Colonial Education Policies

Civilising The “Native”, Educating The Nation (Intro)

The British rule in India was not merely about political control and economic exploitation; it also involved cultural intervention. The British believed that they had a civilising mission in India. This involved changing Indian customs, values, and attitudes, and education was seen as a crucial tool for this purpose. However, there were varying views among the British about how this education should be imparted and what its objectives should be.

From the early 19th century, the British began to debate the best way to educate the Indian population. Should they promote traditional Indian learning, or should they introduce Western education? What medium of instruction should be used – vernacular languages, classical Indian languages like Sanskrit and Persian, or English?

Education was also linked to the needs of the colonial administration. The British needed a workforce that could help them manage their vast territories. Educating a small section of the Indian population in English and Western ways could create a class of subordinates who would understand British methods and be loyal to their rule.

This period saw significant changes in the education system in India, moving away from the traditional indigenous schools towards a more formal, Western-style system controlled and shaped by the colonial state. The imposition of a new education system had profound and lasting effects on Indian society.

How The British Saw Education

Different perspectives existed among the British regarding the purpose and nature of education in India. These perspectives evolved over time and shaped colonial education policy.

The Tradition Of Orientalism

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a group of British officials and scholars, known as the Orientalists, advocated for the promotion of Indian languages and culture. Key figures included **William Jones**, **Henry Thomas Colebrooke**, and **Nathaniel Halhed**. They believed that to govern India effectively, it was important to understand its rich heritage, ancient texts, and languages.

The Orientalists were keen to learn Sanskrit and Persian and translate ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, and politics. They believed that studying these texts would not only help the British administer the country better but also reveal the greatness of traditional Indian civilisation. They felt that Indians should be educated through their own traditional learning.

Institutions were established to promote Oriental learning, such as the **Asiatic Society of Bengal** founded by William Jones in Calcutta in 1784, the **Calcutta Madrasa** established in 1781 for the study of Arabic and Persian, and the **Hindu College** (later Benares Sanskrit College) established in Benares in 1791 for the study of Sanskrit texts. The aim was to preserve and promote Indian knowledge and languages, which they saw as a way to win the hearts of the "natives" and educate them in subjects familiar to them.

“Grave Errors Of The East”

Not all British officials agreed with the Orientalist approach. From the early 19th century onwards, many began to criticise it. They argued that Eastern knowledge was full of errors, unscientific, and inferior to Western learning.

Prominent critics included **James Mill**, a utilitarian philosopher. He attacked the Orientalists, arguing that the aim of education should be to teach what was useful and practical, not what was sacred and revered. He believed that Indians should be introduced to Western scientific and technical advances and institutions.

The most influential figure in this opposing group, known as the Anglicists, was **Thomas Babington Macaulay**. In his famous **Minute on Indian Education** (1835), Macaulay launched a scathing attack on Oriental learning. He argued that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. He strongly advocated for the introduction of English language education.

Macaulay's aim was to create a class of Indians who would serve as interpreters between the British rulers and the vast Indian population. This class would be "Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect." The British government accepted Macaulay's arguments, and English became the medium of instruction for higher education.

Education For Commerce

By the mid-19th century, the focus of education policy shifted further. The British East India Company was primarily a commercial enterprise, and education was increasingly viewed through an economic lens. The **Wood's Despatch of 1854**, often referred to as the "Magna Carta of English Education in India," outlined a comprehensive plan for the spread of education.

Wood's Despatch recommended:

• Setting up a Department of Education in each province.
• Establishing universities in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras.
• Setting up a system of affiliation of schools and colleges.
• Introducing a system of grants-in-aid to encourage private schools.
• Promoting both vernacular languages (at the primary level) and English (at higher levels).

While advocating for different levels and mediums, the Despatch explicitly stated that one of the practical benefits of a system of European learning would be to introduce Indians to Western ways of life, thereby changing their tastes and desires and creating a demand for British goods. It also aimed to create a supply of reliable public servants needed by the Company.

The Demand For Moral Education

Another strand in British thinking was the need for moral education. Evangelicals, missionaries, and later many administrators believed that Indians lacked morality and character. They felt that Western education, infused with Christian values or at least based on Western ethical principles, was necessary to improve the moral character of the Indian population.

This view gained prominence, particularly after the 1857 Revolt. A morally upright and educated Indian population was seen as less likely to rebel and more amenable to British rule and commerce. Education was thus also seen as a tool for moral upliftment and social reform, from a British perspective.

What Happened To The Local Schools?

Before the arrival of the British and the introduction of formal Western-style education, India had a well-established system of indigenous schools known as **pathshalas** (for Hindus) and **maktabs** (for Muslims).

The Report Of William Adam

In the 1830s, **William Adam**, a Scottish missionary, was commissioned by the East India Company to survey the state of education in Bengal and Bihar. Adam's reports provided a detailed picture of the functioning of the indigenous pathshalas.

Adam found that there were over 1 lakh pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar, with over 20 lakh children studying in them. These schools were small, with usually no more than 20 students each. They were run by local teachers (Gurus). The system was highly flexible:

• No Fixed Fee: Fees were not fixed; it depended on the income of the parents. The poor paid less, the wealthy more.
• No Fixed Syllabus: Teaching was mostly oral. The curriculum was not fixed; it depended on what the Guru thought was useful and the needs of the students.
• No Fixed Timetable or Calendar: There was no rigid schedule. Classes were often held under a banyan tree or in a village shop or temple. Teaching was adapted to the needs of the agricultural cycle. Children from peasant families could attend after the harvest was cut and stored and return to work when the next crop was needed.
• No Formal Examinations: Learning was assessed orally and informally.
• Learning with Peers: Children of different ages often sat together in the same class, and the Guru interacted separately with groups of children with different levels of learning.

This flexibility made the indigenous system accessible to poor peasants.

New Routines, New Rules

After 1854, the Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education. They felt that the indigenous system lacked discipline, structure, and standards. They wanted to establish a system that was regulated and controlled.

The Company appointed government pandits, each in charge of four to five schools, to visit pathshalas and try to improve the standard of teaching. Teachers who agreed to adopt the new rules were given grants-in-aid by the government. Those who were unwilling to work within the new system received no government support.

The new system introduced:

• Fixed Timetable: Classes were held at fixed hours, even during harvest season.
• Regular Attendance: Students were required to attend regularly.
• Fixed Syllabus: A prescribed syllabus was introduced.
• Regular Examinations: Examinations were held to assess learning.
• Uniform Rules: Schools were expected to follow uniform rules and procedures.

Teachers were required to submit periodic reports. This new, rigid system had a significant impact:

• The flexibility that had made education accessible to children from poor families was lost. Children whose parents needed them to work in the fields during harvest season found it difficult to attend school regularly.
• Those who followed the new rules were often from wealthier families who could afford to send their children to school even during busy periods.
• Gurus who preferred their old system of teaching without fixed routines and rules found it difficult to compete with the government-aided schools and often lost students.

Thus, the British interventions, while aiming to standardise and regulate, often led to the decline of the traditional flexible system that served a wider section of the rural population.

The Agenda For A National Education

While the British were busy establishing their system of education in India, many Indians reacted against it. Some felt that Western education was beneficial and could help India modernise. Others, however, felt that it was destroying their culture and identity.

“English Education Has Enslaved Us”

From the late 19th century onwards, many nationalist thinkers argued that colonial education had created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians. It had alienated them from their own culture, languages, and history. They criticised it for glorifying the British and demeaning India. They felt that English education had, in essence, **enslaved** the minds of the people.

To counter this, there arose a demand for a system of **National Education**. This meant an education system that was:

• Grounded in Indian traditions and culture.
• Imparted through Indian languages.
• Focused on Indian history and values.
• Aimed at instilling a sense of pride and national consciousness among Indians.

Many national schools and colleges were set up across the country by nationalist leaders and organisations during the Swadeshi movement and later, challenging the British educational institutions. These institutions often taught subjects related to Indian arts, sciences, history, and culture, alongside modern subjects.

Tagore’s “Abode Of Peace”

**Rabindranath Tagore** (1861-1941), the renowned poet, writer, and Nobel laureate, had a unique perspective on education. He strongly disliked the rigid, artificial environment of the schools he attended as a child. He felt that learning should be a joyful experience, not something confined to the four walls of a classroom.

Tagore believed that creativity and self-learning could flourish only in a natural environment, away from the strict discipline of institutional schools. He wanted to establish a place where children could be free and creative, where they could explore their thoughts and desires. He founded **Shantiniketan** (meaning 'Abode of Peace') in 1901 near Calcutta (now Kolkata).

The philosophy of education at Shantiniketan was different from both the traditional pathshalas and the British system. Tagore wanted to combine elements of Western education with the best aspects of traditional Indian education. He emphasised the importance of:**

• Living in harmony with nature.
• Cultivating creativity, art, and music.
• Fostering curiosity and self-motivation in learning.
• Integrating practical skills and intellectual development.

For Tagore, the existing British-controlled schools were like prisons, isolating children from the world and from themselves. He envisioned Shantiniketan as a place of liberation, where learning was a continuous process of dialogue and reflection, undertaken in an atmosphere of peace and freedom.