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Western education
- 2. Historical Background of Education in Punjab Pre-colonial India is well known for its system of indigenous education. Before the British Rule, Education was imparted through a chain of elementary schools- Pathshalas, Maktabs and Madrasa for higher education. The education provided in such institutions were based on old texts like Vedas and their commentaries. These institutions laid emphasis on the teaching of arithmetic and Sanskrit. The Mohammedan schools taught Holy Quran, Persian and Arabic. The Sikh institutions laid stress on 'Adi Granth' and it was taught in Gurumukhi through Punjabi script. Such education was not considered to be up to date because Vedas, the basis of such education did not kept pace with the world.
- 3. British Efforts for the spread of Western Education The Christian Missionaries were the first to set up primary schools in the Punjab. The first missionary elementary schools for boys was established at Kotgarh near Shimla in 1843 A.D. by the Church Missionary Society. The Christian Missionaries opened many schools at various places in Punjab like Jullundur in 1848, Amritsar in 1853 and Ambala in 1854. Charles Grant who is often referred to as "father of modern education in India" had made recommendations for introduction of English language in India and the Act of 1813 helped Christian Missionaries to propagate English language and preach their religion. With the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Calcutta college was established for imparting western education. There were various other education schemes and policies were established for the spread of Western Education such as Lord Macaulay's education policy 1835, Hunter's Commission 1882, Indian Universities Act of 1904, Sadler Commission (1917-1919), etc.
- 4. School Education The noble efforts of the Christian missionaries inspired the British government, who also opened schools in many cities and towns of Punjab. The first government school was opened in Shimla on 1st March, 1848. In January 1856, the Department of Public Instructions was instituted in the Punjab with William Delafield Arnold (1829-1859) as its first director. There were 108 schools directly under the control of the department. The course content introduced in the new schools was richer than that of their predecessors. The other achievement of this period was passing of the Compulsory Primary Education Act of 1919. It was implemented in Multan and Lahore for the children of 6-11 age group, the response was quite good and encouraging. The primary and the middle courses consisted of four classes each and the last having a course of 2 years and ending with the Matriculation Examination The students were admitted to the university course after the qualifying this last examination.
- 5. Higher Education As students from Punjab schools were facing hardships while getting admission in the Calcutta University, so a proposal for a university in Punjab was formulated. Initially, the plea was in a premature stage but instead permission was given to set up an aided institution, to be called as the Punjab University College established at Lahore in 1870 with a governing body called the "Senate". as the Punjab University College has fulfilled the task assigned to it, it was finally decided to accord it the status of Punjab University.
- 6. PUNJAB UNIVESITY The Punjab University came to be established in 1882, on the model of the London University. It constituted provisional Arts, Science, Medical and Law faculties. 18 board of Studies, representing different subjects of study were created to look into the various aspects. Under the act of Indian Universities Act 1904, affiliation in the Punjab University became compulsory and all the colleges which were previously recognized had to apply for it. A committees was appointed for the inspection and to report the functioning of these institutions. however, affiliation was granted in all the cases but the colleges had to adhere to the norms laid down by the Punjab Universities.
- 7. Position of Women and Muslim Education in Punjab During the British rule, the educations of the fairer sex remained pathetic and in a dismal state of affairs. In Punjab, however, some efforts were made for the education of the girls on account of the successful results of the girls schools in U.P. But even this did not bring the desired results except when the government opened new Secondary Schools for girls in the big towns and cities. On the whole, the female education in the Punjab remained almost negligible. The position of Muslim education was no better in Punjab. As the Hunter Education Report of 1882 failed to attract Muslims towards western education, they remained mostly backward. The rural nature of their community and a sense of political loss among the Muslim elite, cause their alienation.
- 8. Conclusion The western education failed to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people, but if we viewed from broader perspective, it really proved a boon for he Indians. However the spread of education in Punjab among other reasons was also due to the great desire and eagerness of its people. The percentage of education in Punjab as claimed by the British after its annexation in 1849 was much higher than in other parts of India under them. This factor also led the people of Punjab to co-operate with the Government in their efforts to spread education in Punjab. The fact is that Punjab, by all means, gained a lot out of this venture of the British to spread western education in India.