Education Portal for Students 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.

1. Education System In India During British Rule (UPSC Notes):-
2. Also Read:
3. UPSC Related Articles

: NCERT Notes: Indian Education System During British Rule
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What did the British do to promote education in Gold Coast?

HISTORY BASIC 5 SOCIAL AND ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT UNDER COLONIAL RULE (EDUCATION) SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD (1874 – 1957) The first Europeans that came to the Gold Coast came as missionaries. They came to spread the Christian faith. The Portuguese were the first European nation to come to Gold Coast in the year 1471.

The Portuguese named the place Gold Coast because of the Gold deposits found on the land. After the European missionaries had contacts with the coastal people, they decide to enter the interior parts of Ghana. In order to communicate better with the local people, they decided to established schools. Most of the local people did not understand the ir language in order to accept the massage.

After signing of the Bond of 1844 the local people demanded that the British help with social development of the Gold Coast. The British undertook various social development within the Gold Coast. All the European countries that came to the Gold Coast left with the exemption of the British.

The British colonized the Gold Coast from 1907 and decided to develop the social structure of the colony. DEVELOPMENTS IN EDUCATION BY THE BRITISH IN THE GOLD COAST The arrival of the Europeans brought new forms of education. Before their coming, education in the country was done in an informal way. That is knowledge and skills was transferred orally or by word of mouth.

The formal education introduced by the Europeans was book-based. Those who first enjoyed this formal education were the children of local chiefs, children of wealthy traders and the mulattos. Mulattos were children born by the both foreign and local parents.

1. That is, children of mix race.
2. Studies were conducted in the Castles and Forts along coast.
3. In 1874, after the British had made the whole Gold Coast as her colony, they decided to extend formal education to interior of the country.
4. Mission schools were built across the country.
5. The Basel and Wesleyan Missions constructed schools in the Gold Coast.

The Wesleyan Mission stayed at the coast whiles the Basel Mission went inland of the Gold Coast. EDUCATIONAL MEASURES TAKEN BY THE BRITISH 1. ​ The British colonial government established the Educational Ordinance ​ of 1882. This was an educational policy set-up to provide money for ​ the running of the schools.

The schools to receive the funds were ​ known as “government assisted schools”. These included schools set – ​ up by the Basel and Wesleyan missionaries.2. ​ There was the establishment of a Board of Education. This board was ​ set-up with people to monitor the school system.3. ​ There was a call by the British colonial government for an ​ improvement in the school curriculum to bring out the best students.4.

​ Teachers who taught in schools were required to pass the required ​ certificate make the necessary impact.5. ​ Teachers were also required to adopt practical means to teach their ​ students. SOME INFLUENTIAL INDIVIDUAL IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN GOLD COAST.

MR. CHARLES WILLIAN He was appointed master of the Cape Coast Schools conducted in Cape Coast Castle. He came in when the Castle Schools were at a standstill because of funds. He arrived in the Gold Coast in 1815 and re-opened the schools in Cape Coast. He is responsible for opening of other schools is Dixcove, Accra and Anomabo,

❖ REV. THOMAS B. FREEEMAN The Wesleyan (Methodist) mission opened up schools along the coast of Ghana. By 1841, the Wesleyan mission had opened nine (9) schools, six (6) for boys and three (3) for girls. All these schools were functioning by the effort of Rev.

• Thomas B. Freeman.
• He was in charge of the Wesleyan mission schools. ❖ DR.
• WEGYIR AGGREY He was born in the Gold Coast and trained and educated by the Wesleyan missionaries.
• He later move to the United States of America for further studies.
• He returned to the Gold Coast for several years. Dr.
• Aggrey was appointed the firs vice principal of the Achimota College.

He was one of those who helped to establishing the school. He was very interested in seeing female s getting education. He made the famous statement “If you educate a man, educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation”. ❖ REV. SUTTER He was appointed from the Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone to be the inspector of schoold in the Gold Coast.

NO.	SCHOOLS	FOUNDER BY	YEAR	LOCATION
1	Mfantsipim School	Wesley Mission	1876	Central Region
2	Wesleyan Girls High School	Wesley Mission		Central Region
3	St. Augustine College	Catholic Mission		Central Region
4	Prempeh College	Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh Rev. Sidney Person Basel and Wesleyan Mission	1949	Ashanti Region
5	Ghana National College	Kwame Nkruamh	1948	Central Region
6	Achimota College	Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg Dr. James Emmanuel Aggrey Rev. Alex Gordon Fraser		Greater Accra Region
7	Adisadel College	Anglican Missionary Nathaniel Temple Hamlyn	1910	Central Region
8	Aggrey Memorial College	Dr. AWE Appia of the A.M.E Zion Church	1940	Central Region

WEEK 9 NOTES
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What did the colonists do to promote education?

Education in the Colonies Harvard Education was very important in the New England colonies. The first public schools in the colonies were started there. In 1647, Massachusetts passed a law requiring all towns with 50 or more families to hire a teacher to instruct their children how to read or write.

Parents were encouraged to contribute to the school, in the form of money or goods. Schools were one-room schoolhouses, on land that was usually donated. Most schools had one book, “New England Primer”, that was used to teach alphabet, syllables, and prayer. Outside of New England there was no public education in the colonies.

There were some religious schools. Wealthy individuals also hired tutors for their children. In 1636, Harvard University was founded as a place to train ministers. It was the only college in the colonies for fifty years, until the College of William and Mary was founded in Virginia.
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How did the British improve education in Singapore?

History of Singapore’s education system – Singapore Civic Life – Preserving the Past for the Future Until 1965, when Singapore became an independent republic, its lived mostly as simple fishermen, and the illiteracy rate was very high. In fact, when Great Britain withdrew Singapore’s status as a British colony, this small country was so poor that no other nation wanted to take over its territory.

1. Only 40 years later, it ranks first in most international exams and its students speak English as if it were the country’s first language.
2. This is why the history of Singapore is amazing.
3. The question is how did Singapore get to where it is today? According to local officials and academics, the country’s founder, Lee Kwan Yew, had a vision to make Singapore an English-speaking country with bilingual education, where students learn English as their first language and their mother tongue (Mandarin, Tamil or Malay) as their second.

This contributed to making Singapore an important center of world trade. It also made the education system one of the world’s toughest meritocracies, producing highly skilled workers and exporting more and more high-tech products. Singapore’s academic meritocracy begins in the first grade, where children are ranked according to their academic performance, from first to last.

1. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the Singapore Institution (now known as Raffles Institution) in 1823, thus initiating education in Singapore under British rule.
2. Later, three main types of schools appeared: Malaysian, Chinese and Tamil schools and English schools.
3. The Malaysian schools were free for all British students, while the English schools, which used to have English as the language, were established by the missionaries and had to pay school fees.

Students in Chinese schools were very much in tune with the evolution of China, especially at the height of Chinese nationalism. During World War II, many students in Singapore dropped out of school, causing a huge backlog of students in schools after the war.

• In 1947, the Ten-Year Program for Education Policy in the Colony of Singapore was formulated.
• This program was not only the beginning of a universal education system, but also a call to prepare for self-government.
• During the 1950s and 1960s, when Singapore began to develop its own economy, Singapore adapted a system of “survival-driven education” to provide a skilled workforce for Singapore’s industrialization program, as well as to reduce unemployment.

In addition to being an economic necessity, education also helped integrate the new nation. The policy of bilingualism in schools was officially introduced in 1960, making English the official language for both national integration and utilitarian purposes. Universal education for children of all races and backgrounds began to take shape as more children began to attend schools.

However, the quality of the schools that were created during this time had varied considerably. Upon gaining its independence from British colonial rule in 1965, the government of Singapore focused on developing an educational system based on equal opportunity while being aware of the four major races that existed on the island (Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian).Singapore started its “Education for All” policy, a one-size-fits-all education system, to address the problem of the many private schools that existed during colonial rule.

The “Education for All” policy served as a vehicle to welcome all private schools to the newly created Ministry of Education funding, and to integrate not only the different races through a common educational experience, but also a common set of educational standards and curricula that would serve as the basis for its industrialization initiative.

1. Through an educational system that offers equal opportunities for all, regardless of race or religion, students’ progress through the mainstream educational system is based on achievement.
2. After ten years of compulsory education, children had to enroll in the limited vacancies of non-compulsory education.

This enrollment is based on a system of meritocracy. Some twenty years later, after realizing that a system of resource allocation based on educational equity was not capable of accommodating the different needs and abilities of children, a system was initiated that channeled students into different academic programs based on their abilities.

The objective of this change in educational policy, from a principle of equity to one that recognized the different potential of each student, was to guarantee the individual rights of each student, as well as the need for the government to fully develop the people who made up its nation. In order to improve the educational system in the 1980s, an educational reform was initiated: the backbone of this new reform was the separation of students according to their abilities and academic performance and, thus, to be able to provide them, in different educational programs, with the educational response according to their abilities and interests, in accordance with their potential.

With this new system of education proposed by the Ministry of Education, students were given the opportunity to learn and progress at their own pace. The Gifted Education Program, as the new plan was called, was the result of the systemic reform that took place in the government’s educational policy.

With the new comprehensive education system, based on the difference in potential and abilities of each student, there was a belief that the most talented students should be given the same opportunity to progress according to their high abilities; as well as the less capable students were allowed to learn at a slower and more comfortable pace for them.

: History of Singapore’s education system – Singapore Civic Life – Preserving the Past for the Future
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What did the British do to promote education class 8?

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.

1. Education System In India During British Rule (UPSC Notes):-
2. Also Read:
3. UPSC Related Articles

: NCERT Notes: Indian Education System During British Rule
View complete answer