[Reader-list] British report on Indian education, 1854
Rana Dasgupta
eye at ranadasgupta.com
Tue May 25 11:26:18 IST 2004
Educational Despatch of 1854
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/Despatch from the Court of Directors of the East India Company, to the
Governor General of India in Council, (No. 49, dated the 19th July 1854)/.
It appears to us that the present time, when by an Act of the Imperial
Legislature the responsible trust of the Government of India has again
been placed in our hands, is peculiarly suitable for the review of the
progress which has already been made, the supply of existing
deficiencies, and the adoption of such improvements as may be best
calculated to secure the ultimate benefit of the people committed to our
charge.
2. Among many subjects of importance, none can have a stronger claim to
our attention than that of education. It is one of our most sacred
duties to be the means, as far as in us lies, of conferring upon the
natives of India those vast moral and material blessings which flow from
the general diffusion of useful knowledge, and which India may, under
Providence, derive from her connexion with England. For although British
influence has already in many remarkable instances, been applied with
great energy and success to uproot demoralising practices and even
crimes of a deeper dye, which for ages had prevailed among the natives
of India, the good results of those efforts must, in order to be
permanent, possess the further sanction of a general sympathy in the
native mind which the advance of education alone can secure.
3. We have moreover, always looked upon the encouragement of education
as peculiarly important, because calculated "not only to produce a
higher degree of intellectual fitness, but to raise the moral character
of those who partake of its advantages, and so to supply you with
servants to whose probity you may with increased confidence commit
offices of trust" in India, where the well-being of the people is so
intimately connected with the truthfulness and ability of officers of
every grade in all departments of the State.
4. Nor, while the character of England is deeply concerned in the
success of our efforts for the promotion of education, are her 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 labor 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 larger and more certain supply of
many articles necessary for our manufactures and extensively consumed by
all classes of our population, as well as an almost inexhaustible demand
for the produce of British labor.
5. We have from time to time given careful attention and encouragement
to the efforts which have hitherto been made for the spread of
education, and we have watched with deep interest the practical results
of the various systems by which those efforts have been directed. The
periodical reports of the different Councils and Boards of Education,
together with other official communications upon the same subject have
put us in possession of full information as to those educational
establishments which are under the direct control of Government; while
the evidence taken before the Committees of both Houses of Parliament
upon Indian affairs has given us the advantage of similar information
with respect to exertions made for this purpose by persons unconnected
with Government, and has also enabled us to profit by a knowledge of the
views of those who are best able to arrive at sound conclusions upon the
question of education generally.
6. Aided, therefore, by, ample experience of the past and the most
competent advice for the future we are now in a position to decide on
the mode in which the assistance of Government should be afforded to the
more extended and systematic promotion of general education in India,
and on the measures which should at once be adopted to that end.
7. Before proceeding further, 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, philosophy and
literature of Europe; in short of European knowledge.
8. The systems of science and philosophy which form the learning of the
East abound with grave errors, and eastern literature is at best very
deficient as regards all modern discovery and improvements; Asiatic
learning, therefore, however widely diffused, would but little advance
our object. We do not wish to diminish the opportunities which are now
afforded in special institutions for the study of Sanskrit, Arabic and
Persian literature, or for the cultivation of those languages which may
be called the classical languages of India. An acquaintance with the
works contained in them is valuable for historical and antiquarian
purposes, and a knowledge of the languages themselves is required in the
study of Hindoo and Mahomedan law, and is also of great importance for
the critical cultivation and improvement of the vernacular languages of
India.
9. We are not unaware of the success of many distinguished oriental
scholars in their praiseworthy endeavours to ingraft upon portions of
Hindoo philosophy the germs of sounder morals and of more advanced
science; and we are far from under-rating the good effect which has thus
been produced upon the learned classes of India, who pay hereditary
veneration to those ancient languages, and whose assistance in the
spread of education is so valuable, from the honourable and influential
position which they occupy among their fellow-countrymen. But such
attempts, although they may usefully co-operate, can only be considered
as auxiliaries and would be a very inadequate foundation for any general
schemes of Indian education.
10. We have also received most satisfactory evidence of the high
attainment in English literature and European science which have been
acquired of late years by some of the natives of India. But this success
has been confined to but a small number of persons; and we are desirous
of extending far more widely the means of acquiring general European
knowledge of a less high order, but of such a character, as may be
practically useful to the people of India in their different spheres of
life. To attain this end it is necessary, for the reasons which we have
given above that they should be made familiar with the works of European
authors and with the results of the thought and labour of Europeans on
the subjects of every description upon which knowledge is to be imparted
to them; and to extend the means of imparting this knowledge must be the
object of any general system of education.
11. We have next to consider the manner in which our object is to be
effected, and this leads us to the question of the medium through which
knowledge is to be conveyed to the people of India. It has hitherto been
necessary, owing to the want of translations or adaptations of European
works in the vernacular languages of India and to the very imperfect
shape in which European knowledge is to be found in any works in the
learned languages of the East, for those who desired to obtain a liberal
education to begin by the mastery of the English language as a key to
the literature of Europe, and a knowledge of English will always be
essential to those natives of India who aspire to a high order of education.
12. In some parts of India, more especially in the immediate vicinity of
the presidency towns, where persons who possess a knowledge of English
are preferred to others in many employments, public as well as private,
a very moderate proficiency in the English language is often looked upon
by those who attend school instruction as the end and object of their
education rather than as a necessary step to the improvement of their
general knowledge. We do not deny the value in many respects of the mere
faculty of speaking and writing English, but we fear that a tendency has
been created in these districts unduly to neglect the study of the
vernacular languages.
13. It is neither our aim nor desire to substitute the English language
for the vernacular dialects of the country. We have always been most
sensible of the importance of the use of the languages which alone are
understood by the great mass of the population. These languages, and not
English, have been put by us in the place of Persian in the
administration of justice and in the intercourse between the officers of
Government and the people. It is indispensable, therefore, that, in any
general system of education, the study of them should be "assiduously
attended to, and any acquaintance with improved European knowledge which
is to be communicated to the great mass of the people- whose
circumstances prevent them from acquiring a high order of education, and
who cannot be expected to overcome the difficulties of a foreign
language- can only be conveyed to them through one or other of those
vernacular languages.
14. In any general system of education, the English language should be
taught where there is a demand for it; but such instruction should
always be combined with a careful attention to the study of the
vernacular language of the district, and with such general instruction
as can be conveyed through that language; and while the English language
continues to be made use of as by far the most perfect medium for the
education of those persons who have acquired a sufficient knowledge of
it to receive general instruction through it, the vernacular languages
must be employed to teach the far larger classes who are ignorant of, or
imperfectly acquainted with English. This can only be done effectually
through the instrumentality of masters and professors, who may, by
themselves, knowing English and thus having full access to the latest
improvements in knowledge of every kind, impart to their
fellow-countrymen through the medium of their mother tongue, the
information which they have thus obtained. At the same time, and as the
importance of the vernacular languages becomes more appreciated, the
vernacular literatures of India, will be gradually enriched by
translations of European books or by the original compositions of men
whose minds have been imbued with the spirit of European advancement, so
that European knowledge may gradually be placed in this manner within
the reach of all classes of the people. We look, therefore, to the
English language and to the vernacular languages of India together as
the media for the diffusion of European knowledge, and it is our desire
to see them cultivated together in all schools in India of a
sufficiently high class to maintain a school-master possessing the
requisite qualifications.
15. We proceed now to the machinery which we propose to establish for
the superintendence and direction of education. This has hitherto been
exercised in our presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay by Boards and
Councils of Education, composed of European and native gentlemen who
have devoted themselves to this duty with no other remuneration than the
consciousness of assisting the progress of learning and civilization,
and, at the same time with an earnestness and ability which must command
the gratitude of the people of India, and which will entitle some
honoured names amongst them to a high place among the benefactors of
India and the human race.
16. The Lieutenant-Governor of Agra has, since the separation of the
educational institutions of the North-Western Provinces from those of
Bengal, taken up himself the task of their management; and we cannot
allow this opportunity to pass without the observation that, in this, as
in all other branches of his administration, Mr. Thomason displayed that
accurate knowledge of the condition and requirements of the people under
his charge, and that clear and ready perception of the political
measures best suited for their welfare, which make his death a loss to
India, which we deplore the more deeply as we fear that his unremitting
exertions tended to shorten his career of usefulness.
17. We desire to express to the present Board and Councils of Education
our sincere thanks for the manner in which they have exercised their
functions, and we still hope to have the assistance of the gentlemen
composing them in furtherance of a most important part of our present
plan; but having determined upon a very considerable extension of the
general scope of our efforts, involving the simultaneous employment of
different agencies, some of which are now wholly neglected, and others
but imperfectly taken advantage of by Government, we are of opinion that
it is advisable to place the superintendence and direction of education
upon a more systematic footing, and we have, therefore, determined to
create an Educational Department as a portion of the machinery of our
Governments in the several presidencies of India. We accordingly propose
that an officer shall be appointed for each presidency and
lieutenant-governorship who shall be specially charged with the
management of the business connected with the education, and be
immediately responsible to Government for its conduct.
18. An adequate system of inspection will also, for the future, become
an essential part of our educational system; and we desire that a
sufficient number of qualified inspectors be appointed, who will
periodically report upon the state of those colleges and schools which
are now supported and managed by Government as well as of such as will
hereafter be brought under Government inspection by the measures that we
propose to adopt. They will conduct, or assist at, the examination of
the scholars of these institutions, and generally, by their advice, aid
the managers and schoolmasters in conducting colleges and schools of
every description throughout the country. They will necessarily be of
different stamps, and may possess different degrees of acquirement,
according to the higher or lower character of the institutions which
they will be employed to visit; but we need hardly say that, even for
the proper inspection of the lower schools, and with a view to their
effectual improvement, the greatest care will be necessary to select
persons of high character and fitting judgment for such employment. A
proper staff of clerks and other officers will, moreover, be required
for the Educational Departments.
19. Reports of the proceedings of the inspectors should be made
periodically and these, again, should be embodied in the annual reports
of the heads of the Educational Departments, which should be transmitted
to us, together with statistical returns (to be drawn up in similar
forms in all parts of India), and other information of a general
character relating to education.
20. We shall send copies of this despatch to the Governments of Fort St.
George and of Bombay, and direct them at once to make provisional
arrangements for the superintendence and inspection of education in
their respective presidencies. Such arrangements as they make will be
reported to you for sanction. You will take similar measures in
communication with the Lieutenant-Governors of Bengal and of Agra, and
you will also provide in such manner as may seem advisable for the wants
of the non-regulation provinces in this respect. We desire that your
proceedings in this matter may be reported to us with as little delay as
possible, and we are prepared to approve of such an expenditure as you
may deem necessary for this purpose.
21. In the selection of the heads of the Educational Departments, the
inspectors and other officers, it will be of the greatest importance to
secure the services of persons who are not only best able, from their
character, position and acquirements, to carry our objects into effect,
but who may command the confidence of the natives of India. It may,
perhaps be advisable that the first heads of the Educational Department,
as well as some of the inspectors, should be members of our Civil
Service, as such appointments in the first instance would tend to raise
the estimation in which these officers will be held, and to show the
importance we attach to the subject of education, and also, as amongst
them you will probably find the persons best qualified for the
performance of the duty. But we desire that neither these offices, nor
any others connected with education, shall be considered as necessarily
to be filled by members of that service, to the exclusion of others,
Europeans or Natives, who may be better fitted for them; and that, in
any case, the scale for their remuneration shall be so fixed as publicly
to recognise the important duties they will have to perform.
22. We now proceed to sketch out the general scheme of the measures
which we propose to adopt. We have endeavoured to avail ourselves of the
knowledge which has been gained from the various experiments which have
been made in different parts of India for the encouragement of
education; and we hope, by the more general adoption of those plans
which have been carried into successful execution in particular
districts, as well as by the introduction of other measures which appear
to be wanting, to establish such a system as will prove generally
applicable throughout India, and thus to impart to the educational
efforts of our different presidencies a greater degree of uniformity and
method than at present exists.
23. We are fully aware that no general scheme would be applicable in all
its details to the present condition of all portions of our Indian
territories, differing so widely as they do, one from another, in many
important particulars. It is difficult, moreover, for those who do not
possess a recent and practical acquaintance with particular districts,
to appreciate the importance which should be attached to the feelings
and influences which prevail in each; and we have, therefore, preferred
confining ourselves to describing generally what we wish to see done,
leaving to you, in communication with the several Local Governments, to
modify particular measures so far as may be required, in order to adapt
them to different parts of India.
24. Some years ago, we declined to accede to a proposal made by the
Council of Education, and transmitted to us with the recommendation of
your Government for the institution of an University in Calcutta. The
rapid spread of a liberal education among the natives of India since
that time, the high attainments shown by the native candidates for
Government scholarships, and by native students in private institutions,
the success of the medical colleges, and the requirements of an
increasing European and Anglo-Indian population, have led us to the
conclusion that the time is now arrived for the establishment of
universities in India, which may encourage a regular and liberal course
of education by conferring academical degrees as evidences of
attainments in the different branches of art and science, and by adding
marks of honour for those who may desire to compete for honorary
distinction.
25. The Council of Education, in the proposal to which we have alluded,
took the London University as their model; and we agree with them that
the form, government, and functions of that University (copies of whose
charters and regulations we enclose for your reference) are the best
adapted to the wants of India, and may be followed with advantage,
although some variation will be necessary in points of detail.
26. The Universities in India will accordingly consist of a Chancellor,
Vice-Chancellor, and Fellows, who will constitute a Senate. The Senates
will have the management of the funds of the universities, and frame
regulations for your approval, under which periodical examinations may
be held in the different branches of art and science by examiners
selected from their own body, or nominated by them.
27. The function of the universities will be to confer degrees upon such
persons as, having been entered as candidates according to the rules
which may be fixed in this respect, and having produced from any of the
"affiliated institutions" which will be enumerated on the foundation of
the universities, or be from time to time added to them by Government,
certificates of conduct, and of having pursued a regular course of study
for a given time, shall have also passed at the universities such an
examination as may be required of them. It may be advisable to dispense
with the attendance required at the London University for the
Matriculation examination, and to substitute some mode of entrance
examination which may secure a certain amount of knowledge in the
candidates for degrees without making their attendance at the
universities necessary, previous to the final examination.
28. The examinations for degrees will not include any subjects connected
with religious belief; and affiliated institutions will be under the
management of persons of every variety of religious persuasion. As in
England, various institutions in immediate connexion with the Church of
England, the Presbyterian College at Caermarthen, the Roman Catholic
College at Oscott, the Wesleyan College at Sheffield, the Baptist
College at Bristol, and the Countess of Huntingdon's College at
Cheshunt, are among the institutions from which the London University is
empowered to receive certificates for degrees; so in India, institutions
conducted by all denominations of Christians, Hindoos, Mahommedans,
Parsees, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, or any other religious persuasions,
may be affiliated to the universities, if they are found to afford the
requisite course of study, and can be depended upon for the certificates
of conduct which will be required.
29. The detailed regulations for the examination for degrees should be
framed with a due regard for all classes of the affiliated institutions;
and we will only observe upon this subject that the standard for common
degrees will require to be fixed with very great judgment. There are
many persons who well deserve the distinction of an academical degree,
as the recognition of a liberal education, who could not hope to obtain
it if the examination was as difficult as that for the senior Government
scholarships; and the standard required should be such as to command
respect without discouraging the efforts of deserving students, which
would be a great obstacle to the success of the universities. In the
competitions for honors, which as in the London University, will follow
the examinations for degrees, care should be taken to maintain such a
standard as will afford a guarantee for high ability and valuable
attainments,-the subjects for examination being so selected as to
include the best portions of the different schemes of study pursued at
the affiliated institutions.
30. It will be advisable to institute, in connection with the
universities, professorships for the purposes of the delivery of
lectures in various branches of learning, for the acquisition of which,
at any rate in an advanced degree, facilities do not now exist in other
institutions in India. Law is the most important of these subjects; and
it will be for you to consider whether, as was proposed in the plan of
the Council of Education to which we have before referred, the
attendance, upon certain lectures, and the attainment of a degree in
law, may not, for the future, be made a qualification for vakeels and
moonsifs, instead of, or in addition to, the present system of
examination, which must, however, be continued in places not within easy
reach of an university.
31. Civil engineering is another subject of importance, the advantages
of which, as a profession, are gradually becoming known to the natives
of India; and while we are inclined to believe that instruction of a
practical nature, such as is given at the Thomason College of Civil
Engineering at Roorkee, is far more useful than any lectures could
possibly be, professorships of civil engineering might, perhaps, be
attached to the universities and degrees in civil engineering be
included in their general scheme.
32. Other branches of useful learning may suggest themselves to you, in
which it might be advisable that lectures should be read, and special
degrees given; and it would greatly encourage the cultivation of the
vernacular languages of India that professorships should be founded for
those languages, and perhaps also for Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. A
knowledge of the Sanskrit language, the root of the vernaculars of the
greater part of India, is more especially necessary, to those who are
engaged in the work of the composition in those languages; while Arabic,
through Persian, is one of the component parts of the Urdu language,
which extends over so large a part of Hindoostan, and is, we are
informed, capable of considerable development. The grammar of these
languages, and their application to the improvement of the spoken
languages of the country, are the points to which the attention of those
professors should be mainly directed; and there will be an ample field
for their labors unconnected with any instruction in the tenets of the
Hindoo or Mahomedan religions. We should refuse to sanction any such
teaching, as directly opposed to the principles of religious neutrality
to which we have always adhered.
33. We desire that you take into your consideration the institution of
universities at Calcutta and Bombay, upon the general principles which
we have now explained to you, and report to us upon the best method of
procedure, with a view to their incorporation by Acts of the Legislative
Council of India. The offices of Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor will
naturally be filled by persons of high stations, who have shown an
interest in the cause of education; and it is in connexion with the
universities that we propose to avail ourselves of the services of the
existing Council of Education at Calcutta and Board of Education at
Bombay. We wish to place these gentlemen in a position which will not
only mark our sense of the exertions which they have made in furtherance
of education but will give it the benefit of their past experience of
the subject. We propose, therefore, that the Council of Education at
Calcutta and the Board of Education at Bombay, with some additional
members to be named by the Government, shall constitute the Senate of
the University at each of those presidencies.
34. The additional members should be so selected as to give to all those
who represent the different systems of education which will be carried
on in the affiliated institutions-including natives of India of all
religious persuasions, who possess the confidence of the native
communities-a fair voice in the Senates. We are led to make those
remarks, as we observe that the plan of the Council of Education, in
1845, for the constitution of the Senate of the proposed Calcutta
University, was not sufficiently comprehensive.
35. We shall be ready to sanction the creation of an university at
Madras or in any part of India, where a sufficient number of
institutions exist, from which properly qualified candidates for degrees
could be supplied; it being in our opinion advisable that the great
centres of European Government and civilisation in India should possess
universities similar in character to those which will now be founded as
soon as the extension of a liberal education shows that their
establishment would be of advantage to the native communities.
36. Having provided for the general superintendence of education and for
the institution of universities, not so much to be in themselves places
of instruction as to test the value of the education obtained elsewhere,
we proceed to consider first, the different classes of colleges and
schools, which should be maintained in simultaneous operation, in order
to place within the reach of all classes of the natives of India the
means of obtaining improved knowledge suited to their several conditions
of life; and secondly, the manner in which the most effectual aid may be
rendered by Government to each class of educational institutions.
37. The candidates for university degrees will, as we have already
explained, be supplied by colleges affiliated to the universities. These
will comprise all such institutions as are capable of supplying a
sufficiently high order of instruction in the different branches of art
and science in which university degrees will be accorded. The Hindoo,
Hooghly, Dacca, Kishnaghur and Berhampur Government Anglo-Vernacular
Colleges, the Sanskrit College, the Mahomedan Madrassas, and the Medical
College, in Bengal; the Elphinstone Institution, the Poonah College, and
the Grant Medical College in Bombay; the Delhi, Agra, Benares, Bareilly
and Thomason Colleges in the North-Western Provinces; Seminaries such as
the Oriental Seminary in Calcutta, which have been established by highly
educated natives, a class of places of instruction which we are glad to
learn is daily increasing in number and efficiency; those, which, like
the Parental Academy, are conducted by East Indians; Bishop's College,
the General Assembly's Institution, Dr. Duff's College, the Baptist
College at Serampore, and other Institutions under the superintendence
of different religious bodies and Missionary Societies, will, at once,
supply a considerable number of educational establishments worthy of
being affiliated to the universities, and of occupying the highest place
in the scale of general instruction.
38. The affiliated institutions will be periodically visited by
Government inspectors; and a spirit of honorable rivalry, tending to
preserve their efficiency will be promoted by this, as well as by the
competition of their most distinguished students for university honors.
Scholarships should be attached to them, to be held by the best students
of lower schools; and their schemes of education should provide, in the
anglo-vernacular colleges for a careful cultivation of the vernacular
languages; and, in the Oriental colleges, for sufficient instruction in
the English and vernacular languages, so as to render the studies of
each most available for that general diffusion of European knowledge
which is the main object of education in India.
39. It is to this class of institutions that the attention of Government
has hitherto been principally directed, and they absorb the greater part
of the public funds which are now applied to educational purposes. The
wise abandonment of the early views with respect to native education,
which erroneously pointed to the classical languages of the East as the
media for imparting European knowledge, together with the small amount
of pecuniary aid which, in the then financial condition of India, was at
your command, has led, we think, to too exclusive a direction of the
efforts of Government towards providing the means of acquiring a very
high degree of education for a small number of natives of India, drawn,
for the most part, from what we should here call the higher classes.
40. It is well that every opportunity should have been given to those
classes for the acquisition of a liberal European education, the effects
of which may be expected slowly to pervade the rest of their
fellow-countrymen, and to raise, in the end, the educational tone of the
whole country. We are, therefore, far from under-rating the importance,
or the success, of the efforts which have been made in this direction;
but the higher classes are both able and willing in many cases to bear a
considerable part at least of the cost of their education; and it is
abundantly evident that, in some parts of India no artificial stimulus
is any longer required in order to create a demand for such an education
as is conveyed in the Government anglo-vernacular colleges. We have, by
the establishment and support of these colleges, pointed out the manner
in which a liberal education is to be obtained, and assisted them to a
very considerable extent from the public funds. In addition to this, we
are now prepared to give, by sanctioning the establishment of
universities, full development to the highest course of education to
which the natives of India, or of any other country, can aspire; and
besides, by the division of university degrees and distinctions into
different branches, the exertions of highly educated men will be
directed to the studies which are necessary to success in the various
active professions of life. We shall, therefore, have done as much as a
Government can do to place the benefits of education plainly and
practically before the higher classes in India.
41. Our attention should now be directed to a consideration, if
possible, still more important, and one which has been hitherto, we are
bound to admit, too much neglected, namely, how useful and practical
knowledge, suited to every station in life, may be best conveyed to the
great mass of the people, who are utterly incapable of obtaining any
education worthy of the name by their own unaided efforts, and we desire
to see the active measures of Government more especially directed, for
the future, to this object, for the attainment of which we are ready to
sanction a considerable increase of expenditure.
42. Schools-whose object should be not to train highly a few youths, but
to provide more opportunities than now exist for the acquisition of such
an improved education as will make those who possess it more useful
members of society in every condition of life-should exist in every
district in India. These schools should he subject to constant and
careful inspection; and their pupils might be encouraged by scholarships
being instituted at other institutions which would be tenable at rewards
for merit by the best of their number.
43. We include in this class of institutions those which, like the
zillah schools of Bengal, the district Government anglo-vernacular
schools of Bombay, and such as have been established by the Raja of
Burdwan and other native gentlemen in different parts of India, use the
English language as the chief medium of instruction; as well as others
of an inferior order, such as the tehseelee schools in the North-Western
Provinces, and the Government vernacular schools in the Bombay
presidency, whose object is, however, imperfectly it has been as yet
carried out, to convey the highest claim of instruction which can now be
taught through the medium of the vernacular languages.
44. We include the anglo-vernacular and vernacular schools in the same
class, because we are unwilling to maintain the broad line of separation
which at present exists between schools in which the media for imparting
instruction differ. The knowledge conveyed is no doubt, at the present
time, much higher in the anglo-vernacular than in the vernacular
schools; but the difference will become less marked, and the latter more
efficient, as the gradual enrichment of the vernacular languages in
works of education allows their schemes of study to be enlarged, and as
a more numerous class of school-masters is raised up, able to impart a
superior education.
45. It is indispensable, in order fully and efficiently to carry out our
views as to these schools, that their masters should possess a knowledge
of English in order to acquire, and of the vernaculars so as readily to
convey, useful knowledge to their pupils; but we are aware that it is
impossible to obtain at present the services of a sufficient number of
persons so qualified, and that such a class must be gradually collected
and trained in the manner to which we shall hereafter allude. In the
meantime, you must make the best use which is possible of such
instruments as are now at your command.
46. Lastly, what have been termed indigenous schools should, by wise
encouragement, such as has been given under the system organised by Mr.
Thomason in the North-Western Provinces, and which has been carried out
in eight districts under the able direction of Mr. H. S. Reid in an
eminently practical manner, and with great promise of satisfactory
results, be made capable of imparting correct elementary knowledge to
the great mass of the people. The most promising pupils of these schools
might be rewarded by scholarships in places of education of a superior
order.
47. Such a system as this, placed in all its degrees under efficient
inspection, beginning with the humblest elementary instruction, and
ending with the university test of a liberal education, the best
students in each class of schools being encouraged by the aid afforded
them towards obtaining a superior education as the reward of merit, by
means of such a system of scholarships as we shall have to describe,
would, we firmly believe, impart life and energy to education in India
and lead to a gradual, but steady extension of its benefits to all
classes of the people.
48. When we consider the vast population of British India, and the sums
which are now expended upon educational efforts, which, however
successful in themselves, have reached but an insignificant number of
those who are of a proper age to receive school instruction, we cannot
but be impressed with the almost insuperable difficulties which would
attend such an extension of the present system of education by means of
colleges and schools entirely supported at the cost of Government as
might be hoped to supply, in any reasonable time, so gigantic a
deficiency and to provide adequate means for setting on foot such a
system as we have described and desire to see established.
49. Nor it is necessary that we should depend entirely upon the direct
efforts of Government. We are glad to recognise an increased desire on
the part of the native population not only in the neighbourhood of the
great centre of European civilisation, but also, in remoter districts,
for the means of obtaining a better education; and we have evidence in
many instances of their readiness to give a practical proof of their
anxiety in this respect by coming forward with liberal pecuniary
contributions. Throughout all ages, learned Hindoos and Mahomedans have
devoted themselves to teaching with little other remuneration than a
bare subsistence; and munificent bequests have not frequently been made
for the permanent endowment of educational institutions.
50. At the same time, in so far as the noble exertions of societies of
Christians of all denominations to guide the natives of India in the way
of religious truth, and to instruct uncivilised races, such as those
found in Assam, in the Cossya, Garrow and Rajmehal Hills, and in various
districts of Central and Southern India (who are in the lowest condition
of ignorance, and are either wholly without a religion, or are the
slaves of a degrading and barbarous superstitions), have been
accompanied, in their educational establishments, by the diffusion of
improved knowledge, they have largely contributed to the spread of that
education which it is our object to promote.
51. The consideration of the impossibility of Government alone doing all
that must be done in order to provide adequate means for the education
of the natives of India, and of the ready assistance which may be
derived from efforts which have hitherto received but little
encouragement from the State, has led us to the natural conclusion that
the most effectual method of providing for the wants of India in this
respect will be to combine with the agency of the Government the aid
which may be derived from the exertions and liberality of the educated
and wealthy natives of India and of other benevolent persons.
52. We have, therefore, resolved to adopt in India the system of
grants-in-aid which has been carried out in this country with very great
success; and we confidently anticipate, by thus drawing support from
local resources in addition to contributions from the State, a far more
rapid progress of education than would follow a mere increase of
expenditure by the Government; while it possesses the additional
advantage of fostering a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and
combination for local purposes, which is of itself of no mean importance
to the well-being of a nation.
53. The system of grants-in-aid, which we propose to establish in India
will be based on an entire abstinence from interference with the
religious instruction conveyed in the school assisted. Aid will be given
(so far as the requirements of each particular district, as compared
with others, and the funds at the disposal of Government, may render it
possible) to all schools which impart a good secular education, provided
that they are under adequate local management (by the term "local
management" we understand one or more persons, such as private patrons,
voluntary subscribers, or the trustees of endowments, who will undertake
the general superintendence of the school, and be answerable for its
permanence for some given time); and provided also that their managers
consent that the schools shall be subject to Government inspection, and
agree to any conditions which may be laid down for the regulation of
such grants.
54. It has been found by experience, in this and in other countries,
that not only an entirely gratuitous education valued far less by those
who receive it than one for which some payment, however small, is made,
but that the payment induces a more regular attendance and greater
exertion on the part of the pupils; and, for this reason, as well as
because school fees themselves, insignificant as they may be in each
individual instance, will in the aggregate, when applied to the support
of a better class of masters, become of very considerable importance, we
desire that grants-in-aid shall, as a general principle, be made to such
schools only (with the exception of normal schools) as require some fee,
however small, from their scholars.
55. Careful considerations will be required in training rules for the
administration of the grants; and the same course should be adopted in
India which has been pursued, with obvious advantage by the Committee of
Council here, namely, to appropriate the grants to specific objects, and
not (except, perhaps, in the case of normal schools) to apply them in
the form of simple contributions in aid of the general expenses of a
school. The augmentation of the salaries of the head teachers, and the
supply of junior teachers, will probably be found in India, as with us,
to be the most important objects to which the grants can ordinarily be
appropriated. The foundation, or assistance in the foundation, of
scholarships for candidates from lower schools, will also be a proper
object, for the application of grants-in-aid. In some cases, again,
assistance towards erecting or repairing a school, or the provision of
an adequate supply of schoolbooks, may be required; but the
appropriation of the grant in each particular instance should be
regulated by the peculiar circumstances of each school and district.
56. The amount and continuance of the assistance given will depend upon
the periodical reports of inspectors, who will be selected with special
reference to their possessing the confidence of the native communities.
In their periodical inspections, no notice whatsoever should be taken by
them of religious doctrines which may be taught in any school; and their
duty should be strictly confined to ascertaining whether the secular
knowledge conveyed is such as to entitle it to consideration in the
distribution of the sum which will be applied to grants-in-aid. They
should also assist in the establishment of schools by their advice,
wherever they may have opportunities of doing so.
57. We confide the practical adaptation of the general principles we
have laid down as to grants-in-aid to your discretion, aided by the
educational departments of the different presidencies. In carrying into
effect our views, which apply alike to all schools and institutions,
whether male or female, anglo-vernacular or vernacular, it is of the
greatest importance that the conditions under which schools will be
assisted should be clearly and publicly placed before the natives of
India. For this purpose Government notifications should be drawn up and
promulgated in the different vernacular languages. It may be advisable
distinctly to assert in them the principle of perfect religious
neutrality on which the grants will be awarded; and care should be taken
to avoid holding out expectations which from any cause may be liable to
disappointment.
58. There will be little difficulty in the application of this system of
grants- in-aid to the higher order of places of instruction in India in
which English is at present the medium of education.
59. Grants-in-aid will also at once give assistance to all such
anglo-vernacular and vernacular schools as impart a good elementary
education; but we fear that the number of this class of schools is at
present inconsiderable, and that such as are in existence require great
improvement.
60. A more minute and constant local supervision than would accompany
the general system of grants-in-aid will be necessary in order to raise
the character of the "indigenous schools," which are, at present, not
only very inefficient in quality, but of exceedingly precarious
duration, as is amply shown by the statistics collected by Mr. Adam in
Bengal and Behar, and from the very important information we have
received of late years from the North-Western Provinces. In organising
such a system, we cannot do better than to refer you to the manner in
which the operations of Mr. Reid have been conducted in the
North-Western Provinces, and to the instructions given by him to the
zillah and pergunnah visitors, and contained in the appendix to his
first report.
61. We desire to see local management under Government inspection and
assisted by grants-in-aid taken advantage of wherever it is possible to
do so, and that no Government colleges or schools shall be founded, for
the future, in any district where a sufficient number of institutions
exists, capable, with assistance from the State, of supplying the local
demand for education; but, in order fully to carry out the views we have
expressed with regard to the adequate provision of schools throughout
the country, it will probably be necessary, for some years, to supply
the wants of particular parts of India by the establishment, temporary
support, and management of places of education of every class in
districts where there is little or no prospect of adequate local efforts
being made for this purpose, but where, nevertheless, they are urgently
required.
62. We look forward to the time when any general system of education
entirely provided by Government may be discontinued, with the gradual
advance of the system of grants-in-aid, and when many of the existing
Government institutions, especially those of the higher order, may be
safely closed, or transferred to the management of local bodies under
the control of, and aided by, the State. But it is far from our wish to
check the spread of education in the slightest degree by the abandonment
of a single school to probable decay; and we therefore entirely confide
in your discretion, and in that of the different authorities, while
keeping this object steadily in view, to act with caution, and to be
guided by special reference to the particular circumstances which affect
the demand for education in different parts of India.
63. The system of free and stipendiary scholarships, to which we have
already more than once referred as a connecting link between the
different grades of educational institutions, will require some revision
and extension in carrying out our enlarged educational plans. We wish to
see the object proposed by Lord Auckland, in 1839, "of connecting the
zillah schools with the central colleges by attaching to the latter
scholarships to which the best scholars of the former might be
eligible," more fully carried out; and also, as the measures we now
propose assume an organized form, that the same system may be adopted
with regard to schools of a lower description, and that the best pupils
of the inferior schools shall be provided for by means of scholarships
in schools of a higher order, so that superior talent in every class may
receive what encouragement and development which it deserves. The amount
of the stipendary scholarships should be fixed at such a sum as may be
considered sufficient for the maintenance of the holders of them at
colleges or schools to which they are attached and which may often be at
a distance from the home of the students. We think it desirable that
this system of scholarships should be carried out, not only in connexion
with those places of education which are under the immediate
superintendence of the State, but in all educational institutions which
will now be brought into our general system.
64. We are, at the same time, of opinion that the expenditure upon
existing Government scholarships, other than those to which we have
referred, which amounts to a considerable sum, should be gradually
reduced, with the requisite regard for the claims of the present holders
of them. The encouragement of young men of ability, but of slender
means, to pursue their studies, is no doubt both useful and benevolent,
and we have no wish to interfere with the private endowments which have
been devoted to so laudable an object, or to withdraw the additions
which may have been made by us to any such endowments. But the funds at
the disposal of Government are limited, and we doubt the expediency of
applying them to the encouragement of the acquisition of learning by
means of stipends which not only far exceed the cost of the maintenance
of the student, but in many cases are above what he could reasonably
expect to gain on entering the public service, or any of the active
professions of life.
65. We shall, however, offer encouragement to education which will tend
to more practical results than those scholarships. By giving to persons
who possess an aptness for teaching, as well as the requisite standard
of acquirements, and who are willing to devote themselves to the
profession of schoolmaster, moderate monthly allowances for their
support during the time which it may be requisite for them to pass in
normal schools, or classes, in order to acquire the necessary training,
we shall assist many deserving students to qualify themselves for a
career of practical usefulness, and one which will secure them an
honorable competence through life. We are also of opinion that admission
to places of instruction, which like the Medical and Engineering
Colleges, are maintained by the State for the purpose of educating
persons for special employment under Government, might be made the
rewards of industry and ability, and thus supply a practical
encouragement to general education, similar to that which will be
afforded by the educational service.
66. The establishment of universities will offer considerable further
inducements for the attainment of high proficiency, and thus supply the
place of the present senior scholarships, with this additional
advantage, that a greater number of subjects, in which distinction can
be gained, will be offered to the choice of students than can be
comprised in one uniform examination for a scholarship, and that their
studies will thus be practically directed into channels which will aid
them in the different professions of life which they may afterwards adopt.
67. In England, when systematic attempts began to be made for the
improvement of education, one of the chief defects was found to be the
insufficient number of qualified school-masters and the imperfect method
of teaching which prevailed. This led to the foundation of normal and
model schools for the training of masters and the exemplification of the
best methods for the organisation, discipline and instruction of
elementary schools. This deficiency has been the more palpably felt in
India, as the difficulty of finding persons properly educated for the
work of tuition is greater; and we desire to see the establishment with
as little delay as possible, of training schools and classes for masters
in each presidency in India. It will probably be found that some of the
existing institutions may be adapted, wholly or partially, to this
purpose, with less difficulty than would attend the establishment of
entirely new schools.
68. We cannot do better than refer you to the plan which has been
adopted in Great Britain for this object, and which appears to us to be
capable of easy adaptation to India. It mainly consists, as you will
perceive on reference to the minutes of the Committee of Council, copies
of which we enclose, in the selection and stipend of pupil-teachers
(awarding a small payment to the masters of the schools in which they
are employed for their instruction out of the school hours); their
ultimate removal, if they prove worthy, to normal schools; the issue to
them of certificates on the completion of their training in those normal
schools; and in securing to them a sufficient salary when they are
afterwards employed as school-masters. This system should be carried out
in India, both in the Government colleges and schools, and by means of
grants-in-aid in all institutions which are brought under Government
inspection. The amount of the stipends to pupil-teachers and students at
normal schools should be fixed with great care. The former should
receive moderate allowances rather above the sums which they would earn
if they left school, and the stipends to the latter should be regulated
by the same principle which we have laid down with respect to scholarships.
69. You will be called upon, in carrying these measures into effect, to
take into consideration the position and prospects of the numerous
classes of natives of India who are ready to undertake the important
duty of educating their fellow countrymen. The late extension of the
pension regulations of 1831 to the educational service may require to be
adopted to the revised regulations in this respect; and our wish is that
the profession of school-master may, for the future, afford inducements
to the natives of India such as are held out in other branches of the
public service. The provision of such a class of school-masters as we
wish to see must be a work of time, and in encouraging the "indigenous
schools," our present aim should be to improve the teachers whom we find
in possession, and to take care not to provoke the hostility of this
class of persons, whose influence is so great over the minds of the
lower classes, by superseding them where it is possible to avoid it.
They should moreover, be encouraged to attend the normal schools and
classes which may hereafter be instituted for this class of teachers.
70. Equal in importance to the training of school-masters is the
provision of vernacular school-books, which shall provide European
information to be the object of study in the lower classes of schools.
Something has, no doubt, been done of late years towards this end, but
more still remains to be done; and we believe that deficiencies might be
readily and speedily supplied by the adoption of a course recommended by
Mr. M. Elphinstone in 1825, namely-"That the best translations of
particular books, or the best elementary treatises in specified
languages, should be advertised for and liberally rewarded."
71. The aim should be, in compilations and original compositions (to
quote from one of Mr. Adam's valuable reports upon the state of
education in Bengal), "not to translate European works into the words
and idioms of the native languages, but so to combine the substance of
European knowledge with native forms of thought and sentiment as to
render the school-books useful and attractive. We also refer with
pleasure upon this point to some valuable observations by Mr. Reid, in
his report which we have quoted before, more especially as regards
instruction in geography. It is obvious that the local peculiarities of
different parts of India render it necessary that the class books in
each should be especially adapted to the feelings, sympathies and
history of the people; and we will only further remark upon this subject
that the Oriental Colleges, besides generally tending, as we have before
observed, to the enrichment of the vernacular languages, may, we think,
be made of great use in the translation of scientific works into those
languages, as has already been done to some extent in the Delhi,
Benares, and Poonah Colleges.
72. We have always been of opinion that the spread of education in India
will produce a greater efficiency in all branches of administration by
enabling you to obtain the services of intelligent and trustworthy
persons in every department of Government; and, on the other hand, we
believe that the numerous vacancies of different kinds which have
constantly to be filled up, may afford a great stimulus to education.
The first object must be to select persons properly qualified to fill
these situations; secondary to this is the consideration how far they
may be so distributed as to encourage popular education.
73. The resolutions of our Governor-General in Council of the 10th of
October, 1844 gave a general preference to well-educated over uneducated
men in the admissions to the public service. We perceive with much
satisfaction from returns which we have recently received of the persons
appointed since that year in the Revenue Department of Bengal, as well
as from the educational reports from different parts of India, that a
very considerable number of educated men have been employed under
Government of late years; and we understand that it is often not so much
the want of Government employment as the want of properly qualified
persons to be employed by Government, which is felt at the present time
in many parts of India.
74. We shall not enter upon the causes which, as we foresaw, have led to
the failure of that part of the resolutions which provided for the
annual submission to Government of lists of meritorious students. It is
sufficient for our present purpose to observe that no more than 46
persons have been gazetted in Bengal up to this time, all of whom were
students in the Government colleges. In the last year for which we have
returns (1852), only two persons were so distinguished; and we can
readily believe, with the Secretary to the Board of Revenue in Bengal,
that young men, who have passed difficult examinations in the highest
branches of philosophy and mathematics, are naturally disinclined to
accept such employment as persons who intend to make the public service
their profession must necessarily commence with.
75. The necessity for any such lists will be done away with by the
establishment of universities, as the acquisition of a degree, and still
more the attainment of university distinctions, will bring highly
educated young men under the notice of Government. The resolutions in
question will, therefore, require revision so as to adapt them
practically to carry out our views upon this subject. What we desire is
that, where the other qualifications of the candidates for appointments
under Government are equal a person who has received a good education
irrespective of the place or manner in which it may have been acquired,
should be preferred to one who has not; and that, even in lower
situations, a man who can read and write be preferred to one who cannot,
if he is equally eligible in other respects.
76. We also approve of the institution of examinations where
practicable, to be simply and entirely tests of the fitness of
candidates for the special duties of the various departments in which
they are seek employment, as has been the case in the Bombay presidency.
We confidently commit the encouragement of educated, in preference to
uneducated, men to the different officers who are responsible for their
selection; and we cannot interfere by any further regulations to letter
their free choice in a matter of which they bear the sole responsibility.
77. We are sanguine enough to believe that some effect has already been
produced by the improved education of the public service of India. The
ability and integrity of a large and increasing number of the native
judges, to whom the greater part of the civil jurisdiction in India is
now committed, and the high estimation in which many among them are held
by their fellow-countrymen, is, in our opinion, much to be attributed to
the progress of education among these officers, and to their adoption
along with it of that high moral tone which pervades the general
literature of Europe. Nor is it among the higher officers alone that we
have direct evidence of the advantage which the public derives from the
employment of educated men. We quote from the last report of the Dacca
College Report on Public Instruction, with particular satisfaction, as
we are aware that much of the happiness of the people of India depends
upon honesty of the officers of Police: "The best possible evidence has
been furnished," say the local committee," that some of the ex-students
of the College of Dacca have completely succeeded in the arduous office
of darogah." Krishna Chunder Dutt, employed as a darogah under the
Magistrate of Howrah, in particular, is recommended for promotion, as
having gained the respect and applause of all classes, who, though they
may not practise, yet know how to admire, real honesty and integrity of
purpose.
78. But however large the number of appointments under Government may
be, the views of the natives of India should be directed to the far
wider and more important sphere of usefulness and advantage which a
liberal education lays open to them; and such practical benefits arising
from improved knowledge should be constantly impressed upon them by
those who know their feelings and have influence or authority to advise
or direct their efforts. We refer, as an example in this respect, with
mingled pleasure and regret, to the eloquent addresses delivered by the
late Mr. Bethune, when President of the Council of education, to the
students of the Kishnaghur and Dacca Colleges.
79. There are some other points connected with the general subject of
education in India upon which we will now briefly remark. We have always
regarded with special interest those educational institutions which have
been directed towards training up the natives of India to particular
professions, both with a view to their useful employment in the public
service, and to enable them to pursue active profitable occupations in
life. The medical colleges in different parts of India have proved that,
in despite of difficulties which appeared at first sight to be
insurmountable, the highest attainments in medicine and surgery are
within the reach of educated natives of India: we shall be ready to aid
in the establishment and support of such places of instruction as the
medical colleges of Calcutta and Bombay in other parts of India. We have
already alluded to the manner in which students should be supplied to
those colleges as well as to those for the training of civil engineers.
80. The success of the Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee
has shown that, for the purpose of training up persons capable of
carrying out the great works which are in progress under Government
throughout India, and to qualify the natives of India for the exercise
of a profession which, now that the system of railways and public works
is being rapidly extended, will afford an opening for a very large
number of persons, it is expedient that similar places for practical
instruction in civil engineering should be established in other parts of
India, and especially in the presidency of Madras, where works of
irrigation are so essential, not only to the prosperity of the country,
but to the very existence of the people in times of drought and
scarcity. The subject has been prominently brought under your notice in
the recent reports of the Public Works Commissioners for the different
presidencies, and we trust that immediate measures will be taken to
supply a deficiency which is, at present but too apparent.
81. We may notice in connexion with these two classes of institutions of
an essentially practical character, the schools of industry and design,
which have been set on foot from time to time in different parts of
India. We have lately received a very encouraging report of that
established by Dr. Hunter in Madras, and we have also been informed that
Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, with his accustomed munificence, has offered
to lay out a very considerable sum upon a like school in Bombay. Such
institutions as these will, in the end be self-supporting; but we are
ready to assist in their establishment by grants-in-aid for the supply
of models, and other assistance which they may advantageously derive
from the increased attention which has been paid of late years to such
subjects in this country. We enclose you the copy of a report which we
have received from Mr. Redgrave upon the progress of the Madras school,
which may prove of great value in guiding the efforts of the promoters
of any similar institutions which may hereafter be established in India.
We have also perceived with satisfaction that the attention of the
Council of Education in Calcutta has been lately directed to the subject
of attaching to each zillah school the means of teaching practical
agriculture; for there is, as Dr. Alouat most truly observes, "no single
advantage that could be afforded to the vast rural population of India
that would equal the introduction of an improved system of agriculture."
82. The increasing desire of the Mahomedan population to acquire
European knowledge has given us much satisfaction. We perceive that the
Council of Education of Bengal has this subject under consideration and
we shall receive with favour any proposition which may appear to you to
be likely to supply with the want of so large a portion of the natives
of India.
83. The importance of female education in India cannot be over-rated;
and we have observed with pleasure the evidence which is now afforded of
an increased desire on the part of many of the natives of India to give
a good education to their daughters. By this means a far greater
proportional impulse is impartedto the educational and moral tone of the
people than by the education of men. We have already observed that
schools for females are included among those to which grants-in-aid may
be given and we cannot refrain from expressing our cordial sympathy with
the efforts which are being made in this direction. Our Governor-General
in Council has declared in a communication to the Government of Bengal
that the Government ought to give to native female education in India
its frank and cordial support; in this we heartily concur and we
especially approve of the bestowal of marks of honor upon such native
gentlemen as Rao Bahadur Maghuabhai Karramchand, who devoted Rs. 20,000
to the foundation of two native female schools in Ahmedabad, as by such
means our desire for the extension of female education becomes generally
known.
84. Considerable misapprehension appears to exist as to our views with
respect to religious instruction in the Government institutions. Those
institutions were founded for the benefit of the whole population of
India; and in order to effect their object, it was and is, indispensable
that the education conveyed in them should be exclusively secular. The
Bible is, we understand, placed in the libraries of the colleges and
schools and the pupils are able freely to consult it. This is as it
should be; and, moreover we have no desire to prevent, or discourage,
any explanation which the pupils may, of their own free will, ask from
the masters upon the subject of the Christian religion provided that
such information be given out of school hours. Such instruction being
entirely voluntary on both sides, it is necessary, in order to prevent
the slightest suspicion of an intention of our part to make use of the
influence of Government for the purpose of proselytism, that no notice
shall be taken of it by the inspectors in their periodical visits.
85. Having now furnished the sketch that we propose to give of the
scheme for the encouragement of education in India, which we desire to
see gradually brought into operation, we proceed to make some
observations upon the state of education in the several presidencies,
and to point out he parts of our general plan which are most deficient
in each.
86. In Bengal, education through the medium of the English language, has
arrived at a higher point than in any other part of India. We are glad
to receive constant evidence of an increasing demand for such an
education, and of the readiness of the natives of different districts to
exert themselves for the sake of obtaining it. There are now five
Government anglo-vernacular colleges; and zillah schools have been
established in nearly every district. We confidently expect that the
introduction of the system of grants-in-aid will very largely increase
the number of schools of a superior order; and we hope that before long
sufficient provisions may be found to exist in many parts of the country
for the education of the middle and higher classes independent of the
Government institutions, which may then be closed as has been already
the case in Burdwan, in consequence of the enlightened conduct of the
Rajah of Burdwan, or they may be transferred to local management.
87. Very little has, however, been hitherto done in Bengal for the
education of the mass of the people, especially for their instruction
through the medium of the vernacular languages. A few vernacular schools
were founded by Government in 1844, of which only 33 now remain, with
1,400 pupils, and upon their transfer in April 1852, from the charge of
the Board of Revenue to that of the Council of Education, it appeared
that they were in a languishing state and had not fulfilled the
expectations formed on their establishment.
88. We have perused, with considerable interest, the report of Mr.
Robinson, Inspector of the Assam schools, of which there appeared to be
74, with upwards of 3,000 pupils. Mr. Robinson's suggestions for the
improvement of the system under which they are managed appear to us to
be worthy of consideration and to approach very nearly to the principle
upon which vernacular education has been encouraged in the North-Western
Provinces. We shall be prepared to sanction such measures as you may
approve of to carry out Mr. Robinson's views.
89. But the attention of the Government of Bengal should be seriously
directed to the consideration of some plan for the encouragement of
indigenous schools and for the education of the lower classes, which,
like that of Mr. Thomason in the North-Western Provinces may bring the
benefits of education practically before them, and assist and direct
their efforts. We are aware that the object held out by the Government
of Agra to induce the agricultural classes to improve their education
does not exist in Bengal; but we cannot doubt that there may be found
other similar solid advantages attending elementary knowledge, which can
be plainly and practically made apparent to the understanding and
interests of the lower classes of Bengal.
90. We perceive that the scheme of study pursued in the Oriental
Colleges of Bengal is under the consideration of the Council of
Education and it appears that they are in an unsatisfactory condition.
We have already sufficiently indicated our views as to those colleges,
and we should be glad to see them placed upon such a footing as may make
them of greater practical utility. The points which you have referred to
us, in your letter of the 5th of May, relative to the establishment of a
Presidency College in Calcutta, will form the subject of a separate
communication.
91. In the North-Western Provinces the demand for education is so
limited by circumstances fully detailed by the Lieutenant-Governor in
one of his early reports, that it will probably be long before private
effort will become energetic enough to supply the place of the
establishment, support and management by Government, of places of
instruction of the highest grade where there may be a sufficient reason
for their institution.
92. At the same time, the system for the promotion of general education
throughout the country, by means of the inspection and encouragement of
indigenous schools, has laid the foundation of a great advancement in
the education of the lower classes. Mr. Thomason ascertained, from
statistical information, the lamentable state of ignorance in which the
people were sunk, while the registration of land, which is necessary
under the revenue settlement of North-Western Provinces, appeared to him
to offer the stimulus of a direct interest for the acquisition of so
much knowledge, at least of reading and writing, of the simple rules of
arithmetic, and of land measurement, as would enable each man to look
after his own rights.
93. He therefore organized a system of encouragement of indigenous
schools by means of a constant inspection by zillah and purgannah
visitors, under the superintendence of a visitor-general; while, at the
headquarters of each tahsildar, a school was established for the purpose
of teaching "reading and writing the vernacular languages, both Urdu and
Hindi accounts, and the mensuration of land." A school house is provided
by Government, and the masters of the tahsili schools receive a small
salary, and are further entitled to the tuition fees paid by the pupils,
of whom none are educated gratuitously, except "on recommendation given
by village schoolmasters who may be on the visitor's list." A certain
sum is annually allotted to each zillah for the reward of deserving
teachers and scholars; and the attention of the visitor-general was
expressly directed to the preparation of elementary school books in the
vernacular language, which are sold through the agency of the zillah and
the purgannah visitors. We shall be prepared to sanction the gradual
extension of some such system as this to the other districts of the Agra
presidency, and we have already referred to it as the model by which the
efforts of other presidencies for the same object should be guided.
94. In the presidency of Bombay the character of the education conveyed
in the anglo-vernacular colleges is almost, if not quite, equal to that
in Bengal; and the Elphinstone Institution is an instance of a college
conducted in the main upon the principle of grants-in-aid, which we
desire to see more extensively carried out. Considerable attention has
also been paid in Bombay to education through the medium of the
vernacular languages. It appears that 216 vernacular schools are under
the management of the Board of Education, and that the number of pupils
attending them is more than 12,000. There are three inspectors of the
district schools, one of whom (Mahadeo Govind Shastri) is a native of
India. The schools are reported to be improving, and masters trained in
the Government colleges have been recently appointed to some of them
with the happiest effect. The results are very creditable to the
presidency of Bombay; and we trust that each Government school will now
be made a centre from which the indigenous schools of the adjacent
districts may be inspected and encouraged.
95. As the new revenue settlement is extended in the Bombay presidency
there will, we apprehend, be found an inducement precisely similar to
that which has been taken advantage of by Mr. Thomason, to make it the
interest of the agricultural classes to acquire so much knowledge as
will enable them to check the returns of the village accountants. We
have learned with satisfaction that the subject of gradually making some
educational qualification necessary to the confirmation of these
hereditary officers is under the consideration of the Government of
Bombay, and that a practical educational test is now insisted upon for
persons employed in many offices under Government.
96. In Madras, where little has yet been done by Government to promote
the education of the mass of the people, we can only remark with
satisfaction that the educational efforts of Christian missionaries have
been more successful among the Tamil population than in any other part
of India; and that the presidency of Madras offers a fair field for the
adoption of our scheme of education in its integrity by founding
Government anglo-vernacular institutions only where no such places of
instruction at present exist, which might, by grants-in-aid and other
assistance adequately supply the educational wants of the people. We
also perceive with satisfaction that Mr. Daniel Elliot, in a recent and
most able minute upon the subject of education, has stated that Mr.
Thomason's plan for the encouragement of indigenous schools might
readily be introduced into the Madras presidency, where the riotwari
settlement offers a similar practical inducement to the people for the
acquisition of elementary knowledge.
97. We have now concluded the observations which we think it is
necessary to address to you upon the subject of the education of the
natives of India. We have declared that our object is to extend European
knowledge throughout all classes of the people. We have shown that this
object must be effected by means of the English language in the higher
branches of institution, and by that of the vernacular languages of
India to the great mass of the people. We have directed such a system of
general superintendence and inspection by Government to be established
as well, if properly carried out, give efficiency and uniformity to your
efforts. We propose by the institution of universities to provide the
highest test and encouragement of liberal education. By sanctioning
grants-in-aid of private efforts, we hope to call to the assistance of
Government private exertions and private liberality. The higher classes
will now be gradually called upon to depend more upon themselves; and
your attention has been more especially directed to the education of the
middle and lower classes, both by the establishment of fitting schools
for this purpose and by means of a careful encouragement of the native
schools which exist, and have existed from time immemorial, in every
village, and none of which perhaps cannot, in some degree, be made
available to the end we have in view. We have noticed some particular
points connected with education, and we have reviewed the condition of
the different presidencies in this respect, with a desire to point out
what should be imitated, and what is wanting, in each.
98. We have only to add, in conclusion, that we commit this subject to
you with a sincere belief that you will cordially co-operate with us in
endeavouring to effect the great object we have in hand, and that we
desire it should be authoritatively communicated to the principal
officers, of every district in India, that henceforth they are to
consider it to be an important part of their duty, not only in the
social intercourse with the natives of India, which we always learnt
with pleasure that they maintain, but also with all the influence of
their high position, to aid in the extension of education, and to
support the inspectors of schools by every means in their power.
99. We believe that the measures we have determined upon are calculated
to extend the benefits of education throughout India; but, at the same
time, we must add that we are not sanguine enough to expect any sudden,
or even speedy, results to follow from their adoption. To imbue a vast
and ignorant population with a general desire for knowledge, and to take
advantage of that desire when excited to improve the means for diffusing
education amongst them, must be a work of many years; which, by the
blessing of Divine Providence, may largely conduce to the moral and
intellectual improvement of the mass of the natives of India.
100. As a Government, we can do no more than direct the efforts of the
people, and aid them wherever they appear to require most assistance.
The result depends more upon them than upon us; and although we are
fully aware that the measures we have now adopted will involve in the
end a much larger expenditure upon education from the revenues of India,
or, in other words, the taxation of the people of India, than is at
present so applied, we are convinced, with Sir Thomas Munro, in words
used many years since, that any expense which may be incurred for this
object "will be amply re-paid by the improvement of the country; for the
general diffusion of knowledge is inseparably followed by more orderly
habits, by increasing industry, by a test for the comforts of life, by
exertion to acquire them, and by the growing prosperity of the people."
We are, etc.,
(Signed)
J. OLIPHANT.
E. MACNAGHTEN.
C. MILLS.
R. ELLICE.
T. W. HOBB.
W. J. EASTWICK.
R. D. MANGLES.
J. P. WILLOUGHBY.
J. H. ASTELL.
F. CURRIE.
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