Education and the Colonial Rule is Chapter 6 of the history textbook “Journey through Time,” published by Shikshan. It is running as a history textbook for class 8 in Podar International Schools throughout India. 

Here, we provide you the relevant study material for your fast revision and the right strategy to get the best score in exams like preliminary tests (PTs), half-yearly exams, and annual exams.

Let’s start with the summary of the chapter Education and the Colonial Rule. The summary is written focusing on the points that are relevant for the exam. 

Summary of Chapter 6: Education and the colonial Rule

The chapter has been divided into six topics: 

  • Education during pre-British period
  • Education and the British rule
  • Impact of the educational policies of the British
  • Indian initiatives in the field of education 
  •  Female education
  • Case Studies: Vadodara and Aligarh

Education during the Pre-British Period

  • Prior to British rule, a traditional system of education was followed in India.
  • Two types of education were imparted: (i) Elementary education in pathshalas and maktabs for reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. These schools had no printed books, no fixed fee, no separate school building, no classrooms, no roll calls, no annual examinations and no fixed timetable. (ii) Higher education included the study of classical Sanskrit in Tols and Arabic and Persian languages in madrasas.
  • Grammar, classical literature, philosophy, logic, law, and religious texts formed the important elements of higher study.

Education and the British Rule

In the beginning of the British Rule

  • British policy in India followed non-interference in social issues respecting rich Indian culture.
  • Orientalism was embraced as a doctrine.
  • According to Orientalism, Indians could be governed better by integrating British officials and public employees fully into the local way of life by preparing them to blend into the Indian culture.
  • Orientalism: a western field of study that included research on the cultures of the Asian nations.
  • Warren Hastings started the Calcutta Madrasa in 1781 for the study of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law.
  • Sir William Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784 to encourage oriental studies.
  • Jonathan Duncan set up a Sanskrit College at Varanasi to encourage the study of Sanskrit texts.
  • Fort William College was established to train Civil servants of the Company.
Missionary

A person who undertakes a religious mission to propagate the doctrines of a particular religion.

Western academic field of study that includes research on the languages, literatures, religions, philosophies, histories, art and laws of the Asian nations.

Charter Act of 1813

The Charter Act of 1813

  • granted permission to Christian missionaries to come to India under license and spread education.
  • directed the Company to take steps for the introduction of useful knowledge for religious and moral improvement.
  • asked the Company to spend a sum of not less than a lakh of rupees every year on the education of Indians.

The Charter Act of 1833

The Charter Act of 1833 

  • advised to set aside one million rupees a year for purposes of education.
  • surfaced a dilemma of how to spend the money. Orientalists such as H. T. Prinsep argued that funds should be used for Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit studies. On the other hand, anglicists such as Sir Charles Trevelyan favoured teaching western science.
  • called for greater utilisation of Indians in the East India Company’s operations.

Macaulay's Minute of 1835

Macaulay’s minute of 1835 

  • opioniated that knowledge should be imparted in English, which would enable the Indians to get familiar with the developments in Western science, literature, and philosophy.

The English Education Act, 1835

  • It was passed by the Governor General of India, Lord William Bentick.
  • It mandated that English literature be taught in the English language in order to instill morals, ethics, and proper behaviour.
  • The goal was to get a group of Indians to join the colonial system by ‘downward filtering’.
Downward Filtering

It means to educate the masses of India, some rich men from the upper classes were trained so that these learned men would pass it on the rest.

Wood's Dispatch of 1854

Sir Charles Wood’s recommendations through his dispatch were as follows:

  • to create a separate Department of Education in each province.
  • to establish universities at the Presidency towns, namely, Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras, on the model of the University of London.
  • to take adequate steps to train the teachers for all classes of school. 
  • to maintain, reform, and increase the existing government colleges and high schools.
  • Elementary and technical education was advocated for the masses.
  • The vernacular medium of instruction was encouraged.
  • Emphasis on education of women
  • A grants-in-aid system was formed for secondary schools.

Wood’s Educational Despatch of 1854 is often described as the ‘Magna Carta of English Education in India’.

Vernacular

The local language or dialect spoken by the inhabitants of a certain region.

Colonial Education after 1858

  • The power of administration was transferred to the British crown in 1858 after the Great Uprising of 1857.
  • The educational policy continued to be reviewed and directed by several commissions, such as the Hunter Commission, the Universities Commission, and the Sadler Commission.

Impact of the Educational Policies of the British

  • The British Government wanted to strengthen the foundations of their political power in India through its education policies.
  • The aim was to train a section of Indians who would be able to assist the British in administration.
  • The government was not willing to spend on education more than the money allotted for the purpose and relied on the ‘filteration theory’.
  • English education was the sole avenue for some Indians to advance in their careers.
  • English education did not reach a large percentage of the Indian population.

Indian Initiatives in the Field of Education

  • Indians took concerted efforts in the field of education only from 1817.
  • The Calcutta School Book Society was founded in 1817 to make available good text books not only in English but also in Indian languages.
  • Raja Rammohan Roy established Hindu College in 1817 and founded the Vedanta College. He was one of the greatest supporters of Western education. 
  • Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was instrumental in opening approximately thirty-five schools in Bengal.
  • Annie Besant, who was born in England, came to Banaras in 1893 and founded the central Hindu School for boys in 1898.

Female Education

The following societies and samajas contributed to the female education immensely.

  • The Brahmo Samaj
  • The Arya Samaj
  • Servants of Indian Society
  • The Hindu Balika Vidyalaya in Kolkata in 1849
  • Wood’s dispatch of 1849 made a special reference to the education of women.
  • The first Indian Women’s University was started in 1916 by Maharshi Karve.
  • An All-India Women’s Conference was founded in 1927. 

National Education

Two Indians who reacted strongly against western education were Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi.

Rabindranath Tagore and Shantiniketan

  • Rabindranath Tagore, a notable scholar, promoted national education; his idea of a school was one in which a child would be free, happy, and creative and be able to explore his thoughts.
  • According to Tagore, teachers should be innovative and imaginative. They should understand children and help them to develop their curious minds. 
  • He was of the opinion that creative learning could be imparted in a natural ambiance.
  • He started a school named Brahmchari Ashram in a rural area at Shantiniketan. Later, the school came to be known as the Patha Bhavan.
  • Ultimately, the school was expanded into Visva-Bharati University.
  • Together with science and technology, art, dance, and music were taught.

Mahatma Gandhi and Basic Education

According to Mahatma Gandhi,

  • Colonial education had enslaved Indians, as they had started treating their own culture as inferior and Western culture as superior.
  • Western education only focused on reading and writing and valued textbooks. There was no scope for oral and practical knowledge.
  • Education was not for knowing how to read and write but for the all-round development of children.
  • Indian languages should be the medium of instruction.

He conceptualised Nai Talim, or Basic Education for the holistic development of a person’s body, mind, and soul.

Let Us Exercise (Education and the Colonial Rule)

There are 10 questions given in the exercise. Out of 10 questions, 8 have been answered in this answer book.