An overview of pre-independence effort and policies by the colonial government to educate the masses in India, right from Macaulay. This PPT also contains an account of attempts by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, DadaBhai Naoroji and Jyotiba Phule's attempts to assist the British government in policy formation in Education of Indians.

1. Vandana Thakur
RIE Bhopal
British attempts to educate

2. Macaulay's "Minute Upon Indian
Education"
 Macaulay argued that support for the publication
of books in Sanskrit and Arabic should be
withdrawn, support for traditional education
should be reduced to funding for the Madrassa
at Delhi and the Hindu College at Benares, but
students should no longer be paid to study at
these establishments
 all the funds appropriated for the purpose of
education would be best employed on English
education alone.
 all the existing professors and students at all the
institutions under the superintendence of the
Committee shall continue to receive their stipends

3.  Third, It has come to the knowledge of the
Governor-General in Council that a large sum has
been expended by the Committee on the printing
of Oriental works; his Lordship in Council directs
that no portion of the funds shall hereafter be so
employed.
 Fourth, His Lordship in Council directs that all the
funds which these reforms will leave at the
disposal of the Committee be henceforth
employed in imparting to the native population a
knowledge of English literature and science
through the medium of the English language;

4. After the Act
 By 1839 Lord Auckland had succeeded Bentinck
as Governor-General
 both Oriental and English colleges were to be
adequately funded.
 East India Company also resumed subsidising
the publication of Sanscrit and Arabic works, but
now by a grant to the Asiatic Society

5. Wood's despatch
 Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the East
India Company, had an important effect on spreading education
in India when in 1854 he sent a despatch to Lord Dalhousie, the
then Governor-General of India.[1]
 Recommendations[edit]
 He recommended therein that:
 An education department was to be set up in every province.
 Universities on the model of the London university be
established in big cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
 At least one government school be opened in every district.
 Affiliated private schools should be given grant in aid.
 The Indian natives should be given training in their mother
tongue also.
 Provision was made for a systematic method of education from
primary level to the university level.
 The government should always support education for women.

6. 
Aims and Objectives of Educational Policy: The
Despatch first throws light on the aims and objectives of
educational policy of the Company in India. It gave highest
priority to the responsibility of Indian Education overall
other responsibilities of the Company. The Despatch had
the following objectives in view:
a) To impart Western knowledge, information about the
western culture to the Indians.
b) To educate the natives of India so that a class of public
servants could be created.
c) To promote intellectual development and also raise the
moral character of the young generation.
d) To develop practical and vocational skills of the Indians
people so that more and more articles could be produced
and also to create a good market for consumption of those
goods.

7.  Department of Education: The Wood’s Despatch, for the first time,
recommended the creation of a Department of Public Instruction in each of the
five provinces of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, the Punjab and the North Western
provinces. The head of the Department would be called the Director and he was
to be assisted by a number of inspectors. The D.P.T. had to submit an annual
report to the government about the educational progress in his province.
 Expansion of Mass Education: - Another major recommendation of the
Despatch was expansion of mass education. It was observed that the common
people were deprived of educational opportunities and therefore much emphasis
was given on the increase of setting up primary, middle and high schools. The
Dowaward Feltration Theory as proposed earlier was discarded and in its place
importance to primary education was given. Elementary education was
considered to be the foundation of the education system.
 Establishment of Universities: - The Despatch recommended the
establishment of universities in the three Presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay
and Madras. The universities were to be modeled after the London University
and these were to have a senate comprising of a Chancellor, a Vice-Chancellor,
and fellows who were nominated by the Government. The Universities would
confer degrees to the successful candidates after passing the examinations, (of
Science or Arts Streams) conducted by the Senate. The universities were to
organize departments not only of English but also of Arabic, Sanskrit and
Persian, as well as law and civil engineering.

8.  Grant - in-aid system: - The Wood’s Despatch recommended the sanction of a
grant-in-aid system in the Indian educational system. To educate the large
number of people of India was a difficult task and so the grant-in-aid system was
adopted by the government. Grants were given to those schools and colleges
which satisfied the conditions given below :-
a) The schools must provide secular education.
b) The school management should run the school well.
c) The school should agree to state inspection from time to time.
d) The schools should follow any rule prescribed by the government for the
regulation of the grant.
e) The school must charge fees from the students.
Grants were given to the schools for increasing the salaries teachers,
construction of school buildings, granting scholarships to students, improving
conditions of literaries, opening of science department etc.
 Teaching of Language: - The Wood’s Despatch gave importance to teaching of
English, but at the same time, it also stressed on the teaching of Indian
languages. The Despatch realised that any acquaintance of European knowledge
could be communicated to the common people and that could be conveyed to
them only through learning their own mother tongue. Therefore the Despatch
clearly stated that Indian languages as well as English should be used as media
of instruction.

9.  Education of Women: - The Despatch recommended that the government
should always support education for women. The wood’s Despatch stated, “The
importance of female education in India cannot be over rated; and we have
observed with pleasure the evidence which is now afforded of an increased
desire on the part of many of the natives of India to give a good education to their
daughters. By this means a far greater proportional impulse is imparted to the
educational and moral tone of the people than by the education of men”. The
Despatch also encouraged the private enterprises to promote women
education.The schools for girls were to be included among those to which grants-
in-aid would be given.
 Training of Teachers: - The Wood’s Despatch recommended the establishment
of teacher training schools in each of the provinces. There should be training
schools for teachers of engineering, medicine and law. The qualified teachers
should be given better pay scales. The Despatch further emphasized on the
provision of scholarships to the teachers during their training period.
 Professional Education: - The Wood’s Despatch encouraged professional
education. It recommended the establishment of medical, engineering law and
other institutes of professional education. The Despatch stated that in order to
develop vocational efficiency of people and also to make people realise that the
British rule was progressive. Another reason for the encouragement of vocational
education was to control the problem of unemployment.

10.  Introduction of network of Graded Schools all
over India: - The Wood’s Despath recommended the
establishment of a network of graded schools all over
the country. At one end were the universities and the
colleges, then the high schools followed by the middle
schools and the bottom of the middle schools and at
the bottom of the network were the primary schools,
both government and indigenous. Both the Anglo-
vernacular and vernacular schools were to be
included in the same class. This system was
recommended in order to enable an individual to
receive higher education after completing the different
levels of schools education.


11.  Let Us KNOW
 The main objective of the Wood’s Despatch was to educate Indian people inorder
to create a class of civil servants.
 It also wanted to impart Western knowledge and information about Western
Culture to the Indian people.
 The Wood’s Despatch recommended for the first time, the creation of
Department of Education in Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Punjab and the North
Western Provinces.
 The Despatch recommended the promotion of mass education by establishing
schools, both public of and private.
 The Wood’s Despatch recommended the establishment of three universities in
the Presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras on the model of the
London University.

12.  The grant-in-aid system was recommended by the Wood’s
Despatch
 The Despatch wanted to promote the study of English as well as
Indian regional languages and classical languages like Arabic,
Persian and Sanskrit.
 The Wood’s Despatch supported women education.
 Importance of training of teachers was realised by the Despatch
and so it recommended the establishment of teacher training
institutes. It also suggested the improvement of working
condition and salaries of teachers.
 The Wood’s Despatch also encouraged professional education.

13.  The merits of the Despatch are discussed in the
following points:
 The Wood Despatch started a new era in Indian
education system by clearly defining objectives of
education.
 It made the Government realise the importance of
education for the people.It presented a
comprehensive scheme of education embracing
primary, secondary and higher education.
 It recommended the creation of a separate
Department of Public Instruction in five provinces and
appointment of a Director to head the Department.

14.  The principle of Downward Filtration Theory was
discarded by the Wood’s Despatch and it encouraged
the promotion of mass education; it recommended the
establishment of indigenous schools.
 By the grant-in-aid system many schools were
benefited and the quality of education improved and
private organisations were encouraged to open new
schools.
 The Despatch encouraged higher education by
recommending the establishment of universities in
Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
 The Wood’s Despatch emphasized on the necessity
of vocational education.

15.  The Despatch recommended the importance of
establishing teacher training institutes to improve
the quality of teachers and also improves their
conditions and salaries.The Despatch
recommended scholarships for the poor and
deserving students.Language teaching was
encouraged by the Despatch; as a result, regional
languages and classical languages were taught in
the schools.

16.  Demerits of the Wood Despatch:
 The Wood’s Despatch could not manage the
education system well.
 Mass education did not become a reality.
 The grant-in-aid system did not work well as there
was paucity of funds and irregularity of the
release of funds.

17.  The Despatch was more intersted in promoting
Western knowledge and culture.
 The Department of Public Instruction could not
promote the interest of education and the education in
the universities could not be related to Indian
conditions.
 The Despatch did not promote vocational education
as was required. in fact, the idea was postponed
indefinitely.
 Women education continued to be neglected.
 The Despatch produced a cass of clerks and
accountants but did not develop character and
leadership qualities among students.

18. Hunter commission of 1882
 As a result of the first struggle for Independence by
Indians in 1857,the power of administration was
transferred from the East India Company to the
Crown.
 The Queen’s Proclamation of 1858 advocated a
policy of strict religious neutrality.
 The missionaries were greatly disappointed with the
Government policy for religious neutrality and started
an agitation and formed the “General Council of
Education in India” in London.
 The General Council of Education requested Lord
Ripon, the viceroy of India to institute an enquiry into
Indian education.
 Lord Ripon appointed the Indian Education
Commission on 3rd February 1882, with Sir Willium
Hunter as its Chairman. It is known as Hunter
Commission of 1882.

19.  The commission was appointed with the following
aims:
 To enquire into the manner in which effect had been
given to the principles of the Despatch of 1854.
 To assess the position of primary education in India
and to suggest measures for its reform.
 To enquire into the position of the State institutions
and their importance.
 To evaluate the work of missionaries in the field of
education.
 To enquire into Government attitude towards private
enterprise.
 The Commission also undertook an enquiry into the

20. 
Major Recommendations of Hunter Commission of 1882
on Primary Education were.
 Primary education should be regarded as education of the
masses.
 Education should be able to train the people for self-
dependence.
 Medium of Instruction in primary education should e the
mother tongue.
 Appointment of teachers should be made by the district
authority and approved by the government.

21.  School houses and furnitures should be simple and
economical.
 Normal Schools should be established for the training
of teachers.
 Curriculum should include useful subjects like
agriculture, elements of natural and physical science
and the native method of arithmetic and measurement
etc.
 School equipments should be economical and less
expensive.

22.  Spread of primary education for the tribal and
backward people should be the responsibility of
the Government.
 Fees should be example to students on the basis
of their financial difficulties.

23.  Major Recommendations of Hunter Commission on
secondary education were
 The administrative responsibility on Secondary
education should be handed over to the efficient and
educated people.
 English should remain as medium of instruction in the
Secondary stage.
 The fees charged in aided secondary schools should
be considerably lower than the fees charged in
Government schools.

24.  effects of the recommendations on primary education.
 Hunter Commission made valuable contribution to
the development mass education by recognising
primary education as education of the masses.
 Use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction at
primary level was also an important recommendation
of the commission.
 Following the method adopted in England, the
commission recommended that the control of primary
education should be handed over to District and
Municipal Boards.

25.  Realising the importance of indigenous schools the
commission recommended for giving grants to encourage
these schools.
 To improve the quality of teachers, the commission
recommended establishment of Normal schools for the
training of teachers.
 The Commission was very liberal in matters of
management of the primary schools. Managers should be
given freedom in selecting text books, School hours and
holidays should be adjusted according to local needs.
 The Commission was in favour of maintaining a fund by
the District and Municipal Boards exclusively for
maintenance of primary schools.
 The Commission recommended more practical curriculum
by inclusion of practical subjects in the curriculum of
primary schools.
In spite of all these recommendations the progress of
primary education in the subsequent period was very slow.

26.  Let us now discuss the causes of slow progress of
primary education. The causes of slow progress of
primary education were:-
 Transfer of the control of primary education to the
inexperienced local bodies.
 Neglect of the indigenous schools as the introduction
of the system of giving grants by “Payment by Result”
adversely affected the development of indigenous
schools.
 Failure to introduce compulsory primary education.
 Inadequate grant from the Provincial government as
only one-third of the total expenditure was given as
grant to the local bodies.

27. CHARTER ACT OF 1813
 Or downward filtration policy
 Controversies between Anglicist and Classicists
 Aims: Regarding the aims of education during that time, groups of people had
different opinions. One group preferred the propagation of oriental literature,
whereas the other group stressed the need to introduce western literature among
the Indian people.
 In terms of agencies to be employed for organizing the schools and colleges,
there were also some forms of conflicts and controversies. One school of thought
opined that missionaries should be an agency for educational management while
another group believed that it will be better if Indians themselves played the role
for conducting the educational institutions. The third school of thought
recommended the establishment of the schools by the company itself.
 Regarding the medium of instruction there were also three opinions. The first
opinion was that the western sciences and knowledge should be promoted
through the classical lanquage as a medium of instruction, namely Sanskrit and
Arabic. The second school of thought was favored to the modern Indian
language and lastly the third school of thought held that education should be
given through the medium of English.
 Methods of education also created the controversy among the people of India. It
was of two opinions regarding the methods. The first opinion was that education
always filters down from the upper classes of the society to the common masses.
It was known as ‘Downwards Filtration Theory’. The other opinion preferred that
the company should themselves take the responsibility for educating the masses.

28.  Regarding the medium of instruction there were also
three opinions. The first opinion was that the western
sciences and knowledge should be promoted through
the classical lanquage as a medium of instruction,
namely Sanskrit and Arabic. The second school of
thought was favored to the modern Indian language
and lastly the third school of thought held that
education should be given through the medium of
English.
 Methods of education also created the controversy
among the people of India. It was of two opinions
regarding the methods. The first opinion was that
education always filters down from the upper classes
of the society to the common masses. It was known
as ‘Downwards Filtration Theory’. The other opinion
preferred that the company should themselves take
the responsibility for educating the masses.

29.  Macaulay’s Minute
 Bentinck’s Educational Policy
 The Bentinck Policy made the resolution of
Macaulay’s views on the stress of English language
as a medium of instruction.
 In the orders of Bentinck policy, the whole focus was
given to invest all the expenditure of education in
improvement of English literature and science only.
 The resolution which was made by Bentinck, ordered
to ban for investing any fund on the printing of oriental
works.
 One of the order of the resolution was that, a vacant
post of any teacher in oriental learning would be filled
only after the Government finds it expedient

30.  After the above discussion, the following are the
basic ideas that can be noted bellow:The Charter
Act of 1813 made a State system of Education in
India officially.
 This clause of Charter Act of 1813 compelled the East
India Company to accept responsibility for the
education of the Indian people by granting one lac
rupees.
 Regarding the way of spending the money for
education, there was a controversy between the
anglicists and classicists in terms of aims of
education, agencies of education, medium of
instructions and methods.
 As a president of General Committee of Public
Instruction, Lord Macaulay’s wrote a minute on 2nd
February 1835, where he gave the conclusion
regarding the controversy.

31.  Macaulay concluded the controversy by acquiring
English lanquage as a medium of instruction
through his minute.
 By introducing the English lanuage for the
education of the Indian masses, Macaulay
opinion was that the public mind of India may
expand under the English system and through the
English language it may educate the people into
a capacity for better government.
 Macaulay developed the policy of Downward
Filtration Theory and through it; he made
bifurcation of partiality in giving education to the
Indian masses.

32.  Some people of higher classes in India and the
East India Company appreciated Macaulay as the
torch bearer in the path of progress
 Lord Macaulay submitted his minute to the
Governor- General in Council where Lord William
Bentinck was the Governor General of that
Council.
 Lord William Bentinck passed the resolution of
the Macaulay’s Minute on 7th of March 1813,
where all the funds that were allotted for Indian
education should be disbursed only in favour of
English language.

33. Mahtma jyotiba Phule
 Vidya bina mat gayi
Mat bina gati gay
Gati bina niti gayi
Niti bina sampati gayi
Sampati bina shudra dbast huye
Itna sara anarth ek avidya se huya
 Mahatma Jotiba Phule was born in 1827. His
father Govind Rao was a vegetable vendor at
Poona. Since Jotiba's father and two uncles
served as florists under the last of the peshwas,
they came to be known as Phules.

34.  Impressed by Jotiba's intelligence and his love of
knowledge, two of his neighbours one a Muslim
teacher and another a Christian gentleman
persuaded his father Govindrao to allow him to
study in a secondary school. In 1841 Jotiba got
admission in the Scottish Mission High school at
Poona. Jotiba was greatly influenced by Thomas
Paine's ideas and he read with great interest
Paine's famous book Rights of Man. After
completing his secondary education in 1847,
Jotiba decided not to accept a job under the
government.
 An incident in 1848 made him aware of the
inequalities of the caste system and predominant
position of the Brahmins in the social setup.

35.  he began educating his wife Savitribai Phule and
opened a girl's school in August 1848.
 The orthodox opponents of Jotiba were furious and
they started a vicious campaign against him.
 He refused to be unnerved by their malicious
propaganda. As no teacher dared to work in a school
in which untouchables were admitted as students.
 Jotiba asked his wife to teach the girls in his school.
Stones and brickbats were thrown at her when she
was on her way to school.
 The reactionaries threatened Jotiba's father with dire
consequences if he did not dissociate from his son's
activities. Yielding to the pressure, Jotiba's father
asked his son and daughter-in-law to leave his house
as both of them refused to give up their noble
endeavor.

36.  On the 3rd July, 1851, he founded a girls' school in
which eight girls were admitted on the first day.
Steadily the number of students increased.
 He blamed the British government for spending
profusely a large portion of revenue on the education
of the higher classes. (just like brahmins, they too
limited education)
 He had written many books namely Tritya
Ratna(1855),Brahmanache Kasab(1869) ,
Gulamgiri(1873), Shetkaryancha Asud(1883), Satsar
Vol.1(1885), Satsar Vol. 2(1885), Ishara(October
1,1885), saravajanik Satyadharma Pustak( this book
was published posthumously). So in all, he worked
for whole the life for achieving his motives i.e.
compulsory universal education, women education
and uplifting of lower caste people.

37.  Salient features of educational philosophy of Mahatma
Jobiba Phule
1. Individuals being equal, it is necessary to provide
facilities to more and more individuals and the monopoly in
education should be stopped.
2. While educating individuals, religion, race, caste and
sex should not be considered. Education should develop
values for humanism.
3. The Principle of universalization of education should
be followed and to same extent education should be made
compulsory.
4. Women, the neglected and those who are deprived of
education for long should be given top priority in
educational facilities and thus social justice should be
established
5. Education should be based on equality because such
education binds the society together. It does not destruct

38.  6. Mahatma Jotiba Phule expressed great concern for
primary education and primary teacher, He was of the view
that primary teacher should be a trained person and
sufficient salary should be paid to primary teacher.
7. He argued that curriculum should be utilitarian and
practical so as to cover the needs of the society.
Preliminary knowledge about agriculture and health should
be included in the curriculum. He said that there should be
demarcation between the curriculum of rural and urban
area.
8. Permanent values like freedom, equality and fraternity
should be developed through education. Personality
should be developed and social equality should be
established.
9. Along with advancement in knowledge, the values of
inculcation of devotion to nation, self respect,
internationalism, universal fraternity and kind heartedness
should be developed.

39.  10. Professional ability and efficiency should be
developed so that knowledge may be properly linked.
11. The down trodden filtration theory advocated by
Lord Macaulay is not philosophically sound as it
ignores the common masses and non established
individuals for their progress.
12. Practical knowledge is superior to bookish
knowledge hence primary knowledge in Modi (a
special marathi script) accounts, history, grammar,
agriculture ethics and health should be imparted.
13. Jotiba Phule said that quantitative growth in
primary school is important but it should not be at
the cost of qualitative growth.
14. He was of the view that government should
formulate the scheme of scholarships and rewards
for the needy and deserving students.

40. Dadabhai naoroji
 The ‘Grand Old Man of India’ and the ‘Father of Indian Nationalism’ are the
epithets to explain the personality of this great man who was an educator, cotton
trader and social leader. He is none other than Dadabhai Naoroji, who was born
on 4th September 1825 at Khadak in Mumbai.
 He was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons
between 1892 and 1895. Dadabhai Naoroji played a crucial role in founding the
Indian National Congress along with two other famous politicians of that time i.e.
A.O. Hume and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha. Dadabhai Naoroji’s concept of wealth
drain from India during British rule got huge attention. He mentioned the same
concept in his bookPoverty and Un-British Rule in India.
 After completing his schooling, Dadabhai Naoroji finished his Masters degree in
Mathematics and worked as a professor in the same subject. He achieved many
honors during his academic career and after completing his education from the
Elphinstone Institution, he became a partner of the first Indian commercial
company founded in Britain. So, he went to England for managing Cama and Co.
While staying in England, he was very keen in exposing the wretchedness in
India and what Indians were going through during British rule. In 1866, he
established the East India Association in England. This was a platform to put
forward the grievances of Indians in Britain. To promote this further, branches of
the association were also established in different parts of India.

41.  Dadabhai Naoroji’s theory of the Drain of Wealth
 Dadabhai Naoroji was the first man to say that
internal factors were not the reasons of poverty in
India but poverty was caused by the colonial rule that
was draining the wealth and prosperity of India. In
1867, Dadabhai Naoroji put forward the ‘drain of
wealth’ theory in which he stated that the Britain was
completely draining India. He mentioned this theory in
his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. Further
in his book , he stated the loss of 200-300 million
pounds of revenue to Britain. Dadabhai Naoroji
considered it as a major evil of British in India. On the
footsteps of Dadabhai Naoroji, R. C. Dutt also
promoted the same theory by keeping it as a major
theme of his book Economic History in India. The
drain of wealth was the portion of India’s wealth and
economy that was not available to Indians for
consumption.

42.  Dadabhai Naoroji gave six factors that caused external drain.
These are:
 External rule and administration in India.
 Funds and labour needed for economic development was
brought in by immigrants but India did not draw immigrants.
 All the civil administration and army expenses of Britain were
paid by India.
 India was bearing the burden of territory building both inside and
outside India.
 India was further exploited by opening the country to free trade.
 Major earners in India during British rule were foreigners. The
money they earned was never invested in India to buy anything.
Moreover they left India with that money.
 Not only this, but through different services such as railways,
India was giving a huge amount to Britain. On the other hand,
trade as well as Indian labour was deeply undervalued. Along
with this, the East India Company was buying products from
India with Indian money and exporting it to Britain.

43.  Dadabhai Naoroji was respected both in Britain
as well as India for his loyalty towards British and
services for Indians. For this reason, he was
elected as the President of the Indian National
Congress, not once or twice but for three times
i.e. in 1886, 1893 and 1906.
 Dadabhai Naoroji was a greater supporter of free
education especially to women and children in
India as his mother had to struggle a lot to
provide the same to him. He was very keen in
providing education and making it free. He also
wanted to uplift the condition of women in India.
For this, he laid the foundation of Jyan Prasarak
Mandal, the only girls’ high school in Bombay
(present day Mumbai).

44.  His contribution to politics were also immense. He
was the founder of Bombay Association and
established it in 1852. Further, the London Indian
Society was established by him along with N.C.
Banarjee for the betterment of relationships
between Indian and Englishmen. His entire life
was dedicated to the cause and betterment of
India. Dadabhai Naoroji died in 1917 at the age of
92.

45. Gopal krishna gokhale
As a member of the Legislative Council Gokhale put forward a proposal for
compulsory primary education in 1910. The proposal was as follows— “A
beginning should be made in the direction of making elementary education free
and compulsory throughout the country, and that a mixed commission of officials
and non officials be appointed at an early date to frame definite proposal.”
Following were the important points of the resolution :
 Primary education should be made free and compulsory in the area where 35%
of boys were receiving education.
 This provision should apply to the age group of 6-10 years.
 The cost of compulsory primary education should be shared by the provincial
Government and the Local Bodies in the ration of 2 : 1.
 A separate Department of education shall be opened under the Central
Government to draw up a scheme for the expansion of primary education.
 A secretary should be appointed to organise, supervise and look after the primary
education.

46. Reaction of the Resolution
 the Government assured him that the subject would
receive careful consideration. Consequently Gokhale
withdraw his resolution.
 Later on, the Government accepted only the last three
resolutions of Gokhale.
 A department of Education was established under the
Central Government and the secretary was also
appointed.
 The record of the progress of primary education also
started to be published by the Government.
But the main issue of making primary education free
and compulsory remained neglected and unattended
by the Government.

47.  My Lord, I know that my Bill will be thrown out
before the day closes. I make no complaint. I
shall not even feel depressed. We the present
generation of India can only hope to serve our
country by our failures. The men and women who
will be privileged to serve her by their successes
will come later” (Nurullah and Naik)
Thus the Bill, though defeated, but it was a heroic
defeat.

48. Reasons for Rejection of the
Bill
The Government put forth several arguments and they are the
following—
 There was no popular demand for introducing compulsory
primary education in the country.
 As such, the people of the country were not prepared to accept
compulsion.
 The local Governments were not in favour of it.
 The local bodies were not willing to levy educational cess.
 A section of the educated Indians were not supporting the Bill.
 There was still scope for extension of primary education on
voluntary lines based on the system of grants-in-aid.

49. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
RESOLUTION OF 1913 ON
EDUCATION
 While rejecting Gokhale’s bill of 1911, the Government promised to extend recurring and non-
recurring grants to primary education as it could not ignore the growing popular demand for
the spread of primary education. The education department had declared the new policy in
the form of Government of India Resolution on February 21, 1913 covering primary,
secondary, higher and women education. The major provisions of the Resolution may be
summarised below—
 Primary Education:
There should be sufficient expansion of lower primary schools, where along with instruction
in the three R’s children should be taught drawing, knowledge of the village map, nature
study and physical exercises.
 Simultaneously, upper primary schools should be opened at the proper places and if
necessary, lower primary schools should be raised to the status of upper primary schools.
 Local Boards schools should be established in place of private aided schools.
 Moktabs and Pathsalas should be adequately subsidised.

50.  The inspection and management of private schools should be made more efficient.
 In most parts of India, it may not be practicable to prescribe a separate curricula for rural and urban, but in
the urban schools there is sufficient scope forteaching geography and organising school excursions etc.
 The teacher should have passed vernacular middle examination and received one years’ training.
 Provision be made for refresher courses for the teachers of primary education during vacations.
 A trained teacher should get a salary not less than Rs. 12 per month.
 The number of students under one teacher should generally range between 30 and 40.
 Improvement should be made in the condition of middle and secondary vernacular schools and their number
should be increased.
 Schools should be housed in sanitary, spacious but in inexpensive buildings.

51.  Secondary Education :
The state should not completely withdraw from the sphere of secondary education.
 Further establishment of state institutions was proposed to be stopped.
 Existing institutions should continue to serve as models and proper grants-in-aid should be sanctioned to
private institutions.
 Improvement in the mode of examination and curriculum was also recommended.
 Women Education :
Emphasis was laid on the education of woman too. Suggestion were put forth concerning special curriculum
of practical utility for girls and it was also suggested that too much importance should not be attached to
examination in the examination of girls.
 Number of women teachers and inspectors also should be increased. Thus, through the resolution, the
Government of India desired the widest possible extension of primary education on a voluntary basis. The
resolution also took a liberal attitude towards secondary and university education. But the outback of the
First World War in 1914 delayed the implementation of the resolution of 1913.