Unit 4
Macaulay and English Education
Learning Outcomes
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Upon completion of the unit, the learner will be able to :
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Prerequisites
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Education has increasingly become a major issue since the time of the British period. The British became successful in helping to revolutionise the intellectual life in India through the introduction of modern education. Both the Christian missionaries and a large number of enlightened Indians played an important role in the spread of modern education. They began to exert pressure on the British to encourage and promote modern secular westernised education in India. Thomas Babington Macaulay consolidated the British empire by propagating English laws and English culture. He argued that it was the duty of England to teach Indians what was good for their health. He pointed out that the Indians themselves preferred an English education to their own. Thomas Babington Macaulay was fully credited with the introduction of English education in India. |
Key Words
Downward filtration theory, Orientalists, Anglicans, Bethune School
Discussion
2.4.1 Education in Pre-colonial India
Since the Vedic age, Indian education had always been of a classical and spiritual rather than of a practical nature. During this period, it was communicated through the sacred classical languages of the Hindus and the Muslims, namely Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. They taught subjects like scriptures, grammar, logic and the classics.
The Hindus and Muslims were educated through Pathsala and Madrassa respectively.Instruction in these schools was given in the vernaculars. The aristocracy did not send their children to these schools but preferred to educate them at home. The majority of the Indians were unwilling to educate their girls on account of social prejudice and superstition.
2.4.2 The Role of East India Company in the Development of Education in India
Since trade and financial gain were the British East India Company’s main goals, they were initially unconcerned with the advancement of the educational system. They intended to reign in India by educating a small portion of the elite and middle classes to produce a class that was “Indian in blood and colour but English in taste” and would serve as a channel between the government and the general populace. The “downward filtration theory” was another name for this. The British implemented the following policies and programmes to advance education in India.
British Interest in Oriental Learning
A few high officials of the East India Company were attracted to the classical aspects of Indian education. They had spent most of their career in India. Foremost among them was Warren Hasting who came to India as a servant of the English East India Company in 1751. Later he became the Governor of Fort William of Bengal in 1772. He developed a great love of Indo-Persian Culture. With the support of Warren Hasting, Nathaniel Halhed wrote “A Code of Gentoo Laws’’ in 1776. In 1779, Charles Wilkins brought out his book in Sanskrit Grammar. In 1781 the Calcutta Madrasa was established. The institution was very popular and attracted scholars from far off places. The courses like natural philosophy, Quranic theology, law, geometry, arithmetic and logic were imparted all on Islamic lines.
The Asiatic Society of Bengal
Another important British official of the East India Company who was greatly attracted to higher learning in India was William Jones. William Jones wrote Grammar of the Persian Language and translated the works of Persian Poets. He came to India as a judge of the Supreme Court in Calcutta. He had set out to create a learned society in Calcutta. On 15 January 1784, The Asiatic Society of Bengal was formed to uphold “enquiry into the history and antiquities, arts, science and literature of Asia”. It gave a great filip to ancient learning in India by discovering, editing and publishing rare Sanskrit manuscripts, besides bringing out the journal, Asiatic Researches. William Jones developed a greater taste for Sanskrit learning.
Charles Grant
Charles Grant was another important figure of the modern Education system in India. He was the first Englishman to argue for the introduction of English education with a view to introducing christainity in India. He came to India in 1767. Charles Grant believed that the abuses of the Indian society (Sati, Female Infanticide and Purdah System) could be removed by the introduction of Christianity. He urged the establishment of English Schools.
In his book “The Way to Wealth” Benjamin Franklin said, An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Education is a powerful tool to unlock the golden door of freedom that can change the world. With the advent of the British Rule in India, their policies and measures breached the legacies of traditional schools of learning which resulted in the need for creating a class of subordinates. To achieve this goal, they instituted a number of acts to create an Indian canvas of English colour through the education system.
The chronological development of Education during the British Period in India is discussed below :
2.4.3 The Charter Act of 1813
Charles Grant and William Wilberforce who were missionary activists compelled the East India Company to give up its non-intervention policy and make way for spreading education through English in order to teach western literature and preach Christianity. Hence, the British Parliament added a clause in the 1813 charter that Governor-General-in-Council gave less than one lakh for education and allowed the Christian Missionaries to spread their religious ideas in India.
The Act had its own importance because it was the first instance that the British East India Company acknowledged for the promotion of education in India. With the efforts of Raja Ram Mohun Roy, the Calcutta College was established for imparting Western education. Also, three Sanskrit colleges were set up in Calcutta.
2.4.4 General Committee of Public Instruction, 1823
This committee was formed to look after the development of education in India which was dominated by Orientalists who were the great supporters of Oriental learning rather than the Anglicans. Hence, they exerted paramount pressure on the British India Company to promote Western Education. As a result, the spread of education in India got discursive between Orientalist-Anglicist and Macaulay’s resolution came across with a clear picture of the British education system.
2.4.5 Thomas Babington Macaulay
outstanding author, historian, linguist, orator, politician, statesman, and thinker. He is typically credited with designing the educational system in India during British control. He was recognised as one of his era’s greatest literary giants. He left his impact on the British parliament as a member. In 1838, he immigrated to India and joined the Governor-Executive General’s Council as a member of the law department. Governor-general Lord William Bentinck also chose him to lead the general committee on public instruction.
On February 2, 1835, Macaulay penned his well-known minute, in which he lauded everything Western and sharply attacked nearly everything Indian, including astronomy, culture, history, philosophy, and religion. Based on this, he argued that India should adopt a national education system that would best serve the interests of the British Empire. His minutes were approved, and in March 1935, Lord William Bentinck issued his proclamation, putting an end to all the debates and establishing the foundation for all educational initiatives implemented during the British era in India.
2.4.5.1. Lord Macaulay’s Minute
Lord Macaulay, argued in a famous minute on 2 February 1835 that Indian languages were not sufficiently developed and that Oriental learning was completely inferior to European learning. His policy was an attempt to create a system of education that educated only the upper strata of society through English. Persian was abolished as the court language and English became the court language. Printings of English books were made free and available at a very low price. English education was allotted more funds as compared to oriental learning. In 1849, John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune founded Bethune School. The Agriculture Institute was established at Pusa (Bihar). The Engineering Institute was established at Roorkee.
2.4.6 Wood’s Dispatch (1854)
Wood’s Dispatch was another important step in the development of education in India. It is considered as the “Magna Carta of English Education in India” and contains a comprehensive plan for spreading education in India. It states the responsibility of the State for the spread of education to the masses. It recommended the hierarchy education level- at the bottom, vernacular primary school; at district, Anglo-vernacular High Schools and affiliated colleges, and affiliated universities of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras Presidency. Recommended English as a medium of instruction for higher studies and vernacular at school level.
2.4.7 Hunter Commission (1882-83)
In 1882, W.W. Hunter established the Hunter Commission to assess the accomplishments of the Wood Dispatch of 1854. This Commission emphasised the state’s function in expanding and enhancing basic and secondary education. It highlighted the handover of power to municipal and district boards. It suggested splitting secondary education into two tracks: literary up to the university level and vocational for commercial careers.
2.4.8 Sadler Commission
It was formed to study the problems of Calcutta University and their recommendations were applicable to other universities also.
Their observations were as follows:
- 12-year school course
- 3-years degree after the intermediate stage.
- Centralised functioning of universities, unitary residential-teaching autonomous body.
- Recommended extended facilities for applied scientific and technological education, teacher’s training, and female education.
Hence, we can say the British education system was influenced by the aspiration of Christian Missionaries. It was injected to ensure a cheap supply of educated Indians to increase a number of subordinate posts in administration and in British business concerns. That’s why the emphasis on English as a medium of instruction also glorified British conquerors and their administration.
Recap
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Objective type questions
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Answer to Objective type questions
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Assignment
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Suggested Reading
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