Lecture 56

Añadido: 2026-05-06

[00:00:21]Dear learners, greetings.

[00:00:25]Today, I'm going to present a very interesting topic. And that is colonial education, schools, colleges, and universities. So, how in the colonial period, when we are ruled by foreigners, how the growth of schools, colleges, and universities in fact was there?

[00:00:47]How schools, colleges, and universities were established? And how colonial rule in fact promoted education in our country? So, if you see colonial education in India was introduced mainly by the Britishers during their rule from 18th to 20th century. So, definitely there were some other rulers also in some other part of the world like Portuguese in Goa, and similarly French in some part of the country, and Danish people in some part of the country. But since main influence was of Britishers, so definitely I will say that mainly the influence came from the Britishers. This colonial education basically transformed traditional learning systems into Western style institution. So, if you see Indian education system, one of the oldest in the world, one of the oldest in the world. So, our philosophy, our thinking was like this, "Sa Vidya Ya Vimukte."

[00:01:53]That is, education is that which gives us im- imi- emancipation. You know, so like education is that which creates humbleness in you.

[00:02:08]You know, and our education system definitely was not based on examination.

[00:02:14]Our education system was not heavily bookish. Our education system was not mechanical. So, so many peculiarities of Indian education system were there, but somehow during the colonial period, this you know, traditional learning system was transformed into Western style institution, where emphasis was more on the degrees, where emphasis was more on passing the examination, and where the emphasis was more to produce clerks so that India may be governed governed easily. So, in fact it transformed our traditional learning system.

[00:02:52]Its goal was to create an administrative class loyal to the British government.

[00:02:57]So, in the colonial period, mainly the main officers, the important officers, definitely they were Britishers. But somehow in order to rule over India, they needed an army of clerks who can do certain kind of a bridge between Indian masses and their British rulers. So, they needed that class, and that class which was definitely loyal to this British government. So, so it was the goal of the colonial education system.

[00:03:30]So, if you see uh how I mean our system was there.

[00:03:36]So, the moment Britishers arrive, so different systems of education were there in the country. Gurukulas were there, madrasas were there, pathshalas were there, maktabs were there, which focused on moral, religious, and practical knowledge. And definitely it was decentralized and community based. Here we have to understand this thing that in different part of the country, different systems ran. And that different system ran according to the need, and it was totally community based. And definitely the learning was emphasized on oral traditions, local languages, and holistic development. So, the development that includes physical, mental, moral, emotional, social, and spiritual development.

[00:04:30]So, if you see early British interest in education, so East India Company initially avoided educational responsibilities. I mean they earned huge profit from India, but they didn't take the responsibility. So, initially they avoided the educational responsibilities. Rather, missionaries which came from Britain and other parts of the Europe, they wanted to spread Christianity, and they thought that education will be one of the best means to spread the Christianity. So, they promoted Western education, and their purpose was not just to educate the Indian people, their purpose was to spread Christianity. But definitely at this juncture of time, East India Company didn't take the responsibility. But you know, the Charter Act of 1813 in fact it mentions that somehow since East India Company earns a lot of profit from India, so its responsibility is there to spend at least 1 lakh rupees to educate Indians. So, it was this Charter Act of 1813, and its section 43 basically was very remarkable that first time East India Company was made responsible that to educate the Indian is the duty of the East India Company.

[00:05:52]Then the moment this section 43 of Charter Act 1813 came into existence, then there was a debate and there was a controversy in India that is known as Orientalist and Occidentalist controversy or Orientalist versus Anglicist you know, debate. So, Orientalist or and Occidentalist or Orientalist versus Anglicist debate. So, what was this debate? In fact, the moment it was mentioned that East India Company is required to spend 1 lakh rupees to educate Indians, so there were two groups. One group wanted that these 1 lakh rupees should be spent on Indians to educate them in Indian learning system in in in teaching them classical languages, and in teaching them their traditions, and all these things. So, that group was known as Orientalist.

[00:06:53]That is, you spend 1 lakh rupees on educating Indians in Indian knowledge, in Indian tradition, in Indian system, in Indian languages.

[00:07:05]Whereas there was another group which wanted that these 1 lakh rupees should be spent to educate Indian in Western education, and the medium of that education should strictly be English.

[00:07:19]So, that group was known as Anglicist or Occidentalist.

[00:07:25]And there was a long debate between these two groups. Both the groups I mean they have their own you know, arguments and then counter arguments. Long debate was there. So, the next Charter Act was about to come in 1833, and in these 20 years you know, this controversy could not be resolved. That is, how to spend 1 lakh rupees to educate Indians. So, by that way the moment this controversy couldn't be resolved, then Governor General of India recommended I requested the British Parliament that you send someone to India who can resolve this controversy. That is, how to spend these 1 lakh rupees on educating Indians. So, to resolve this controversy, literary person I know, you can say a scholar of Britain, Lord Macaulay came to India in 1834, and in 1835 he submitted his famous minutes, and in that in fact he favored English education. So, Macaulay said there is no need to spend 1 lakh rupees to educate Indians in Indian traditions, in Indian languages, rather educate Indians in Western education, and the medium of that education should strictly be English. And why English should be the medium of the instruction?

[00:08:55]Because English is the language of rulers, English is the language of international trade, and English vocabulary is much more in comparison to the Eastern languages like Sanskrit and Persian and other languages. So, Macaulay wanted a education system in which you know, the medium of instruction should be English. Now, after Macaulay's famous minutes, Lord William Bentinck who was the Governor General at that time, in fact he accepted these minutes, and finally an act was passed. That act said that English should be the medium of instruction.

[00:09:37]That act focused on literature and science of the West. That is, Indians will be taught the literature as well as the science of the West. And it aimed to create a class of Indian in blood and color, but English in taste and intellect. Basically, Macaulay wanted to create a class in India.

[00:09:58]So, those Indians by birth they will be Indian, but in everything so far as their liking, their disliking, their taste, their attitude, their aptitude, their intellect is concerned, they will be English. And this class definitely will be loyal to the British ruler. And through this class, British rulers will rule India smoothly.

[00:10:22]Now, how the development of the schools happened during the colonial rules? So, definitely schools were modeled after British systems. And British systems always have a structured curricula. At that time, the British schools have a structured curricula. So, we also have the curricula.

[00:10:43]Our traditional system of education also has has a curricula, but it was not formalized, institutionalized, and structured. As I have mentioned earlier, that it was community-based. It was need-based, you know. And it differed, I mean, in different parts of the country.

[00:10:57]But, British system was more structured, more formalized. So, the schools now opened in India, they were modeled after British systems with a structured curricula. Their emphasis was on three Rs, that is reading, writing, and arithmetic. That is arithmetic. And vernacular schools definitely declined.

[00:11:18]I mean, their importance was reduced, their number was reduced.

[00:11:24]And since they didn't have any government support, so slowly and slowly those vernacular schools declined. And English medium institutions, English medium schools particularly were on rise. They were expanded. They were more in numbers established. And the enrollment in these schools slowly and slowly also increased.

[00:11:46]So, Wood's dispatch. So, if you see, one policy in India was on rise for almost 20 years based on Macaulay's minutes.

[00:11:59]Now, another important development in the history of Indian education happened when we got the Wood's dispatch. So, Charles Wood was a company official, and he sent his famous dispatch in 1854. And in which he talks about so many things.

[00:12:17]And one thing he recommended that vernacular languages should be promoted.

[00:12:22]Vernacular knowledge should be you know, promoted. And somehow, the British government in India should be more liberal in in giving the grant in aid and all those things. So, that's why some of the historians even have men- have mentioned this Wood's dispatch as the Magna Carta of English education in India. I mean, it's something very important. It's very important document. So, besides recommending so many things, one thing this Wood's dispatch talked about and recommended the establishment of three universities in three big presidencies of the country. So, at that time Bombay was a big estate, big presidency. Its area was huge. So, it it recommended that one university you establish at Bombay. Calcutta at that time was a capital of India, again a very important city. And Bengal was a very important presidency. So, that's why it recommended that in Calcutta you establish one university, and one university you establish in Madras. And again, Madras at that time was a big estate, it was a big presidency. So, establish three universities in three presidencies of India.

[00:13:39]And you know, this will be a certain kind of affiliating system of universities. So, as such teaching, learning, and research, I mean, it will be taking place in the colleges which are affiliated by these universities. And mainly these universities will be doing the administrative work. So, uh further, Wood's dispatch in fact advocated that there should be a formalized system of teacher training.

[00:14:09]It recommended about women's education.

[00:14:11]And it recommended about departmental organization.

[00:14:16]So, if you see, after Wood's dispatch, slowly and slowly colleges number of colleges were increased. So, initially, I mean, there were few colleges which were established in major cities.

[00:14:33]And definitely, teaching and learning took place in these colleges, but these colleges were affiliated by the universities.

[00:14:42]These colleges basically focused on arts, humanities, and some other subjects. And if you see the example of big colleges as our important colleges which were established at that time, so Presidency College, very prestigious college. Even today it exists, and it is one of the most prestigious colleges of the country. So, it was established at that time.

[00:15:06]Elphinstone College, which is in Bombay.

[00:15:08]Again, I mean, it's very prestigious college, and it was established at that that time. And Madras Christian College.

[00:15:14]So, I mean, there are so many other colleges established in other important cities of the country, but just I have taken few examples here.

[00:15:23]Then, what was the scenario of the establishment of universities particularly after 1857? I mean, the moment we got the Wood's dispatch. So, what was the scenario of the establishment of the universities? So, as I have mentioned, after the Wood's dispatch recommendation, Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras universities were established in 1857. And then one significant development came in 1882, Punjab University in Lahore was established. And later on, if you see, it became one of the important centers in the country where particularly, you know, freedom fighters and writers and literary persons, I mean, all these people. It was a hub. It became later on a hub of these activities. So, Punjab establishment of Punjab University was an important development. And then after 5 years, Allahabad University at Allahabad in UP was established in 1887.

[00:16:22]But, you see, whether it is Punjab University or Allahabad University, initially they were mainly the examining bodies. I mean, teaching and learning actually took place in the colleges which were affiliated by these universities. Only later on teaching, learning, and research started in these universities.

[00:16:43]So, as the universities at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras were mainly the affiliating universities, in the same way Punjab University and Allahabad University also were affiliating university. But, later on, you know, teaching, learning, and and the research all were started at these universities.

[00:17:01]So, what was the impact of establishment of you know, these universities and colleges and schools particularly established by British government? What was the impact on Indian society?

[00:17:16]Definitely, the biggest impact was that it created an educated middle class and new intelligentsia.

[00:17:24]And see, if you see the human our struggle for freedom, so all of our big leaders who were involved in you know, freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, you know, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, uh other people, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, I mean, all these people. So, if you see all these people were the product of these schools basically. So, initial or the primary education or the up to middle level education they have got in these institution, and then they later on went to Britain. From there they got the higher education. And in fact, from there they came to India, and they ran that freedom movement. So, the very impact on the Indian society that was there of these schools, colleges, and universities established during colonial rule was to create an educated middle class and a new intelligentsia. And this new intelligentsia later on gave shape to the Indian society in so many ways.

[00:18:35]In fact, it introduced ourselves. It familiarized ourselves with the Western ideas of democracy, liberty, and racialism. So, it's never like that that we Indian didn't have the democratic values, or we Indian didn't have the liberty, or we did we were not rational.

[00:18:53]I mean, I mean, all those things were there. But, it was according to our custom. It was according to our traditions. It was according to our culture.

[00:19:02]But, Western concept of democracy, Western concept of liberty, and Western concept of nationalism definitely was introduced by these schools, colleges, and universities.

[00:19:14]And as I have mentioned, in fact, later on these institution became big platforms but for big social reform movements. I mean, so many movements ran by those people who had passed out of these colleges and universities. So, the moment those people who were educated in these colleges, they went to Britain for further studies, for higher studies, they saw over there that no exploitation is there in the society. People have their own will. People have their own right. So, later on when they came to India, somehow they ran those nationalist movements. They ran not only the nationalist movement, rather they ran various reformist movements also.

[00:20:00]So, in a nutshell, if you see uh uh on Indian society, uh somehow these schools and these colleges and these universities have deep impact.

[00:20:13]Let's proceed.

[00:20:15]uh Definitely, this colonial education has so many limitations as uh how I mean just let me clarify through these three points.

[00:20:29]It neglected mass and rural education.

[00:20:32]It is one of the biggest shortcoming of this colonial education.

[00:20:36]So, uh as I have mentioned that Macaulay in his famous minutes uh said that uh that it's not possible to educate every Indian. So, instead of educating every Indian, you select some people belonging to upper strata of the society, educate them, and when the masses will come into contact with them, they will automatically get educated.

[00:21:07]So, this theory is known as downward filtration theory. So, educate few people only. The moment the masses will come into contact with these few educated people, automatically they will get educated. So, there's no need to make a provision of mass education. So, this was the philosophy and that thing Mass education required lot of infrastructure, required lot of funding, and definitely colonial people and colonial rulers were not interested in that. So, somehow besides having some advantages, colonial education suffers from this limitation that basically it neglected the mass education. And not only the mass education, rather rural education also.

[00:21:57]Why? Because mostly the schools, the colleges, and the big universities were located in the big cities. So, in order to get the education, people were required to migrate to those those people. So, very few schools, very few colleges you will find in the rural areas. Mainly, they were located in urban areas. So, this was one of the most important limitation of colonial education. Then, it focused on clerical training or scientific or vocational training. And if you see the history, uh so, there was one commission that is known as Indian Education Commission or it is known as Hunter Commission. So, it recommended about vocational education.

[00:22:42]At that time, I mean long back in it was established in 1882, and it gave its report in 1883. So, at that time it recommended vocational learning and vocational education, but somehow it was not taken seriously by the British rulers. So, uh if they would have taken it seriously, because India was a huge country at that time, and India had a had a big population. So, in order to cater to the needs of this population, certain kind of vocational learning would would have been important would have become important. But somehow they didn't take it seriously. And not only they neglected this vocational learning, rather somehow, you know, scientific and other aspects they also neglected. So, their sole focus was somehow to produce good clerks, to produce obedient clerks who are loyal to the British government so that India might be ruled smoothly. So, this was the second important limitation of the colonial education.

[00:23:45]Third important limitation, it created cultural alienation and neglect of indigenous knowledge. So, as I have mentioned about downward filtration theory, that Macaulay said that educate only some only few people from upper strata of the society. The moment the people belonging to lower strata of the society, they will come into contact with them, and automatically they will get educated. But this But this didn't happen actually. So, those people those people who belonging to upper strata of the society, those were educated by the British system. In fact, they they somehow didn't want to interact with the masses. I mean, certain kind of alienation was there. They didn't like the masses, and the purpose definitely was not served. So, certain kind of cultural alienation was created uh by this colonial education. And not only this cultural alienation happened, rather so much indigenous knowledge, rich knowledge, reservoir of knowledge, that knowledge which came to us through generation, you know, that was neglected by this colonial education.

[00:24:58]Now, what was the Indian response and reform efforts? So, the moment it was felt that this colonial education system is creating alienation, and it is neglecting our, you know, treasure of knowledge and our traditional knowledge, so definitely so many national leaders criticized it, and definitely they ran so many movements, and somehow they established their own institution so that their traditions might be saved, their knowledge might be saved, and and masses are not alienated. So, institution like Visva-Bharati, which was established by Rabindranath Tagore, it was established.

[00:25:48]Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh was established. So, somehow, you know, you know, the purpose of these institutions was to to blend Eastern and Western ideals. I mean, I mean, not ignoring our root, but simultaneously adopting the Western education also. And some other institution on these patterns were also established in the country. Uh at that time, the party which was responsible for our freedom, the party which ran the movement for getting the freedom, Indian National Congress, basically it emphasized on national education policies, national education system, and later on, if you'll go through the history, you will find that in 1937, famous Wardha education system came, which was based on the ideas of Gandhiji, and which advocated about self-reliance in in education, as well as not taking the grant from the government, and upholding the national values, upholding the culture and traditions.

[00:26:50]So, what is the legacy of colonial education?

[00:26:54]Somehow, the modern education institution in India which were developed, somehow it was based on that colonial education system, which is one of the biggest legacies of it. Then, English language and Western curricula became deeply rooted. I mean, I mean, perhaps we would not have been sensitized towards English language. We would not have been sensitized towards Western curricula if this colonial education system would not have been there. So, this is one of the important legacies. And even this legacy is continuing today. So, if you see today in in various part of the globe, you will find so many youths are there.

[00:27:34]Indian youths are there. So, they have taken the degrees in some vocational courses or some technical courses, some engineering courses, some medical courses, and they're going and, you know, you know, they're going to serve in different parts of the world. It's simply because they have been educated in English. They have been educated in Western curricula. So, it's not like that that colonial education every time was bad. I mean, it has some good legacies also. And English language and Western curricula is one such important legacy, which is continuing even today.

[00:28:07]If you see, somehow this colonial education, I mean, I mean, brought modernization. This is one thing, and we were sensitized towards so many um Western values, in fact. So, in my opinion, it is another important, you know, legacy of the colonial education. So, in a nutshell, if we talk, let me hurriedly cover the conclusion, come to the conclusion. So, colonial education, no doubt, reshaped India's intellectual and social landscape in so many ways.

[00:28:43]Though it produced both loyal clerks, uh it produced loyal clerks, definitely, but simultaneously it produced so many patriots also, who later on became big reformers, who later on became, you know, freedom fighters and all that. So, by that way, I mean, I mean, English education system or the colonial education system was a boon also to us.

[00:29:10]And then, definitely, the challenge after independence was to Indianize education while retaining its modern framework. So, the moment we got independence in 1947, the challenge was before us to Indianize education. That was one of the biggest challenges. And simultaneously, I mean, Indianizing education system, but retaining its modern framework also. And I think the successive governments that came in India after the independence, by making so many educational policies, they continued this. So, first education policy that came in India in 1968, then we have another education policy in 1986. And then recently we have got one education policy in 2020 in 2020. And by that way, in fact, uh this challenge was met that we Indianize our education system. We are keeping on Indianizing our education system, but simultaneously we are retaining its modern framework as well. So, thank you very much for listening to me. It's enough for today. I will come with some other topic. Have a great day.

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