Why Did The British Introduced Modern Education In India?
Topic : Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.1. Critically examine the motives behind British efforts towards the expansion of modern education system. (250 Words) Reference: Indian Modern history by Spectrum publications Why the question: The question is from the static portions of Modern history portions of GS paper I.
Key Demand of the question: Discuss the motives behind British efforts towards the expansion of modern education system and analyse them critically. Directive: Critically examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question.
While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment. Structure of the answer: Introduction: Briefly explain the expansion of modern education system in the British times.
- Body: Critically analyse the development of modern education; The company wanted some educated Indians who could assist them in the administration of the land.
- Also, they wanted to understand the local customs and laws well.
- Explain the events that classify the point that motives behind British efforts towards the expansion of modern education system were not merely to educate Indians but to have educated class of Indians for their benefit.
British wanted to introduce modern western education to serve their economic interests as English education would convince Indians about the superiority of British goods which were machine made, it would make Indians recognize the advantages of trade and commerce.
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Contents
- 1 Why did British introduce the new system of education in India?
- 2 Why did the British introduce modern education in India Class 8?
- 3 When did the modern education system start?
- 4 What are the aims of education in modern India?
- 5 Why was the English Education Act introduced Class 8?
- 6 Who spread modern education in India Why?
- 7 What were the reasons for the introduction of the new education system?
- 8 How did British see education in India?
- 9 What were the reasons for the introduction of the new education system?
Why did British introduce the new system of education in India?
Development of Modern Education –
- The company wanted some educated Indians who could assist them in the administration of the land.
- Also, they wanted to understand the local customs and laws well.
- For this purpose, Warren Hastings established the Calcutta Madrassa in 1781 for the teaching of Muslim law.
- In 1791, a Sanskrit College was started in Varanasi by Jonathan Duncan for the study of Hindu philosophy and laws.
- The missionaries supported the spread of Western education in India primarily for their proselytising activities. They established many schools with education only being a means to an end which was Christianising and ‘civilising’ the natives.
- The Baptist missionary William Carey had come to India in 1793 and by 1800 there was a Baptist Mission in Serampore, Bengal, and also a number of primary schools there and in nearby areas.
- The Indian reformers believed that to keep up with times, a modern educational system was needed to spread rational thinking and scientific principles.
- The Charter Act of 1813 was the first step towards education being made an objective of the government.
- The act sanctioned a sum of Rs.1 lakh towards the education of Indians in British ruled India. This act also gave an impetus to the missionaries who were given official permission to come to India.
- But there was a split in the government over what kind of education was to be offered to the Indians.
- The orientalists preferred Indians to be given traditional Indian education. Some others, however, wanted Indians to be educated in the western style of education and be taught western subjects.
- There was also another difficulty regarding the language of instruction. Some wanted the use of Indian languages (called vernaculars) while others preferred English.
- Due to these issues, the sum of money allotted was not given until 1823 when the General Committee of Public Instruction decided to impart oriental education.
- In 1835, it was decided that western sciences and literature would be imparted to Indians through the medium of English by Lord William Bentinck’s government.
- Bentinck had appointed Thomas Babington Macaulay as the Chairman of the General Committee of Public Instruction.
- Macaulay was an ardent anglicist who had absolute contempt for Indian learning of any kind. He was supported by Reverend Alexander Duff, JR Colvin, etc.
- On the side of the orientalists were James Prinsep, Henry Thomas Colebrooke, etc.
- Macaulay minutes refer to his proposal of education for the Indians.
- According to him:
- English education should be imparted in place of traditional Indian learning because the oriental culture was ‘defective’ and ‘unholy’.
- He believed in education a few upper and middle-class students.
- In the course of time, education would trickle down to the masses. This was called the infiltration theory.
- He wished to create a class of Indians who were Indian in colour and appearance but English in taste and affiliation.
- In 1835, the Elphinstone College (Bombay) and the Calcutta Medical College were established.
Wood’s Despatch (1854)
- Sir Charles Wood was the President of the Board of Control of the company in 1854 when he sent a despatch to the then Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie.
- This is called the ‘Magna Carta of English education in India.’
- Recommendations of the Wood’s Despatch:
- Regularise education system from the primary to the university levels.
- Indians were to be educated in English and their native language.
- The education system was to be set up in every province.
- Every district should have at least one government school.
- Affiliated private schools could be granted aids.
- Education of women should be emphasised.
- Universities of Madras, Calcutta and Bombay were set up by 1857.
- University of Punjab – 1882; University of Allahabad – 1887
- This despatch asked the government to take up the responsibility of education of the people.
Assessment of the British efforts on education
- Although there were a few Englishmen who wanted to spread education for its own sake, the government was chiefly concerned only with its own concerns.
- There was a huge demand for clerks and other administrative roles in the company’s functioning.
- It was cheaper to get Indians rather than Englishmen from England for these jobs. This was the prime motive.
- No doubt it spread western education among Indians, but the rate of literacy was abysmally low during British rule.
- The state of women education was pathetic. This was because the government did not want to displease the orthodox nature of Indians and also because women could not generally be employed as clerks.
- In 1911, the illiteracy rate in British India was 94%. In 1921, it was 92%.
- Scientific and technical education was ignored by the British government.
The English Education Act 1835 was a legislative Act of the Council of India, gave effect to a decision in 1835 by Lord William Bentinck, then Governor-General of the British East India Company, to reallocate funds it was required by the British Parliament to spend on education and literature in India.
- Education System In India During British Rule (UPSC Notes):-
- Also Read:
- UPSC Related Articles
: NCERT Notes: Indian Education System During British Rule
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Did British introduced modern education in India?
The Charter Act of 1813 – This was the first noted step towards modern education in the country by the British. This act set aside an annual sum of Rs.1 lakh to be used in educating the Indian subjects. During all this time the Christian missionaries were active in mass educating the people but they concentrated more on religious teachings and conversions.
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What introduced modern education in India?
The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The curriculum was confined to ‘modern’ subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary.
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What is the purpose of modern education system?
What is the Purpose of Modern Education? – The purpose of modern education is to empower students with the knowledge and train them for life. A student after acquiring such an education will be able to face challenges in practical life more efficiently and can also contribute positively towards social betterment.
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Why did the British introduce modern education in India Class 8?
Topic : Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.1. Critically examine the motives behind British efforts towards the expansion of modern education system. (250 Words) Reference: Indian Modern history by Spectrum publications Why the question: The question is from the static portions of Modern history portions of GS paper I.
Key Demand of the question: Discuss the motives behind British efforts towards the expansion of modern education system and analyse them critically. Directive: Critically examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question.
While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment. Structure of the answer: Introduction: Briefly explain the expansion of modern education system in the British times.
Body: Critically analyse the development of modern education; The company wanted some educated Indians who could assist them in the administration of the land. Also, they wanted to understand the local customs and laws well. Explain the events that classify the point that motives behind British efforts towards the expansion of modern education system were not merely to educate Indians but to have educated class of Indians for their benefit.
British wanted to introduce modern western education to serve their economic interests as English education would convince Indians about the superiority of British goods which were machine made, it would make Indians recognize the advantages of trade and commerce.
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Who introduced new education system in India and why?
The Education System in India – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation In ancient times, India had the Gurukula system of education in which anyone who wished to study went to a teacher’s (Guru) house and requested to be taught. If accepted as a student by the guru, he would then stay at the guru’s place and help in all activities at home.
This not only created a strong tie between the teacher and the student, but also taught the student everything about running a house. The guru taught everything the child wanted to learn, from Sanskrit to the holy scriptures and from Mathematics to Metaphysics. The student stayed as long as she wished or until the guru felt that he had taught everything he could teach.
All learning was closely linked to nature and to life, and not confined to memorizing some information. The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The curriculum was confined to “modern” subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary.
Teaching was confined to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student. The Uttar Pradesh (a state in India) Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board set up in India in the year 1921 with jurisdiction over Rajputana, Central India and Gwalior.
In 1929, the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana, was established. Later, boards were established in some of the states. But eventually, in 1952, the constitution of the board was amended and it was renamed Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
- All schools in Delhi and some other regions came under the Board.
- It was the function of the Board to decide on things like curriculum, textbooks and examination system for all schools affiliated to it.
- Today there are thousands of schools affiliated to the Board, both within India and in many other countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6-14 was a cherished dream of the new government of the Republic of India. This is evident from the fact that it is incorporated as a directive policy in article 45 of the constitution.
But this objective remains far away even more than half a century later. However, in the recent past, the government appears to have taken a serious note of this lapse and has made primary education a Fundamental Right of every Indian citizen. The pressures of economic growth and the acute scarcity of skilled and trained manpower must certainly have played a role to make the government take such a step.
The expenditure by the Government of India on school education in recent years comes to around 3% of the GDP, which is recognized to be very low. “In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor state of affairs in education sector in India, the most notable ones being the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The announcements are; (a) To progressively increase expenditure on education to around 6 percent of GDP. (b) To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes. (c) To ensure that no one is denied of education due to economic backwardness and poverty.
(d) To make right to education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 6–14 years. (e) To universalize education through its flagship programmes such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Meal.” ()
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Who began modern education?
Read this if you agree with the following statement: It’s getting harder and harder to make a living, Many of us are having trouble competing in the knowledge economy, which itself is constantly evolving. This sucks. We are having trouble finding good jobs, and the good jobs that do exist are in danger of disappearing.
- No job is safe.
- Unless you’re in tech, of course.
- These blanket statements don’t capture much of the emotional struggle we feel.
- The 21st century economy is an abstract concept.
- We tend to experience it is this vague, never-ending feeling that things aren’t working that well.
- Something is going to give.
We just don’t know what, where, or when. Let me offer an idea to help you orient yourself in this digital world. It’s not new, but it is increasingly relevant. Certainly it’s worth five minutes of your time to consider the implications for your own career, and overall life. http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/american-idiot-why-billy-madison-is-still-adam-sandlers-best-movie-20150421 This line of reasoning was prompted by a chapter in The Skeptic’s Guide to American History, I heard something remarkable that the author dropped in almost casually.
- He mentioned that the modern American school system was primarily designed to instill discipline, not to foster learning.
- Education was more about forming behavioral habits to enforce mental habits, not vice versa,
- Let that settle in for a moment.
- Education isn’t really about learning! More specifically, it isn’t about learning how to learn.
It’s about learning how to conform. Predictability is the ultimate goal. This idea should scare you. And even if it is only partially true, the idea explains a lot. We are struggling in the 21st century because conformity is no longer that valuable to companies.
- Software and hardware increasingly shoulder those burdens.
- Now the economy wants something else.
- Something unique, and creative.
- Something our education didn’t cover.
- Our school system has somehow flipped from a success story to an impending catastrophe.
- And this isn’t the first time it’s happened.
- Horace Mann, credited with creating the foundation of our modern public education system, saw that the industrializing world demanded different skills than its agricultural predecessor.
This was especially true in the United States, where we (at least try to) democratize economic opportunity and political representation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann The logic went something like this: If you could compete, you would be hired for a job. If you were hired, your virtuous habits would eventually lead to your promotion. As promotions accumulate, your pay increases and eventually you reach financial comfort.
- Or perhaps even significant wealth! Mann wanted every man — I’m not sure about women — to be able to compete in the economy.
- The fragmented local options weren’t able to keep up with the shift in useful skills.
- A more coordinated effort was required.
- If nothing happened, the United States would be rocked by social unrest as the classes drifted apart into haves and have-nots.
Sound familiar? https://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2015/02/piketty-and-wealth-inequality.html The chart above shows how unequal the wealth distribution was getting in the early 19th century. Something needed to be done, and many saw education as the solution. In Mann’s words: Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery.
- Let’s get some context.
- At the time, formal education was exclusively a local affair.
- Many children received only a few years of schooling.
- Others received none at all.
- The literacy rate is generally thought to be higher than any other country at the time, but it was still way below the current 99%.
- The situation varied wildly across the America.
Educational attainment and literacy rates were lower in the South vs the North (everything else being equal), and in blacks vs whites (same qualification). Schoolhouses and teachers were already prevalent — compared to Europe — in the colonies, and expanded in America’s early years.
- This expansion gained steam in the early 19th century, even though the U.S.
- Was growing in size, both territory and population.
- This explosion of education was mostly due to the efforts of Mann and his colleagues.
- Mann saw education as an opportunity to form unbreakable habits: Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it.
Mann also knew the value of punctuality in the new, clockwork world of machines and mills; of steam and coal: Unfaithfulness in the keeping of an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty. You may as well borrow a person’s money as his time. The school system he helped create reflected his beliefs. http://www.radnor-sevenoaks.org/school-of-life-or-exam-factory/ These tradeoffs were necessary to transform an agricultural society into an industrial powerhouse. He was more concerned with illiterate kids showing up late — if ever— than how to create an adaptable system.
- In other words, Mann was a founder.
- He sacrificed the perfect at the altar of the good.
- It’s worth reminding ourselves now about the key characteristics of the industrial era, and how we can see them manifested in the education system that continues to operate across America to this day: – Schools focus on respecting authority – Schools focus on punctuality – Schools focus on measurement – Schools focus on basic literacy – Schools focus on basic arithmetic Notice how these reinforce each other.
You enter the system one way, and are crammed through an extended molding process. The result? A “good enough” cog to jam into an industrial machine. http://blogs.bgsu.edu/cacnews/2011/12/19/education-history-featured-in-december-archival-chronicle/ Dependable. Interchangeable. Replaceable. You and I do not live in the world of Horace Mann. In fact, you and I do not even live in the world of our grandparents. https://www.dnainvestor.com/about-us/ Now things are different. Not because something new is happening, but because the same things are happening way faster. The transition from agricultural to industrial took over one hundred years. But we don’t have the luxury of 5+ generations.
We are staggering under the the accelerating trends of technological innovational, financial sophistication, political disintegration, and social tribalism. We know that more is possible than ever before. But that’s only an abstract benefit of today’s world. Many of us have no confidence in our ability to successfully pursue success, however we choose to define it.
Why not? Partially because Mann’s system is now backfiring. We are being molded by the same industrial system that has existed for close to 200 years. But today, that system delivers us into a digital economy that has no need of our outdated skills. If anything, the creativity and enthusiasm of our childhood was more valuable than the “good enough” robotic output we produce after 12–16 years in the schoolhouse.
That’s why I said earlier that the habits we pick up in school may actually be destroying value, not creating it! We could blame many of parts of the educational system. Of course, Mann would agree that these are all good critiques in the modern world. Remember that compared to what it replaced in the early to mid 19th century, this system was pretty f*cking sweet.
In any case, we need to unlearn lots of habits. Here are the top five that I’ve found to be unproductive — even counterproductive — today. #1 — Filling up the day with time-bound activities, A class in school is 45 minutes, or 60 minutes, or whatever. Have you ever noticed that meetings are often about the same? That’s weird, isn’t it? Who would have thought that so much of the work we need to do fits neatly into easily trackable chunks of time.
It doesn’t, of course. But we carry over this mindset from school. It’s easy to plan classes for a certain block of time at a regular interval. So we do. It’s also easy to plan meetings the same way. Few of us take the time to think carefully about the objectives of a meeting — exchanging information; discussing a topic; making a decision — and then focus ruthlessly on achieving them.
#2 — Accepting whatever you’re assigned, Homework is easy to assign. Teachers hand it out like candy. And your homework looks the same as it did for the person who sat in that chair before you. The teacher can basically check out when it comes to assessing performance. http://thehamsterplace.com/hamster-food/ We have to be comfortable asking questions about assignments that go beyond “When is this due?” Instead we have to understand the intent behind the project, and its relative importance considered against other projects competing for the same resources.
This type of “pre-work” requires a lot of tact and humility, of course, but the rewards are worth it. You, your team, and your organization will perform at a much higher level. Most importantly, you will develop confidence in your ability to deliver. It’s hard to take that away from someone once they earn it.
#3 — Completing projects at the last minute, Almost everyone developed this terrible habit at school. Not only do we accept the assignment as gospel, we also avoid working on it until we’re forced to scramble around and crap out low-quality work hours before the deadline.
The modern economy rewards iteration as a means to quality. The low costs of collaboration and revision means that we need to emphasize getting early feedback, whether it’s from a boss or a user. That means completing a good first draft with at 25% of the timeline remaining, if not significantly more.
I try to have a version 1.0 ready before the halfway point. #4 — Obsessing over quantified scores and ranks, Why is an “A” good? Who ever thought it made sense to reduce someone’s creative exploits to a number between 0 and 100? And then to reduce that number to one of five letters? This seems almost offensive until you recognize the needs of the teacher, the school, and the larger system to track and compare students. http://keywordsuggest.org/539475-marine-ranks.html Focusing on your standing within a group is a terrible way to work in the 21st century. Comparison is the sworn enemy of creativity. You will never be able to create unique value if you can’t avoid comparing yourself to others.
Be inspired by the greats, of course. But don’t be yoked to them. #5 — Sitting still for 8+ hours a day, I’m not sure what else to say about this. I don’t subscribe to the “sitting is the new smoking” argument, but it’s undeniable that being a desk jockey is a terrible way to work. Because our exploratory instincts atrophy slowly during school, we slowly come to tolerate sitting quietly in cubicles.
This is a tragedy. Many of us don’t have a lot of control over our workplace or schedule. Focus on doing your best to keep your body moving as much as possible. Stand against a wall during meetings. Take a conference call on your phone while walking around the office or outside.
- Doctors are often taught a modern summary of the ancient greek Hippocratic Oath : First, do no harm This is a good way to start replacing your industrial habits with ones more appropriate to the digital economy.
- You do not need to focus so much on becoming amazing at some set of skills.
- To get started, think about the habits you have that are actually destroying value.
Then — this sounds crazy — try to replace that bad habit with a neutral one. You don’t even shoot for a good habit at the beginning. Just stop shooting yourself in the foot repeatedly every day. Life will start to get better a little bit at a time without any massive effort on your part.
Replace time-bound activities with outcome-based activities. Focus on meetings — the worst culprit — and the decisions you want out of them. If you can’t think of a decision, don’t have the meeting.Summarize the goals of a new project to the person who asked for it, making sure you know exactly what is supposed to be accomplished, and why.Plan to complete a v1.0 of each project by the 50% mark. This is a chance to get valuable corrective feedback from other people, despite how uneasy you may feel with your “ugly” project.Focus on the “Why?” of each project and knocking it out of the park. Take time at the beginning of the project to get inspired by the work of others, then shut out the rest of the world.Get off your ass.
When did the modern education system start?
In 1600s and 1700s America, prior to the first and second Industrial Revolutions, educational opportunity varied widely depending on region, race, gender, and social class. Public education, common in New England, was class-based, and the working class received few benefits, if any.
- Instructional styles and the nature of the curriculum were locally determined.
- Teachers themselves were expected to be models of strict moral behavior.
- By the mid-1800s, most states had accepted three basic assumptions governing public education: that schools should be free and supported by taxes, that teachers should be trained, and that children should be required to attend school.
The term “normal school” is based on the French école normale, a sixteenth-century model school with model classrooms where model teaching practices were taught to teacher candidates. In the United States, normal schools were developed and built primarily to train elementary-level teachers for the public schools.
The Normal School The term “normal school” is based on the French école normale, a sixteenth-century model school with model classrooms where model teaching practices were taught to teacher candidates. This was a laboratory school where children on both the primary or secondary levels were taught, and where their teachers, and the instructors of those teachers, learned together in the same building.
This model was employed from the inception of the Buffalo Normal School, where the “School of Practice” inhabited the first floors of the teacher preparation academy. In testament to its effectiveness, the Campus School continued in the same tradition after the college was incorporated and relocated on the Elmwood campus.
Earlier normal schools were reserved for men in Europe for many years, as men were thought to have greater intellectual capacity for scholarship than women. This changed (fortunately) during the nineteenth century, when women were more successful as private tutors than were men. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, newly industrialized European economies needed a reliable, reproducible, and uniform work force.
The preparation of teachers to accomplish this goal became ever more important. The process of instilling in future citizens the norms of moral behavior led to the creation of the first uniform, formalized national educational curriculum. Thus, “normal” schools were tasked with developing this new curriculum and the techniques through which teachers would communicate and model these ideas, behaviors, and values for students who, it was hoped, through formal education, might desire and seek a better quality of life.
- In the United States, normal schools were developed and built primarily to train elementary-level teachers for the public schools.
- In 1823, Reverend Samuel Read Hall founded the first private normal school in the United States, the Columbian School in Concord, Vermont.
- The first public normal school in the United States was founded shortly thereafter in 1839 in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Both public and private “normals” initially offered a two-year course beyond the secondary level, but by the twentieth century, teacher-training programs required a minimum of four years. By the 1930s most normal schools had become “teachers colleges,” and by the 1950s they had evolved into distinct academic departments or schools of education within universities.
- The Buffalo Normal School Buffalo State was founded in 1871 as the Buffalo Normal School.
- It changed its name more often than it changed its building.
- It has been called the State Normal and Training School (1888–1927), the State Teachers College at Buffalo (1928–1946), the New York State College for Teachers at Buffalo (1946–1950), SUNY, New York State College for Teachers (1950–1951), the State University College for Teachers at Buffalo (1951–1959), the State University College of Education at Buffalo (1960–1961), and finally the State University College at Buffalo in 1961, or as we know it more succinctly, SUNY Buffalo State College.
As early as the 1800s, visionary teachers explored teaching people with disabilities. Thomas Galludet developed a method to educate the deaf and hearing impaired. Dr. Samuel Howe focused on teaching the visually impaired, creating books with large, raised letters to assist people with sight impairments to “read” with their fingers.
- What Goes Around, Comes Around: What Is Good Teaching? Throughout most of post-Renaissance history, teachers were most often male scholars or clergymen who were the elite literates who had no formal training in “how” to teach the content in which they were most well-versed.
- Many accepted the tenet that “teachers were born, not made,” It was not until “pedagogy,” the “art and science of teaching,” attained a theoretical respectability that the training of educated individuals in the science of teaching was considered important.
While scholars of other natural and social sciences still debate the scholarship behind the “science” of teaching, even those who accept pedagogy as a science admit that there is reason to support one theory that people can be “born” with the predisposition to be a good teacher.
Even today, while teacher education programs are held accountable by accreditors for “what” they teach teachers, the “dispositions of teaching” are widely debated, yet considered essential to assess the suitability of a teacher candidate to the complexities of the profession. Since the nineteenth century, however, pedagogy has attempted to define the minimal characteristics needed to qualify a person as a teacher.
These have remained fairly constant as the bases for educator preparation programs across the country: knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of teaching methods, and practical experience in applying both are still the norm. The establishment of the “norms” of pedagogy and curriculum, hence the original name of “normal school” for teacher training institutions, recognized the social benefit and moral value of ensuring a quality education for all.
- As with so many innovations and trends that swept the post-industrial world in the twentieth century, education, too, has experienced many changes.
- The names of the great educational theorists and reformers of the Progressive Era in education are known to all who know even a little about teaching and learning: Jean Piaget, Benjamin Bloom, Maria Montessori, Horace Mann, and John Dewey to name only a few.
As early as the 1800s, visionary teachers explored teaching people with disabilities. Thomas Galludet developed a method to educate the deaf and hearing impaired. He opened the Hartford School for the Deaf in Connecticut in 1817. Dr. Samuel Howe focused on teaching the visually impaired, creating books with large, raised letters to assist people with sight impairments to “read” with their fingers.
- Howe led the Perkins Institute, a school for the blind, in Boston.
- Such schools were usually boarding schools for students with disabilities.
- There are still residential schools such as St.
- Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo, but as pedagogy for all children moved into the twentieth century, inclusive practice where children with disabilities were educated in classrooms with non-disabled peers yielded excellent results.
This is the predominant pedagogy taught by our Exceptional Education faculty today. As the reform movements in education throughout the twentieth century introduced ideas of equality, child-centered learning, assessment of learner achievement as a measure of good teaching, and other revolutionary ideas such as inquiry-based practice, educating the whole person, and assuring educational opportunities for all persons, so did the greater emphasis on preparing teachers to serve the children of the public, not just those of the elite.
This abridged version of events that affected teacher education throughout the twentieth century mirrors the incredible history of the country from WWI’s post-industrial explosion to the turbulent 1960s, when the civil rights movement and the women’s rights movement dominated the political scene and schools became the proving ground for integration and Title IX enforcement of equality of opportunity.
Segregation in schools went to the Supreme Court in 1954 with Brown vs. Board of Education. Following this monumental decision, schools began the slow process of desegregating schools, a process that, sadly, is still not yet achieved. As schools became more and more essential to the post-industrial economy and the promotion of human rights for all, teaching became more and more regulated.
By the end of the twentieth century, licensing requirements had stiffened considerably in public education, and salary and advancement often depended on the earning of advanced degrees and professional development in school-based settings. In the second half of the twentieth century, the Sputnik generation’s worship of science gave rise to similarities in terminology between the preparation of teachers and the preparation of doctors.
“Lab schools” and quantitative research using experimental and quasi-experimental designs to test reading and math programs and other curricular innovations were reminiscent of the experimental designs used in medical research. Student teaching was considered an “internship,” akin to the stages of practice doctors followed.
- Such terminology and parallels to medicine, however, fell out of vogue with a general disenchantment with science and positivism in the latter decades of the twentieth century.
- Interestingly, these parallels have resurfaced today as we refer to our model of educating teachers in “clinically rich settings.” We have even returned to “residency” programs, where teacher candidates are prepared entirely in the schools where they will eventually teach.
As schools became more and more essential to the post-industrial economy and the promotion of human rights for all, teaching became more and more regulated. By the end of the twentieth century, licensing requirements had stiffened considerably in public education, and salary and advancement often depended on the earning of advanced degrees and professional development in school-based settings.
- Even today, all programs in colleges and universities that prepare teachers must follow extensive and detailed guidelines established by the New York State Education Department that determine what must be included in such programs.
- Additions such as teaching to students with disabilities and teaching to English language learners are requirements that reflect the changing needs of classrooms.
As the world changed, so did the preparation of teachers. The assimilation of the normal school into colleges and universities marked the evolution of teaching as a profession, a steady recognition over the last 150 years that has allowed the teacher as scientist to explore how teaching and learning work in tandem and to suggest that pedagogy is dynamic and interactive with sociopolitical forces and that schools play a critical role in the democratic promotion of social justice.
Campus Schools and Alternative Classroom Organization During the ’60s and ’70s, new concepts of schooling such as multigrade classrooms and open-concept spaces, where students followed their own curiosity through project-based learning, were played out right here at Buffalo State in what was then the College Learning Lab (Campus School).
Campus School shared many of the college’s resources and served as the clinical site for the preparation of teachers. School administration and teachers held joint appointments at the college and in the lab. Classrooms were visible through one-way glass, where teacher candidates could observe and review what they saw with the lab school teacher afterward.
Participation in these classrooms was a requirement during the junior year. (I myself did my junior participation in a 5/6 open class there.) However, as the SUNY colleges became less and less supported by New York State budgetary allocations, the Campus School was soon too expensive to staff and to maintain.
The baby boom was over, and the population was shrinking. Job opportunities for the graduates of Buffalo State were rare. A 10-year cycle of teacher shortage and teacher over-supply continues to be a trend. Standards and Norms In the 1980s, education in America once again turned to “norming,” but now the norms were not measuring one child against others; rather, each child was assessed as he or she approached the “national standards” that theoretically defined the knowledge and skills necessary for all to achieve.
Fearing America’s loss of stature as the technologically superior leader of the free world, A Nation at Risk, published in 1983, cast a dark shadow over teaching and schools for many years to come until its premises were largely disrupted. During the time after this report, however, being a teacher was not a popular career choice, and teaching as a profession was called into question.
By 1998, almost every state had defined or implemented academic standards for math and reading. Principals and teachers were judged; students were promoted or retained, and legislation was passed so that high school students would graduate or be denied a diploma based on whether or not they had met the standards, usually as measured by a criterion-referenced test.
In the 1980s, education in America once again turned to “norming,” but now the norms were not measuring one child against others; rather, each child was assessed as he or she approached the “national standards” that theoretically defined the knowledge and skills necessary for all to achieve. The pressure to teach to a standards-based curriculum, to test all students in an effort to ensure equal education for all, led to some famous named policies of presidents and secretaries of education in the later twentieth century.
National panels and political pundits returned to the roots of the “normal school” movement, urging colleges of teacher education to acquaint teacher candidates with the national educational standards known as Goals 2000, The George H.W. Bush administration kicked off an education summit with the purpose of “righting the ship” since the shock of A Nation at Risk,
- Standards-based curriculum became a “teacher proof” system of ensuring that all children—no matter what their socioeconomic privilege—would be taught the same material.
- This “curriculum first” focus for school planning persisted through the Clinton administration with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the George W.
Bush administration with No Child Left Behind, and the Obama administration with Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the accompanying federal funding called Race to the Top, Such packaged standards-based curriculum movements once again turned the public eye to a need to conform, achieve, and compete.
For teachers, the most important development from this pressure to teach to the standards was the controversial Common Core, a nationalized curriculum based on standards of education that were designed to give all students common experiences within a carefully constructed framework that would transcend race, gender, economics, region, and aptitude.
So focused were the materials published on the Common Core that schools began to issue scripted materials to their teachers to ensure the same language was used in every classroom. Teacher autonomy was suppressed, and time for language arts and mathematics began to eclipse the study of science, social studies, art, music.
- Now What? That takes us almost to today’s schools, where teachers are still accountable for helping student achieve the Common Core standards or more currently the National Standards.
- Enter the COVID pandemic.
- Full stop.
- Curriculum, testing, conformity, and standards are out the window.
- The American parent can now “see into” the classroom and the teacher can likewise “see into” the American home.
Two-dimensional, computer-assisted instruction replaced the dynamic interactive classroom where learning is socially constructed and facilitated by teachers who are skilled at classroom management, social-emotional learning, and project-based group work.
Teacher candidates must now rely on their status as digital natives to engage and even entertain their students who now come to them as a collective of individuals framed on a computer screen rather than in a classroom of active bodies who engage with each other in myriad ways. Last year’s pedagogical challenges involved mastery of the 20-minute attention span, the teacher as entertainer added to the teacher as facilitator,
Many of our teacher candidates learned more about themselves than they did about their students. Yet, predominately, stories of creativity, extraordinary uses of technology, and old-fashioned persistence and ingenuity were the new “norm” for the old Buffalo State Normal School.
There has been nothing “normal” about these last two years as the world learns to cope with a silent enemy. There will be no post-war recovery, no post-industrial reforms, no equity of opportunity in schools around the world. But there will be teaching. And there will be learning. And the Buffalo State Normal School will continue to prepare the highest quality practitioners whose bags of tricks grow ever-more flexible, driven by a world where all that is known doubles in just a few days.
Pedagogy is still a science. Teaching is a science, but it is also a craft practiced by master craftsmen and women and learned by apprentices. Teaching has been called the noblest profession. From our earliest roots as the Buffalo Normal School to the current challenges of post-COVID America, we have never changed our dedication to that conviction.
- Ultimately, however, as even the earliest teacher educators knew, the art of teaching is that ephemeral quality that we cannot teach, but which we know when we see it at work, that makes the great teacher excel far beyond the competent teacher.
- Teaching has been called the noblest profession.
- From our earliest roots as the Buffalo Normal School to the current challenges of post-COVID America, we have never changed our dedication to that conviction.
We are still doing what the words of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai encourage us to do: “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” That was and always will be the mission of Buffalo State, “the Teachers College.”
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What are the aims of education in modern India?
What is Modern Education? – Modern Education is the latest and contemporary version of education that is taught in schools and learning institutions in the 21st century. Modern education doesn’t just only focus on prominent academic disciplines of Commerce, Science and Arts but also aims to foster critical thinking, life skills, value education, analytical skills and decision-making skills in students.
Modern Education also makes use of the latest technology such as mobile applications, audio and video platforms like YouTube, Podcasts, E-books, Movies, etc. to educate learners and make the learning process more engaging and interesting. We have all been educated in a teacher-centric classroom, a system where the teacher is in upfront and the students are seated in nice neat rows, listening to the lecture and taking notes.
This system has been, and to some extent, still forms the core of our education system. Schools have relied on it for decades, and have only recently undergone major changes. Living in the 21st century, technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives.
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What is the main features of modern education system?
Indian Syllabus Covers a Vast Area of Education – The modern curriculum comprises a holistic learning approach and doesn’t just limit itself to core subjects. Schools now tend to focus more on acquiring skills in technology, communication, critical-thinking and problem solving.
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How did the modern education system benefit the Indians?
The modern education system in India made local language and literature famous in the country. New social and religious reforms emerged soon after. Indians started appreciating their cultural heritage as they had more knowledge about them.
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What is Mordern education?
What Is Modern Education? – Modern education is essentially the way education systems help students acquire skills that will help them advance both academically and professionally. In order for them to reach that level, it is necessary to develop 21st-century skills for today’s students, This enables students to develop skills they can apply and advance while still at school.
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Why was the English Education Act introduced and in which year Class 8?
English Education Act 1835 | |
---|---|
Council of India | |
Enacted by | Council of India |
Status: Repealed |
The English Education Act 1835 was a legislative Act of the Council of India, gave effect to a decision in 1835 by Lord William Bentinck, then Governor-General of the British East India Company, to reallocate funds it was required by the British Parliament to spend on education and literature in India,
Previously, they had given limited support to traditional Muslim and Hindu education and the publication of literature in the then traditional languages of education in India ( Sanskrit and Persian ); henceforward they were to support establishments teaching a Western curriculum with English as the language of instruction.
Together with other measures promoting English as the language of administration and of the higher law courts (instead of Persian, as under the Mughal Empire ), this led eventually to English becoming one of the languages of India, rather than simply the native tongue of its foreign rulers.
- In discussions leading up to the Act Thomas Babington Macaulay produced his famous Memorandum on (Indian) Education which was scathing on the inferiority (as he saw it) of native (particularly Hindu) culture and learning.
- He argued that Western learning was superior, and currently could only be taught through the medium of English.
There was therefore a need to produce—by English-language higher education—”a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect” who could in their turn develop the tools to transmit Western learning in the vernacular languages of India.
Among Macaulay’s recommendations were the immediate stopping of the printing by the East India Company of Arabic and Sanskrit books and that the company should not continue to support traditional education beyond “the Sanskrit College at Benares and the Mahometan College at Delhi” (which he considered adequate to maintain traditional learning).
The act itself, however, took a less negative attitude to traditional education and was soon succeeded by further measures based upon the provision of adequate funding for both approaches. Vernacular language education, however, continued to receive little funding, although it had not been much supported before 1835 in any case.
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Why was the English Education Act introduced Class 8?
The English Education Act was introduced in the year, No worries! We‘ve got your back. Try BYJU‘S free classes today! Right on! Give the BNAT exam to get a 100% scholarship for BYJUS courses No worries! We‘ve got your back. Try BYJU‘S free classes today! No worries! We‘ve got your back. Try BYJU‘S free classes today! Open in App Suggest Corrections 0 : The English Education Act was introduced in the year,
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Who spread modern education in India Why?
The British East India Company came to India as a trader, but socio-political conditions of Indian subcontinent drives them to become ruler. This resulted in the need of subordinates and to achieve this goal, they instituted a number of acts to pour Indians into English colour through the education system.
- Here, we are giving “Summary of the History of Modern Education during British India” which can be used as a revision capsule for upcoming competitive exams.
- The British East India Company came to India as a trader, but socio-political conditions of Indian subcontinent drives them to become ruler.
- This resulted in the need of subordinates and to achieve this goal, they instituted a number of acts to pour Indians into English colour through the education system.
Here, we are giving “Summary of the History of Modern Education during British India” which can be used as a revision capsule for upcoming competitive exams. Summary on the History of Modern Education during British India 1. Warren Hastings set up the Calcutta Madrasa in 1781 for the study and learning of Persian and Arabic. In 1791, the efforts of Jonathan Duncan opened Sanskrit College at Banaras for understanding of the laws, literature and religion of the Hindus.2.
- The Fort William College was set up by Lord Wellesley in 1800 for the training of the civil servants of the company in vernacular languages and customs of India.
- The College published an English-Hindustani dictionary, a Hindustani grammar and some other books.
- However to impart training to civil servants a East India College at Hailebury, England was established in 1807.3.
Charter Act, (1813): It provided for an annual expenditure of one lakh of rupees “for the revival and promotion of literature and the encouragement of then learned natives of India and for the introduction and promotion of knowledge of the science among the inhabitants of the British territories.” 4.
Sir Charles Wood’s Despatch on Education, 1854: It is considered as the Magna Carta of English Education in India. It declared that the aim of the Government’s educational policy was the teaching of Western Education. The three universities of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay came into existence in 1857. It proposed the setting up of primary schools (vernacular languages) at the lowest level, high school in Anglo vernacular and colleges (English Medium) at district level.5.
The Hunter Education Commission, 1882-83: The principal object of the enquiry of the commission was to present the state of elementary education throughout the Indian Empire and the means by which this can be extended and improved. List of Various Educational Committees during British India 6.
The Indian Universities Act, 1904: The act increased university control over private colleges by laying down stringent conditions of affiliation and periodical inspection by the Syndicate. The private colleges were required to keep a proper standard of efficiency. The Government approval was necessary for grant of affiliation or disaffiliation of colleges.7.
The Sadler University Commission, 1917-19: It recommended a twelve-year school course after passing the intermediate examination, rather than the Matriculation, the students were to enter a university.8. Wardha Scheme of Basic Education: The main principle of basic education (better known as Wardha Scheme) is ‘learning through activity’.
- The Zakir Hussain Committee worked out the details of the scheme and prepared detailed syllabi for a number of crafts and made suggestions concerning training of teachers, supervision, examination and administration.9.
- Sargeant Plan of Education: This plan envisaged the establishment of elementary schools and high schools (junior and senior basic schools) and the introduction of universal free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 14.
The British Modern Education was injected in Indian society not for education but to imparting Christianity to the people and creating a class of Anglo-Indian. History of Modern India: A Complete Study Material
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What were the reasons for the introduction of the new education system?
Answer. Answer: The colonial master introduced education system to create clerks and civil servants and we have not deviated much from that pattern till today. If once the youngsters prepared for civil services and bank officers exams,they now prepare to become engineer.
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How did British see education in India?
The British took several measures. They set up education departments of the government. Universities were established in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Upto the mid 19th century, the company’s primary concern was to improve higher education.
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Why was the education system created?
Have You Ever Wondered. –
Why was school created? Who invented the first school? Have kids in the United States always had to go to school?
Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Rebecca from AL. Rebecca Wonders, ” who created school? ” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Rebecca! Why was school created? We’re sure that’s a question that every student asks from time to time. Especially on tough test days, many students WONDER exactly why they’re being subjected to such cruel and unusual punishment! If you’re honest with yourself, though, you know what a great place school is.
- You have fun, learn all sorts of interesting things, and get to spend quality time with your friends.
- Sure, tests can be stressful, but think of how boring life would be if you didn’t get to learn new things and see other people so often! Schools are not a new invention.
- You may have seen some old one-room schoolhouses that have been around for a couple hundred years or more.
The earliest schools, though, date back thousands of years! In fact, education dates back to the very first humans ever to inhabit Earth. Why? To survive, every generation has found it necessary to pass on its accumulated knowledge, skills, values, and traditions to the next generation,
- How can they do this? Education ! Each subsequent generation must be taught these things.
- The earliest human beings didn’t need schools to pass along information.
- They educated youngsters on an individual basis within the family unit.
- Over time, however, populations grew and societies formed.
- Rather than every family being individually responsible for education, people soon figured out that it would be easier and more efficient to have a small group of adults teach a larger group of children.
In this way, the concept of the school was born. Ancient schools weren’t like the schools we know today, though. The earliest schools often focused more on teaching skills and passing along religious values, rather than teaching specific subject areas like is common today.
In the United States, the first schools began in the 13 original colonies in the 17 th century. For example, Boston Latin School, which was founded in 1635, was the first public school and the oldest existing school in the country. The earliest schools focused on reading, writing, and mathematics, The New England colonies led the way in requiring towns to set up schools.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony made basic education a requirement in 1642. However, many of the earliest schools were only for boys, and there were usually few, if any, options for girls. After the American Revolution, education became a higher priority,
States quickly began to establish public schools. School systems were not uniform, however, and would often vary greatly from state to state. Credit for our modern version of the school system usually goes to Horace Mann. When he became Secretary of Education in Massachusetts in 1837, he set forth his vision for a system of professional teachers who would teach students an organized curriculum of basic content,
For this reason, Mann is often called the “Father of the Common School Movement.” Many other states quickly followed Mann’s system he instituted in Massachusetts. More and more states began to require school attendance, By 1918, every state required students to complete elementary school,
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What were the reasons for the introduction of the new education system?
Answer. Answer: The colonial master introduced education system to create clerks and civil servants and we have not deviated much from that pattern till today. If once the youngsters prepared for civil services and bank officers exams,they now prepare to become engineer.
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What is the purpose of the British education system?
Officially known as the National Curriculum of England, Wales, & Northern Ireland, the British national curriculum prepares young people for the wider world by developing their analytical problem-solving and critical thinking rather than by teaching them to retain facts.
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Why was the English education Act introduced and in which year Class 8?
English Education Act 1835 | |
---|---|
Council of India | |
Enacted by | Council of India |
Status: Repealed |
The English Education Act 1835 was a legislative Act of the Council of India, gave effect to a decision in 1835 by Lord William Bentinck, then Governor-General of the British East India Company, to reallocate funds it was required by the British Parliament to spend on education and literature in India,
Previously, they had given limited support to traditional Muslim and Hindu education and the publication of literature in the then traditional languages of education in India ( Sanskrit and Persian ); henceforward they were to support establishments teaching a Western curriculum with English as the language of instruction.
Together with other measures promoting English as the language of administration and of the higher law courts (instead of Persian, as under the Mughal Empire ), this led eventually to English becoming one of the languages of India, rather than simply the native tongue of its foreign rulers.
- In discussions leading up to the Act Thomas Babington Macaulay produced his famous Memorandum on (Indian) Education which was scathing on the inferiority (as he saw it) of native (particularly Hindu) culture and learning.
- He argued that Western learning was superior, and currently could only be taught through the medium of English.
There was therefore a need to produce—by English-language higher education—”a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect” who could in their turn develop the tools to transmit Western learning in the vernacular languages of India.
Among Macaulay’s recommendations were the immediate stopping of the printing by the East India Company of Arabic and Sanskrit books and that the company should not continue to support traditional education beyond “the Sanskrit College at Benares and the Mahometan College at Delhi” (which he considered adequate to maintain traditional learning).
The act itself, however, took a less negative attitude to traditional education and was soon succeeded by further measures based upon the provision of adequate funding for both approaches. Vernacular language education, however, continued to receive little funding, although it had not been much supported before 1835 in any case.
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How did the Britishers changed the education system in India Class 8?
Education And British Rule Notes Class 8 Social Science – CBSE Class 8 Social Science Education and British Rule Notes. Learning the important concepts is very important for every student to get better marks in examinations. The concepts should be clear which will help in faster learning.
- The attached concepts made as per NCERT and CBSE pattern will help the student to understand the chapter and score better marks in the examinations.
- EDUCATION AND BRITISH RULE THE NEW EDUCATION SYSTEM What is the New Education System? 1.
- The British Government used education as a weapon and a tool for promoting its own interests.2.
The educational system which the British introduced in India is known as the New Education System.3. British laid stress on the teaching of English language and its literature, and the study of Indian languages were generally neglected.4. Moreover, modern education was based on logic and scientific research rather than on faith and ritualism.5.
New schools, colleges and universities were opened for the spread of English language and literature, fixed syllabi were formed and more attention began to the given to technical education, though at a slower pace. CAUSES OR OBJECTIVES FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW EDUCATION SYSTEM OR MODERN EDUCATION The English introduced the New Education system or modern education in India to fulfil their various objectives.
The chief among them are the following : * To Appoint Indians on the Administration : The English introduced modern education in India with the sole object of reducing the expenditure incurred on administration. In different departments, they needed a large number of such employees who could not be brought from England.
This demand could be met only by employing the educated Indians who could prove far less ex[?ensive than the Europeans. *To Encourage the Study of English language and spread western culturs : The English were now the masters of India and like all masters (alien rulers) they too wished that the people under their rule should learn their language which they must use in communicating with them.
Besides they thought that as a result of the learning of English the Indian people would easily accept the British rule. *To Expand Market for English Goods : The English capitalists thought that after learning the English language and acquiring western education, the Indians would become semi-English.
According to Macaulay the Indians would then remain Indians only in their colour, while in their interests, ideas, morals and intelligence they would become English. In such conditions the market for British goods would automatically expand., * Spread of Christianity : The Christian missionaries believed that the modern education would end among the Indians what little faith they had in their religious beliefs.
Thus, they would be attracted towards Christianity. STEPS TAKEN BY THE COMPANY TO INTRODUCE WESTERN EDUCATION IN INDIA *Early Efforts : In the beginning the Company never took it as its duty to give education to the Indians. It was a commercial Company and its sole motive was to earn profits and not to spend money on education.
Nevertheless, some British officers in their individual capacity tried to make reforms in this direction. In A.D.1781, Warren Hastings did some work in this direction. Similarly Sir William Jones, a Judge of the Supreme Court, founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in A.D.1784. This society, in later years, did a lot of work in spreading education.
In A.D.1792, the Resident of Benaras took special interest in spread i ng education and started several Engl ish schools and colleges where English was taught. The missionaries started for the same purpose the Wilson College at Bombay, the Christian College at Madras and the 51.
John College at Agra. SomE progressive Indians like Raja Rammohan Roy also started English schools. Raja Rammohan Roy laid the foundation of a school at Calcutta in AD.1816. Charter Act of A.D.1813 : In England, a feeling was gaining ground that the Company had done practically little for the intellectual and moral development of the Indian people.
It was, therefore, laid in the Charter Act of AD.1813 that the Company would set aside a sum of rupees one lakh for promoting the knowledge of modern sciences in India, But even this meagre amount was not utilised for several years as no decision could be reached as to what the medium of education should be.
* Lord Macaulay and Decision regarding the Medium of Instruction in A.D.1835 : It was during the period of Lord William Bentinck (1828-35) that Lord Macaulay and Raja Rammohan Roy, a representative of the progressive Indians, made efforts so that a decision was taken in AD.1835 to promote the teaching of western sciences and literature through the medium of English alone.
Another important step was taken to encourage English learning in AD.1844 when it was decided, during the period of Lord Hardinge, that only those Indians who had sufficient knowledge of English be appointed on government jobs. *Charles Wood’s Despatch, A.D.1854 : Charles,Wood, the President of the Board of Control, did yeoman’s job in spreading education in India when in A.D.1854 in he sent a Despatch to Lord Dalhousie, the then a Governor-General of India.
- It was recommended there that :- (i) An Education Department was to be established in every province.
- Ii) Universities on the model of the London University be established in big cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
- Iii) At least one government school should be opened in every district.
- Iv) Affiliated Private Schools should be given grant-in aid.
(v) The Indian natives should be given training in their mother-tongue also. In accordance with the Wood’s Despatch, Education Departments were established in every province and universities were opened at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in A.D.1857 and in Punjab in A.D.1882 and at Allahabad A.D.1887.
Drawbacks of the Company’s System of Education (i) Lack of Funds : Even the meagre amount of one lakh set aside for educational purposes could not be spent till A.D.1833. (ii) Neglect of the Common People : The Company never took a serious interest in the field of education. By educating the members of the higher and the middle classes only they created a serious gap between various classes of the Indian people.
The only object of their educational system was to prepare clerks who would carryon the work of the Company’s administration smoothly. It simply shows the selfishness of the Company. (iii) The Medium of Instruction : All the subjects were taught through English as such the study of Indian languages was neglected.
- All those who got their training in English considered themselves superior to others.
- Thus, a class of people were born who were Indians only in blood and colour but who considered themselves English in thought and in their way of living.
- Iv) Neglect of the Women’s Education: No funds were set aside for the education of women, as women’s education had no uti I ity for the English.
On the other hand, in doing so they were afraid of hurting the sentiments of the Indian people as the conservative Indian opinion was against giving any education to their women folk. (v) Neglect of Scientific and Technical Education : The English government never paid any attention towards imparting scientific and technical education.
- But A.D.1857 only three Medical Colleges, one each at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, and one Engineering College at Roorkee were opened.
- Admission to these colleges was open only for the Europeans.
- As such the Indians were almost totally neglected.
- Despite the above drawbacks, we can say that the British had played a very important role in the promotion of education in India.
It was this education which later on inspired a number of Indians with the fire of nationalism which ultimately rooted out the British Empire from the Indian soil. CHANGES IN THE INDIGENOUS SYSTEMS Before the advent of the English both the Hindus and the Muslims had their own educational institutions like Maktabs, Madrassas, Pathshalas, Mosques and Temple Schools.
- But the advent of the English and the establishment of their rule in India forced the East India Company to establish their own system of education in India.
- Ultimately a decision was taken in A.D.1835, during the Governor Generalship of Lord William Bentinck, to promote the teachings of Western education through the medium of English alone.
As a result of such a policy the traditional system of education gradually withered away for lack of official support and the announcement of the government (in 1844) that applicants for government job should possess knowledge of English language and literature.
- GROWTH OF NATIONAL EDUCATION The Swadeshi and the Boycott movement shook the very foundation of the British empire in India.
- During this movement the students took a major part, which drew upon them the wrath of the British Government.
- Many students were expelled from their schools and colleges.
- Circular after circular was issued to different schools and colleges to take severe disciplinary action against such students who were found taking part in Swadeshi and the Boycott Movement.
Not only the students were, fined and expelled but many teachers were also forced to resign when they refused to fine and whip the students. Such actions on the part of the authorities forced the students to boycott the Calcutta University. At such a critical juncture many eminent persons of Bengal got together and held a conference on 10th November 1905.
- In this conference they decided to establish a National Council of Education in order to organise a system of education on national lines and in national hands.
- Within no time a huge amount was collected and the National Council of Education was set up in a large house with a compound donated by a nationalist donor.
Within no time many national schools and colleges were founded. According to an estimate by 1908 the number of secondary schools grew to 25 and primary national schools to 300. The expelled students and teachers who were forced to resign were absorbed and adjusted in these national schools.
- In its session of 1906 the Bengal Provincial Conference endorsed the idea of establishing national schools throughout the country.
- The Indian National Congress in its Calcutta session of 1906 also approved the resolution of opening national institutions throughout the country.
- In moving the revolution Hirendernath Datta said, Swadeshis is a three-faced goddess, The one face or aspect of the goddess is political, the second face is industrial and last, but not the least is the educational.
Thus, in 1905 with the Swadeshi and the Boycott Movement the National Education also became a part and parcel of the national movement.
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