The Introduction of Western Education in India | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Sir Charles Wood’s Dispatch on Education, 1854

• Sir Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control in Britain, believed in the superiority of the English race and institutions, thinking they could serve as a model for the world.
• In 1854, Wood prepared a comprehensive dispatch on future education in India, which became known as the Magna Carta of English education in the country.
• The dispatch aimed for a coordinated system of education across India.

Main Recommendations

• Western Education: The dispatch emphasized teaching Western education, focusing on the diffusion of European arts, science, philosophy, literature.
• Medium of Instruction: For higher education, English was considered the best medium, while vernacular languages were important for spreading European knowledge to the masses.
• Proposals for Education System:
• Vernacular Primary Schools: Suggested starting with vernacular primary schools in villages.
• Anglo-Vernacular High Schools: Proposed followed by Anglo-vernacular high schools.
• Affiliated Colleges: Suggested establishing affiliated colleges at the district level.
• Grants in Aid: Recommended a system of grants in aid to encourage private enterprise in education, conditional on employing qualified teachers and maintaining teaching standards.

Department of Public Instruction: Proposed a Department of Public Instruction in each province to review educational progress and submit annual reports to the government.

• Universities: Suggested establishing universities in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, modeled after the London University, to hold examinations and confer degrees.
• Vocational Instruction: Emphasized the need for vocational instruction and establishing technical schools and colleges.
• Teachers’ Training Institutions: Recommended setting up institutions for training teachers based on the English model.
• Women’s Education: Expressed support for fostering women’s education.
• The new education scheme was an imitation of English models, most proposals from Wood’s Despatch were implemented.
• Implementation:
• The Department of Public Instruction was established in 1855, replacing the earlier Committee of Public Instruction and Council of Education.
• Universities in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay were established in 1857.
• Due to Bethune’s efforts, girls' schools were modernized and brought under the government’s grant-in-aid and inspection system.
• Dominance and Westernization: The ideals from Wood’s Despatch dominated for about five decades, during which there was a rapid Westernization of the educational system in India.
• The indigenous system gradually gave way to the Western system of education, with most institutions run by European headmasters and principals under the Education Department.
• Missionary efforts also played a role in managing several institutions, gradually private Indian initiatives emerged in the field.

Formation of the Hunter Education Commission (1882-83)

• In 1882, the Indian Government established a Commission led by W.W. Hunter to assess the state of education in India, reflecting on the progress made since the Despatch of 1854.
• The Commission was partly a response to missionary critiques in England, which claimed that India's education system was not following the guidelines set in Wood's Despatch.

Objectives of the Commission:

• The resolution tasked the Commission with the aim of reorganizing Indian education so that different branches of public instruction could progress more uniformly and at a similar pace.
• The primary focus was to investigate the current state of elementary education across the Indian Empire and to explore ways to extend and improve it.
• Importantly, the Commission was not charged with evaluating the overall functioning of Indian universities.

Areas of Focus:

• The Commission concentrated its efforts and recommendations primarily on secondary and primary education, leaving aside the university level.

Main Recommendations

Primary Education:

• The focus was on the State’s commitment to improving and expanding primary education.
• Primary instruction should be seen as educating the masses in their native language on subjects that best prepare them for life.
• Private involvement in education was encouraged, but primary education should be offered regardless of local support.
• The Commission suggested transferring control of primary education to new District and Municipal Boards, which could impose taxes for educational funding.

Secondary Education:

• Secondary education should have two streams:
• Literary education preparing students for University Entrance Exams.
• Practical education geared toward commercial and vocational careers.

Encouragement of Private Enterprise:

• The Commission advocated for strong support of private initiatives in education.
• To promote this, it recommended:
  • Expanding and making the grants-in-aid system more flexible.
  • Treating aided schools on par with Government institutions in terms of status and benefits.
• The Government was advised to step back from directly managing secondary and collegiate education as soon as feasible.

Female Education:

• The Commission highlighted the lack of facilities for female education outside major cities and made suggestions for its improvement.

 Impact:

• In the twenty years following the commission's report, there was an extraordinary growth and expansion in secondary and collegiate education.
• A notable aspect of this expansion was the involvement of Indian philanthropic activity.
• Numerous denominational institutions emerged across the country.
• There was a renewed interest in Indian and Oriental studies alongside the pursuit of Western knowledge.
• Another significant development during this period was the establishment of teaching-cum-examining universities.
• Punjab University was founded in 1882 as the supreme literary, teaching, examining body.
• Allahabad University was established in 1887.

Curzon policies and the Indian Universities Act, 1904

Early 19th Century Educational Controversies:

• The early 1800s saw increasing political unrest and debates over educational policies.
• Political changes influenced educational developments and vice versa.
• Officials believed that educational expansion was misguided, and that quality had declined under private management.
• There was widespread indiscipline in schools and colleges, viewed as breeding grounds for political revolutionaries.
• Negative trends were blamed on unchecked rapid expansion by irresponsible private enterprises.
• Nationalist perspectives acknowledged the decline in standards but argued that the government was failing to address illiteracy effectively.

Curzon's Educational Reforms:

• Curzon, with his characteristic zeal for improving administration, aimed to reform education in India.
• He criticized the blind imitation of English models and Macaulay’s mistake of creating an ‘inverted pyramid’ and being biased against Indian vernaculars.
• He pointed out the poor quality of teachers and criticized the examination-heavy education system.
• Curzon’s motives were primarily political, with educational concerns being secondary.
• He justified increasing government control over education in the name of quality and efficiency but aimed to restrict education and promote loyalty to the government.
• Nationalists viewed Curzon’s policies as an effort to strengthen imperialism and undermine nationalist sentiments.

The Simla Conference of 1901:

• In September 1901, Curzon convened a round table conference in Simla with high educational officers and university representatives from across India.
• The conference began with a speech by the Viceroy, who reviewed the entire educational landscape in India.
• He stated that the conference was not meant to create a new educational reform plan to be imposed on the Indian public.
• However, subsequent events revealed the insincerity behind this claim.
• The conference resulted in the adoption of 150 resolutions covering nearly every aspect of education.

Sir Thomas Raleigh Commission

• After the Shimla conference, a Commission led by Sir Thomas Raleigh was established on January 27, 1902. Its purpose was to investigate the state and future of universities in India and to suggest improvements for their structure and operations.
• The Commission was not allowed to address issues related to primary or secondary education.
• Based on the Commission's report and recommendations, the Indian Universities Act was enacted in 1904.

Main Provisions of the Indian Universities Act, 1904:

• Promotion of Study and Research: Universities were required to promote study and research, appoint professors and lecturers, establish laboratories and libraries, provide direct instruction to students.
• Fellowship Regulations: The number of Fellows in a university had to be between fifty and a hundred, with Fellows serving a six-year term instead of for life.
• Government Nominations: Most Fellows were to be nominated by the Government. The elective positions at the universities of Calcutta,Madras, Bombay were set at twenty each, while other universities had fifteen.
• Increased Government Control: The Act increased the Governor's control over universities by allowing the Government to veto regulations passed by the university Senate. The Government could also alter regulations or create new ones.
• Control Over Private Colleges: The Act strengthened university control over private colleges by imposing stricter conditions for affiliation and requiring periodic inspections by the Syndicate. Private colleges had to maintain a proper standard of efficiency, Government approval was needed for affiliation or disaffiliation.
• Territorial and Affiliation Powers: The Governor General in Council was given the authority to define a university's territorial limits and determine the affiliation of colleges to universities.

Opposition to the Measure:

• Nationalist opinion, both inside and outside the Legislative Council, opposed the measure.
• Mr. G K. Gokhale criticized the bill as a “retrograde measure,” arguing that it unjustly cast aspersions on the educated classes and aimed to perpetuate “the narrow, bigoted, inexpensive rule of experts.”
• The Sadler Commission of 1917 noted that the Act of 1904 made Indian universities among the most governmental universities in the world.
• Indian opinion believed that Curzon intended to reduce universities to the status of State departments and undermine the development of private enterprise in education.

Positive Outcome of Curzon's Policy:

• Despite the criticisms, a positive outcome of Curzon's policy was the sanction in 1902 of a grant of Rs. 5 lakhs per annum for five years to improve higher education and universities.
• This marked the beginning of permanent government grants for higher education.

Government Resolution on Education Policy, 21 February 1913:

• In 1906, the progressive State of Baroda implemented compulsory primary education across its territories.
• Nationalist sentiment questioned why the Government of India could not enforce compulsory primary education in British India.
• Between 1910 and 1913, G. K. Gokhale made significant efforts in the Legislative Council, advocating for the government's responsibility towards compulsory primary education.
• In the Resolution of 21 February 1913, the Government of India rejected the principle of compulsory education but acknowledged the goal of illiteracy eradication.
• The government urged provincial authorities to swiftly implement free elementary instruction for poorer and more disadvantaged communities.
• Encouragement of private initiatives in this regard was also emphasized.
• Concerning secondary education, the Resolution highlighted the necessity for improving the quality of schools.
• Regarding university education, it was stated that a university should be established in each province, with an emphasis on promoting the teaching activities of these universities.

 The Sadler University Commission (1917-1919)

• In 1917, the Government of India set up a commission to examine the issues faced by Calcutta University.
• Dr. M.E. Sadler, Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds, chaired the commission, which included Indian members Sir Asutosh Mukerji and Dr. Ziauddin Ahmad.
• Unlike previous commissions that focused on specific aspects of education, the Sadler Commission looked at the entire education system from school to university level.
• The Commission believed that enhancing secondary education was crucial for improving university education.
• Although focused on Calcutta University, the Commission's recommendations were relevant to other Indian universities as well.

Key Recommendations:

• Sadler Commission stressed that significant changes in higher education could only occur with reforms in secondary education.
• It recommended that the division between secondary and university education should be at the Intermediate examination, not the Matriculation.
• The Commission proposed the establishment of Intermediate Colleges with curricula in Arts, Science, Engineering, and Industrial education.
• Students should enter university after passing the Intermediate examination, with a three-year degree course following this.
• Honours courses were to be offered for more capable students, distinct from Pass courses.
• A Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education was suggested to oversee secondary education.
• The Commission advised greater flexibility in university rules and the creation of an Inter University Board for coordination among Indian universities.
• Support for autonomous institutions and centralized residential-teaching universities was encouraged.
• Women’s education was to be promoted significantly, including the establishment of a special Board of Women Education at Calcutta University.
• Facilities for teacher training and the setting up of Education Departments at Calcutta and Dacca Universities were recommended.
• The Commission advocated for centralized unitary teaching autonomous bodies, including a unitary teaching university in Dacca to alleviate the student burden on Calcutta University.
• It also encouraged the growth of colleges in towns and the establishment of new university centers to enhance higher education.

Its Impact:

• Led to an increase in the number of universities.
• Suggested by the Saddler University Commission, new universities were established in cities like Patna, Osmania, Aligarh, Dacca, Lucknow, Delhi, Agra, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Annamalai. By 1930, the number of universities had increased to 30.
• Initiated teaching activities in universities.
  • The first three universities in India—Calcutta, Bombay, Madras—focused on affiliation, examination, conferring degrees. Teaching was the responsibility of degree colleges, there was no provision for postgraduate education.
  • After the commission's recommendations, the number of teaching and residential universities increased, with most of the newly established universities being teaching universities.
  • Increased academic activities in universities and colleges with the introduction of Honours courses.
  • Initiated studies in different Indian languages and created facilities for higher studies and research.
  • Established the post of professor in universities and began inviting learned faculty from abroad to broaden academic perspectives.
  • Opened Departments of Education in Calcutta and Dacca universities.
• Improved internal administration of universities by forming university courts and Executive Councils, replacing the previous Senate and Syndicate. The creation of the Academic Council for academic matters like curriculum construction, examination, research significantly enhanced academic standards.
• Established an Inter University Board in 1925 for coordination among different Indian universities.
• Introduced provisions for students welfare, directing universities' attention to this aspect for the first time by forming a Board of Students Welfare in each university.
• In 1920, the Government of India recommended the Sadler Report to provincial governments.

Education under Dyarchy (1921-37)

• Following the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919, control of the Department of Education was transferred to elected ministers in the provinces.
• The Central Government reduced its direct involvement in educational matters, merging the Department of Education with other departments.
• Central special grants for education, which had been generously provided since 1902, were discontinued.
• Financial constraints limited the provincial governments' ability to implement ambitious educational expansion or improvement plans.
• Despite these challenges, there was significant expansion in education, largely driven by philanthropic efforts.

The Hartog Committee, 1929

Hartog Committee on Education in India:

The Hartog Committee, set up by the Indian Statutory Commission, examined the state of education in India and made several important findings:

Decline in Educational Quality:

• The rapid increase in the number of educational institutions led to a decline in quality and lower standards.
• There was widespread dissatisfaction with the educational system.

Primary Education:

• The committee emphasized the national importance of primary education.
• It criticized the hasty expansion of primary education and the attempt to make it compulsory.
• Instead, the committee recommended a focus on consolidation and improvement of existing primary education facilities.

Secondary Education:

• The committee noted that the secondary education system was heavily influenced by the Matriculation Examination, which many students viewed as the primary route to university education.
• It recommended a selective admission system for secondary education, suggesting that students destined for rural occupations should remain in Middle Vernacular Schools.
• For students after the Middle Stage, the committee proposed diversifying courses to lead towards industrial and commercial careers.

University Education:

• The committee criticized the weaknesses in university education, particularly the policy of indiscriminate admissions, which contributed to a decline in standards.
• It recommended focusing efforts on improving university education, ensuring that universities provide advanced education only to students who are qualified and capable of receiving it.
• The committee stressed that universities should concentrate on their core function of delivering high-quality advanced education.

Wardha Scheme of Basic Education

• Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy, leading to the establishment of popular ministries in 1937.
• The Congress party gained power in seven provinces.
• In 1937, the Congress party began developing a national education scheme for the country.
• Mahatma Gandhi published articles in his paper,The Harijan, proposing the Wardha Scheme of Basic Education.
• The core principle of Basic Education is ‘learning through activity’.
• The Zakir Husain Committee elaborated on the scheme, creating detailed syllabi for various crafts and offering recommendations on teacher training,supervision,examination, administration.
• The scheme focused on ‘manual productive work’ and proposed a seven-year course in the mother tongue of the students.
• The onset of World War II in 1939 and the resignation of Congress Ministries led to the delay of the scheme.

Sargeant Plan of Education, 1944

In 1944, the Central Advisory Board of Education proposed a national education scheme known as the Sargeant Plan, named after Sir John Sargeant, the Educational Advisor to the Government of India.

Key Recommendations:

• Establishment of elementary schools and high schools(junior and senior basic schools).
• Introduction of universal free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 11.
• Provision of a six-year school course for children aged 11 to 17.
• High schools to be divided into academic and technical/vocational schools with different curricula.
• Abolition of the Intermediate course and extension of one year each at the high school and college levels.

The Sargeant Scheme outlined a 40-year plan for educational reconstruction in the country.