Q1: Why did Thomas Macaulay emphasise the need of European Education in India?
Ans: Thomas Macaulay was a great critic of the orientalist vision of learning. He saw India as an uncivilised country that needed to be civilised. He thought that no branch of Eastern knowledge could be compared to what England had produced. He urged that the British government in India stop wasting public money in promoting oriental learning for it was of no practical use. He emphasised the need to introduce European education in India. He felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced. It would make them aware of the developments in Western science and philosophy. Teaching of English could be a way of civilising people, changing their tastes, values and culture.
Q2: What were the views of other Company officials?
Ans: Other Company officials did not approve the ideas of the Orientalists. They began to criticise the Orientalist- vision of learning. They saved that the knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thought. They saw Eastern literature as non-serious and light-hearted. So, they argued that it was wrong on the part of the British to spend so much effort in encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanskrit language and literature.
Q3: What type of education did Tagore want to give to children?
Ans: Tagore hated going to school. He found it suffocative and oppressive. He felt that childhood ought to be a time of self-learning, outside the rigid and restricting discipline of the schooling system set up by the British. Teachers had to be imaginative, understand the child and help the child develop her curiosity. According to Tagore, the existing schools killed the natural desire of the child to be creative, her own thoughts and desires.
Q4: Why did many Company officials in India want to promote Indian rather than Western learning?
Ans: Many Company officials felt that institutions should be set up to encourage the study of ancient Indian texts and teach Sanskrit and Persian literature and poetry. These officials were of the opinion that Hindus and Muslims ought to be taught what they were already familiar with and what they valued and preserved, not subjects that were alien to them. They believed that only by doing this the British could win the hearts of the Indians, only then they could expect to be respected by their subjects.
Q5: What measures were taken by the English Education Act of 1835?
Ans: The following measures were taken under the English Education Act 1835:
Q6: What measures were taken by the British after issuing of Wood’s Despatch?
Ans: Following measures were taken:
Q7: Define the term ‘vernacular’. Why did the British use this term in colonial countries like India?
Ans: The term Vernacular’ refers to a local language or dialect as distinct from what is known as the standard language. In colonial countries like India, the British used this term to mark the difference between the local languages of everyday use and English, the language of the imperial masters.
Q8: How did Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi differ in their thought about western education?
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi was highly critical of western civilisation and the worship of machines and technology. Tagore wanted to combine elements of modern western civilisation with what he saw as the best within Indian tradition. He emphasised the need to teach science and technology at Shantiniketan along with art, music and dance.
Q9: How can you say that the system of education in pathshalas was flexible?
Ans: In pathshalas there were nofixed fee, no printed books, no separate school building, no benches or chairs, no blackboards, no system of separate classes, no registers, no annual examinations, and no regular timetable. In some places classes were held under a banyan tree, in other places in the corner of a village shop or temple, or at the guru’s home. Fee depended on the income of parents. Teaching was oral and the guru decided what to teach, in accordance with the needs of the students. Students were not separated out into different classes. They sat together in one place. During harvest time when rural children were busy in the fields, classes were not held. The pathshalas started once again when the crops had been cut and stored.
Q10: Write a note on Rabindranath Tagore and his school Shantiniketan.
Ans: Rabindranath Tagore, like Mahatma Gandhi, also did not approve Western education wholeheartedly. At the time when several Indians urged the British to open more and more schools, colleges and universities in order to spread English education in India, Rabindranath Tagore reacted strongly against such education.
Q11: What measures were undertaken by the Company to improve the system of vernacular education?
Ans: There were no rules and regulations in pathshalas. Hence, the Company decided to improve the entire system. It took several measures:
Q12: What were the provisions of Wood's Despatch?
Ans:
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