Civilizing the native educating the Nation

Notebook Handout

Heading Pathshala system New System of education

Institute Small institution with about 20 students Pandits were appointed to visit Pathshala to
in each school, run by guru, pandit or improve standard of education
Maulvi
Started Set up by wealthy people or local After 1854, East India company decided to
by community or by a teacher invest money to build schools to improve
system of vernacular education.

Schedule Flexible schedule, no fixed time table, no Guru had to submit periodic reports and take
report card, no proper syllabus to be classes according to regular time table
taught.
Building Classes under banyan tree, temple, Proper building, fixed seats, new rules of
mosque or guru’s home. No benches, no discipline, attend classes regularly
chairs
Roll Call All students of different classes would sit Separate classes, fixed seats and proper roll
together, no roll call call
System Schools were closed at the time of Schools were not closed for the convenience
of harvest so that the children of peasants of farmers.
schools could also get education
Fee Depended on parent’s income, rich paid Fee was regularized, parents had to pay fixed
more amount
Books Oral teaching, no printed books Teaching was done through printed text books

Q. When was the English education Act introduced and what were its features?

1. Following Macaulay’s minute, the English Education Act of 1835 was introduced.
2. The decision was to make English the medium of instruction for higher education, and to
stop the promotion of Oriental institutions like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras
Sanskrit College.
3. These institutions were seen as “temples of darkness that were falling of themselves into
decay”. English textbooks now began to be produced for schools.

Q. What was the aim of Woods despatch? What were the economic and moral benefits of
the Woods despatch?

Ans: Woods despatch outlined the educational policy that was to be followed in India.

2. It emphasized once again the practical benefits of a system of European learning, as opposed
to Oriental knowledge.

Economic Benefits:
 1. One of the practical uses the Despatch pointed to was economic. European learning, it
said, would enable Indians to recognize the advantages that flow from the expansion of
trade and commerce, and make them see the importance of developing the resources of
the country.
2. Introducing them to European ways of life, would change their tastes and desires, and
create a demand for British goods, for Indians would begin to appreciate and buy things
that were produced in Europe.

Moral Benefits:

1. Wood’s Despatch also argued that European learning would improve the moral character
of Indians.
2. It would make them truthful and honest, and thus supply the Company with civil servants
who could be trusted and depended upon.

Q. Why did Mahatma Gandhi think “English education has enslaved us”?
ANS- 1. Mahatma Gandhi argued that colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the
minds of Indians. It made them see Western civilization as superior, and destroyed the pride they
had in their own culture.
2. There was poison in this education, said Mahatma Gandhi, it was sinful, it enslaved Indians, it
cast an evil spell on them. Charmed by the West, appreciating everything that came from the
West, Indians educated in these institutions began admiring British rule.
3. Mahatma Gandhi wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity
and self-respect.
4. During the national movement he urged students to leave educational institutions to show to
the British that Indians were no longer willing to be enslaved.
5. Mahatma Gandhi strongly felt that Indian languages ought to be the medium of teaching.
Education in English crippled Indians, distanced them from their own social surroundings, and
made them “strangers in their own lands.”

Q. Why did Mahatma Gandhi want to teach children handicraft?

Ans:
1. Mahatma Gandhi wanted the children to focus on oral knowledge rather than just reading and
writing
2. He argued that education ought to develop a person’s mind and soul.
3.According to him, literacy – or simply learning to read and write – by itself did not count as
education. People had to work with their hands, learn a craft, and know how different things
operated. This would develop their mind and their capacity to understand.

HOTS

Q. Compare and contrast the education system promoted by Gandhiji and Rabindranath
Tagore.

Similarities:
1. Both Gandhiji and Tagore emphasized on the need of practical knowledge rather than simply
learning to read and write.
2. Both of them criticized colonial education system as it did not develop the minds of the
children.

Differences:
1. Rabindranath Tagore emphasized on their need of learning science and technology at
Shantiniketan along with art, music and dance whereas Gandhiji wanted the people to work, with
hands, learn a craft and know how different things operated.
2. Gandhiji was highly critical towards western civilization and working of machines and
technology. On the other hand , Tagore wanted to combine elements of modern western
civilization with what he saw as the best within Indian tradition.

Source based question:

By the 1830s the attack on the Orientalists became sharper. One of the most outspoken and
influential of such critics of the time was Thomas Babington Macaulay. He saw India as an
uncivilized country that needed to be civilized. No branch of Eastern knowledge, according to
him could be compared to what England had produced. Who could deny, declared Macaulay,
that “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and
Arabia”. He urged that the British government in India stop wasting public money in promoting
Oriental learning, for it was of no practical use.

1. Which 19th-century figure was a vocal critic of Orientalism in India, advocating for the
supremacy of European knowledge over Eastern traditions?
A) Mahatma Gandhi B) Rabindranath Tagore C) Thomas Babington Macaulay D)
William Jones
2. What was Thomas Babington Macaulay's opinion regarding the value of native literature
in India compared to European literature?
A) He believed native literature was of equal value to European literature.
B) He argued that native literature surpassed European literature in richness and depth.
C) He declared that European literature far surpassed the entire native literature of India
and Arabia.
D) He advocated for the preservation and promotion of native literature alongside
European literature.

3. According to Thomas Babington Macaulay, what was his view on the practical utility of
promoting Oriental learning in British India?

A) He believed Oriental learning was essential for the intellectual development of Indian
society.
B) He argued that Oriental learning was of practical use and should be supported by the
British government.
C) He urged the British government to stop wasting public money on promoting Oriental
learning, as it was of no practical use.
 D) He advocated for the integration of Oriental learning into the British education system in
India.

HLP
Q. Mention the two schools of thought which wanted to introduce education in India?

Q. What was the controversy between Orientalists and Anglicists scholars?