During British rule in India, education underwent four main periods of development: 1) The East India Company period focused on English education to strengthen British control and ignored Indian education. 2) Controversies emerged between those supporting traditional Oriental education (in Sanskrit, Arabic, etc.) versus the Anglicists who wanted to promote English education. Macaulay's 1835 Minutes supported replacing Oriental education with English education. 3) Educational policies were formed, starting with Wood's 1854 Dispatch establishing an education system. Commissions like Hunter (1882) and Sadler (1919) made recommendations to improve education. 4) Provincial autonomy began in 1921, with committees like Hartog (1929) and Sargent

1. Indian
Education
during
British period

2. The history of India under the British rule can be conveniently divided into four
main periods.
• East India company- AD 1600
• Provincial line of action Or orientalists and anglicists controversy.
• Formation of Educational policies
• Provincial autonomy

3. 1. East India company – AD-1600
During the first period the East India company not interested in
educating of Indians. When the company’s charter was renewed in
1813, it included a clause, which compelled the company to assume
responsibility for the education of Indians. This is the beginning of
the modern period in Indian education.

4. 2. Provincial line of action Orientalists and anglicists
controversy.
The second period is a period of provincial line of action, because difference
provinces were more or less left tree to adopt their own educational policy. This
period is full of great educational controversies concerning the policy, the
medium of instruction, the agency and the method of spreading education. There
were the orientalists who supported the preservation of oriental learning and use
of Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic as the media of instruction. The Anglicists, who
wanted to promote western education in India which supported English as a
medium of instruction. These controversies were partially set a rest by
Macaulay’s Minutes of 1835.

5. Macaulay’s Minutes
Lord Macaulay came to India as law member of the council of the
Governor-General in 1834. He was a scholar in English literature and
a fluent orator. The oriental-anglicists controversy was still going on,
and Lord William Bentinck the Governor-General sough Macaulay’s
advice on education matter Lord Macaulay presented his famous
Minutes in 1835.

6. Main features of Macaulay’s Minutes
 English language should be the medium of instruction especially at higher levels.
 His Minute condemns the spoken language of the people in India. He considered opinion of
the orientalists that “a single shelf of a good European library was both the whole native
literature of India and Arabia”.
 “ Indian in blood and colour. But English in idea, thoughts, dress and conversation”
 The oriental law institutions should be closed down and all the lawbooks in Arabic, Persian
and Sanskrit should be translated into English.
 The institutions of oriental learning should be used for the promotion of English education.
 The grants given to oriental institutions should be stopped and diverted to the opening of
new English schools.

7.  Downward filtration theory:
The downward filtration theory had the following two chief
characteristics,
1. To educate only the high class people in order to give them higher posts in
the administration with a view to strengthening the roots of British empire in
the country.
2. When the higher class people would receive English education their culture
would be improved and the general public would accept them as their
models. As a result, the lower class people would also be educated after
being influenced by the higher class people.

8. 3. Formation of educational policies.
Third period was a period of the formation of an All India Education Policy. It
commenced with the issue of Wood’s Dispatch in 1854 and closed with the
passing of the Government of India Act 1919. During this period, the
Governer-General in council appointed three important education
commissions,
Hunter commission-1882
Indian Universities commission-1902
Sadler commission-1919

9. Wood’s Despatch-1854
A committee was appointed under the chairman ship of Charles Wood, who issued as epoch
making dispatch on ‘General Education in India’. Rightly termed the Magna carta of Indian
Education.
Main features
 The aim of English education in India was to rise the intellectual fitness and moral character
of the student.
 The medium of instruction should be English.
 A department of public instruction should be set-up in each province, with the director of
public instruction
as its head. Deputy Director, Inspector and Deputy Inspector of school should assist him.

10.  A Grant-in-aid system was suggested so that voluntary organization might start private
educational institutions with some assistance from the government.
 Sufficient number of training schools should be started in every province of India.
 Women education should be encouraged.
 Highly qualified persons should be performed and absorbed in government service.
 Special institutions for training of teachers should be set-up.
 Universities should be ser-up at Bombay, Madras and Calcutta on the pattern of London
University, having Chancellor, vice chancellor and Fellows, who together should
constitute the senate.
 Professional education in law, medicine and engineering should be given under the
control of Universities.

11. Hunter Commission-1882
This is the first education commission. The chairman of the commission was William Hunter.
This commission emphasized its recommendations on primary and secondary education.
The Hunter commission was directed to inquire,
a) The condition of primary education in India.
b) The condition of Government schools in India.
c) The policy to be adopted by the Government regarding private enterprises in the field of
education.
d) The place of institutions run by the missionaries educational field of India.
e) Vocational and technical education.
f) Encouragement of Indigenous education.
g) Secondary education to be provided on the grant-in-aid basis.

12. Sadler commission/Calcutta
University commission- 1919
•Calcutta University commission was appointed in 1917 under the chairmanship of the late sir
Michael sadler.
•The commission opined that the improvement of secondary education was essential for the
improvement of university education.
Important recommendations,
1. Proper division between the university and secondary courses.
2. Colleges run as independent institutions.
3. A Board of secondary and intermediate education consisting of the representatives of
Government, university, high schools and intermediate colleges to be established.

13. 4. ProvincialAutonomy.
The fourth period may be called the period of provincial autonomy. It began 1921 with
the introduction of new constitutional reforms envisaged by the Government of India Act
of 1919. The Act ushered a new era in educational advancement of this country.
Hartog committee Report-1929
This committee under the chairmanship of Sir Philip Hartog was appointed in 1929
by the Simon commission, which was appointed in 1927. Hence, Hartog committee worked
as an Auxillary committee to enquire into the conditions of education in India. The
committee recommended,

14. i. Primary education should be made compulsory.
ii.Government should undertake the responsibility of inspection and
control of primary school.
iii.Steps should be taken for the consolidation and qualitative
improvement of primary education.
iv.The standard of primary school teachers should be provided with
better facilities and equipment.
v.Inspecting staff should be increased for better supervision of
primary schools.

15. Sargent Report-1944
In 1944, the adviser to the Government of India Sir John Sargent visualized a system of universal, compulsory
and free education to children between the ages of 6 and 14, the senior basic or the middle school being the final
stage in the school career of the majority of pupils. In many respects the Sargent Report agreed with the ‘Wardha
scheme’ or the ‘basic education’ of Mahatma Gandhi (1937).
Recommendations :
1. With regard to secondary education, the report suggested that those who had exceptional aptitude for higher
studies alone should be sent over to the secondary stage.
2. The high schools were to be divided into academic and technical.
3. Mother tongue should be the medium of instruction, and English should be taught as a second compulsory
subject.
4. The aim of education should be to make the boys and girls self-dependent.

16. Merits of British Education
a. It introduced western knowledge and science to Indians.
b. It spread education.
c. It helped for scientific development.
d. British education to certain extent was an inspiration of literacy and
cultural consciousness.
e. It helped to create social and political awareness.
f. It could create a nationalist feeling.

17. De-Merits of British Education
a. Colonialism was the guideline of British education.
b. It did not care about national character and qualities.
c. It did not care for the welfare of local educational institutions.
d. It gave much importance to English language.
e. It led to class consciousness.
f. It aims was to prepare educated Indians with western culture.
g. Its not properly planned.
h. It encouraged communalism.

18. Thank you