Ancient education in India was based on Gurukul (studying in a school established by a teacher (Guru) as a part of his (rarely her) family for a number of years, typically twelve years). Students studied in gurus' ashrams (residential schools of teachers) and tols (schools in smaller size). Mostly they had to be residents. Various vocational and professional education were also imparted in this way. Large educational institutions, such as Nalanda, Vikramsila, and Taxila, flourished. Students used to come from far and wide to get education in those institutions. Similar educational institutions were also developed in the Islamic system during the Middle Ages. The famous madrasas at various places like Jaunpur, Agra, Bidar, Delhi, Lahore, Rampur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Ajmer, etc., thrived with scholars and reputed teachers of that era. This education system of the ancient and medieval ages was mainly developed for the purpose of the upper classes of the society; the rich, the people engaged in religious leadership and governance. Mainly the study of language, religion and philosophy was the primary task. However, along with this, other subjects of human intellects such as geology, mathematics, astronomy, geometry, nature and biological sciences, history, etc., were also practiced.
Education system in the early days of English rule
The English did not think much about the education of the native people at the beginning of their rule. Primarily, they were busy looking for making money and profits from trade, commerce and collection of taxes under the cover of native rulers. But gradually they felt the need and utility of direct rule. But to govern the native people they needed a class of people, who would establish common people's contact with the English rulers, as well as help them govern according to native customs. In 1781, the first British Governor General Warren Hastings (1732-1818) established the Calcutta Madrasa or Madrasa Aliya. The purpose of this establishment was to attract the Muslim gentry to government administration and appoint them to responsible positions. The curriculum included the content of the old Madrasas. For example, it consisted of metaphysics, grammar, justice, natural science or philosophy, astronomy, geometry and arithmetic. Although some felt the need to teach English to the natives (as Chaplain John Wayne of Bengal Presidency put this proposal), the government was not enthusiastic about it. Within a few years, a similar educational institution was built in Varanasi with the urge to appoint the gentlemen of the Hindu society in the administration like the Muslims. Notably until 1835, the official language was Persian in all the administrative offices, and law-courts.
A few contemporary European scholars ventured into the study of Indian culture, language and history during this period. On January 15, 1784, the 'Asiatic Society' was formed in Kolkata under the initiative of the then Supreme Court Justice William Jones (1746-1794). Since then, this organization has been playing an important role in introducing the outside world to Eastern as well as Indian philosophy, art, history, religion and literature. As a result, these enthusiastic European scholars also came into contact with some indigenous scholars. They also become familiar with European languages, religions and literature. On August 18, 1800, then British Governor General Lord Wellesley (1760 – 1842) inaugurated Fort William College in Kolkata. This college was established to train British administrative personnel. Departments of various Oriental languages were opened there, including Bengali, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hindi and Urdu. Along with European scholars, native pundits and maulvis (religious scholars in Hinduism and Islam, respectively) were also appointed to this college. At that time Bengali was not the medium of education of the Bengali-speaking gentry in native centers of learning. For example, in Tols, and Maktabs (schools for Islamic teaching) etc.) studies were carried on in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. For this reason, the Bengali department of the college did not have a native teacher. William Carey (1761-1834), the head of the Srirampur Baptist Mission, was appointed as the head of the Bengali department. He learned Bengali and Sanskrit from native scholars for the purpose of preaching Christianity. As the head of the department, he appointed Mrityunjay Vidyalankar (1763-1819) head pandit, and then Ramnath Bachaspati and Ramram Basu (1751-1813) as second and third pandits. With their help he translated the Bible into Bengali, and published Bengali grammars, dictionaries and other text books. Also many books were translated into Bengali and other languages to meet the needs of college education. Mrityunjay Vidyalankar translated Batrish Singhasanas (1802), Hitopades (1808) and Rajavali (1808) from Sanskrit in Bengali. The Bengali prose dawned by his writings. All these published books from Fort William College opened the door to reading in vernacular languages. Ramram Basu authored ‘Raja Pratapadity Charitra’ in Bengali in 1801. It was published from Serampore Mission Press and considered to be the first original writing in Bengali. Raja Rammohan Roy (1772-1833), the pioneer of Indian renaissance, translated Upanishads (Vedic theology) named Vedantagrantha in Bengali and published in 1815 from the publication department of this college. Probably it is the first translation of Upansihads from Sanskrit in any native language. Modern Bengali prose began its journey from Rammohan. He revealed the content of Upansihads to common Bengali-speaking people, and set the way to judge conventional social customs of Hinduism and interpretation of religion in its context. As a result of this, various writings from different scholars and intellectuals were increasingly published in Bengali and other native languages on Indian religion and philosophy, etc. This led to creation of an enlightened atmosphere of arguments and debates in the society. At the same time, there was growing demand to learn English and to build educational Institutions in the model of Western schools and colleges outside of traditional centers of learning like, Pathshala (Native schools for children), Tol, Maktab, etc.
During this period, some Christian missionaries were encouraged to learn the local language and religion to spread the Christian religion in this country. William Carey took a leading role in this matter. He was the founder of the Baptist Mission in England and came to Kolkata in 1793 to preach Christianity. He believed that the publication and dissemination of the Bible in vernacular languages was necessary for the spread of Christianity, and that was the reason he wanted to expand education in native languages. At that time, the East India Company did not allow foreign padres and missionaries to preach Christianity. They felt that encouraging such religious propaganda would make natives hostile to the company rule. William Carey therefore established the Serampore Baptist Mission on the 10th January, 1800, along with his colleagues at Srirampur. Srirampur was a Danish colony. Hence British law did not apply there. At Srirampur, Carey established a printing press to print Bibles in Bengali and other Indian languages. This printing press played a very important role in publishing Bengali books. Almost all the early books, in particular, which were used as text books at the Fort William College, were printed from this press. In 1813, under pressure from the British Parliament, the East India Company allowed foreign missionaries to preach Christianity. At that time, many missionaries followed in the footsteps of William Carey, and established schools for the education of the native people. For example, in 1814, the London Missionary Society built 36 primary schools in Chinsurah (Chunchurah , presently in the district of Hooghly in West Bengal).
Realizing the need for a more comprehensive education of the native people, the renewed charter of the East India Company in 1813 allocated a minimum annual grant of one lakh rupees for the education of Indians. It was decided to spend this money on language and science education in the territories of British India. This fund was also allowed to be used for the development of teaching in the existing colleges. David Hare (1772-1842) established the Hindu College in 1817 on the initiative of Raja Radhakanta Dev (1784 – 1867) and other Hindu Bengali aristocrats to take advantage of this government initiative. Raja Rammohan Roy also took an important role in the establishment of this college. When conservative Hindu elites opposed his inclusion in the committee, he willingly kept himself outside it for the greater good. The purpose of establishing this college was to impart education in English as well as to attract and educate Hindu youth towards Indian religion, art and literature. However, at the juncture of the renaissance, they were more interested in European languages, literature and science. The curriculum was developed accordingly. Another example of a contemporary initiative was the establishment of the Calcutta School Society. It was built on the 1st September, 1818 by some European and Bengali scholars. The objective of this society was to reform the curriculum and introduce the same reading-learning system in the existing schools around Kolkata, as well as to establish new schools for teaching Bengali and English. In 1824, 66 such schools came under the purview of the society, which provided free tuition to meritorious poor students and also offered scholarships for further education in the Hindu college. Among these were several schools founded by David Hare. His compassionate and selfless work towards his students, especially his commitment to the development and nurturing of talented students, remains a shining example not only to the people of that time, but to all educators throughout the ages. The Calcutta School Book Society was formed in 1817 to publish text books according to the curriculum of all these schools. Although limited, these two organizations played pioneering roles in the early education system and inspired the formation of similar organizations in other regions. For example, School Book Societies were formed in Delhi and Madras. In Bengal, similar societies were established in Dhaka and Murshidabad. Apart from this, schools for teaching English were established by various private initiatives. For example, Raja Rammohan Roy opened one such school in 1816-17, which became known as the Anglo Hindu School in 1822.
During that time some other higher education initiatives were taken. In 1818, William Carey, Joshua Marshman (1768-1837) and William Ward (1769-1823) founded Serampore College. The college was established to provide education in Indian languages, literature, arts, and Western science to native Christians and other youths. As already stated that then Srirampur was a Danish ruled territory, on the 23 February 1827, the King of Denmark granted permission for the college to confer degrees in literature, arts and religion. The Serampore College is the first modern university in India in that sense. For much the same purpose, the Bishop's College at Shibpur in Howrah was established in 1818 to train Christian missionaries, and also to introduce native students to European languages, science and literature. On the 1st January 1824, during Lord William Armherst's (1773 -1857) governorship, the Sanskrit College was established in Kolkata on the recommendation of James Prinsep (1799 – 1840) and Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800 – 1859) for the study of the Sanskrit language including ancient Indian art, science and philosophy in that language. Raja Rammohan Roy, however, recommended the establishment of an Institute of learning modern subjects on arts, literature, and science through English instead of Sanskrit. The British government was not enthusiastic about his proposal then. Yet no contemplative education is confined to the narrow confines of its curriculum. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891), one of the pioneers of the renaissance of that era, was trained in this Sanskrit college. He played one of the important roles in the expansion of education and social reforms in Bengal. He also advocated the inclusion of western science and literature without tying the curriculum to the boundaries of traditional Indian knowledge system.
Not only in Bengal, the demand for English and western education was increasing in Bombay, Madras and various provinces. In 1833 as a member of the legislative assembly, Macaulay recommended to educate Indians only in English. He suggested that the annual grant of Rs 1 lakh in the education sector from then onwards should only be spent for English education of western arts, literature and science. Finally in 1835, Governor General William Bentinck (1774-1839) and his council accepted Macaulay 's recommendations. Accordingly, it was decided to provide these grants only to the educational Institutes of European languages, literature and science, although indigenous educational institutions were allowed to continue. As some sections of the society expressed fears that English education was actually being introduced for the purpose of spreading Christianity, Lord Bentinck legally banned the activities of disparaging any native religion and promoting Christianity in educational institutions. After this, a few educational institutions were established under government initiatives. For example, colleges were founded in Hooghly, Dhaka and Patna. The Hindu College of Kolkata was handed over to the Government and renamed as the Presidency College. Apart from government initiatives, Christian pastors took care to promote the western education in English. Although their primary aim was to spread Christianity, people of other religions were also educated in these educational institutions as the curriculum included modern science, literature and art.
Along with general education, various professional higher educational programs also started during this period. A few institutions of studying modern medicine, engineering and law were established in Kolkata. In 1835, Lord Bentinck established the Medical College in Kolkata to study western medicine. Later it was known as the Calcutta Medical College. Before this, the French had established a similar institution in Pondicherry. The foundation stone of the Calcutta Medical College was laid in 1848, and from 1851 it independently started offering a degree program. Initially, its students had to go to England to complete their academic requirements. A similar medical college in Chennai started teaching in 1842. Finally, in 1855, the Madras Medical College got the recognition of the Royal College of Surgeons in London. Likewise, a medical educational institution was established in Mumbai in 1845. It was also recognized by the Royal College of Surgeons in 1854.
Some early attempts of engineering education were observed from 1824 onwards. In 1843-44, teaching of civil engineering was started at the Presidency College in Kolkata. Later in 1856 an independent Civil Engineering College was established in the Writers’ Building there. When the University of Calcutta was established in 1857, the college came under its control. In 1865, the college became a part of the Presidency College, and was run as a department. This system lasted until 1869. Then, it again assumed the role of an independent Institution. Finally, in 1880, it was established under the name of 'Government College, Howrah' at Shibpur. At that time, along with the civil engineering, the mechanical engineering was also taught. In 1921, the name of this college was changed to the 'Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur', which is now known as the 'Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology' (IIEST), Shibpur. Initiatives were also taken to teach engineering in some places outside Bengal. Two engineering colleges were established in 1856 at Chennai and Mumbai. In 1847, a workshop was established at Roorkee in United Provinces (now in Uttaranchal) for the purpose of building canals along the Ganges. A civil engineering College named ‘College of Civil Engineering’, was established in the same year on the initiative of the Lieutenant Governor of the province to meet the needs for skilled craftsmen and engineers. By 1860, it was recognized as the best institution for engineering courses. That institution is now the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee.
From the beginning of the British rule, separate legal education of Hindus and Muslims continued in Benares Sanskrit College and Calcutta Madrasa, respectively. At the time of Lord Bentinck's educational reforms, on the recommendation of Macaulay, initiatives were taken to introduce law education in modern educational institutions on the model of the Western society. In 1842, the post of Professor of Law was created in the Hindu College, though it remained vacant for a long time. From 1855, educational institutions in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai introduced law courses.
Universal education
This initiative to spread the education of the society was mainly restricted to the upper caste Hindus especially to the Brahmins (castes associated with priesthood and education), Kayasthas (castes associated with governance and army), and Vaishyas (castes associated with trade and commerce). People of all other castes, especially the socially neglected lower classes (Sudras), were to be kept away from these educational institutions. Although the Christian missionaries were trying from the beginning to provide caste-neutral education, their main objective was always conversion. Hence, their efforts were not met with the general acceptance. Along with this, there were various discriminatory social barriers against women as a whole, due to which they were also excluded from the field of education. Foreign rulers also did not want to go against the native customs. So the extent of education that was spreading in the society was confined only among upper caste Hindu males. Although the caste system was not a scourge in Muslim society, men in that society were generally averse to Western education. That is why the spread of universal education was neglected even during the Renaissance. Raja Rammohan Roy dreamed of a caste-free Indian society and founded Brahmo samaj (society) and dharma (religion) for achieving that goal. But, in that samaj too, there were not much initiatives to spread education at all levels. Probably Rammohan's untimely and sudden death disrupted the adoption and implementation of programs complementary to his ideals and thoughts.
Women's education in this country began by the initiatives of Christian missionaries. In 1814, Robert May opened a school for girls at Chunchura. The government also helped him financially to run this school. When the Calcutta School Society was established, leading societal personalities like Radhakant Dev were interested in opening schools for upper caste girls. But the conservative society objected to women's education in an open environment outside. In 1819, the Calcutta Female Juvenile Society was formed by Baptist missionaries, and the society opened a girls' school. Due to the reluctance of the conservative society, it became difficult to get female students in that school. However, Christian missionaries and various European liberals began to take initiatives to open schools for girls in the country. In 1821 the Calcutta School Society entrusted the Church Missionary Society with the responsibility of promoting women's education. Soon the society established 8 schools and enrolled 217 female students. A major obstacle to female education was the lack of female teachers to teach girls. Along with society's objection to girls' education outside the home, it was unimaginable also that male teachers were teaching in these schools. At that time the British missionary Miss Mary Anne Cook (1783/4 – 1868, later Mrs. Mary Wilson) came to the country. She established 36 schools for girls with the help of the Church Missionary Society. But ordinary Hindu families did not send their daughters to these schools. In 1826, the Ladies Society for Native Female Education established a girls' school in Kolkata. Various dignitaries of the society, including David Hare, encouraged the establishment of this school. Baidyanath Roy, the son of Sukhmoy Roy, then the Raja of Posta, donated 20,000 rupees for this purpose. Lady Armherst (Sarah Armherst (1762-1838)), the wife of the then Governor General, laid the foundation stone of this school. They also undertook the management of Church Mission Society schools. Yet caste Hindu families were generally reluctant to send their girls to Christian missionary schools. All these schools were mainly for residential and orphan girls. The main goal of the missionaries was also conversion to Christianity, which also played a deterring role.
Some initiatives to establish secular girls' schools gradually emerged. In 1847, one such school, Kalikrishna Girls’ High School, was established by Kalikrishna Mitra (1822-1891) with the support from Nabinkrishna Mitra and Peary Chandra Sarkar (1823-1875) in Barasat (presently the district head quarter of North 24 Parganas of West Bengal). This school continued to stand against the conservative society. During this time, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar took an important role in promoting women's education. Education was also one of his programs in an effort to establish women's various rights against social discrimination. With his help, in 1849 John Drinkwater Bethune (1801-1851) founded Calcutta Female School (later Bethune School and Bethune College). Not only Vidyasagar, but many other generous enlightened personalities helped to establish this school. Among them were Dakshinaranjan Majumder, Shambhunath Pandit (1820-1867), Madanmohan Tarkalankar (1817-1858) and Ramgopal Ghosh (1815-1868). The Normal School was opened in 1866 to train adult women to compensate for the lack of female teachers. But the school was closed after three years as it did not get girl students from Hindu families. Despite this, women Christian missionaries went door to door and undertook the education of women. But all these were very limited efforts. Overall the state of female education in the society was in shambles. In the latter half of the 19th century, the Brahmo Samaj, however, made the upper caste Hindu families aware of female education and took various initiatives.
Against the opposition of caste Hindus to educate the lower classes, the leadership for the spread of education arose from among the neglected sections of the society. In some places these became larger movements against social discrimination overcoming the direct and indirect barriers of conservatism. Notable among those who led these movements were Harichand Thakur (1812-1878), Guruchand Thakur (1846-1937), Jyotirao Govindrao Phule (1827-1890), Savitribai Phule (1831-1897), Fatima Sheikh (1831-1900) and others.
Harichand Thakur founded the Matua movement for the development and social recognition of the Chandal community (various castes of this community accepted their ethnic identity as Namashudras in a successful appeal to the British government in 1911) in the Varnashrama (a societal order designating a hierarchy of status, privileges, division of work, rules of interactions, social practices such as marriage, participation in religious gatherings and festivals, etc., among different sections of populations with continued inheritance by birth. Chandals (Shudras) were at the lowest strata of this caste system, still prevailing today in many parts of this country.). He is the founder of the Matua sect and religion. He felt the need of school and college education for their development from the very beginning. But at that time the people of the Chandal community had no access to ordinary schools, even to rural schools. He thus admitted his son Guru Chand Thakur to a madrasa. Guru Chand studied Persian and Arabic there. After his father's death, Guru Chand took the leadership among the Matua community. In 1873, he organized the Chandal strike to demand social status and education. During this strike, the services of the upper caste people were stopped. Like his father, Guru Chand also emphasized on the development of education system for the lower caste people. Through their agitations and appeals, the British rulers also announced the principle of universal education without caste or religion. But in the caste-divided Hindu society, that people of all castes were receiving education in the same order, was unimaginable in that era. Hence the need to establish separate schools for the lower caste people was felt. In 1880, Guru Chand then opened a school for the lower castes at his residence in Oraikandi, his birthplace in the Faridpur district (presently in Bangladesh). He was helped by the Australian Baptist missionary Dr. C.S. Mead. Later in 1907, he established an English medium school named “Dr. C.S. Mead School”. Throughout his life, he insisted on establishing at least one Pathshala (a primary school) in every Namashudra village. During his lifetime, Guru Chand took a direct or indirect role in the establishment of thousands of such school. According to one statistic, 1812 such schools were established between 1881 and 1831. Many of these schools were for girls and some of them were for both boys and girls.
In Maharashtra, Jyoti Rao Govind Rao Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule chose the spread of education as a key tool in their struggle for acquiring social status and rights for the Dalit community in the region. They themselves belonged to the lower caste Mali community. Jyoti Rao completed his education in Poona Scottish Mission High School in 1847. He became aware of social discrimination against women and backward classes and felt the need to educate them to overcome this discrimination. At first he taught his wife at home. Then they both established a girls' school in their own residence in 1848. Later in 1851-52 they opened two more girls' schools. For this they had to endure opposition from their own community. Jyoti Rao's father evicted them. At that time they were under the shelter of Jyoti Rao's friend Usman Sheikh and his sister Fatima Sheikh (1831-1900). With the help of some of their friends and Christian missionaries, they still kept these schools running. Fatima Sheikh also taught in their five schools. She was probably the first female teacher from the Muslim community in India. Fatima also opened two more schools in Mumbai in 1851. By 1858, Jyoti Rao and Savitribai opened 8 schools. In 1874, Jyoti Rao formed the Satya Shodhoka Samiti for the spread of rational thought against social superstitions, priestcraft, idol worship, casteism, etc. In 1882, in the Education Commission formed to review the education system in India, he appealed for introduction of special schemes and government assistance for the education of lower caste people. To the policy makers, he sent a proposal for making primary education compulsory for all. The British rulers, however, were not particularly interested in going against conservative societies, although they did not deny its rationale in principle.
Later, in the movements of Yothi Thas (1845-1914), Guruchand Thakur (1846-1937), Erode Venkatappa Ramaswamy Periyar (1879-1973), Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956), Raghunath Murmu (1905-1982), etc., awareness for education among the lower castes increased. Various social, religious and political organizations were formed against Brahmanism, along with the demand for universal education. It may be said here that since the anti-British national movements were mainly led by caste Hindus, the leading sections of the lower classes refrained from participating in these movements. Many times it was seen that the Christian missionaries became allies in their struggle against the deprivation of caste Hindu society. For that reason some of them considered the rule of a foreign country better than the rule of upper castes. The national anti-colonial movement could not become all-encompassing because of that. Due to the reflection and predominance of the Brahmanical philosophy in the national movement, the Muslim society gradually became alienated from this movement and demanded an independent homeland. As a result of which the independence of the country came through division in two parts.
In 1937, Mahatma Gandhi (1868 – 1948) in his Harijan newspaper called to spread a basic education system to all levels of society. With that call, the National Congress organized the 'All India National Education Conference' at Wardha in Maharashtra on October 22-23, 1937. There three resolutions were adopted for a scheme of universal education. The first of these was the introduction of a seven-year free and compulsory education program for children across the country. Secondly, the medium of education should be their mother tongue. And the last resolution was Gandhiji's commitment to make foundational training on various crafts and practices of social integration as a part of this education. That is, the character of this education should not be limited to the theoretical education that gives exam-oriented degrees, but it should be integrated with the practical craftship and community work in harmony with society and environment. Accordingly, a committee headed by Dr. Zakir Hussain (1897 – 1969), who later became the President of the independent India, submitted the report of the first National Basic Education Scheme in 1938. This report played an important role in the development of universal primary education after independence.
Higher education conducted by universities
In 1854, Charles Wood (1800 – 1885) presented his proposals for educational reform in India (Wood's dispatch) to a meeting of directors of the East India Company. These brought about fundamental changes in the curriculum and structure of higher education. According to the demands of the colonial regime, only education for English, Western science and literature were given the official recognition. Along with English as a medium of education, learning of native languages were also agreed upon. Following this policy, higher education was provided in India on the pattern of Western education. In 1856, three universities were established in Kolkata, Bombay and Madras in the model of London University. These universities were recognized for awarding diplomas and degrees. A degree could be of two types, namely, a plain Bachelor’s degree, and a Bachelor’s degree with honors. Along with the introduction of courses in various branches of arts and sciences, academic programs offering degrees in medicine, engineering and law were also introduced during this period. In universities, the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Senate formed the governance structure for administrative and academic functions. Ex-officio, the Governor General of India (in Kolkata), and the Provincial Governors of Madras and Bombay were appointed Chancellors of these Universities at their respective places. The senate was responsible for overseeing financial management, prescribing the curriculum and conducting degree-granting examinations. The Senate of Calcutta University had 38 members out of which 6 were Indians. In the Bombay University 5 of the 29 members of the Senate were Indians, and in the Madras Senate of 40 the number was 3.
Initially in the universities, academic programs were run in four faculties. They were Arts, Engineering, Medicine and Law. Later Science was added to them as the fifth faculty. Subjects related to any religious faith and practice were kept out of the curriculum. In the beginning, there was no system of teaching in the universities. Teaching continued in their affiliated colleges, although the relationship of colleges with universities was not well defined. Colleges, established in the provinces of Bombay and Madras, were affiliated to their respective universities. But the boundaries of Calcutta University were not fixed in that way. Every year the universities used to conduct entrance examinations for joining various degree courses in these colleges. Examinations were conducted on various subjects as per the syllabus prescribed by the Senate. Students studied in different private schools, and prepared according to the syllabi of these examinations. It was not mandatory for the schools and colleges to be under the control of Government or any University for setting their curriculum, teaching and evaluation methodologies.
On the 24th January 1857, the Governor General approved the Bill for the establishment of those three Universities, and they started functioning soon after. 244 candidates participated in the first entrance examination of the Calcutta University in 1857. 162 of them were successful. Only 13 appeared in the first degree examination held in 1858. Out of them only two succeeded. Among them was Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838-1894), the first novelist of the Bengali literature, and the composer of Vande Mataram.
Gradually this education system spread its roots in the society. Although no new university was established in the next 25 years, middle-class interest in higher education and entrance examinations had been increasing. In 1882, 7,429 people appeared for the entrance examination of these three universities, of whom 2,778 passed. The number of affiliated colleges also increased from 27 to 75. In the first 14 years, where 2666 passed the First Arts Examination (Intermediate Examination), the number increased to 5969 in the next 11 years. Similarly in B.A. and M.A courses, the numbers of successful candidates rose from 850 to 2434, and 151 to 385, respectively. According to a report of the Education Commission in 1883, in Bengal-Bihar-Orissa, there were 133 high schools in 1871. In 1883 the number increased to 209. Notably, this increase in the number of schools was mainly due to private initiatives. The number of government aided schools rather decreased. Managements of Bangla High Schools were more interested in running their schools outside the government control. The students in all these schools used to study mostly with the interest of appearing in entrance examinations, and clearing them. The syllabus of that examination was the indirect regulator of all these schools.
In 1882, the British government set up the Education Commission to review the progress of education in the past twenty-five years following Wood's proposal. That commission recommended that the government might provide limited autonomy to universities by shrinking government grants to expand education. Along with this, it advised on general and special types of financial assistance in colleges, regulation of annual cost of education, various changes in the rules for awarding honorary scholarships, introduction of new courses, etc. The government accepted various recommendations of this commission and also directed to submit a report to review the financial management of the universities. This report on the income and expenditures of colleges between 1881 and 1885 was published in 1886. It highlighted that, while Calcutta and Madras Universities were running without government grants, Bombay University required a small amount of these grants. In addition, the Punjab University, India's fourth university established in Lahore in the North Western Province in 1882, required larger grants. In 1887, the fifth university was established in Allahabad.
The adoption of the recommendations of the Education Commission of 1882 accelerated the rate of expansion of higher education. In the next two decades, 121 more new colleges were established. In 1901-02, there were 126 colleges in British India, and 53 in Burma (present Myanmar), Ceylon (present Sri Lanka) and other loyal native kingdoms in British India. The number of students in these colleges also increased rapidly. Mainly the attraction of government jobs was the focus of their interest. The number of high schools also increased at the same time.
Increasing demand for higher education and government reins
In 1902, the government constituted the University Commission in an attempt to find a solution to the crisis of infrastructural inadequacy in colleges as their survival was primarily dependent on tuition fees. The commission was asked to suggest measures to enhance excellence in higher education. According to the recommendations of the commission, the University Act was enacted in 1904. It expanded the senates, syndicates and faculties of the universities to include a substantial number of representatives of university teachers. The number of members of the Senate was kept at a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 100. Affiliation rules for colleges were tightened. Syndicates were empowered to verify compliance with conditions of affiliation. One of the reforms introduced during this period was to allow universities to start their own courses. They are allowed to recruit manpower in faculty positions, such as lecturers and professors. Students were allowed to be taught in universities and to conduct research with them. The Governing Body of each college was restructured and reconstituted.
These government reforms, however, did not satisfy Indian educationists and managements of educational institutions. The decision to start teaching in universities had been announced before, but no concrete action was taken by the Government to implement it. Hence they remained sceptical about its outcome. Further, they did not also welcome greater government control through syndicates. As a result, several colleges went out of the affiliation of an university. At that time, the growing nationalist movement and various initiatives were taking in shape to educate Indians outside the government universities. Two of these were Gurukul Kangri in Haridwar (presently in Uttaranchal) and National Council of Education in Bengal. The current Jadavpur University was founded by the latter organization. Subsequently, in continuation of this movement, the Jamia Millia Islamia University was established in Aligarh in 1920 under the leadership of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (1851-1920), and with the initiatives from other Muslim intellectuals such as Mohammad Ali Jauhar (1878-1931), Hakim Ajmal Khan (1868-1927), Zakir Hussain, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (1880-1936), Abdul Majid Khwaja (1885-1962), etc. to bring the Muslim students under the influence of the nationalist education movement. At that time, they felt that the management of the Aligarh Muslim University were in favor of the British government. That was why they built a separate new university. This university moved to Delhi in 1925 and in 1936 its campus was established at Okhla near Delhi. Another notable event of this period was the establishment of Viswa Bharati University at Shanti Niketan, Birbhum by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) in 1921. Outside the traditional education system, Rabindranath took the initiative to develop this institution as a center for the practice of Indian culture with exposures to international philosophy, literature and art. Before this, however, he had established a school (Brahmacharyashram) there in 1901, modeled after his father's teachings.
However, all those various efforts were not sufficient to meet the overall demand of higher education, especially for the education of science and technology in the society. Nationalist political leaders and academics were always keen to exploit the limited autonomy of universities and the strategy of maintaining constant pressure against the colonial government's reluctance to expand higher education in India.
Due to the tightening of government control, the private initiatives for running colleges got dampened. This trend continued for the next two decades. In 1912, the number of affiliated colleges decreased to 170. In 1922 that number increased slightly to 207. But the demand for degrees from all these colleges was increasing. The number of degree holders was around 20,000 in 1902. By 1922. it had grown to nearly 50,000.
In 1913, the government expressed its desire to transform the universities into teaching institutions rather than simply granting affiliations. It also planned to open more new teaching and residential universities. Permissions to establish such new universities in Dhaka, Aligarh and Varanasi were granted. In addition, plans to establish at least one university in each province were announced. It was planned to establish universities in Rangoon, Patna and Nagpur. This process was delayed by the First World War. Two new universities were established in Varanasi and Patna in 1916 and 1917, respectively. Pundit Madan Mohan Malviya's (1861-1946) contribution to the establishment of Benares Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi is well known. It was intended to be a center for the development and study of Hindu culture, and the practice of applied sciences. The University of Patna was established to promote education in the newly combined state of Bihar and Orissa.
Introduction of postgraduate education and transition to universities
In 1916, the Calcutta University under the leadership of Ashutosh Mukherjee (1864-1924) decided to establish various departments to directly impart postgraduate education. The appointments of lecturers and professors also began for this purpose. The issue of government negligence in this regard has already been mentioned. The government then could no longer ignore the matter and constituted a commission, named the Calcutta University Commission, to look into the various issues related to the administration and academic affairs of the university. This commission submitted their report in 1919. The report contained various recommendations for reforming secondary (school) and university education. One of these recommendations was the formation of A Board for Secondary and Intermediate Education and the transfer of Intermediate Education from the University to that Board. The time limit for graduate level degree courses was proposed to be three years. It was also recommended to establish a real teaching university in Kolkata. Along with that, it proposed to take measures for improving the quality of colleges in urban and semi-urban areas, and to build new universities by converting a few of them. The commission also emphasized on the promotion of women's education. The commission felt that while the vernacular languages should remain as the medium of instruction in schools, it should only be English in the higher education. Apart from this, the commission also said that there was a need for a radical change in the examination system. Despite the commission's recommendations, there had been no serious effort to implement them at the government level. This was mainly due to the reluctance to provide necessary funds and the colonial attitudes in suppressing the desire for higher education. According to the recommendation of this commission, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was formed in 1920, but it was kept mostly defunct, and was demolished in 1923.
In Bengal, a university was established in Dhaka (presently the capital of Bangaldesh) following the implementation of one of the recommendations of this commission. Direct postgraduate education was introduced there as it was practiced then in Calcutta University. A similar university was established in Rangoon (Present name Yangon, capital of Myanmar) in 1920. Like the University of Calcutta, postgraduate education was introduced in the Universities of Madras and Bombay in 1923 and 1929, respectively. All these universities encouraged their faculty to engage in higher research. Because of that, they were largely freed from the responsibility of teaching regular subjects.
Some universities were founded in the native kingdoms. In 1916, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (1884-1940), Raja of Mysore, established the first university directly outside British territory. It started providing education in Mysore and Bangalore. In 1918, Mir Osman Ali Khan (1886-1967), the Nizam of Hyderabad, established Osmania University. Urdu was the medium of instruction there. In 1920, the Mohamedan Anglo-Oriental College established by Sir Syed Ahmad (1817-1898) in 1875, was transformed into Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). This university was established to introduce the Muslim community to Western higher education in the context of their culture. Earlier, the Central Hindu College established by Annie Besant (1847-1933) in Varanasi in 1916 for Hindus with a similar objective, was renamed Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Pundit Madan Mohan Malviya played one of the leading roles in building this university as mentioned before.
Expansion of Higher Education after Calcutta University Commission Report
In 1921, the provincial government of United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) established an independent body for the management of high school education on the recommendation of the Calcutta University Commission. This body, named ‘The Board of High School and Intermediate Education’, started conducting degree-granting examinations. Later the British Government set up a similar organization for schools in Ajmer, Gwalior, Mewar and Madhya Pradesh. Its present name is the ‘Central Board for Secondary Education in India’.
A university was established at Lucknow in 1921 in the United Provinces on the recommendation of the Calcutta University Commission. Later Canning College and King George Medical College were affiliated to that university. Likewise, three colleges of Allahabad also became parts of Allahabad University. They were Muir Central College, Ewing Christian College, and Kayastha Pathshala College. Some other universities were established during this period, such as each in Delhi, Nagpur, Andhra, Agra, and the Annamalai University in Madras in 1922, 1923, 1926, 1927, and 1929, respectively. Raja Annamalai Chettiar's (1881-1948) financial support played a major role in establishing the latter university.
The Inter University Board (IUB) was formed in 1925 to coordinate all the universities. The Vice-Chancellors of the Universities or their nominees were the members of this board. It was not a regulatory body. However, the management and teaching problems of universities were discussed there, and various recommendations were made accordingly. Also various publications related to university education were made from this board. A conference was held every five years to elect delegates to international academic conferences, and to assist in the accreditation of university degrees. In 1967 it was recognized as a society in the independent India, and in 1973 it was renamed the Association of Indian Universities.
Colonial indifference in the expansion of higher education
The indifference of foreign rulers to the expansion of higher education was also revealed in the 1928 report of the Simon Commission formed by eight British MPs. The commission submitted its report in 1929. Although this commission was formed for the purpose of constitutional and social reforms in British India, it did not make any effective recommendations regarding education. The committee performed its duty with a satirical remark that the universities were only playing a role in awarding degrees, and with an expression of satisfaction in the overall expansion of higher education.
In the next several years, no new university was established in India. Not only the indifference of the rulers, but the global financial crisis and political crisis also may have been one of the reasons for this. In 1935, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was reconstituted. However, it did not provide any push to the government effort in the expansion of education. In 1937 Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balaram Varma (1912-1991) of Travancore founded the University of Travancore. It is now known as the University of Kerala.
Initiatives near the end of the British rule
In 1943, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in a report, made several important recommendations for the general expansion of higher education and universal education in India. It was recommended to develop universal primary and secondary education systems as stepping stones to higher education. Along with that, the need and plans for setting up new universities were outlined. One of these suggestions was the setting up of a University Grant Commission (UGC). It was formed in 1945. Initially it was meant for the three universities of Delhi, Aligarh and Varanasi. In 1947, it was appointed to monitor all universities in India.
Due to various efforts of this kind, some universities were established during this period. In 1943, Utkal University was established in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. A university was established in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh in 1946. It was established with the financial support of Shri Hari Singh Gour (1870-1949). Today it is known as Dr. Hari Singh Gour University after its founder. The last university established in British India was Rajputana University in Jaipur, now known as Rajasthan University. It was established on the 8th January 1947. However, it should be noted here that although some universities were established immediately after independence, they were planned in the pre-independence years. For example, universities are established in Guwahati in 1947, Poona, Roorkee and Kashmir in 1948, and Baroda in 1949. The University of Roorkee was the conversion of the erstwhile Engineering College.
A brief outline of the evolution of the colonial education system
As concluding remarks, let us summarize briefly the highlights of our discussion regarding the beginning and the growth of education in colonial India.
(1) Initially the foreign rulers did not bother with native education beyond their commercial gains. However, at the insistence of the administration, some sort of education program was introduced to acclimatize its own civil servants to the native language and customs. There, the native language education and as well as a limited initiative to teach the English language to the native people of high social status, had to be taken. The new rulers were also hesitant about the antipathy of the social system. That is why they adopted the traditional Indian education system and curriculum of that time and allocated government funds. From 1813, every year there had been an allocation of Rs.1 lakh for indigenous educational institutions.
(2) These rulers had an initial reluctance to spread modern Western education. On the one hand, they feared that the indigenous people would become their intellectual and emotional equals, and that the free thought of the West would awaken their desire for nationalism and autonomy.
(3) Although most of the rulers had this mindset, a section of free-spirited Western intellectuals and native scholars started to develop and expand modern Western education in a limited way. Along with this, the Christian priests were involved in the promotion of modern education in the West with the urge to spread Christianity and the appeal of general religious humanism.
(4) As the direct British rule was established over large areas of India, the need for a class of native workers trained in the English language became acute for the British rulers. That was why the government accepted the recommendation of Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1935 to accept Western education as the main program of national education of British India, and provide education in English. Along with this, the system of providing financial incentives to all domestic educational institutions was also withdrawn.
(5) The British Government was in favor of developing only that structure of education which was capable of meeting the needs of their administrative infrastructure and other social services including administration. Due to this, they did not have a program to provide universal primary education, nor did they have an urge to expand higher education. Reluctance to allocate funds for expansion and reform of education was one of the reasons. On the other hand, caste Hindu society was not only indifferent to providing education to the lower class people, but also directly opposed it. In response to this, movements for the expansion of education were developed from that class as independent initiatives. These movements were parts of the movements against apartheid deprivation.
(6) Socially, the interest and desire for Western science education had been gradually increasing. Foreign rulers could not ignore it completely. That was why the expansion of higher education was slow, but limited. In 1856, three universities were established in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. At the same time, education in various professions including engineering, medicine and law were introduced. These universities initially monitored and evaluated the teaching standards and arrangements of the colleges affiliated to them only. Along with that the degree awarding examinations were organized. An annual entrance examination was conducted for admission to higher education. Various lower and higher schools were imparting education to the students following the syllabus of that examination. Those schools did not receive any government financial support, nor were they under direct government control. In fact, primary and secondary level education was associated with social education movement. But its expansion was also very slow and insufficient.
(7) There were constant attempts by the colonial rulers to stifle the desire of Indians for higher education through various tactics. On the other hand, it was not possible for them to directly oppose the modern rationale of expansion in education. Therefore, the main weapon of this resistance to the expansion of education was non-allocation of funds. Along with this, there was interference in the independent management of colleges and teaching courses, not giving recognition to the opening of new universities, opposing direct teaching in universities and reducing the representation of Indians in university committees and senates.
(8) Indian educationists continued their struggle in the educational arena against this indifference and cold resistance of the foreign rulers. They sought to make the universities financially self-sufficient, and so increasingly universities began to launch their own courses and research. Socially, the expansion of higher education was also associated with nationalist movements. Various independent institutions of higher education were established.
(9) Sensing the neglect of the foreign rulers in spreading universal education, an education conference was held at Wardha in Maharashtra in 1937 at the call of the National Congress to formulate a national education policy. In that conference, a seven-year free and compulsory basic education program was announced for children at all levels of the country. This program played an important role in the expansion of primary education in post-independence India.
(10) Such was the administrative structure of higher education left behind by the British when they left India. The universities were under the supervision of the University Grants Commission (UGC). Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) was functional for providing educational advice. The Inter-University Council (IUB) acted as an advisory body to the coordination of universities. These three organizations continue to play their roles in post-independence India as well.
(Original article written in Bengali on 22/8/2023, and translated on 16/7/2024 in English).
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