best employed on English education alone” and that “for the future all funds set apart for education should be devoted to that purpose, and no portion of them be expended on the printing of Oriental Works.” This was the greatest and heaviest weight in favour of English education.
The Anglicists embarked upon a crashing programme. Twelve new schools were set up in the Bengal Presidency alone. By 1338, the number of seminaries (where English education was taught) also “increased to forty and the number of pupils from about three thousand and four hundred to six thousand.”
‘The tide’, remarks Trevelyan, ‘had set in strongly in favour of English education, and when the Committee declared itself on the same side, the public support they revived rather went beyond than fell short of what was required. More applications were received for the establishment of schools than could be complied with; there were more candidates for admission than could be accommodated.
On the opening of the Hoogly College, in August. 1835, students of English flocked to it in such number as to reader the organization and classification of them a matter of difficulty. Twelve hundred names were entered on the books of this department of the college within three days; and at the end of the year there were upwards of one thousand in regular attendance.
Notwithstanding the extraordinary concourse to English students at Hoogly, the demand was so little exhausted that when an auxiliary school was lately opened within two miles of the college the English department of it was instantly filled and numerous applicants were sent away unsatisfied.
In the same way, when additional means of instruction were provided at Dacca, the number of pupils rose at once from 150 to upwards of 300, and more teachers were still called for. The same thing took place at Agra.”
Macaulay has been given a great credit for this and in some corners he is regarded as a “torch bearer in the path of progress.” Macaulay cannot be given that much credit for he swam with the current and secondly his word was not final. The Orientalists were not as weak as has been argued by the supporters of Macaulay.
They brought the pressure and only next year, the Committee had to further elaborate:
“We are deeply sensible of the importance of encouraging the cultivation of vernacular languages. We do not conceive that the Order of the 7th March (1835) precludes us from doing this, and we have constantly acted on this construction….We conceive the formation of a vernacular literature to be the ultimate object to which all our efforts must be directed.”
Therefore, it is not sound to consider the Macaulay minutes as something like a magical influence in converting India into the gospel of western education. He was a part of that machinery which was marching in that direction. The above declaration was undoubtedly a landmark in the spread of English education. The controversy between the Orientalists and the Anglicists, however, came to an end only in 1839.
The then Governor-General, Auckland observed that the best policy which could command general acquiescence was in “granting a measured and discriminating encouragement to all.”
Therefore, he passed the orders for (1) the continuation of Oriental learning; (2) publication of useful books in Oriental languages; and (3) if time and funds permit, to conduct English classes. Thus he purchased the Orientalists “by granting it was all they wanted—Rs.31000 annually.” But he gave a far greater impetus to the spread of English education through the Downward Filteration Theory.
7. Downward Filtration Theory:
The Downward Filtration Theory restricted the higher education to the upper classes of society “who have leisure for study and whose culture would filter down to the masses.” But Auckland did not accept the argument for adopting vernacular languages as the medium in the secondary schools. He said that this measure could not be adopted “with no class books prepared or teachers versed in these books yet trained for their duties.”
He further said that the existing method of imparting instruction in English “unless urgent reasons for abandoning that system demanded attention,…should be fully tried.” “We may, indeed” he said, “to have two great experiments in progress, one in Bengal, the other in Bombay Province, the Provincial education being in the former conducted chiefly through the English, in the latter almost, if not quite exclusively, through the vernacular languages. It will be most interesting that both experiments should be closely watched and thoroughly developed.”
He, however, conceded that good higher education could be imparted through vernacular language. But he stood for status-quo and rather preference to English language.
This indecisiveness in his and his successors’ Orders throttled the growth of education even in Bombay through the mother tongue. The one definite result of the controversy was, therefore the adoption of English as the exclusive medium of instruction at the college stage.
Therefore, Macaulay does not deserve the credit given to him. Rather, it was the private and missionary efforts which accelerated the teaching of English language, and got Popularized through the Downward Filtration Theory.
8. English and Government Jobs:
The contribution of Lord Harding in the cause of English education was rather more sound. He issued a Resolution on 10 October 1844, which declared that “in every possible case a preference shall be given in the selection of candidates for public employment to those who have been educated in the institutions thus established, and specially to those who have distinguished themselves therein by a more than ordinary degree of merit and attainment”. Therefore, English education became a vehicle for obtaining then respectable posts in the Administration.
The Downward filtration theory, on the other hand, gave preference to the privileged class of people, who could only organise, if any, a protest. Thus their status in the society further increased and they saw to it that English education gets more than its due. The experiment carried out in Bombay to encourage education through vernacular language, therefore, got side-tracked by that privileged class interests.
The tribute to Bal Shastri who took the cause of English in the Bombay Presidency was sufficient boost to those interests.
On his death in 1846, it was recorded that he “united degree the highest qualities which a paternal Government would look for on the part of one who devotes himself to the business of the instruction of the youth. His attainment in science, his conversance with European literature and his remarkable facility and elegance m English composition enabled him to take a high place among the best scholars of the day but in addition to this acquired knowledge, his simple unostentatious deportment, and unwearied efforts on behalf of his countrymen insured him the respect and regard of all the Europeans to whom he was intimately known, while on the other hand the zeal and industry with which he devoted the far greater part of each 24 hours to the best interests of his countrymen; with no other regard to self than is involved in the love of praise from those whose praise is worth acquiring, secured for him an influence as extensive range as it was beneficial in characterâ€.
It is for this reason that English became more popular after independence. In fact, the power was transferred by the British to that privileged class who was educated in English and western knowledge through the Downward filtration theory.
9. Vocational Education and English:
It was vocational education which got comparatively a great fillip in the modern educational system. The vocational education also went a long way in popularizing English. It was, however, not introduced out of welfare motives.
It was adopted purely out of utilitarian considerations. The Company Administration needed the subordinate staff to minimize its administrative expenditure. Further, there was no political risk involved in encouraging this type of education.
The Administration was prepared to stand against the neutrality and stressed that it was expedient to confine the medical instruction to English treatises, discarding Sanskrit medical books altogether. There was no political risk involved in not keeping “neutrality” in the field of vocational education to better their prospects.
Efforts of the Bombay Native Education Society clearly indicated this. The Society at its own raised funds to start “the Grant Medical College” in 1845 and was educating engineering classes at their own since 1824. Therefore, we find that comparatively, progress in vocational education was radical.
Calcutta Medical College sent four Indian students to Europe to complete their medical education as early as 1844. This, however, does not mean that there was a qualitative or quantitative change.
The Company was interested more in expansion and the shareholders in dividends. As discussed earlier, the Company was staggering in moving forward in the educational field for political and utilitarian reasons. By 1855, the Company Administration was managing, aiding or even inspecting only 1,474 institutions with only 67,569 pupils with a total expenditure of less than one per cent of the total revenue.
10. Private Enterprise and English:
It was the private enterprise which facilitated the spread of education and also created an infrastructure for the creation of modern machinery for Imparting education. The missionaries, the British officials and non-officials, and the Indians themselves played an important role in this direction.
11. Contributions of Missionaries:
The Charter Act of 1813 had allowed the missionaries their activities unhindered. The Act not reversed the scales in the favour of Britain missionaries already engaged in India, it also opened the gates to other countries such as Germany and America, who were not then Imperial Powers.
Missionary Society used to establish their missions at various centres within and without the British controlled territories. Though the main objective of these missions was spreading of Christianity, education was major curriculum to convert as well as Christianize the Indians.
Since they were concerned with the social requirement, preaching through the mother tongue was essential. But teaching English was as much an essential requirement to adapt them to Christian civilization.
Therefore, it were the missions which helped in the growth of vernacular languages as well as English. Besides the female missionaries helped educating the women. Rather they were pioneer in the advancement of female education.
Though the Governor Generals like Ellen borough saw “the political ruin of English power as the inevitable consequence of the mission education of the Hinduism!” the Company Administration was obliged to bear with it for whole of the European continent in that era was dominated by great reforms and liberal ideas.
The British had rather become the spokesmen of this liberal age. Secondly, the favourable response to the reforms introduced by Bentick had discarded the fear involved in the official interference in the religious affairs. These factors helped the missionaries to expand their activities and this is rightly called as “the age of mission school”.
The figures of the mission education in 1834 are self indicative:
i. Anglo-vernacular schools and colleges for men—91 with 18,401 student.
ii. Vernacular schools for boys—1,099 with 38,661 students.
iii. Boarding schools for boys —67 schools with 1,788 students.
iv. Day schools for girls —285 with 8,919 students.
In comparison to 67,569 pupils in 1,474 institutions run or aided by the Administration, the Protestant Missions were running only 3,495 institutions (1,628 schools for boys and girls and 1,867 Sunday Schools) were imparting education to 1,25,231 students 164,043 in regular schools and 61,688 in Sunday Schools).
The total mission activity was more extensive. Therefore, it can easily be said that education to the Indians was provided largely, not by the Company Administration, but by the missions. Therefore, the cause of the English was also served more by them than others.
However, the mission schools insisted on Bible-teaching to have “a reliable counterpoise, a protecting break-water against the threatened deluge of missionary enterprise.” Taken together the efforts of the indigenous schools, we can establish why the communal approach got entrenched in the Indian society instead of a “secular approach” expounded by the Education Department. And it was this reason that the Mission influence increased abnormally both in England and India and their “moral rights” to have monopoly of educational enterprises were accepted in 1854, and ensuring a sure extensive education of English as well.
12. Contributions of Non-Missionary British Officials:
The British officials and non-officials also played an important role in aiding both the missionary enterprises and also encouraging secular education. Though the contribution in the secular education by them was quantitatively insignificant but its qualitative significance’ cannot be underestimated. In this field, David Hare (1775-1842) was the pioneer.
Modestly describing himself as “an uneducated man friendly to education”, he devoted his life since 1815 in advancing the cause of education in India.
He maintained “that India was teeming with productions of all kinds, that her resources were inexhaustible, that her people were intelligent and industrious and possessed capabilities, if not superior, at least equal, to those of the civilized inhabitants of the world and that centuries of misrule and oppression had completely destroyed her own learning and philosophy, and buried this land in almost total darkness. To improve her condition, nothing appeared to him more essential than a dissemination of European learning and science among his people.”
He also maintained that it was possible not through religious instruction but by the media of secular schools and colleges teaching through the mother tongue and English for the spread of the knowledge of English literature. He was pioneer in the non-official enterprise in encouraging English language.
He founded the Primary School at Arpooly and also the Hindu Vidyala, now famous Presidency College, Calcutta and Calcutta Medical College. Though he supported the theory of Downward Filtration Theory and provided education to only Hindu gentlemen, his efforts enhanced the principle of secularism in education.
It was only this type of education through which the Company Government could recruit right type of persons. His contribution was more significant than any other body or individual. His hatred of classical languages went a long way in furthering the cause of English. It was his model which gave birth to this kind of secular schools and coaching centres all around us today.
There are other British officials like Bethune, Warren Hastings, Dalhousie and Elphinstone who established schools and colleges out of their savings. These administrators undertook this task at their own with the conviction that neither missionaries nor the Company could provide all the resources for meeting the demand of education.
Therefore, they were of the opinion that this needed development of private Indian enterprise to provide the bulk of the new educational institutions. By initiating this process, they guided the Indians to take up the cause themselves.
13. Contribution of the Indians:
The Indians, however, could play only a minor role before 1854 since the parents were suspicious of English education and feared that English education made Youngman lose faith in the religious beliefs and practices of their forefathers and thought that the spread of Western knowledge through the Indian languages in these “secular” primary schools was part of some secret plan to tamper with their religion. It required the men of courage and well educated in the new system of education to pursue the educational enterprises in the new directions.
But the under-privileged people in the Sanskritized society preferred to go for easily available government jobs to enhance their material and social status. Therefore, very few Indians came forward. Before 1854, there was only one significant pioneer. Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) who dedicated his life in educating the people to modernize them. His contribution is the greatest since his dedicated work laid sound foundations for modern education.
The combined efforts of the Company Administration, British officials and non-officials, and natives had developed the education to a stage where a revolution was inevitable. The controversy among the Orientalists and the Anglicists was still persisting. Macaulay’s contempt, as stated earlier, of classical knowledge had hurt the feelings of upper traditional strata of the Indian society.
But the European knowledge at the same time needed preference to the Anglicists. “Want of translations or adaptations of European works” had pushed the growth of “vernacular languages” in background.
Many a people either lacked the means or the capacity to learn new knowledge through the medium other than their mother tongue. It was necessary to bring a coordination in the heterogeneous agencies as well as approach in the education.
It was necessary, as the new policy statement stated, “not only to produce a higher degree of intellectual fitness, but to raise the moral character of those who partake of its advantages, and to supply (the Administration) with servants to whose probity the Administration may with confidence commit offices of trust.”
The educational policy, the British Government declared should be such as to keep the British “material interests altogether unaffected by the advance of European knowledge in India; this knowledge will teach the natives of India the marvellous results of the employment of labour and capital, rouse them to emulate us in the development of the vast resources of their country, guide them in their efforts, and gradually, but certainly, confer upon them all the advantages which accompany the healthy increase of wealth and commerce, and at the same time, secure to us a large and more certain supply of many articles necessary for our manufacturers and extensively consumed by all classes of our production, as well as an almost inexhaustible demand for the produce of British labour.”
To achieve these aims, the Government issued new policy statement on education, in 1854, which is popularly known as Wood’s Education Despatch, and others calling it the “Magna Carta of Indian Education”. It was the most comprehensive statement and, therefore, it was more clear to lay the foundations of modern educational system which facilitated the growth of English education for “indefinite period”.
14. Aims of Wood’s Despatch:
The Despatch declared that it was “one of our sacred duties to grant the subjects their right to education”. It was calculatively important “not only to produce a higher degree of intellectual fitness, but raise moral character of those who partake of its advantages, and so to supply with servants to whose probity we may with increased confidence commit offices of trust”. But the Despatch was more important in terms of medium of education.
Though the Despatch praised the worth of the Oriental course of study but accepting the point of Macaulay unequivocally set the controversy over the medium in favour of the Anglicists. The Despatch declared:
“We must emphatically declare that the education which we desire to see extended in India is that which has for its object the diffusion of the improved arts, science, philosphy and literature of Europe ; in short of European knowledge.”
Such an education, the Despatch declared, would be imparted to those “who are capable of” obtaining instructions” in English. Summing up the Despatch, the British Government stressed that “our object is to extend European knowledge throughout all classes of people… this object must be affected by means of the English language in the higher branches of instruction, and by that of the vernacular languages of India to the great mass of the people—a system of general superintendence and inspection by Government to be established (to) give efficiency and uniformity.” It was this policy statement which created the modern network of the machinery imparting education.
It led to the establishment of Universities at apex and the primary school at the lowest level. Since higher education could be obtained through English, and otherwise also knowledge of English had become compulsory for appointment in a department, the future of the English had been made certain. As the education expanded, the English language was to follow. It was, therefore, this policy which contributed to the growth of the English language in comparison to other languages and disciplines.
But probably one of the most important features of the Wood’s Despatch was that it provided for separate departments for the administration of education in the provinces of Bengal, Madras, Bombay, North-Western provinces and Punjab.
The new department was known as the Department of Public Instructions and was headed by a Director. The Despatch also contained provisions regarding the establishment of Universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras on the model of the London University (which was an examining body). It also provided for the establishment of institutions for the training of teachers for all classes of schools.
The system of grants- in-aid was also envisaged. By providing that preference shall be given to the educated Indians in matters of service with government, it linked education with employment.
15. Organisation of the Education Department:
In accordance with the Wood’s Despatch of 1854 Education Departments were set up in various provinces to administer the funds allocated to the education by the provincial or central governments. It inspected the working of the private educational institutions which sought grants- in-aid. It compiled annual reports regarding the progress of education and took necessary steps for its improvement as well as expansion.
16. Establishment of Universities:
In terms of Wood’s Despatch there Indian Universities were set up at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1852. The pattern and working of the three Universities was identical, with the exception of certain minor differences dictated by the local needs. The affairs of these universities were to be managed by the Chancellor and the Senate consisting of the Vice Chancellor and Fellows, who were mostly government servants.
These Universities did not perform any teaching functions, which was done by the various colleges affiliated to them. The Universities performed merely administrative functions such as the conduct of examination and conferment of degrees. Each of these Universities had four Faculties—Arts-Cum-Science, Law, Medicine and Engineering. Subsequently a separate Faculty of Science was also added.
Most of the colleges which were affiliated to these Universities provided education in Arts. There were very few technical institutions. In 1857 there were only two colleges of Engineering viz. the Roorkee College of Engineering (1847) and Calcutta College of Engineering (1856).
In 1858 the Overseas School of Poona was converted into an Engineering College and was affiliated with the Bombay University. In the same year the Industrial School attached to the Gun Carriage Factory was transformed into Gulndy College of Engineering and was affiliated to the Madras University. Medical education was mainly imparted in the Medical colleges established at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Lahore.
In the next few decades there was an enormous education in the university education and a number of new educational institutions sprang up throughout the country. This increase in the number of colleges led to the need for the establishment of new Universities. The Universities of Punjab and Allahabad were set up in 1882 and 1887 respectively.
17. The Hunter Commission (1882):
Although Wood’s Despatch of 1854 had brought about revolutionary changes in the educational system in India and there was a rapid growth of education in the country, but in the course of time that pace of growth slackened. It was felt that certain measures should be taken to accelerate the pace of the progress.
Accordingly in 1882 Lord Ripon. appointed an Education Commission under W.W. Hunter “to enquire into manner in which the effect had been given to the principles of the Despatch of 1854 and to suggest such measures as it may think desirable in order to the further carrying out of the policy therein laid down.”
After due deliberations the commission made the following recommendations:
(i) State should gradually withdraw from the direct management of the institutions of higher education. A College or a Secondary school was to be handed over to the Indians if there were reasonable prospects that the cause of education would not suffer.
(ii) Ordinary as well as special grants should be made to the colleges.
(iii) Certain general principles be followed with regard to college fees and exemptions from them.
(iv) Alternative courses should be made available in large colleges.
(v) New regulations should be formed for the award of scholarships.
(vi) Model text books containing the fundamental principles of natural religion should be prepared, which could be taught in all government and non-government colleges.
(vii) The Principal or one of the Professors in each Govern meet and aided college, was to deliver to each of the college classes, in every session, a series of lectures on the duties of a man and a citizen.
(viii) Special measures were to be taken for the promotion of education among the Muslims.
(ix) All elementary schools be inspected by the officers of the education department.
(x) Greater attention be paid to the physical and mental education of the students.
(xi) Greater attention was to be paid to the primary education and a part of the provincial revenue was to be reserved for it.
(xii) Wherever possible, the Secondary schools be handed over to private management.
The recommendations of the Hunter Commission were accepted by the Government of India. It directed that an annual report reviewing the general progress of education in the country be prepared.
It may be noted that from 1882 onwards the history of educational policy is nothing but an account of the progressive dominance of the universities over the schools, and the secondary education did not make much progress.
18. Education under Lord Curzon (1899-1905):
Lord Curzon paid great attention to the reform of the existing education system. He followed the policy of centralization and tried to bring the education department under complete supervision and regulation of the state.
In 1901 Curzon called a conference of the Indian educationists and administrators to discuss the problem of higher education. The next year i.e appointed the Raleigh Commission, “to enquire into the condition and prospects of universities established in India.”
The Commission recommended that:
(i) The legal powers of the University should be increased and he Universities be recognised as teaching bodies.
(ii) The powers and limits of the Universities should be more accurately defined.
(iii) The Senates, Syndicates and the Faculties should be reorganised and made more representative.
(iv) The-colleges should be affiliated to the Universities only if they strictly conformed to the standards of the rules of affiliation. No affiliated institution should be allowed to fall below the prescribed standard of efficiency and the Syndicate should satisfy itself on this point from time to time.
(v) Each college must have a properly constituted governing body.
(vi) Special attention be paid to the discipline of the students.
(vii) The courses and methods of examinations should be changed only in accordance with the suggestions made in the Report.
These recommendations of the Raleigh Commission were accepted by the Government and were incorporated in the Universities Act of 1904. However, the Universities Act made certain modifications as well. It reconstituted the governing bodies of the Universities.
The Senate of the University was to have not less than 20 and not more than 103 members. The number of the elected fellows was fixed at 20 for the Universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, and 15 for other universities. It provided for statutory recognition to the syndicates which had adequate representation of the University teachers on them.
The conditions of affiliation of the colleges to the Universities were clearly laid down and were to be strictly followed. The Universities could make provision for the instruction of students through appointment of University Professors and Lecturers and to do all acts which promoted study and research. Finally, the Governor- General-in-Council was empowered to define the limits of the different Universities.
The enactment of the Universities Act of 19D4 raised a storm of agitation in the country. The Indian leaders like Gopal Krishna Gokhale openly condemned Lord Curzon’s attempts to officialise the Universities.
The Indian leaders saw in these reforms “Curzon’s hideous attempt to officialise the Universities so as to prevent them from becoming the nurseries of nationalism of which they had shown signs of late ; to curb higher education which was filling the younger generation with the new hopes and aspirations-, and to prevent the education of the masses with a view to getting them ignorant so that England may rule over them the better.” As a result of this Act the Senates and Syndicates were Europeanized and the Universities were turned into some of the “most completely Governmental Universities of the world”.
Commenting on the Universities Act, 1904 V. Chirol wrote. “As was to be expected under a Viceroy who was a great autocrat with an overwhelming faith in the efficiency of Government machinery, the chief purpose of the Act of 1904 was to tighten the hold of the Government on the Universities…Practically nothing was henceforth to be done without the approval of the Government.”
After the departure of Curzon in 1905 for some time there was growing agitation against the educational policy of the British. People demanded a better system of education and greater funds for higher education and technical and vocational training.
As a result in 1910 education was transferred from the Home Department under a separate department under Harcourt Butler, the first Education Member of the Governor General’s Council.
In 1913 Harcourt Butler issued a resolution which defined the Government of India’s policy towards higher education. There- solution emphasized that as India could not possibly dispense with the affiliating universities for long, areas of university control would be limited within every province, which in other words meant that a university would be established in every major province.
New affiliating universities for Patna, Nagpur and Rangoon and teaching universities for Aligarh, Dacca, Banaras were promised. Though the progress of education was checked due to the intervention of the war, the expenditure on education from all the sources (central, provincial and local) increased.
During the period between 1916 and 1922 seven new Universities were set up viz. Mysore University in 1916, Patna and Banaras in 1917, Aligarh in 1920, Dacca in 1920, Lucknow in 1920 and the Osmania University at Hyderabad in 1918.
19. The Sadler Commission, 1917:
The Sadler Commission was appointed by Lord Chelmsford in 1917 with a view to hold an enquiry into the problems of the Calcutta University. It may be noted that though the Commission was primarily appointed to review the working of the Calcutta University, it undertook a broad review of the problem of University education.
The Commission made a vast study of not only of the Calcutta University but of other Indian universities as well to institute a sort of comparison and formulate a sound policy for the development of Calcutta University. The Commission submitted its annual report in 1919 dealing practically with every problem of Secondary and University education.
The main recommendations of the Sadler Commission were as follows:
(i) The Intermediate classes of the University should be transferred to the Secondary institutions. The admission to the university was to be after the Intermediate Examination.
(ii) The Secondary and Intermediate education was to be controlled by the Board of Secondary Education.
(iii) The Degree course should be of three year’s duration. This provision was to be immediately applied to the Honours courses and subsequently even to the pass courses.
(iv) The teaching resources of the city of Calcutta were to be so organised as to make Calcutta University a real teaching University. Different colleges were to depute their most competent teachers to teach in the University. In addition the University was also to apply full-time Professors and lecturers.
(v) The Government of India was to cease to have any special relationship with the University of Calcutta. Instead the Government of Bengal was to take its place.
(vi) Special attention should be paid to the education of the women and a Board should be created for this purpose.
(vii) The problem of vocational and professional training (like that of teachers and engineers) should be taken up seriously by the University.
(viii) The medium of instructions for most of the subjects upto the High School should be vernacular and after that it should be English.
(ix) The method of examination was defective and should be overhauled.
(x) The Government service system being unsuitable for Universities a new organisation of the teaching service should be evolved.
The recommendations of the Sadler Commission were accepted by the Government of India and it drafted a bill to enforce these, commendations. However, due to financial difficulties -touch progress could not be made regarding the implementation of these recommendations. In 1920 the Government of India forwarded these recommendations to the Provincial Governments for translating them into practice.
In view of the rising tide of nationalism the Government of India Act 1919 made education a ‘transferred subject’ and the Education Department was placed into the hands of the Indian ministers responsible to the local legislatures. Despite this change, the Government of India continued to give general directions regarding the policy to be followed in matters concerning higher education.
The popular ministers started with great zeal and enthusiasm. They made primary education compulsory for all the children belonging to a particular age group, but they could not achieve much success partly due to lack of financial resources and partly due to the attitude of the Governors and the Councillors towards the reserved departments. Despite these obstacles the popular ministers continued with their efforts.
They set up several committees and commissions to examine the matter and to make necessary recommendations in the matter. One such meeting was held at Simla in 1924 in which the leading educationists of the country met and strongly recommended the setting up of an Inter-University Board to bring about a uniformity in education all over the country.
The proposed board was to act as an inter-university organisation and bureau of information; to facilitate the exchange of professors; to serve as an authorised channel of communication and facilitate the co-ordination of university work; to assist Indian universities; to get recognition for their degrees and diplomas in other countries ; and to appoint a common representative or representatives of India at Imperial or international conferences on Indian education.
Another Committee known as Hartog Committee was set up in 1927 under the chairmanship of Sir Phillip Hartog. This Committee laid emphasis on the type of text books which should be prescribed for schools and colleges.
It also expressed concern over the deterioration in the teaching standard and other such defects. The Committee in its Report pointed out that “Throughout the whole educational system there is waste and ineffectiveness”.
It advocated a policy of consolidation by eliminating inefficient schools and by strengthening efficient schools. It emphasized that “at almost every point organisation needs reconsideration and strengthening, and the relations of the bodies responsible for the organisation of education and readjustment.”
The Hartog Committee also made some suggestions to improve secondary and higher education in the country. In accordance with the recommendations of Hartog committee, a Central Educational Advisory Board was organised in 1935. This Board recommended the appointment of a committee of two educational experts from England namely Abbot and Wood to study the educational problems of the country.
This Committee of two made recommendations for the development of general and vocational education. But, these recommendations could not be implemented on account of the outbreak of the Second World War. However, later on these recommendations were included in the Sargeant Report of 1944.
20. The Wardha Scheme of Education, 1936:
The existing system of education, according to Mahatma Gandhi was quite defective. It was not only very costly but also very far removed from the actual environments in which the child lived. Mahatma Gandhi, therefore, organised an All-India Educational Conference at Wardha on 22 and 23 October, 1937, in which eminent educationalists, national leaders, social reformers and provincial education ministers participated.
After viewing the various aspects of education, a comprehensive plan-for the education of the Indians was evolved. This scheme was so fundamentally different from the existing system of education that it has been described as a revolution in the methods of education.
This scheme is popularly known as Wardha Scheme of Education, or the Scheme of Basic Education. The Provincial Governments of Kashmir and Bihar tried to put this scheme into practice under the Government of India Act, 1935, but due to the outbreak of Second World War the popular ministries resigned and the progress of the scheme was greatly hampered.
The Basic scheme of education aimed at developing not only the mental and intellectual capabilities of the child but also aimed at developing moral qualities and makes them capable of earning their livelihood right from beginning. For the attainment of this objective they were to be taught to produce such articles of art and beauty during their education itself. This scheme of education was expected to be financially self-supporting.
The commodities prepared by the students during the course of their education at the institution were to be sold out in the market and the money thus raised was to be spent on the maintenance of these institutions.
Under the Wardha Scheme of Education all boys and girls of a particular age group were to be provided with compulsory education. The primary education was to be of seven years duration. It was hoped that this scheme of education would contribute to an all round development of child’s mental, moral, intellectual and professional capacities.
21. Sargeant Scheme of Education:
The Sargeant Scheme of Education was prepared by a Committee appointed under the chairmanship of Sir John Sargeant, the Education Advisor to the Government of India. This scheme of education was submitted in 1941 and was meant for the post-war India. The Sargeant Committee concerned itself not only with the primary, but also the secondary education, the University education, technical and physical education. It also adopted some of the principles of the Wardha Scheme of education.
The chief recommendations of the Committee were as follows:
(i) Education should be free and compulsory for boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 14. This was estimated to cost the exchequer about Rs.200 crores per annum.
(ii) The basic education was to be divided into two parts—part one meant for the children between 6 and 11 years and was to be known as Junior Basic. The second part was meant for the students of average caliber who could not be took direct from the Junior Basic into High School education. This part was to be known as Senior Basic.
(iii) All the students should not be allowed to join the high schools. Only those students should be admitted to higher educational courses who expected to profit from it. The children between 11 and 17 years who showed promising progress during the Junior Basic training and some even from the Senior Basic students, were to be taken into High or Secondary Education.
(iv) Admission of the students to the colleges should be restricted. It recommended that only ten per cent of the High School students who showed excellent progress during their course of studies should be taken into the colleges for university education.
(v) The Intermediate course was to be included into High School course and the college teaching should last for three years.
(vi) The B.A. course should consist of three years’ duration.
(vii) A cream of the students should be taken for pure and applied research.
(viii) A National Youth Movement should be started to educate the young men in physical health.
(ix) University Grants Commission should be set up to maintain a good standard of teaching and examination, and salaries of the teachers should be raised to attract the best talent to this profession.
The Sargeant Scheme of Education could not be put into practice after the war because India attained her independence- However, the new Indian government adopted some of the good points of this scheme and undertook to implement the same.
22. Education in Free India:
After the attainment of independence, the Government of India appointed a number of Committees and Commissions to make recommendations regarding improvement of the educational system. The first such commission was appointed in 1948 under the Chairmanship of Dr. Radhakrishnan, and is popularly known as the University Education Commission. It submitted its report in 1949.
Its prominent recommendations were as follows:
(i) The maximum strength of students in a College should be one thousand.
(ii) The University should admit a student only after he has completed a twelve year course at the School.
(iii) There should be a uniformity of the courses of studies in the different universities.
(iv) Co-education should be introduced from the secondary stage upwards.
(v) The mother tongue of the students should gradually replace English as a medium of education.
(vi) Only capable students be permitted to receive university education and the rest be given technical education.
(vii) Teaching standards should be improved.
(viii) Tutorial classes be introduced to ensure closer personal contact between the teacher and the students.
(ix) Better emoluments should be paid to the teachers, who may be graded as professors, readers, lecturers and instructors. The promotion from the lower to the higher category should be strictly on the basis of merit.
(x) The Commission laid special emphasis on the promotion of women education and made several recommendations in this regard.
(xi) It recommended the creation of N.C.C. units in every school and college.
(xii) Introduction of the objective Test in place of modern examination system.
(xiii) Establishment of rural universities on the pattern of Jamia Milia and the Shanti Niketan.
(xiv) Laid greater emphasis on agricultural education and recommended the opening of the agricultural colleges, and improvement of the existing ones. It also recommended the setting up of the experimental farms.
(xv) New Engineering colleges should be opened and the existing ones be improved. Such institutions were to have attached workshops where practical training should be imparted to the students.
(xvi) Funds be made available for improving the lot of teachers and for granting liberal scholarships and stipends to the students.
For the purpose of coordinating University education, the Commission recommended the establishment of a University Grants Commission, It may be noted that the present system of education in India is largely based on the recommendations of the University Education Commission of 1949. It may further be observed that some of the recommendations of the Commission have not been implemented as yet.
23. The University Grants Commission, 1953:
The University Grants Commission was formally inaugurated by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Education Minister of India, on 28 December, 1953. It was given a statutory status under the U.G.C. Act passed by the Parliament in 1956.
The chief functions of the U.G.C. are:
(i) To determine and maintain a proper standard of teaching, research and examination in the Universities.
(ii) To allocate and disburse the funds of the Commission.
(iii) To sanction grants to universities established by or under a central Act for maintenance and development of such universities or for any other general or specified purpose and to allocate and disburse out of the funds of the Commission such grants to other universities as it may deem necessary for development of such universities.
(iv) To inspect any department of a University after a prior notice, recommend improvements with regard to it and withhold the grants, if its recommendations are not complied with.
(v) To collect and supply the necessary information with regard to the development and expansion of an existing university or with regard to the setting up of a new one.
(vi) To advise the Central and State Government with regard to the allocations of funds and grants to these universities, and
(vii) To perform such other functions as it may deem fit for the advancement of higher education.
It cannot be denied that the U.G.C. has done a commendable job since its establishment, for the development of proper research and higher education as well as for the improvement of the lot of the teachers. However, much still remains to be done.