Colonial Education and India 1781-1945, Vol. III: Commentaries, Reports, Policy Documents [3] 9780815376552, 9781351212168, 9780815380832, 9781351211963

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COLONIAL EDUCATION AND INDIA 1781–1945

COLONIAL EDUCATION AND INDIA 1781–1945

Edited by Pramod K. Nayar Volume IV Indian Responses

First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Pramod K. Nayar; individual owners retain copyright in their own material. The right of Pramod K. Nayar to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-8153-7655-2 (set) eISBN: 978-1-351-21216-8 (set) ISBN: 978-0-8153-8083-2 (Volume IV) eISBN: 978-1-351-21196-3 (Volume IV) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Publisher’s Note References within each chapter are as they appear in the original complete work.

CONTENTS

VOLUME IV INDIAN RESPONSES 1 Raja Rammohan Roy, ‘Letter to Amherst, 11th December 1823’, in H. Sharp (ed.), Selections from Educational Records Part I, 1781–1839 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1920), 98–101

1

2 ‘Petition by Students of Sanscrit College to Auckland, Seeking Continuation of Funding for Sanskrit, 9th August 1836’, in H. Sharp (ed.), Selections from Educational Records Part I, 1781–1839 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1920), 145–146

5

3 K. M. Banerjea, ‘An Essay on Native Female Education’ (Calcutta: R.C. Lepage & Co., British Library, 1848), 1–123

7

4 ‘An Appeal from a Native Christian of the Punjab to the Indian Female Normal School and Instruction Society’, Indian Female Evangelist (July 1875), 289–291

62

5 Evidence of Syed Badruddin Tyabji on Muslim Education, Evidence Taken before the Bombay Provincial Committee and Memorials Addressed to the Education Commission (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1884), 497–508

65

6 Evidence Taken before the Bombay Provincial Committee and Memorials Addressed to the Education Commission, Vol. II (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1881), 223–242, 255–259, 261–270, 302–313, 11–14 (Appendix)

89

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CONTENTS

7 Jotiba Phule’s statement to the Education Commission, Evidence Taken before the Bombay Provincial Committee and Memorials Addressed to the Education Commission, Vol. II (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1881), 140–145

186

8 Report by the North-Western Provinces and Oudh Provincial Committee with Evidence Taken before the Bombay Provincial Committee and Memorials Addressed to the Education Commission (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1884), 282–302, 351–353, 373–376, 397–411, 412–418, 433–434, 442–443, 452–453, 462–470, 471–474, 478–479

195

9 S. Satthianadhan, extracts from History of Education in the Madras Presidency (Madras: Srinivasa Varadachari & Co., 1894), 36–38, 73–76, 109–112, 165–168, cxiii–cxxi

306

10 Gopal Krishna Gokhale, ‘Speech in the Imperial Legislative Council on the Primary Education Bill, 16th March 1911’, Speeches of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Vol. 2 (Madras: G. A. Natesan, 1916, 2nd edn), 718–803

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11 Appendix to the Report of the Commissioners. Vol XX: Minutes of Evidence Relating the Education Department Taken at Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and London (1915), 46–55, 119–129, 138–143

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12 Jadunath Sarkar, ‘The Vernacular Medium’, Modern Review 23 (1918), 2–7

431

13 K. M. Panikkar, ‘The Educational Problems of Indian Education’, Modern Review 23 (1918), 8–17

439

14 H. V. Dugvekar (ed.), extracts from National Education (Benares: Balabodha Office, 1917), 4–10, 29–33, 62–86

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1 RAJA RAMMOHAN ROY, ‘LETTER TO AMHERST, 11TH DECEMBER 1823’, IN H. SHARP (ED.), SELECTIONS FROM EDUCATIONAL RECORDS PART I, 1781–1839 (CALCUTTA: SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, 1920), 98–101

(26) Address, dated 11th December 1823, from Raja Rammohan Roy. SIR, I beg leave to send you the accompanying address and shall feel obliged if you will have the goodness to lay it before the Right Hon’ble the GovernorGeneral in Council. I have, etc., RAMMOHUN ROY. CALCUTTA; The 11th December 1823. To His Excellency the Right Hon’ble WILLIAM PITT, LORD AMHERST. MY LORD, HUMBLY reluctant as the natives of India are to obtrude upon the notice of Government the sentiments they entertain on any public measure, there are circumstances when silence would be carrying this respectful feeling to culpable excess. The present Rulers of India, coming from a distance of many thousand miles to govern a people whose language, literature, manners, customs, and ideas are almost entirely new and strange to them, cannot easily become so intimately acquainted with their real circumstances, as the natives of the country 1

Address by Rammohan Roy.

C O L O N I A L E D U C AT I O N A N D I N D I A 1 7 8 1 – 1 9 4 5 Address by Rammohan Roy.–contd.

are themselves. We should therefore be guilty of a gross dereliction of duty to ourselves, and afford our Rulers just ground of complaint at our apathy, did we omit on occasions of importance like the present to supply them with such accurate information as might enable them to devise and adopt measures calculated to be beneficial to the country, and thus second by our local knowledge and experience their declared benevolent intentions for its improvement. The establishment of a new Sangscrit School in Calcutta evinces the laudable desire of Government to improve the Natives of India by Education,—a blessing for which they must ever be grateful; and every well wisher of the human race must be desirous that the efforts made to promote it should be guided by the most enlightened principles, so that the stream of intelligence may flow into the most useful channels. When this Seminary of learning was proposed, we understood that the Government in England had ordered a considerable sum of money to be annually devoted to the instruction of its Indian Subjects. We were filled with sanguine hopes that this sum would be laid out in employing European Gentlemen of talents and education to instruct the natives of India in Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Anatomy and other useful Sciences, which the Nations of Europe have carried to a degree of perfection that has raised them above the inhabitants of other parts of the world. While we looked forward with pleasing hope to the dawn of knowledge thus promised to the rising generation, our hearts were filled with mingled feelings of delight and gratitude; we already offered up thanks to Providence for inspiring the most generous and enlightened of the Nations of the West with the glorious ambitions of planting in Asia the Arts and Sciences of modern Europe. We now find that the Government are establishing a Sangscrit school under Hindoo Pundits to impart such knowledge as is already current in India. This Seminary (similar in character to those which existed in Europe before the time of Lord Bacon) can only be expected to load the minds of youth with grammatical niceties and metaphysical distinctions of little or no practicable use to the possessors or to society. The pupils will there acquire what was known two thousand years ago, with the addition of vain and empty subtilties since produced by speculative men, such as is already commonly taught in all parts of India. The Sangscrit language, so difficult that almost a life time is necessary for its perfect acquisition, is well known to have been for ages a lamentable check on the diffusion of knowledge; and the learning concealed under this almost impervious veil is far from sufficient to reward the labour of acquiring it. But if it were thought necessary to perpetuate this language for the sake of the portion of the valuable information it contains, this might be much more easily accomplished by other means than the establishment of a new Sangscrit College; for there have been always and are now numerous professors of Sangscrit in the different parts of the country, engaged in teaching this language as well as the other branches of literature which are to be the object of the new Seminary. Therefore their more diligent cultivation, if desirable, would be effectually promoted by holding out premiums and granting certain allowances to those most eminent Professors, who have already undertaken on their own account to teach them, and would by such rewards be stimulated to still greater exertions. 2

R O Y, ‘L E T T E R T O A M H E R S T , D E C E M B E R 1 8 2 3’

From these considerations, as the sum set apart for the instruction of the Natives of India was intended by the Government in England, for the improvement of its Indian subjects, I beg leave to state, with due deference to your Lordship’s exalted situation, that if the plan now adopted be followed, it will completely defeat the object proposed; since no improvement can be expected from inducing young men to consume a dozen of years of the most valuable period of their lives in acquiring the niceties of the Byakurun or Sangscrit Grammar. For instance, in learning to discuss such points as the following: Khad signifying to eat, khaduti, he or she or it eats. Query, whether does the word khaduti, taken as a whole, convey the meaning he, she, or it eats, or are separate parts of this meaning conveyed by distinct portions of the word? As if in the English language it were asked, how much meaning is there in the eat, how much in the s? and is the whole meaning of the word conveyed by those two portions of it distinctly, or by them taken jointly? Neither can much improvement arise from such speculations as the following, which are the themes suggested by the Vedant:—In what manner is the soul absorbed into the deity? What relation does it bear to the divine essence? Nor will youths be fitted to be better members of society by the Vedantic doctrines, which teach them to believe that all visible things have no real existence; that as father, brother, etc., have no actual entirety, they consequently deserve no real affection, and therefore the sooner we escape from them and leave the world the better. Again, no essential benefit can be derived by the student of the Meemangsa from knowing what it is that makes the killer of a goat sinless on pronouncing certain passages of the Veds, and what is the real nature and operative influence of passages of the Ved, etc. Again the student of the Nyaya Shastra cannot be said to have improved his mind after he has learned from it into how many ideal classes the objects in the Universe are divided, and what speculative relation the soul bears to the body, the body to the soul, the eye to the ear, etc. In order to enable your Lordship to appreciate the utility of encouraging such imaginary learning as above characterised, I beg your Lordship will be pleased to compare the state of science and literature in Europe before the time of Lord Bacon, with the progress of knowledge made since he wrote. If it had been intended to keep the British nation in ignorance of real knowledge the Baconian philosophy would not have been allowed to displace the system of the schoolmen, which was the best calculated to perpetuate ignorance. In the same manner the Sangscrit system of education would be the best calculated to keep this country in darkness, if such had been the policy of the British Legislature. But as the improvement of the native population is the object of the Government, it will consequently promote a more liberal and enlightened system of instruction, embracing mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry and anatomy, with other useful sciences which may be accomplished with the sum proposed by employing a few gentlemen of talents and learning educated in Europe, and providing a college furnished with the necessary books, instruments and other apparatus. 3

Address by Rammohan Roy.–contd.

C O L O N I A L E D U C AT I O N A N D I N D I A 1 7 8 1 – 1 9 4 5 Address by Rammohan Roy.–concld.

In representing this subject to your Lordship I conceive myself discharging a solemn duty which I owe to my countrymen and also to that enlightened Sovereign and Legislature which have extended their benevolent cares to this distant land actuated by a desire to improve its inhabitants and I therefore humbly trust you will excuse the liberty I have taken in thus expressing my sentiments to your Lordship. I have, etc., RAMMOHUN ROY. CALCUTTA; The 11th December 1823.

4

2 ‘PETITION BY STUDENTS OF SANSCRIT COLLEGE TO AUCKLAND, SEEKING CONTINUATION OF FUNDING FOR SANSKRIT, 9TH AUGUST 1836’, IN H. SHARP (ED.), SELECTIONS FROM EDUCATIONAL RECORDS PART I, 1781–1839 (CALCUTTA: SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, 1920), 145–146

(38) The humble petition of the Students of the Government Sanskrit College of Calcutta, to the Right Hon’ble Lord George Auckland, Governor-General, dated 9th August 1836. SHEWETH, THAT impressed with the importance of cultivating the Sanscrit language owing to its being a vehicle to the sacred writings of the Hindoos and containing all works which represent their manners and customs, the ancient kings of Hindoostan endowed grants of lands to those Brahmins and Pundits who devoted themselves to its acquisition, in order that they may cultivate it without interruption, and impart it to the children of other Brahmins and Pundits, who came to them for instruction from different parts of the country. Students when found competent and deserving, received grants of lands as rewards of their merit. Since the accession of Mohamedan power, though the progress of Sanscrit language was a little retarded; yet the Mohamedan kings notwithstanding their tyrannical measures encouraged its cultivation not only by allowing the undisturbed possession of the former grants of the Hindoos; but also presenting new ones to those who most deserved them. Altogether the English, having got possession of this country, neglected for a long time the cultivation of the Oriental languages and particularly the Sanscrit. Grieved at this indifference, many Maulvees assisted by those Englishmen who 5

Petition to Lord Auckland, 9th August 1836.

C O L O N I A L E D U C AT I O N A N D I N D I A 1 7 8 1 – 1 9 4 5 Petition to Lord Auckland, 9th August 1836.–contd.

appreciated the value of Sanscrit presented a petition to the Court of Directors praying for the establishment of an institution for the purpose of preserving and propagating this Sanscrit language of the Hindoos. Lord Amherst, who was then Governor-General established the present college in obedience to the orders of the Court of Directors, and greatly benefited the natives of this country by employing good and able Pundits, and allowing small stipends to the students who resorted to it, from the different parts of the country, and prosecuted their studies with industry and success. But to your petitioners’ great misfortune and mortification, Lord William Bentinck in 1835 passed an order depriving the newly admitted students of the Sanscrit College of their stipends. This measure your petitioners feel to be a great detriment to the progress and interest of the Sanscrit College,—it is in fact indirectly abolishing the said institution and eradicating that sacred language from the East; for your petitioners, having none to support them in the city, cannot attend it nor acquire that proficiency which can reform their manners and customs. They therefore, pray that your Lordship will graciously enquire of men, who have studied, the Sanscrit language, its value and importance. Your petitioners believing your Lordship to be a great patron to the civilization and reformation of the Hindoos, pray that your Excellency will mercifully confer on them the little allowance they enjoyed, for that will enable them to prosecute their studies without any inconvenience and preserve the Hindoo shastras from sinking into oblivion. The expense the Government will incur for this purpose is at the utmost 600 rupees a month, a sum quite insufficient and trifling for the object for which it is to be defrayed. Further your petitioners believing that your Lordship will not forget the duties of a ruler who is the protector not only of persons and property, but also a promoter of a knowledge and reformation, Your Lordship conferring this boon on Your Lordship’s petitioners does not make only them happy but the Hindoo community in general, for the preservation of the sacred language. If your Lordship be of opinion that the Government should not impart knowledge by means of allowing stipends to the students, your Lordship’s petitioners beg to remind your Excellency that in such a cause, the Government would be guilty of partiality for allowing the students of the medical college that stipend, upon which all your petitioners’ hopes of improvement depended. However, your petitioners, now thrown into greatest despair, pray that Your Excellency as a patron of learning, and protector of the helpless will adopt such means as would enable your petitioners to acquire that proficiency in the Sanscrit language which will not only enlighten them, but reform their degenerated manners and customs. And your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray. Signed by 70 Students. GOVERNMENT SANSKRIT COLLEGE, CALCUTTA: The 9th August, 1836. 6

3 K. M. BANERJEA, ‘AN ESSAY ON NATIVE FEMALE EDUCATION’ (CALCUTTA: R.C. LEPAGE & CO., BRITISH LIBRARY, 1848), 1–123

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. THE present tottering condition of Brahminism, occasioned by the free circulation of European knowledge, is an index not to be mistaken. It shows that the fabric reared by the labours of centuries has received a blow from which it can never recover. It predicts a mighty revolution sooner or later to overturn the institutions of Menu and Vyas, and to confound the philosophy of Gautama and Kapila. Not only has Hinduism now to withstand the organized and openly avowed attacks of British Missionaries, pledged to toil for the subversion of error, but multitudes of insidious opponents have also arisen from within its own bosom, corroding, as so many destructive gangrenes, its very marrow and substance. Though commanding for centuries the most servile submission of high and low without exception, and firmly withstanding the philosophic hostility of Buddhism, the violent attacks of Islamism, and the insinuating arts of disguised Jesuitry, it has since been so violently shaken in the metropolis of British India by the gradual diffusion of education and the magical wand of European science, that its present appearance is that of a dilapidated system ready to crumble to the dust. Its authority is questioned, its sanctions are unheeded, its doctrines are ridiculed, its philosophy is despised, its ceremonies are accounted fooleries, its injunctions are openly violated, its priesthood is decried as a college of rogues, hypocrites, and fanatics; and all this, not by a confederate band of Buddhists, Yavans, and Mletchas, but by its own professed votaries; by those who are reckoned among the most respectable members of its own corporation, upon whose support depend its very vitals. Traitors in the camp are opening the way for enemies without. It does not, under such circumstances, require an extraordinary exertion of sagacity and penetration to foretel the dire catastrophe that awaits it. If its own followers be thus disaffected, and breathe such desperate hostility to it, the stronghold must share the fate of a house divided against itself. It must sooner or later be demolished by the joint attacks of treacherous friends and inveterate enemies. Such being the state of Hindu society, at least in the capital of Bengal, few questions can assume more vivid interest than that which stands as the theme of 7

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these pages. Under the present laxity of Hindu observances in Calcutta, while new habits, new manners, new sentiments, and new feelings, are daily imported into native society, it becomes a very imperative call upon every friend of humanity to remind the rising generation of their duty to the weaker sex, and to excite their attention to the subject of Female Education. For attempting to impart a favourable direction to the current of exotic sentiments pouring in from so many quarters, the present may be considered a peculiarly advantageous season. Native society in the metropolis is fast renouncing its characteristic obduracy, and evincing a disposition to accept a reform in its thoughts and actions. Why then may not a change in its treatment of females be deemed feasible? In the present transition-state of the Hindu mind, why may we not hope to infuse an ardent desire of educating the females, and of raising them to the position which nature has designed for them. Under the influence of these impressions, the author’s attention had long been directed to the duty of admonishing his countrymen on the obligations they owe to their females; and the public offer of a prize to the best attempt on the subject tallied harmoniously with his previous design. But to compete for a prize in a foreign language may be considered a bold undertaking; generally speaking one cannot pass such an ordeal with honor or advantage. The present instance was however so far an exception that the lists were open only to natives of India. Where everyone had to run his race over ground equally rugged, no charge of temerity could be preferred against a particular competitor. This is the author’s only apology for coming forward on this occasion. In the distribution of the following Chapters, the author has been guided no less by the reasonableness of the division itself, than by the rules prescribed by those who offered the prize. The present condition of those whose interests the Essay is designed to promote, might justly demand attention in the leading chapter. The consideration of their intellectual and moral capacities, with a view to determine their proper position in society, would naturally follow a review of their existing wretchedness; while the means whereby they might be raised from their present degradation, would constitute very appropriately the third and last branch of our inquiry.

CHAPTER I. ON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF NATIVE FEMALES. TO a succinct account of the present condition of females in Bengal, a general survey of the religious and social institutions to which they are subject, would not be an improper introduction. The influence which such institutions exercise upon human interests is unquestionably powerful in all parts of the world. The rule of life which religion prescribes, and the sovereign enforces, forms the habits, manners, and customs of a people; principles that are esteemed sacred, and laws which are enacted by authority, cannot fail to leave their stamp upon 8

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the mind; even those who consider priests as hypocrites and kings as tyrants cannot easily unlearn the respect and awe with which they are insensibly taught to contemplate the institutions of their country. The force of such institutions is still greater in India. In common with other oriental nations the Hindus are averse to the exercise of private judgment; their mental quietude is remarkable; they are incapable of the revolutionary suspicion that kings or priests may err; that politics or religion may admit of reform or improvement. Everything here is fixed by law; a text of Menu will silence the most obstinate; and antiquated institutions are allowed to interfere with the commonest affairs of life. The habits which the follower of Brahminism is to contract, the mode in which he is to spend his day,1 are minutely and strictly regulated; he is not at liberty to awake or arise, clean or dress, read or worship, at any time or in any way that himself may choose. He is bound hand and foot by the legislators of his country; and in the discharge of the most ordinary functions of life, he must bow before the authority of the ancients, and submit to the dictates of their fancy. The doctrine of implicit faith and passive obedience is no where so rampant as on the banks of the Ganges; whatever is written in the Shasters, whatever was taught by revered sages, whatever is inculcated by living priests must be received without question. The tenacity with which such a system is maintained and upheld, and the jealousy with which innovations are regarded, might appear incredible, did we not know, that the majority of mankind were unable or unwilling to strike out new paths for themselves, and that opinions and prejudices, that had the sanction of great men and of antiquity, easily passed for time-honoured dogmas of unquestioned authority, and obtained without difficulty the tame submission of the indolent vulgar. Successful reformers, or opposers of popular opinion, are not characters of every day’s growth; nor are many pages of history adorned by the lives of Wickliffs and Luthers. Such servile submission to custom and practice without regard to their tendency for good or evil, such implicit faith in the wisdom or discretion of those who lived in the infancy of the world, can only serve to fix human society in a stagnant state of degradation and semi-barbarism. Excessive deference to the opinions of spiritual guides has in all ages proved injurious both to pastor and flock; the meekest spirits have been spoilt by the adulations paid to them; the strongest intellects have deteriorated by grovelling superstition. The most formidable obstacles have thereby been interposed in the course of human improvement; the greatest checks have been given to the well-being of human society. Man has not been allowed to outgrow the errors of his forefathers, and the corruptions of dark and unenlightened ages have become rivetted upon the unhappy countries where they had once chanced to take root. The haughtiest kings, the mightest princes, have been charmed to submission by the magical wand of superstition; and have stooped before the shrine of antiquated opinions and prejudices. Even when the temporal sword has clashed with the spiritual, the latter has frequently exhibited a sharper edge than the former, and kings have rued their rash movements against the pretended vice-gerents of God. The chains of corrupt antiquity have thus galled the lives of men, could women then escape the common scourge? If the effects of 9

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laws and institutions are so glaringly visible in the society of men, could the community of females be uninfluenced by them? A short review, therefore, of the institutions of our country, especially as they regard the female sex, will serve as a comment upon the present state of our female society. Few subjects however are more difficult of a methodical description than this. So intricate, so various, and so seemingly conflicting are its multifarious ramifications, that it would be highly presumptuous in a person of ordinary talents to pretend to much accuracy and precision in his representations; and the difficulty of the task becomes still more appalling, when the picture is to be drawn in a foreign language, and for the inspection of men to whom the features of our female society are entirely unknown. We shall commence our review with adverting to an institution by no means peculiar to the Brahminical ritual. Like the Levitical dispensation, the Hindu religion pronounces a woman to be unclean upon her confinement. A separate room is not unreasonably allotted to her, where she must complete her period of purification, which in the case of a male child lasts for three weeks, but is prolonged to a whole month in the case of a female offspring.2 A more marked and invidious distinction between male and female children is perceived at a ceremony which follows the delivery of a woman. On the sixth night after parturition, the eventful night, big with the new-born infant’s fate, when Vidhàtá is supposed to mark upon its forehead, in unseen, but indelible, characters, its pre-ordained fortunes, the goddess Shashthi, the tutelar guardian of infants, is worshipped. Offerings and adorations are paid to her in order to render her propitious to the child lately born, and thereby to ensure its life and health. The peculiar way, in which the prayers,3 to be offered upon the occasion, were composed, should not of itself be taken for an index of disregard to the weaker sex. It is neither uncommon nor unnatural for formularies of religion to use masculine nouns and pronouns even when the intention is to include females. The Bible itself does not exclude women, when apparently it talks only of men; πας ὁ πιστευων does not shut out πασα ἡ πιστευουσα. Declarations of doctrine and ceremonial forms admit great latitude of interpretation, when the immemorial practice of the society by which they are transmitted does not fix a narrower signification. But in the instance under review not only is the phraseology applicable to male children alone, but the supplications are never used in practice except in their case. The ceremony is attended with festivities when a son is born, but is entirely omitted when a female child comes into the world. This difference in parental anxiety for the life and health respectively of sons and daughters, is not an improper criterion for estimating the value that is set upon them severally. We cannot blame our countrymen for the extreme eagerness with which they long for male offspring in preference to female. The natural superiority of the former, both mental and physical, induces the mother no less than the father to participate in that desire. Neither is such preference confined to India. The religion and politics of all countries attach greater importance to a boy than a girl. The boy is the hope of a family. We have no right to reprove the Hindus 10

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on this account. But where a religious ceremony, supposed to ensure a child’s life and health, is dispensed with in the case of a girl, the omission may be considered invidious. The same spirit pervades the Hindu Institutes with reference to the subject of education. Provision has been religiously made for the mental development of boys; guardians are solemnly enjoined to introduce them to the study of literature at the age of five. This initiation is to be accompanied with invocations to Saraswati, the goddess who presides over letters, and to be conducted throughout as a holy sacrament.4 The position in which the tutor and the pupil are respectively to be seated, the direction in which their faces are to be turned, have been religiously regulated. The mode in which the work of tuition is to be prosecuted, the occasions when there must be vacation, and even the kind of letters that a good scribe ought5 to attempt, have been prescribed as objects of faith, and are received as matters of revelation. But in these detailed rules concerning initiation into learning, no precepts are found imposing any obligation upon parents to instruct their female children.6 The silence of the Hindu writers on the important question of female education, while they are so minute in their provisions for the intellectual culture of boys, may be construed into a disregard for the sex; it indicates their ignorance of the vast influence which women exercise over the happiness and well-being of society. They did not seem to understand that a nation could never rise in the scale of civilization, while illiterate mothers and wives obstructed its growth by perpetuating the moral degradation of the present and the rising generations. But the Shasters have gone further than neglecting, by mere passive silence, the interests of womankind. Females are strictly prohibited to read or hear the Vedas. This privilege is restricted to the first three castes; neither the servile class, nor women, being at liberty to read, chant, repeat, or even to hear those sacred compositions. Shasters of inferior sanctity, such as the Puranas, the Smriti, &c. may be listened to by the proscribed classes while the Brahmin reads them; but the holy sentences which issued from the mouth of Brahmá, are not to be7 desecrated by either passing their unholy lips, or entering into their profane ears. And as pronunciation,8 grammar, versification, arithmetic, mixed mathematics, were included in the number of the Vedángas, or members of the Vedas, an almost impassable barrier may be said to have been opposed to the education of the Shudras and the women. No language could be studied without its grammar; and no education would be of much worth, whence arithmetic and other elements were carefully excluded. The Indian sages have sapped the very foundation of female education by placing grammar upon a basis not easily accessible to the sex; they appear to have studiously retarded their intellectual progress by representing some of the ordinary branches of knowledge as members of the interdicted Vedas. The effects produced by these restrictions are female ignorance, and female misery. The key whereby the treasures of learning might be unlocked was denied to this devoted class, and a seal was set upon some of its most useful and important parts, which they dared not break. 11

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It would, however, be unjust to the Shasters not to acknowledge that the prohibitions extended no further than to the authorized grammars and scientific works in the Sanscrit language; the proscribed classes were not excluded from the enjoyment of other sources and kinds of instruction. They were at liberty to learn the Prakrita, which then stood in the same relation to Sanscrit as Bengali, Hindui, and other dialects now do;—they might even study the sacred language itself, if they could dispense with the patent grammars. But as uneducated females were not the most suitable persons for mastering a language in spite of difficulty and obstacle, the indulgence has been productive of hardly any solid benefits. To exonerate the Shasters still more from the heavy charge of obstructing female education, we must mention the existence of several examples, recorded with applause, of women that had successfully pursued the study of literature. Of these, the first place is undoubtedly due to Lilávati, the daughter of Udayanáchárya, whose name has been rendered immortal in two works, one on Jyotis, and the other on Nyáya,9 both designated after her. Tradition attributes to her extraordinary learning and intelligence; she is said to have been appealed to as judge in a philosophical controversy held between the famous Shanharacharya and her husband. Another name, already given in a note, occurs often in the Shasters, proving that female education was not rigorously forbidden. Yagnawalkya is frequently introduced as instructing his wife on the doctrines of the Vedas, and unfolding to her the mysteries of the esoteric philosophy. Lilavati and Maitreyi were however among a few happy exceptions. The other educated females of whom we read, did not profit much by the study of letters; amatory composition and clandestine correspondence appear to have been the principal uses to which they had turned their attainments. This unhappy circumstance, the natural consequence not of learning itself or of a well-regulated education, but of the restraints under which they were placed, and of the mis-direction that was given to their taste, produced, in process of time, a prejudice against their improvement, the effects of which are sadly visible in the present state of society. We must also mention, that although the Shasters have thrown many obstructions in the way of female education, by breathing a spirit of hostility to the weaker sex, and apparently excluding certain branches of knowledge from their participation, they speak nevertheless in terms of commendation of their learning, where examples of superior females are incidentally noticed. The Hindu writers had sufficient respect for intellectual acquirements to laud them even in women; and therefore characters like Lilávati and Maitreyi are esteemed, instead of being depreciated. Every instance, however, where they speak of learning with reference to females, is not to be considered as decidedly one of intellectual cultivation: for the word vidushi is not unfrequently applied to persons that had merely good practical sense, but had never turned their attention to the study of letters. Notwithstanding the partial encouragement which the Shasters give, the conventional rules of society have for ages proved so cruel towards the sex, that it is now considered almost disreputable to furnish them with opportunities of education. Although the Brahmin can bring nothing either out of his theology or 12

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his philosophy which might be construed into a prohibition of their instruction, yet the tone of society has so long been raised against this humane proceeding, that no Hindu can attempt it without encountering the opposition, sarcasm, and brow-beating, which a firm resistance of popular prejudices, and of the influence of a false priesthood, has always in every country to withstand. Taunts and sneers, so powerful in their operation on ordinary minds, are likely to damp the energies and disconcert the efforts of the friends of humanity under present circumstances: and this is one of the reasons why numbers approve in theory, without reducing to practice, the great question of female emancipation. The customs of disposing of females by very early marriages, and of shutting them up in the Zenana, have helped in a fearful manner to perpetuate their ignorance and misery. It is a lasting disgrace upon Hinduism that marriage should be considered a gift10 on the part of the father to a person of his own selection, and not a contract solemnized by the parties themselves. That the parent and natural guardian has a right to direct his own daughter in the most sacred of all civil engagements,—one on which her happiness and welfare mainly depend,—cannot for a moment be called in question. The most enlightened laws forbid a girl’s marriage, while she is under age, against her father’s consent, and recommend her to follow his superior advice even after she is at liberty to act for herself: the Liturgy of the Church of England itself requires that the father or some friend should give her away to be married to her husband elect. The father to whom her infancy and childhood were entrusted by Providence ought never to stand an unconcerned spectator of a ceremony which binds her for life to another individual, and makes her a sharer of his joys and sorrows; nor should a dutiful daughter despise the counsel of age and experience, tendered for her own happiness and comfort, by one that had nourished and cherished her in the helpless state of infancy. But that the father should be the principal or the sole party in the formation of the contract; that, not contented with a mere veto, he should imperiously dictate his daughter’s choice; or that the girl should have a perfect stranger, whom she had never seen, forced upon her as her husband, is a monstrous error, that could only be sanctioned by the most depraved society. No human superior, however sacred his title to reverence, and how unquestionable soever his right to advise and direct, should take upon himself to close this most sacred of all contracts without the consent, declared ex animo, of the parties concerned. The father might for a thousand reasons pitch, with the best intentions, upon a person with whom his daughter could never be happy. He might, in his anxiety to secure an honorable alliance for his family, or a wealthy consort for his child, overtook numberless discordances between the parties, in point of taste, feeling, and sentiment, for which no rank or fortune could be an adequate compensation, and which would perhaps render the unfortunate girl miserable for life. The shasters legalized certain other modes of marriage which would reflect as little honor on our legislators. The Gandharva union was a desecration of holy matrimony for which the female was the only sufferer. The husband might follow the impulse of his passion and multiply his wives without restraint; the wife 13

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became a victim for life if once she gave way to a momentary feeling. The case of the king in the Sacuntala, unable to recognize the victim of his own pleasures, is a sufficient proof of the evil against which we are inveighing. The Rakshas matrimony11 is another instance of the disregard shown to the happiness of the female sex. The dishonor of females, taken captives by force, is unscrupulously allowed to the military class. An outrageous soldiery, pampered with success, cannot indeed be easily restrained; they will not readily acknowledge that victory gives no absolution from the obligations of common morality; no martial discipline which our legislators could dictate could perhaps have enforced the calls of justice, moderation, and hnmanity in the moment of victory. But shame to the philosopher and theologian who could so far forget his position as gravely to sanction such excesses against innocent females, and hold it up to admiration as a soldier-like act in the sons of Mars. We must not here overlook a practice that sometimes prevailed in former ages, but is now entirely discontinued, of allowing a daughter to select her own husband from a number of suitable persons invited for that purpose. This appears, however, to have been restricted to the royal families. The only instances on record are those of kings convening assemblies of princely suitors, and permitting their daughters to select their own husbands. But even this practice was connected with many serious evils. The princesses had to make a hasty selection on the spot from a number of persons they had never seen or known: there could be little room for consideration in making such a choice; the external appearance of the suitors and the impulse of the moment would probably alone decide the question. The practice of Swayambara was a mockery, scarcely better calculated to ensure their happiness, than the mode in which matrimony was otherwise contracted. The present custom of getting rid of daughters by an early marriage, before they can possibly understand the meaning of marriage, must exert a baneful influence upon their minds, and put a stop to all intellectual improvement. The Shasters enact that a girl12 must be bound by the ties of wedlock before the age of ten; while the eighth is pointed out as the most proper season for imposing a husband upon her. The gift of a daughter at the latter age is considered the most meritorious way of disposing of her. The misery and unhappiness which this law must occasion to its female victims, can be more easily conceived than delicately expressed. Before the dawn of reason enables them to use the eyes of their understandings for any purpose, they find themselves already bound by an indissoluble tie; and when they attain to the age of puberty, they must suit themselves to the yoke as best they can. The females of Hindustan are celebrated for their patience and submission; hence they easily reconcile themselves to their fates; but the violence by which a rational creature is forced into the bed of a stranger must, in minds not altogether lost to moral sensibility, be associated with the utmost horror and disgust, and can be characterized by no better title than shameful prostitution. The moral influence of such a system upon the unhappy girl’s mind must be equally sad. Before reason and judgment are allowed to gather strength, and before any principles are formed, the animal passions are artificially ripened, in a precocious way, by the 14

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presence of an object calculated to inflame them, and the connivance of an agent interested in their premature development. Their total exclusion from society is no less an obstacle to their education and happiness. Just at the time when they should learn letters, and pursue a course of intellectual study, they are consigned to close imprisonment in the Seraglio, and are made inaccessible to any but the nearest relations. It is not the Mahometan conquest, as many are apt to suppose, whence we are to date the commencement of their exclusion from society. The division of a house into courts—that for the women being called the inner house,—and the inability of a stranger to get admittance therein, are plainly adverted to in the Shasters; while the epithet of 13Asuryampashyá, applied to females, sufficiently proves of itself their condition in this respect. The female department of a Hindu’s residence was as much secured in times of yore, as it is now found to be;14 and the fair inhabitants of the Zenana were nearly as much forbidden to tread the outer courts, except upon special occasions, as they are in our own times. The Mahometans may have confirmed the practice by the outrages which they often committed in the country, and rendered the exclusion closer, but they were certainly not its originators. That under the circumstances that existed there were cogent reasons for the enforcement of this practice, can scarcely be doubted. The honor and virtue of the females would perhaps be subjected to too severe a test, if in their uneducated and ignorant condition no restraints were put upon their liberty. But this jealous provision was, in fact, the adoption of one evil in order to counteract the unhappy influence of another which was wilfully perpetuated. The first barbarous act of consigning them to ignorance, was of itself sufficiently iniquitous; and all subsequent strictures by way of remedy, must partake of the same character. An improved state of society would have condemned both the one and the other acts of male tyranny. The female mind ought to have been fortified by instruction and education; and, rendered thus superior to the weaknesses incident to ignorance, they should have been allowed to act their parts as rational members of society. The multiplication of wives, which the Shasters tolerate, is another fruitful source of suffering to the female sex. It reflects great disgrace upon human nature that this evil has existed almost in every country; that females have been considered as servile ministers of pleasure, and that before the introduction of Christianity, the principle of a steady and faithful attachment to one wife, was unknown on the face of the earth.15 The perpetual widowhood to which the death of their husbands dooms the Bengal females, must prove another source of misery and wretchedness. The Hindu laws are exceedingly severe on this point. The first and the most meritorious course which is recommended to them on the loss of their partners in life, is selfimmolation. Hence arose that inhuman practice of the Suttee, the abolition of which has redounded so much to the honor of Lord W. Bentinck, Governor-General of India, whose name is enshrined in the hearts of the Hindus, no less for this act of humanity, than for his general policy in governing the country for the benefit of the people. Rewards of the most attractive kind are offered to poor illiterate 15

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widows, in order to propel them to an atrocious suicide, from which nature itself would shrink with horror; and a number of ceremonies, calculated to stifle the voice of reason and judgment, helps to fulfil the bloody intentions of our unfeeling legislators.16 But self-immolation had something so horrible in it, that in spite of the allurements that were held forth, and the fascinations of the ceremonies that were instituted, the voice of reason and nature would often be heard, and many a woman recoil with horror from the idea of putting a violent period to her existence. The crafty fabricators of the Shasters were aware of the powerful obstacle which nature would thus oppose to the execution of their inhuman recommendations, and they have, accordingly, kept up their ungracious tyranny against the sex, by enacting a series of the severest rules for the regulation of a widow’s life. Not only is she strictly prohibited to enter again into the state of wedlock, even when she loses her husband in early life, but she is also required to practise the most rigorous austerities, and to mortify herself, as it were, to death. The widow shall never exceed one meal a day, nor sleep on a bed. She is to take nocare of her person, nor regale herself by any aromatic cordial.17 She is to observe a rigid fast on every eleventh day of the lunar fortnight, besides many other occasional abstinences. She is forbidden to taste animal food of any kind; and even the one meal of pulse, roots, and vegetables that is allowed to her, must consist only of such articles as can be cooked together in one pot, to make up a single dish. The reasons for which they are forbidden to marry a second time arise from the notion,18 that even death does not loosen the tie of wedlock, and that a husband’s future happiness depends, in a great measure, upon the strictness with which his widow performs the accustomed offerings to his manes. If she enter again into the state of matrimony, her affinity with the deceased husband must cease; she must be incapacitated to practise those rites which are so closely connected with his future interests. “And when he dies,” say Menu, “let her never neglect him.” The perpetual pupilage to which the Bengal females are condemned, is of a piece with the institutions just noticed. They can never be independent; they must ever remain subject to the controul of some relation or other. In infancy their fathers and natural guardians are masters of their persons; in youth they must submit to their husband’s yoke; and in widowhood their sons become their19 lords. So far as this law might serve as a protection against those dangers and difficulties to which constitutional imbecility might expose them, no strictures could be made against the enactment. It is neither unnatural nor unreasonable that females should always have a guardian and a protector. But from the spirit which pervades the Shasters, we may safely infer that the enactment was designed, like the others, to enchain their minds, and perpetuate their servitude. Notwithstanding the stringent rules just mentioned, the Hindu legislators were not so totally devoid of humanity as not to condemn what they considered unnecessary severities to helpless females. They had sufficient gallantry to demand a tender regard for the feelings of the weaker sex. The language of law speaks of women as if they were mere children, and while it arms the husband with almost plenary powers over the wife, holds him responsible for any feeling of distress 16

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which may become her portion.20 The Hindus may in this respect be called a chivalrous race. The epithet of avala, (powerless) applied to females, excites the strongest sentiments of compassion toward them; and, though paradoxical, it is nevertheless true, that the very people who are so indifferent to the question of female education, and who are so jealous in guarding their Zenanas, have exhibited the utmost tenderness for the weaker sex. Such tenderness has in fact been considered by all nations as an essential part of good breeding. Savage cruelty to creatures so impotent, and so nearly allied, has been every where stigmatized as base and unmanly. The native of Hindustan has not been destitute of this characteristic of refined manners. His treatment of females may not have been throughout consistent; but if he has irrationalized her by denying opportunities of intellectual cultivation, he has rendered the yoke of ignorance easy by conciliating her feelings and showing attachment and love. But the institution of Kulinism in Bengal has served to render the condition of a Hindu female as unhappy as it is degraded. To be a Kulin’s daughter is generally considered a severe misfortune. Conjugal felicity there can be none where the husband continues to multiply his wives without any regard to their feelings, or any intention of maintaining them from his own resources. After the statements just made, the present condition of Bengali females will not require a lengthened detail. The actual state of things is such as might be expected from the influence of the institutions already adverted to. However cared for by their guardians and protectors, they drag on lives, which those who can appreciate intellectual superiority, cannot help considering wretched and degraded; they pass their days as ministers of pleasure, rather than companions or counsellors to their husbands. It is a notorious fact, that the Hindu never stops to consider the prosperity or adversity of his circumstances, when he forms an intention of marrying. He does not apprehend that his wife will be a source of additional expence; he hopes on the contrary she will prove a most effectual instrument of saving him money and trouble. She indeed becomes a servant, if not a slave, that performs all his household business; and although his marriage imposes upon him the maintenance of another soul, yet the bargain is not for all that the less cheap; he thereby has the command of an additional servant without giving pecuniary wages. There is no such thing as an unmarried person in all Bengal; the only exceptions are those who have formally adopted an ascetic life. The state of a Hindu woman’s maiden life is perhaps the most free from trouble and anxiety. In the tender caresses of her parents, and in her exemption from the task of reading and writing, to which her brothers are unwillingly yoked, her happiness continues uninterrupted and unalloyed. She is lulled in the indolent inactivity which is then her portion; she has no tasks to preform, no lessons to get up; and her little mind is incapable of thinking of the future. She reposes in ignorance and quietude; and amidst expressions of affection from indulgent parents, she continues in happy ignorance of the bitter cup that may await her riper years. The only evil which is sometimes presented to her fears, and which she is led to deprecate by means of puerile and vulgar ceremonies, is the misfortune of having copartners 17

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to share a husband’s affections. Nothing is more dreaded as likely to poison her happiness for life, than her husband’s polygamy; supplications are therefore made to the Deity by means of rites, as degrading as they are superstitious, that it may not be her lot to be yoked with a husband of more than one wife. Infancy too is the only stage in which she is privileged to see any thing of the world around her. The sentence of imprisonment in the Zenana is seldom passed upon her before her marriage, and remains generally unexecuted until she attains to the age of 10 or 12. Previous to her wedding, no restraints are put upon her liberty; this indulgence betokens the regard which the Hindus in common with other nations entertain for that innocency, whereof childhood is a most gratifying emblem. Male and female children are equally at liberty to appear in public; it is not until the latter are settled in life that they are forbidden to enter into the outer courts of their houses. Under the roof of their parents they enjoy considerable freedom even after their marriage; for as long as they do not actually grow up to maturity, it is not indelicate in them to trespass beyond the boundaries of the Zenana in their parental dwelling. But this privilege cannot be enjoyed in the houses of their husbands, where they must never step out of the recesses of the Zenana, nor ever unveil their faces before any but the female and junior members of the household. Childhood is also the time when the greatest attention is paid to them. Infant virgins of Brahminical extraction are considered as divine incarnations, and accordingly worshipped upon various occasions as goddesses. At the celebration of the Doorga Poojah, in particular, female children of the sacerdotal order are in great request. Religious homage is paid to them, accompanied with pecuniary gifts, food, and wearing apparel. The wealthier Brahmins, however, consider it a derogation from their dignity to send out their children on this traffic; the poorer priests gladly avail themselves of this extraordinary source of gain. The happiness of maiden life is, however, of very short duration with our females. Often at the age of eight, sometimes when much younger, they are dealt away in marriage. Their parents are guided in the selection of sons-in-law, not so much by their personal qualifications, as by their rank in the Tables of Kulinism. One of the later kings of the Sen family, the last Hindu dynasty that swayed the sceptre in Bengal, had instituted an hereditary order of titled noblemen, whose alliance by marriage has since been most eagerly sought by all ranks of Hindus. Although these miserable aristocrats have at present degenerated in most instances to a wretched and beggarly clan of marriage-dealers, without wealth, talent, or personal qualifications to recommend them, yet the anxiety with which their connection is sought, is a painful proof of the popular veneration for longcherished customs. The greater majority of the Kulins pursue no occupation in life, but feed idly upon the relations of their wives. So high is their alliance held in the estimation of the people, that not only are large sums of money presented to them at the time of their marriage, but they are also often maintained with their wives for life; and not unfrequently are lands and houses settled upon them by their fathers-in-law. These marriage-dealers have so little regard for their family, 18

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and are so strangely wanting in natural affection, that they multiply their wives almost to an unlimited extent,21 if offers of money are made. The unfortunate creatures that are yoked with them reside under their father’s roof almost as if they were actual widows. Their husbands seldom live with them; they spend their time in passing from one father-in-law’s house to another; and are continually contemplating fresh bargains of marriage. The poor women are scarcely able to see their partners, and are obliged to live as it were in a state of widowhood.22 The number of Kulins is, however, not very large, and in consequence of an intricate point in the system, it is rapidly declining. One of the fundamental laws of this order is, that no Kulin should form an alliance with an inferior family. Where such an undignified marriage takes place, the Kulinhood is pronounced to be dissolved; and, although the perpetrator of such a marriage enjoys his own title for life, his children are degraded in their dignity, and reckoned as secondgrade Kulins. Every succeeding race, after such a dissolution, loses one step in rank, and the fourth and fifth generations degenerate almost entirely to the state of untitled commoners. And as the largest bribes are offered when an unprivileged family seeks the alliance of pure Kulins, many a first-grade worthy has been unable to withstand the temptation, and has sacrificed the dignity of his descendants for the sake of enriching himself. The body of pure, or even of second and third grade Kulins, has therefore considerably diminished. Every generation reduces the numerical strength of the order, and there can be no possible hope of a fresh number being created to recruit the exhausted clan. Neither is the respect that is paid to them now, any thing like what it was before; and these causes have happily contributed to reduce the number of female sacrifices at the shrine of Kulinhood. After her marriage, the young bride is allowed to reside under her father’s roof until she attains to the age of puberty, and then she is consigned to perpetual incarceration in her husband’s Zenana, there to minister to his pleasures and perform the drudgery of a menial. Except in families which are noted for opulence, the wife is charged with the task of performing, helped or unhelped, all the work of the household,—from the sweeping and cleansing of the rooms, to the preparing and serving out the meals. In consequence of several ramifications of the same stock continuing to reside in the same house, under the controul it may be of an aged father, who exercises a sort of patriarchal authority over them, the young wife has to pass her days generally with many females of various ages and ranks in the family. She is seldom ushered into her husband’s dwelling without being greeted by several sisters-inlaw, with whom she vies to secure the good-will of the aged mother-in-law. But it happens, not unfrequently, in cases where her own daughters reside in the family, that the old lady sets her face against all her sons’ wives, and by an undue partiality to her own daughters, sows the seeds of jealousy and contention. The young girls, without any principles to fortify their minds, or knowledge to rectify their taste, are apt for the most trivial reasons to take umbrage against one another; and then the most trifling causes may inflame their antipathy into contention and 19

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disquietude. Often does the Zenana thus become, during the absence of the men, a scene of disagreement, jealousy, and quarrel. The quickness with which these disagreements are compromised, and the alternate repetition that takes place of war and truce, are indeed very surprising. The Hindu female’s mind appears to be too contracted to harbour, for a length of time, even jealousy and grudge; quarrels are made up with the same speed with which they are fomented. If the several brothers in the family be not all equally well off in the world, and especially if the junior members succeed better than the seniors, much jealousy prevails among their respective wives. It is a great humiliation to a Hindu woman to reflect upon her husband’s ill-success, and the humiliation soon degenerates into envy; while the wife of the more successful brother is strongly disposed to treat her sisters with scorn, and to provoke their ill-will by over-imperious demeanor. The utter prostration of the intellect in creatures that were never led to learn letters, nor ever allowed to see or hear of the world, may be easily conceived. The highest ambition of the Bengal female, in the days of her youth, is to please her superiors, by discharging the duties of the kitchen to their satisfaction, and by neatly performing the other tasks allotted to her care; and few things serve to gratify her more, as pledges of her husband’s love, than gifts of jewels and ornaments. Though made in a clumsy manner, and kept still more carelessly, these are often manufactured with the most costly materials, such as gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, and stones. For young women to carry about their persons golden ornaments to the value of seven or eight hundred Rupees is no way uncommon. These are estimated highly, both for their intrinsic pecuniary worth, and for their being regarded as marks of love and affection; and in visiting (under a purdah of course) and receiving visits, the sentimental ladies never forget to deck themselves with their gaudy trappings. Their minds are scarcely ever exercised on any subjects, unconnected with their immediate and most obvious interests. Bereft of the advantages of reading and observation, their thoughts seldom extend beyond the walls of the Zenana, or soar above the roof under which they are secured; the little exchequer of their minds contains almost nothing besides images of jewellery and household articles. Intellectual amusements and recreations are wholly unknown to them; the only employments of which they are capable during moments of leisure, are preparations of pickles and confectionery—if sleeping or quarrelling can be avoided. Nor are their moral faculties at all more ennobled than their intellects. The only virtue that adorns the sex in their estimation is continence, and this, to their honour be it recorded, they preserve inviolate, no less from a sense of duty, than from the absence of temptation. Cases of conjugal infidelity very seldom occur in respectable Hindu families; but their ethical category contains scarcely any other principles of virtue and rectitude. They live in a state of moral insensibility, and do not consider themselves bound, as rational and responsible agents, to perform any thing besides their assigned work in the house. The standard of honour and moral 20

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excellence is not very high even among the men; the degradation of the women may hence be easily conceived. The religious sense of a young Bengali woman is just what might be expected from an uncultivated mind trained under the influence of superstition and prejudice. It is ill-regulated and confused. The idea of propitiating the Deity in any way, seldom enters into her unthinking mind. Occasional supplications to the gods, in order to be able to bear children, and invocations of their protection upon her little ones, when she has brought forth any, together with a few other ceremonies of the moat puerile kind, which vary in form in different families, according to diversity of taste and sentiment, are the only duties which her liturgy prescribes. After she attains to full grown age and has become a mother of children, and perhaps the sole manager of the family, the freakish predilection of her youthful days for vain gewgaws is rectified by her better experience; her life now settles down in a more fixed way, either for happiness or misery. If her husband prosper in the world, and exhibit proofs of attachment to her, and if no other co-partner shares his affections, her household labours become a pleasure; she cheerfully performs the duties which devolve upon her. A great portion of her anxiety is at this time directed toward her children, whose health and long life she seeks to ensure by human and divine means. The affection which she displays towards them is, in its simplicity, a most pleasing proof of the principle of parental attachment, with which Providence has endowed human nature. Her bowels literally yearn upon her children; the troubles she cheerfully undertakes on their account, and the mortifying and self-denying austerities she inflicts upon herself, in order to deprecate the wrath of the gods against them, are striking evidences of that maternal solicitude, which nature has implanted for the preservation of the animal creation. Hindu mothers are distinguished by a tenderness seldom exemplified in any other country. The Hindu mother is however incapable of conferring upon her children, the blessings of education; she never dreams of training them up “in the way they should go.” As to exercising a salutary discipline upon them, her own ideas of moral responsibility being vague, she expresses no solicitude about their being governed by principles; and since the Hindu society is notoriously lax in its moral discipline, she cares little about the moral formation of their minds. Nor are the children only passively suffered to grow wild in a moral and intellectual point of view; they are actually taught things, which their tutors would afterwards have them unlearn. She scruples not to avail herself of false promises and threats in her management of them, and is not very cautious in avoiding the use of indecorous and improper expressions in their hearing. The docility of their tender minds, combined with the depraved inclinations of human nature, thus leads them to imbibe the most hurtful principles, and to contract the most vitiated habits. The afflictions with which providence may visit her in this stage of life, by the untimely removal of children, prove a sad interruption to her pleasures. Bereft of the hopes with which true religion inspires its votaries, and a stranger to the 21

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consolations which an enlightened faith in the promises of God administers, the Hindu mother’s heart receives an almost insufferable blow on the loss of her children. No salve of which her friends are possessed, can heal her wounded feelings; and the malady becomes past remedy when she is deprived of an only son, the hope of her family. Her grief may be moderated for a season, and the disease remain dormant for a time; but the cycle of festive solemnities and of occasions of rejoicing constantly brings her departed child to remembrance, and rankles the mortifying sore of her heart. Hinduism, in fact, cannot cherish any hope of reunion after death; it inculcates indeed the reality of a future life, but the doctrine of transmigration prevents its votaries from ever expecting to see their departed friends in a different scene of existence. Before the surviving relation is called away from this troublesome earth, the deceased will perhaps have passed into another form, and returned into the world; the living and the dead may thus cross one another without being seen or recognized. It is consequently difficult for the Hindu to calculate on a restoration, in any state of life, of his departed objects of affection; and the fragile heart of an ignorant woman, without any higher hopes to animate it, may very naturally sink under the weight of affliction. When the husband does not prosper well in the world, or cares little for his wife, or if he has espoused more than one partner, the matron’s life becomes very miserable. Incapable of enjoying any but those pleasures and comforts which the senses can communicate, her existence becomes a scene of unmixed suffering and pain, when the hard hand of poverty, and the still harder stroke of a husband’s unkindness, press heavy upon her. Life itself becomes, under such circumstances, a burden to her afflicted mind. To be subjected to the torments of a bleeding heart, without hope of deliverance here or hereafter, is a most frightful idea; and yet this is precisely the case with a considerable body of Hindu women, who are treated unkindly by their husbands, and have no prospect of peace, either in this world or that which is to come. The life of a Hindu widow is still more wretched. If she fall into this condition when young, without any property settled upon her by the father or the husband, she becomes a slave to the family where she resides. Although while her parents are alive she is protected to a certain extent, by their natural affection toward her, yet their death deprives her of her last refuge. The surviving relations of her husband are indeed bound by the tenets of the Shasters to maintain her as long as she lives; but, except in very rare instances, she is still subjected to great suffering and trouble. Her friends do not allow her the pittance necessary for sustaining life, without exacting hard labour from her; and they scruple not to embitter her cup of affliction, by constantly reminding her that she is a dead weight upon their purse. The only favourable juncture wherein a widow is somewhat supported under the pressure of affliction, is, when she does not lose her husband until she is advanced in life, and has either property to depend upon, or sons to provide for her wants. Under such circumstances, a few months will perhaps reconcile her mind to her desolation; even the austerities she has to endure, will then become agreeable by habit. Religious considerations chiefly occupy her time in this last stage of 22

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life, when she is forbidden to look for the relaxation of worldly amusements, and perhaps expects ere long, the dissolution of her mortal frame. We have hitherto dwelt upon women, more or less, of respectable castes and families. A few observations on the lower orders will conclude this chapter. The poorer people, whom poverty forces to employ their wives and daughters in more than mere household work within doors, and whose resources would not allow the erection of quarters consecrated to female seclusion, cannot of course restrain their liberty, or secure them in enclosed premises. Women of the inferior classes accordingly enjoy greater freedom than their wealthier and more respectable sisters. This liberty, which becomes necessary to their existence, is however looked upon by their husbands themselves as an unavoidable disadvantage; and if they accidentally rise in society, they gradually immure their females after the manner of the superior classes. Nor can the freedom alluded to, be justly regarded an object of envy; for although it allows the sex to see more of the world they inhabit, yet this advantage is more than counter-balanced by the evils to which it exposes them. The danger of setting at large ignorant and uneducated women, with clothing that scarcely serves the purpose of a covering, and in the midst of a people, at best but half civilized, is more than a mere theoretic fear. It is a pleasing reflection indeed, that few of the lower classes, thus allowed to appear in public, possess personal attractions to draw the unhallowed notice of unprincipled spectators; exterior accomplishments in such cases subject the poor helpless parties to great personal risks.23

CHAPTER II. ON THE EDUCATION WHICH THE BENGAL FEMALES OUGHT TO RECEIVE, AND THE POSITION THEY OUGHT TO OCCUPY. THE preceding account is calculated to excite the sympathy and compassion of the friends of humanity. The degradation of so many rational spirits can scarcely fail to draw a sigh from those who are familiar with happier instances of female improvement; it must especially call forth the commiseration of their more favoured sisters of the West. Common humanity must actuate those who have right ideas of female amelioration, to long for the regeneration of the daughters of India. The misery which results from the uncultivated state of their minds, as well as that which proceeds from the hardships to which the institutions of Hinduism subject them, even though their parents, husbands, and guardians be themselves the most affectionately disposed, must render them objects of compassion to all enlightened minds. The monstrous system by which the most important and sacred of all contracts—marriage—is turned into a yoke of servitude; the ill-judged jealousy which deprives them of education, and consigns them to close imprisonment in the Zenana; the horrid24 self-immolation that is recommended to their weak minds on the loss of their partners in life; the severe austerities imposed upon them in case of their declining to follow that murderous recommendation: all these conspire to depict the present condition of our females in the 23

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most painful colours, and to force the humane observer alternately to sigh and blush; to sigh for the existence of so much misery, to blush at the tyranny of man in originating and perpetuating such institutions. A question naturally presents itself under such circumstances. Whether the wretched degradation in which the women pass their days in this country is inseparable from their nature, or whether it is capable of remedy? If they were incapable of intellectual culture, or if they could not be treated with greater lenity without endangering their honour and virtue, then their degradation should be called inevitable; it would be idle in that case to speculate on a utopean scheme of education for them, or to dream of their elevation from their present position. Before those speculations are made, and these hopes entertained, it would be important to inquire; To what pitch may the powers of their minds be raised? To what degree may their active faculties be expected to receive culture? What position ought they to occupy in society? What liberties may be safely allowed to them, and to what extent may they be invested with any responsibilities? What part ought they to take in the concerns of this world? What preparations ought they to make for a future state of existence? These are different aspects in which the general question, wherewith this paragraph commenced may be viewed, and every one of which is entitled to serious consideration. To answer this question in its various ramifications is our subject for consideration in this part of the essay; and that we may enter into it with as little declamation, and as much conciseness and perspicuity as the nature of the subject will allow, we shall begin with inquiring into the intentions of Divine Providence with reference to the female sex. Few persons will dispute the truth of the maxim, that the interests of a creature are then best provided for, when the purposes for which it was created are most closely kept in view, and the faculties with which it was endowed, rightly cultivated. Man, for instance, has been supplied with the power of knowing and following the will of his Maker; he is impressed with a sense of personal responsibility and animated with hopes of immortality; and he then best promotes his happiness when he improves, with the greatest diligence, his intellectual and moral faculties, and ensures, as a spiritual and responsible agent, the eternal salvation of his soul by obedience to the precepts of Divine truth; while in proportion as he neglects these duties, he destroys and mars his own interests. But it is conceivable that the lower animals, who are not gifted with moral sense, may ever remain ignorant of their Maker’s will and of the discoveries of human science without suffering any loss or inconvenience. An inquiry into the designs of the Creator in the creation of woman will, therefore, prepare us for answering the question which forms the second division of this essay. We fear we are incurring the danger of appearing prosy to European readers. The propositions here attempted to be proved are by them considered self-evident and axiomatic; we are accordingly afraid of being considered verbose, in labouring to demonstrate truths with which they have been familiar from their infancy. But the local circumstances of the country and the prejudices of our neighbours will prove a sufficient apology. What the European will concede as first principles 24

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on the subject, requiring no investigation or proof, the Brahmin may call into controversy without scruple or hesitation; and as this essay is addressed no less to the latter, than to the former, it is impossible to avoid many inquiries which the inhabitants of Christendom have long outgrown. The superior examples of female intelligence and female usefulness with which history and observation furnish us, may be considered as practical comments on the Divine will in this respect. Our intercourse with Europeans sojourning in the East, has presented to our notice a spectacle of female improvement which throws into the shade all our traditional recollections, whether of Lilavati, of Maitreyi, or any other of our instructed females. Not only do we find every female in the higher classes of society furnished with a superior degree of liberal education, and honourably discharging the duties of the conjugal and maternal life; but we also see her engaged, as a member of society, in performing acts of benevolence and of public utility, and thereby exhibiting a strength of principle, and vigour of mind, that would strike our Menus and Yagnawalkyas with wonder and amazement. The ladies of Europe have been known to cultivate literature and science of all kinds; history has presented to our admiration characters of female scholars and female philosophers of no ordinary stamp. To cite examples of female intelligence and virtue would appear tedious to those who are conversant with European history. Every school boy in Calcutta has learnt enough to understand, that the ladies of the West have for centuries exhibited instances of learning and erudition, calculated to inspire wonder and admiration; and to particularize individuals, might appear invidious to the integral body of our occidental sisters. Nor is the general body of our countrymen likely to dispute this fact. They have seen and heard sufficiently to believe that efforts at female education have been successfully made in the case of every European lady; and that no female that has any position in society is altogether uneducated. Now we contend that what has been done in Europe may be properly attempted in India. If all men are derived from the same original stock, the female mind must be as capable of improvement in the East as it is in the West. A difference in colour and climate could not have produced a total disparity in mental constitution. Apart from the lessons of history and observation, our own reason may instruct us on the subject. Did we know of no instance in which females had cultivated their intellectual faculties with advantage, we might still fairly conclude that such culture was perfectly feasible. In the common affairs of life we find them exhibiting those natural faculties which constitute the character of intelligent creatures and moral agents. They are capable of all those functions which philosophers attribute to the human mind. They can perceive and attend, conceive and imagine, abstract and remember, discover causes from effects, and deduce effects from causes. They can analyze and reason, draw conclusions from premises, and understand the force of an argument when plainly and clearly stated. They can comprehend the general nature of duty, and are subject to remorse of conscience when they err from the right path. They are aware of right and wrong, and are gifted with 25

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moral discernment in common with their husbands and brothers. Their hearts are capable of passions and affections. The sentiments of love and hatred, admiration and approbation, censure and condemnation, have not been withheld from them. Whence have they derived these capacities for thought, feeling, and action, but from the favourable designs of Providence, with reference to their education and exaltation in society? What other object can we suppose the Creator to have kept in view, when he invested them with those powers, than that they should improve them by exercise, and maintain their station as rational creatures and agents? But we need not grope in the imperfect light of reason. We have a far more unerring instructor than Nature to teach us the designs of God in the formation of woman. The volume of Divine inspiration which has been vouchsafed to us, has enlightened us on the subject of our inquiry. The Bible, whose divine original has been acknowledged by the mightiest intellects in the most civilized countries in the world, and to the inspiration of which history as well as its internal contents bears incontrovertible evidence, tells us not only the occasion on which, and the way in which, but also the reason for which, womankind was first created. “But for Adam there was not found an help meet for him, and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord had taken from man, made he a woman, and he brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis ii, 20–23.) This short account sufficiently explains the Divine intentions; the woman was designed to become an help meet for man. She was to be his counsellor and companion, to assist him in his duties on earth, to sympathize with him in his sorrows, to solace him in his affliction, to cheer him when he was downcast, to bear a portion of his troubles and anxieties, to join him in his devotions, to discharge such work for him as he could not personally inspect, to nourish and cherish and instruct his infant children, in a word—to help him in every situation. And as the discharge of such important functions must pre-suppose mental and spiritual illumination, it must have been intended that the woman should prepare herself for the proper understanding and performance of her duties, by receiving the benefits of a liberal and well-directed education. Again, since the man also had duties no less important to perform to the woman, it was undoubtedly the design of Providence that, as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, she should be allowed a reasonable portion of the personal liberty and freedom of thought and action, which Adam claimed for himself. We cannot accordingly suppose that she was designed to be secured in an inclosed Zenana, or compelled to accept of an unknown husband. We cannot suppose that she was destined in the intentions of Providence to bear the yoke of a slave in her husband’s house, or to minister to his pleasures like the irrational inhabitants of a menagerie. She was to be respected, loved, and honoured, and generally treated, as the weaker vessel indeed, but for this very reason with the greater regard and affection; that her fragile heart and tender feelings might not be bruised by harsh provocation, or insulting misrule. 26

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And what was the case with the first woman must also be the same with all her daughters, so far as the intentions of Providence are concerned: there is no reason for making an unhappy exception to the prejudice of our Bengal females. We may therefore fearlessly assert, what all sincere inquirers will perhaps candidly concede, that our sisters were designed to become help-mates to their husbands, and to enjoy the liberty of contemplating the works of Nature, instead of being doomed to a close imprisonment. The question with which we commenced this essay, may accordingly be answered in a few words. The degradation of Hindu females is not necessary to their existence, nor is it incapable of remedy. The objects for which woman-kind was created must be as feasible in Bengal as it is in any other country. Our females ought to be what the first mother of the human species undoubtedly was, and what Providence intended all her daughters to be—help-mates to their husbands; bone of their bones, and flesh of their flesh. They are not to remain unconcerned in the affairs of the family, nor only to bear the drudgery of the household, but on the contrary to advise and counsel their consorts to the utmost of their power. They are to assist them in the discharge of household duties, and render the evils of this mortal life less onerous by their sympathy and exhilarating company. In their affectionate caresses and rational discourses their husbands are to find a cordial, that will allay the troubles and anxieties incident to earthly existence, and stimulate dignifying and ennobling exertions. Their company should administer a pleasure and a comfort more than compensating for the toils and fatigues of the day. Few images can be more gratifying to the fancy, than that of a discreet female vivifying the exhausted spirits around her in the domestic circle, and soothing, by her conduct and conversation, the husband that returns from the heat and burden of his diurnal occupations. There is a charm in the rational sympathy of an intelligent wife which must operate almost with talismanic power upon the mind that is agitated and disturbed by temporal crosses and disappointments. Weak as the female sex is, its influence on the male sex is incalculably powerful. Nothing can impart greater strength to the moral character, or call forth more forcibly the latent energies of the soul, than the sympathy of instructed wives and sisters. Wild as was the chivalry of the dark ages, one of its component elements was pregnant with the happiest results. The desire of gaining female approbation moved the knights with an irresistible impulse to acts of heroism. Its abuses may be attributed to the imperfect and defective education of the times, but the motive which that desire supplied to great efforts must have produced important effects on society. The natives of Bengal are now lamentably deficient in energy and character. It is our firm conviction that their cast of mind will be wonderfully improved, when females will learn how to exercise a salutary influence on their husbands and brothers. Of the duties and privileges of the conjugal life, one of the holiest is that which respects communion in devotional exercises. The reflection of a husband and wife striving in unison to ensure their eternal salvation, by worshiping God according to his revealed will, and contemplating his marvellous works of nature and grace, 27

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with one heart and one mind, has a captivating power over the imagination, which it overwhelms with joy and delight. Thrice happy they in whose case such an idea is realized. It is thus that “the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband.” The husband and the wife are mutually bound, or rather privileged, to edify one another’s heart by consentient attention to the most important of all inquiries, that their conjugal partnership in life, may be followed by that everlasting communion in glory, which ought to engross the meditation and contemplation of all immortal spirits. As mothers, our females ought to train the young minds of their children in habits of piety, virtue, and good sense. The professional avocations of the father generally requiring his absence from home throughout the greatest part of the day, the child’s infancy must be trusted principally to the care of the mother; the early cultivation of its intellectual soil must mainly depend upon her prudent management. Its moral improvement must be promoted by her wholesome discipline, as much as its physical growth by the sustenance she provides. The infant ought to imbibe salutary principles from the instruction and conversation of her enlightened understanding, while it extracts material nourishment from the milk that she supplies. If the support of its animal life were the only duty which devolved upon her, there would scarcely be any distinction between our sisters and the irrational creatures, who have been endowed in like manner with an instinctive disposition to toil for the preservation of their young ones. But the human species owes higher obligations to its offspring than the grovelling beasts of the field; the education of their minds is no less entitled to parental attention, than the nourishment of their bodies. However novel this idea of infant schooling under female management may appear to our countrymen, who have not yet experienced its blessings in themselves, it is not an unreasonable reverie of an inventive fancy. Our own judgments, if we consider the subject dispassionately, will teach us that it is perfectly feasible. It is impossible to question the propriety of maternal care for the intellectual and moral development of a child’s understanding during such time as it cannot be sent to a public or private seminary. The father who has to work without the house for the maintenance of the family, will not, in most instances, have time to undertake this important duty, and unless his partner attend to its execution, it must be left wholly undone. Nor is the idea of a mother’s moral superintendence over her infants a mere speculative theory, for the first time broached in this essay, and proposed to the practical consideration of the Hindus. Any one who is familiar with European history, and has considered its lessons with tolerable attention, must attribute the illustrious superiority of many a conspicuous character to the influence of female parents, exerted over their tender minds. It was in the cradle, under the judicious management of intelligent and pious mothers, that the first seeds of education were sown in numberless persons, who afterwards bore prominent parts in the literary, scientific, and religious worlds. How many eminent men, that have proved ornaments to society, have thankfully ascribed the early growth of the principles by which they profited in life, to the advantages of maternal discipline reaped in 28

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their infancy. The attentive reader of biography may easily perceive that the elements of intellectual superiority, by which numbers have reflected lustre on the human species, were first implanted in their mother’s lap, and were for a considerable period cherished by her instruction and advice. Our best friends have complained that our educated countrymen themselves begin at an early age to lose their mental brightness; that their intellects shine like the ignis fatuus for a limited period after which they degenerate. The complaint is certainly borne out by facts; but it is not the climate or any peculiarity in our constitution to which the degeneracy is to be attributed. Such an inference would at least be premature, before the effects of female emancipation on the national character have been fairly tried. Education has as yet had a small sphere for its work; its influence has extended only to a mere moiety of the population, even where it has been most widely disseminated. Mothers, wives, and sisters are still as ignorant as they ever were. The infant mind is still neglected. The mental soil of the nation is not prepared by maternal care, and we cannot wonder if the impressions produced by the school-master prove to be transient. How the case may turn out if every boy commences his academical career with a mind previously worked upon, and, after leaving school, is impelled to maintain the dignity of an educated person at home and abroad, by the influence of an instructed wife or sister, has still to be seen. In the capacity of mistresses of the household, it is the province of women to ensure the proper transaction of all domestic affairs. They are to ascertain their husbands’ wishes on points wherein they need advice, and to provide for the fulfilment of the same with diligence and activity. The menials, especially of their own sex, demand particularly their direction and care. They are the most suitable agents for exercising a salutary discipline over these members of the family, and for performing acts of kindness and benevolence to them. They are charged with the whole executive power in the household, while their partners are drawn out of doors by their public employments. The wife is, in fact, the governor of the house, the husband being prevented by his more arduous engagements, from entering into the details of domestic economy. As members of society, our females ought to shed a humanizing influence over the great body of the Hindu community. The indelicacy, and even obscenity of language, and the laxity of manners, tolerated in company by our countrymen, are calculated to disgust all observers of any moral sensibility. The education of women, and their introduction to society, will operate as a powerful check upon such licentious practices. Few are so depraved as not to shrink from offending the ears of their wives and sisters by the indecorous use of a corrupt and corrupting vocabulary; the presence of the sex must therefore prove an effectual barrier against the viceous stream that now flows with violence unbated. The freedom with which the most celebrated authors of the Sanscrit literature have represented, without a blush, the vilest and the most abominable thoughts and images, under the imposing garb of poetry, could never be tolerated or exercised, if the writers or readers had the most distant fear of their own wives and sisters perusing them, 29

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or if the community to which they belonged contained educated females, before whom such lettered obscenities could not be introduced. The remark is likewise applicable to the older Bengali literature of pure indegenous growth.25 In the state of widowhood too, our ladies ought to be more serviceable to themselves and to society, than they can at present be. The servitude to which the death of their husbands reduces them, when they inherit no property, might be prevented in many of its unhappy consequences, if they could apply themselves to any kind of pursuit. Their misery and destitution admit under existing circumstances scarcely of any alleviation. The provisions which the wisdom of our ancient legislators had created, cannot, and do not, shield them from the unkind strokes of poverty and bondage. It would be preposterous to suppose, that the general injunctions of Hinduism would be able to help their unhappiness, while they were unable to assert their claims, and were consigned to the mercy of their husbands’ surviving kinsmen. So long as they continue incapable of being serviceable to any body, and subsist as idlers on the charity of others, the precepts of Menu and Nárada will be lost equally on the government and on their relations. They ought to return some kind of respectable and decent service to the quarter whence they are to draw their sustenance. Society may derive benefits in various ways from intelligent and well-disposed widows, and will cheerfully undergo the burden of their maintenance, when it reaps the fruits of their exertions. Besides these various objects, claiming the attention of our females in the various relations of life, they have to secure the salvation of their souls. They contain within their corporal frames, spirits no less immortal and capable of eternal blessedness, than those of their husbands and brothers. The sacred obligations of true religion are of equal force upon them. They are naturally “dead in trespasses and sins,” in common with the other sex; and the provisions of revealed religion are alike adapted to their spiritual wants. They must therefore exercise their minds upon the covenant and law of God, as He has been pleased to promulgate them, and study to ensure their title to the blessings, which faith in his promises and submission to his will are calculated to secure. The proper discharge of these offices requires however that their minds should in the first place be cultivated. While the intellect continues uninformed, and the heart unsanctified, no human being is fitted for the right performance of any duties, domestic or public, personal or social; a woman must especially come short in these respects, so long as she is restricted from participating the advantages of education. She cannot be safely placed in the position to which she is entitled, if her passions be not regulated by principle, and if the vagrancies to which she is naturally inclined, be not rectified by an enlightend conscience. No accomplishments can possibly supply her want of discretion and spiritual discernment. It is not a fair, but a virtuous woman, whose illumined and expanded intellect enables her to understand, and whose affections, sanctified by the holiest influences of religious truth, actuate her to discharge her duties, that becomes a crown to her husband, a blessing to her children, and an acquisition to society. But what conceivable benefits can proceed from an illiterate woman? What counsel can she 30

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tender to her husband, but such as is calculated only to thwart and embarrass? What help in the cause of domestic happiness can be expected from a person, who is distinguished from the grovelling creatures of the earth, only by the peculiarity of her physical form? What sanctifying influence can be exercised on the tender heart of an infant by an uneducated mother, whose example and precepts can only increase its natural propensity to evil? What instructions can she impart to its docile mind, which it ought not to unlearn? What impulse can she communicate to its passions and affections, but in the low, grovelling, and vicious channels of sin, depravity, and ignorance? What discipline can be exerted over a household by a mistress capable only of fomenting disturbances, and occasioning vexation? What moral blessings may servants derive from a governess, who needs personally as much instruction as themselves? How can a creature, over whose mind hover the thick clouds of ignorance and vice, guide her menials in the path of righteousness, or help them to improve their intellectual condition. What service, but of the most degraded sort, can be looked for from a set of widows incapable of any avocations which require thought and energy? What profit can society derive from creatures unenlightened, and without principle, and totally destitute of intellectual activity? What return can the human community receive from such useless and unthinking persons, that it may contribute to their comfortable subsistence, without regarding them as objects of charity? What humanizing influence can be exerted upon society by a despised body of uneducated females, fitted only for being immured, and liable to abuse any indulgence that may be allowed to them?26 How can illiterate creatures, scarcely raised above the level of the irrational animals, claim that respect, or occupy that position, by which alone they may soften the ferocity, chasten the taste, and promote the civilization of the united body of their husbands, relations, and countrymen? Females are generally so weak and so sensitive that unless they live under the direction of strict principles, and the influence of holy motives, they are apt to render a wide house more uncomfortable them the corner of the house top. While the greatest portion of the happiness which pervades a domestic circle, proceeds chiefly from the judicious management, and the decorous demeanor of an enlightened wife, the misery and unhappiness caused by a brawling and vicious woman are nevertheless bitter in the extreme. She forgets her proper position, and would compel her husband to adopt the reveries of her own fancy; and thus retards, instead of facilitating, his performance of duty. Phantoms of a freakish imagination are regarded as realities; and a vicious, irregular, and mischievous whim usurps the authority, and claims the obedience, due only to reason, judgment, and rectified taste. And as to the exercise of a salutary influence upon society, the idea itself is preposterous. An uneducated female whose honour demands a restraint upon her liberty, and renders seclusion necessary, is commonly enrolled in the list of her husband’s untransferable moveables, and neither possesses the ability, nor can command the respect by which alone she might correct the laxity, and moralize the tone of her relations and friends. 31

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It is accordingly necessary that the female mind should be improved; that it should be regulated by right principles, and enlarged by useful learning; that it should be brought up in the nurture and admonition of God, so as to be under the government of sanctified feelings and affections; and that its religious impressions should be deepened by rational conviction and internal assurance. The honour and aggrandizement of our country imperatively demand the intellectual and moral improvement of her daughters. India can never rise, while mental degradation unfits them for the attention and respect naturally due to them, and renders their introduction to, and elevation in society, equally impracticable and undesirable. A regard for their virtue and for our own happiness may at present force their husbands to restrain their liberty, and to check their presumption. But it is equally discreditable and cruel wilfully to perpetuate their bondage and mental inactivity, by obstructing the development of their faculties, and denying to them the advantages of education. The cultivation of their mental powers is an obligation which nature and kindred have imposed upon us, and an intentional, deliberate, and habitual neglect to discharge it, will render our situation fearfully responsible in the sight of God. But if our hearts be too obdurate to be affected by a principle of duty, let a sense of interest at least move us. The instruction of females will prove a blessing not only to themselves, but also to ourselves, our children, and our country. The advantages accruing to husbands from the counsel and sympathy of intelligent wives; to children, from the instruction and advice of pious and judicious mothers; and to society, from the humanizing influence of respected and sensible women, have already been considered; we shall reap for ourselves, individually and collectively, no inconsiderable a portion of the benefits which will result from the emancipation of our females. We may then exhibit before the world that the Bengali society is capable of as much elevation as any other on the face of the globe; that our climate is not a necessary obstacle to the development of our minds. Some eminent historians have doubted the possibility of regenerating those races which have once become degenerated. Whether this remark be sufficiently borne out by experience or not, it needs not damp our energies. The Bengali is a rising, not a degnerated nation. Its mental capacities have been proved to be equal to those of any other people, and though still marked by numerous deficiencies, it may yet rise to the highest possible pitch of civilization and refinement. The education of its females may bring on a new and happy era in its history. As to the rules by which this education should be regulated, or the mode in which it is to be conducted, the limits of this essay will scarcely admit of a detailed statement. What moralists have often asserted on the subject of female education in general, might be repeated here with reference to the education of native females in particular; but lucubrations on a trite subject may be properly dispensed with in an attempt, whereof the theme is so peculiarly local. Suffice it to say, that we would give their minds all the polish of which they are capable. We would put no restraints on the cultivation of their intellects. We would not 32

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interdict any branch of knowledge calculated to improve the understanding. There is no reason why the education of girls should be less liberal than that of boys. But we would wish their instruction to be compatible with the natural delicacy of their sex and with their peculiar position in society.27

CHAPTER III. ON THE MEANS WHEREBY THE AMELIORATION OF BENGAL FEMALES MAY BE EFFECTED UNDER EXISTING CIRCUMSTANCES. WE have now described the evils by which our female society is afflicted, and endeavoured to show that they are not incapable of remedy. But the most difficult part of our duty remains yet unperformed. The physician that cuts a sore and pronounces it to be curable, must apply the remedy before he can expect his discharge. The means by which the present condition of our females may be improved so as to allow their elevation to their proper position, are now to be delineated. The measures by the practical operation of which the women of Bengal may be raised to the post which Divine Providence has designed for their occupation, must now be considered. The steps by which they may ascend to an equality with the ladies of Europe, remain still to be traced. In this department of our essay, we labour under singular disadvantages. In the first chapter, we had only to frame a digest of our ancient institutions, and to generalize actual facts around us; and on the subject of our second division, some fight was thrown by the improvement which western females had already made, and which consequently served as a standard, whereby to estimate the capacities of the sex. But under this third head, we are left entirely to our own anticipations and deductions. We have here to tread a path not yet beaten so as to serve the purpose of a guide. This acknowledgment will sufficiently explain our desire not to be understood positively to dogmatize, but diffidently to suggest, certain ways in which the friends of female education may attempt the enlightenment of our Bengal sisters. The question about to be discussed is,—By what practicable means may the females of Bengal be raised in an intellectual and moral point of view, and rendered competent for the discharge of their several duties with credit, and for the maintenance of their proper position with advantage to themselves and to society? We have already asserted that the cultivation of the mind by a well-directed education, must be looked to as the great engine of improvement; and the point under consideration has principal reference to such feasible expedients, as may promote the circulation of knowledge among them. We have to inquire into the most effective plans whereby to afford them such education as is necessary for the accomplishment of the desired end. The instilment of knowledge can be effected either by public instruction or private tuition. Boys or girls of various families may meet in a common seminary for the purpose of education, and vie with one another under the same roof and the management of the same governors; or, if their parents prefer it, they may 33

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prosecute their studies in a more secluded way, within the enclosures of a private dwelling, and in company with their own relations and friends. Each of these modes has its uses and abuses, advantages and disadvantages. Our present inquiry does not however refer to their relative utility or expediency. We are here called upon only to investigate into the most practicable mode of introducing education among our Bengal sisters; our object is to discover to what extent their parents and guardians may tolerate the adoption of either, or both, of these methods of of disseminating instruction among them. The practice of immuring the females, and disposing of them in early life by marriage, must baffle every attempt at conferring public education upon them. No respectable Hindu can as yet be prevailed upon to send his daughter or his wife to school, where she will perhaps become a gazing stock, and be obliged to keep company, indiscriminately, with all castes of people. Few reflections are associated with greater horror in a native’s imagination, than that of a stranger’s obtaining a sight of his females. No friendship, however intimate, will easily introduce a person to the wife of his neighbour; and even in cases where the utmost confidence prevails, the husband can hardly be persuaded to tolerate her appearance before his friends. So strongly have custom and the tone of society rivetted these prejudices upon the mind, that previous to a complete moral revolution in India, the most powerful incentives to female enfranchisement will fail in their object. The obtrusion of a woman in public, especially in youthful life, is considered highly disreputable. If, under these circumstances, a strong desire prevailed of raising the female character, we might entertain some faint hopes of witnessing a defiance of popular prejudices, and a renouncement of long-established customs, for the sake of advancing the good cause. Unfortunately, however, very little importance is practically attached to the improvement of the sex. The aggregate body of the Hindus set scarcely any value upon their attainments, and appear heedless of the advantages to be reaped from intelligent wives and daughters. They can imagine no possible way by which their acquirements may be turned to pecuniary purposes, and have little conception of any nobler ends of knowledge. No motive is accordingly found to exist, which might actuate the Hindus to confer educational benefits on their women, in open violation of the custom of secluding them. The obstacle which fashion opposes, is also to be weighed in the balance against the public instruction of females. Their friends have not only to lament the absence of any incentives to the pursuit of knowledge, but they have actually to pull against a powerful stream flowing in the opposite direction. Although, as we have already seen, neither the theology nor the philosophy of Hinduism is directly repugnant to female education, and although many instances of intellectual superiority in the sex have been mentioned with approbation, yet the current of public opinion has long been unfavourable to the principle of educating them; a spirited protest in practice against this general sense must incur the risk of being stigmatized as uncourteous and heterodoxical. The existence of the conventional feeling against an object so excellent, may be unaccountable on any rational grounds; 34

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the fact is nevertheless unquestionable; and it is the unkindly influence of that feeling which paralyzes every effort to raise the condition of the sex. Those who have received the benefits of a liberal education may sigh for the emancipation of their sisters; but the utilitarianism of the Hindus will raise the question of cui bono, the moment a scheme of female education is proposed to them. Such being the adverse tone of Hindu society, its opposition to female instruction will become almost insurmountable if the question be necessarily associated with a woman’s appearance in public, which the educated natives themselves are not prepared to sanction. The female dress too, must prove an additional inconvenience to public instruction. The one piece of thin muslin with which our country-women shroud themselves, may be tolerated within an inclosed Zenana, the solitude of which can never be disturbed by the intrusion of a stranger; but their appearance in public with such habiliments would be a breach of decency, and might lead to unhappy consequences. This inconvenience might be obviated by the adoption of more substantial garments, but if the jealous repugnance of the Bengali to the least addition or alteration in the articles of female attire be taken into account, the difficulty will appear in its true and appalling character: and however unimportant in itself, the fact is sufficiently serious when viewed in all its actual consequences. These considerations force upon our minds the conviction that nothing can be expected at present, from the system of public schooling as far as the higher and middling classes of females are concerned. The society of the Hindus is not yet prepared for accepting the blessings which might flow from such a measure; until a complete revolution takes place in their thoughts and feelings, no reasonable hopes can be entertained of their tolerating the attendance of females in a public seminary. We do not mean however to express a feeling of hostility to the institutions which have already been reared for the benefit of our country-women, and the most distinguished of which stands as an ornament to Cornwallis Square. It would manifest a total destitution of moral sensibility, not to recognize the zealous efforts of those whose names are associated with the very theme of our essay, and who, in the genuine spirit and with the unwearied perseverance of Christain heroines, first realized the idea of native female education, and exhibited their belief to the world, by their philanthropic exertions, that the women of Bengal were animated by souls as precious as those of the men. But even the patience and fortitude of the agents employed by the “Ladies’ Society,” could not achieve what might be called miracles; and that noble monument of their Christian exertions, the Central School, to which a native gentleman28 himself contributed no less than 20,000 Rs. has failed to attract within its walls any but children of the lowest classes of society. These were little restrained by the law of fashion, and did not scruple to send their girls out of doors. Men of no caste have in this respect shown a feeling of independence, which the high and noble dared not assert. We must not however dissemble that even the lower orders do not send their children to school without other stimulants than love of knowledge. Nor has the result 35

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produced any influence on native society. Severe criticism of female acquirements would reflect little honor on the critic; and in India the day of small things must not be despised. No pecuniary outlay can be considered too great, even if it produced a single educated native female in Bengal. We doubt however whether any Hindu woman has in this way received an education productive of abiding consequences; whether any female, thus instructed, can compose a single sentence in English or in Bengali with grammatical correctness. Not that the honoured and industrious tutoresses are themselves to blame. Far from it. Their diligence and zeal are entitled to the reverence of all that are friendly to the cause. But where parents and guardians exercised an inclement influence at home by precept and example, the effects of a few hours’ instruction at school could not be great. The usefulness of female schools has thereby been much obstructed. Not only have they met with ill success in drawing educational candidates of any respectability; but those they have collected from time to time, have principally come forward from artificial encouragements. The knowledge actually imparted has also been very limited. The early marriages of the pupils, would snatch them away from their studies before they had learnt the simplest rudiments of their own language, and put a stop to the further cultivation of their minds. The result has been a constant fluctuation of pupils, and the actual progress elicited in the classes, has for many years been at a standing mark. In order to do justice to the seminaries above-mentioned, we will institute a distinction between General Education, and the inculcation of Christianity. The former is the formation of the mind by a course of intellectual discipline, and requires a long and connected series of human expedients and literary studies; the latter is the sacred work of initiating in the elementary truths of the Gospel, which depends peculiarly upon the preventing grace of God, and calls more for pastoral admonition, than for literary scholarship. The one is, for the most part, a human operation, where human helps and human instruments are used according to human judgment; the other is an especial work of Divine grace, where means and instruments are regulated more by a reference to the voice of inspiration and the practice of the Christian Church, than by an immediate appeal to human reason and human discretion. General education is therefore to be distinguished from the more sacred work of what in the primitive ages would be called catechizing; and although the former may often, under God’s blessing, subserve the latter, yet this occasional dependance does not annul their essential distinction. Now in the public schools under consideration, little has been done in an educational, though much attempted in the catechizing way. The children are found scarcely to have learnt the rudiments of grammar and construction, when their early marriages, and the irresolute instability of their parents withdraw them from school. With respect, however, to Catechisms and Gospels, they have often been known to have mastered considerable portions by heart. But owing to its necessary imperfection, their literary education has hardly conferred any advantages upon them, the pupils unlearning in a few months, what they had got up in as many years. 36

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Their initiation into Christianity too has been thwarted in most instances by the contagion of their heathen associations at home, and by their entire removal after a time from Christian influence. But as we would magnify the grace of God, and honour the instruments. He has blessed, even in one case of actual conversion, we must express our gratitude at the instances, we find reported of persons professing Christianity who had been instructed in those schools. It must nevertheless be acknowledged, that with the exception of a few individual cases, the spiritual results have not been (if we be allowed to speak from what we see and hear) much greater than the intellectual effects. The children’s stay at school has generally resembled a short episode in their infancy, after which they have fallen into the same habits as before, and grown under the same influence under which they were born. It is only when the continued attendance of children can be secured, that public tuition may be conducted with advantage; and here we must testify to the usefulness which Orphan Asylums promise. Too much commendation cannot be passed upon those individuals and societies, which rescued many a helpless infant from pestilence and starvation, during the several visitations of famine, drought, and inundation, which the Almighty was pleased to send upon the country within the last ten years,29 and provided at the same time for their moral training. Such benevolent preservation of the body from the horrors of famine, followed by a corresponding attention to the welfare of the soul, is worthy the disciples of Him, who came to seek and to save that which was lost, and who, while he spread a genial repast before hungry multitudes, directed them also to the spiritual bread of life. The cause of education, no less than the interests of Christianity, must eventually be forwarded by the noble exertions of His followers in first rescuing the body and then nourishing the soul. But for reasons already mentioned, no attempt can prove successful at present, of conferring public education upon females in the better ranks of society. For these, the only mode left for trial, is private tuition in a well-secured house inaccessible to strangers. No other scheme is likely to command the confidence of parents. The Hindus are still unprepared to risk the reputation of their families by exposing their females. But many have grown so far superior to the prejudices of their country as to feel the propriety of educating them. They appear willing to execute their wishes if it can be done without molestation; they concede, at least in theory, that girls may be instructed, not only with impunity, but also with profit; we may therefore hope that they will not repudiate a proposal to instruct their daughters within their own doors, without the sacrifice of trouble or money on their part. Notwithstanding their practical ignorance of the blessings proceeding from the education of their women, they cannot deny that learning is at least an accomplishment, a portion of which may be safely imparted to their ladies. They do not understand this sufficiently to regret the evils resulting from the intellectual darkness in which their families are involved; but they would still be proud to own wives and daughters capable of rational amusements and recreations. They have not learnt to appreciate the abstract idea, so as to undergo pecuniary or social 37

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privations for realizing it; but they may nevertheless be expected to accept, with greater or less thankfulness, such helps as may be tendered consistently with their jealous prejudices respecting female seclusion, and with the reduced circumstances in point of temporals, under which it is their misfortune to labour. The custom which anciently prevailed in the Greek Churches of instructing female catechumens in their own apartments, will throw considerable light upon the subject of our inquiry. We desire to educate a number of human beings, whom we cannot invite out of doors, and upon whose public appearance we ought not to insist in the present state of their minds; and as some of the Eastern Churches were once placed in similar circumstances with ourselves, we cannot fail to acquire much useful information from a review of this practice. The Greeks were in the days of yore as averse to, though perhaps not so jealous of the introduction of their women into society as the Hindus; and if we inquire into the measures adopted by the friends of female improvement among the former, we may possibly derive considerable light as to the most feasible means of ameliorating the sex among the latter. Upon the wise and charitable principle of becoming all things to all men, and in order to avoid the risk connected with an unseasonable and premature obtrusion of unenlightened women upon the public, as well as to avert the scandal associated in the estimation of unbelievers with such an ill-advised proceeding, the Church provided for the instruction of her feeble-minded daughters, without interfering with the national habits of the people. Female catechists were employed, who visited their sex in private, and thus the light of the Gospel was carried into the Gynæceum, without provoking the opposition, or even exciting the jealousy of the community.30 Now the analogy31 between the manners of the ancient Greeks and the Hindus is in this respect so remarkable, and the selection of those tutoresses was regulated by such wise canons, that better rules cannot be conceived by which to conduct female educational agency in India. The deaconesses were aged and experienced widows, unentangled with the cares of the household, and qualified by long preparatory training for the performance of the duties which they undertook. Their intelligence and strength of principle enabled them to teach their pupils with success, and to prevent scandal; the Church thus carried on her blessed work without unnecessarily disgusting the deep-rooted prejudices of the people, or prematurely exposing creatures, who would probably abuse their liberty, while their minds were yet weak, and therefore neither fortified by religious devotion nor notions of honour. This venerable custom of the ancient churches is entitled to the serious attention of the friends of humanity. An association may be formed upon an extensive scale, and with every possible provision against unnecessary offence to native prejudices, and suitable tutoresses of age and experience may be entertained for the purpose of carrying the light of European knowledge into the Zenanas of the Hindus. Government may be memorialized to patronize, and the natives themselves invited to support a scheme, visibly fraught with inestimable blessings to the country, and based upon the principle of non-interference with religion. 38

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The Council of Education will probably acknowledge, that half the population of India, which exercise such considerable influence, as mothers and wives, upon the students of their colleges and schools, are not necessarily excluded by their sex from a proper share of their attention and good wishes; the sanction of such a body must considerably extend the operations of the corporation we are sketching, and ensure the confidence of parents and guardians. The connection of a few respectable natives would increase that confidence, and serve to stimulate their countrymen to co-operate in the good cause. A liberal allowance may induce many a foreign lady of age and experience, to devote their time and talents to the instruction of so interesting a body of their sex. A great step may be hereby taken towards the consummation of a work which has hitherto been almost entirely neglected. If a few wealthy and influential native gentlemen can also be induced to give up rooms in their inner courts for the use of private schools, where none but ladies shall be admitted as tutoresses or visiters, nor any except girls from select families allowed to enter as pupils, expectations still more sanguine may be entertained of the success of the experiment. People may not be wanting under such circumstances to send their daughters to institutions so select; a goodly number of girls may be assembled, at least, from the circle of the landlords’ own friends. The terms on which education will be hereby offered, may from their conciliating character operate as inducements on many minds, which would otherwise shrink from the prospect of infringing the customs of the country, or of encountering heavy demands upon their purse. The Hindu might reject with indignation a proposal that demanded the appearance of his females in public, or their instruction in Christianity; but he may tolerate their education in general literature, if that could be offered within doors upon terms suited to their circumstances. The Christian friend of native female education needs not question the propriety of a scheme even though it may exclude religious instruction. Religion is indeed so naturally linked with true science and sound philosophy, that a wilful separation of the one from the other, may be condemned as an act of treachery to both. But where circumstances over which he has no control reduce the Christian to the dilemma of either suffering a vast number of his fellow creatures to pine in total ignorance, or of contenting himself for a time with teaching such general elements as may gradually open their minds, he has no other alternative than that of submitting to the necessity of the case, if he wishes to take any part in the improvement of mankind. The admission of European teachers for the education of male children was often allowed by the most respectable members of the native community, who considered it fashionable at one time to employ private tutors for their boys; and if an equal degree of interest could be excited in behalf of their girls, many Baboos would doubtless realize of their own accord the idea of female instruction in the Zenana. In one instance, at least, we know such a course was pursued with considerable success. The provisions which Baboo Prosunno Coomar Tagore had made for the education of his late much lamented daughter, were unequivocal proofs of his sense of paternal duty, as well as of his energy and public spirit; the happy 39

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effects produced by his exertions, were illustrative of the practicability of the plan we are recommending. For a Hindu gentleman of rank and fortune so far to disregard the corrupt prejudices of a bigoted community, as to engage a European tutoress for the purpose of instructing a female member of his household, was no ordinary exhibition of moral fortitude; the success which crowned his efforts, was an earnest of what might yet be expected from similar measures. It would not be chimerical to hope, that if instruction could be offered under the auspices of a well-organized European-native Society, without demanding a sudden and violent revolution in the domestic economics of the Hindus, the cause of female improvement might gradually prosper, in Calcutta at least. While alluding to the almost unique example of Baboo Prosunno Coomar, it becomes extremely melancholy to reflect, that the first native lady that had cultivated European letters and acquired European accomplishments, and to whose instruction large funds had been cheerfully dedicated, by an enlightened and affectionate father, should be snatched away in the prime of life, to the deep affliction of her parents, and the sincere regret of all that have heard of her.32 Attempts on the part of husbands to instruct their own wives within the recesses of their houses, have also been reported to us by testimony on which we can rely. Of these, some have been crowned with partial success, others have proved total failures. All these efforts had, however, been undertaken under the most unfavourable circumstances; and therefore, while the successful cases ought to serve as encouragements, the disappointments that have been experienced, were perfectly natural. The soil had long continued fallow, the atmosphere was most ungenial, the seed had been but sparingly sown, and the exertions spent upon the work were necessarily feeble. The wonder, therefore, is, not that all the seeds did not germinate and thrive to maturity; but that any, however few, produced the desired fruits. Notwithstanding the insignificance of the crop, and the poverty of the harvest, the little that has been done, is an earnest of what may yet be expected from more vigorous efforts, and better regulated plans. If the difficulties which even husbands experience in getting access to their own wives during the day be remembered, the failures just referred to cannot excite any surprise. It is considered extremely uxorious in a person, especially when he is but a junior member in the family, often to spend his time within the female court of his house, or to seek the company of his wife before he retires to his own apartment in the night; he cannot therefore easily get opportunities of conversing with her during the day. If a quick sense of duty actuate him to undertake her tuition, he finds it impracticable to attend to it except at an advanced hour in the night; and since few can be competent at such a time for great intellectual exertions, the ill success we have mentioned was by no means unexpected. Where a husband could not remain in the society of his wife during the day without being marked with an opprobrious stigma, it could not be a matter of amazement or surprise if he failed in instructing her. Neither could the girl herself carry on her studies during day-light without annoyance and interruption. Besides the manual work of the household which might be allotted to her, and which would consume the greatest 40

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portion of her time, she could not easily get off from the company of her sisters and cousins, and retire for intellectual or devotional purposes. The scheme of private tuition, under the direction and management of a well-organized association, may rectify these evils, by reclaiming many a promising student from the vicious influence of her domestic companions, and therefore promises a richer crop and a more extensive harvest. But under the present state of things our teachers must be Europeans, since we shall not for a long time succeed in raising up such native tutoresses as might be able not only to impart instruction, but also to command, by their age and experience, the respect and reverence of those around them, that the mouth of calumny might be stopped, and no scandal thrown in so useful a course. And therefore, our expectations cannot be too ardent. For besides the paucity of such teachers, somewhat answering to the deaconesses of old, many other obstacles must be encountered. Against the frequent admittance of European ladies for a purpose so little appreciated, many doors will perhaps be closed. That in a few instances, the kindness of such visiters may be appreciated and gratefully acknowledged, is not a chimerical hope; but to calculate on their receiving a hearty welcome from many families, would be an irregular flight of the imagination. It is favourable for the scheme, that certain respectable members of the Hindu community and staunch supporters of the Dharma Sabha, have often admitted foreigners into their houses for the tuition of their boys, and entertained European guests upon festive occasions with viands held in abomination by the orthodox natives. The dignitaries of the Hindu fraternity having tolerated the access of Mletchas, no scruples of a religious character will perhaps be harboured against the reception of ladies’ visits for the purpose of female education; nor can the Brahmins consistently discharge their ecclesiastical fulminations against a course of conduct, no more opposed to the tenets of their theology, than the practice of their opulent patrons upon every occasion of a grand nautch. We cannot therefore conceive how any proceedings can be openly and officially instituted to excommunicate those that may receive the educational visits alluded to. But what the Brahmins as a body may be forced to tolerate, owing to the laxity of the age, may yet be counteracted by the general tone of society. The novelty of the step will perhaps provoke jealousy, and subject it to the silent, but unequivocal sneers of the community, and the effect in a thousand instances will prove as hurtful as if the Dharma Sabha had itself fulminated; for it would require as much resolution of mind to disregard biting insinuations, as the open opposition of the sacerdotal clan, A great barrier to private tuition within the boundaries of the Zenana itself, may accordingly be prevented by the unworthy inuendoes and bitter taunts of one’s own friends and neighbours. False reports may be circulated to the annoyance of the spirited Hindu that may afford his women the advantages of instruction; he will perhaps be charged with violating the rules of his sacred fraternity, and degrading the dignity of Brahminical discipline, by constant association with those, whom to touch were of itself an abomination. His name may become a proverb for habitually polluting the 41

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sanctity of a Hindu residence by admitting into its courts the defiled footsteps of an impure race. These obstacles, though not insurmountable, will nevertheless thwart the operation of the plan alluded to, by proving in several instances too powerful to be contended against. Still, since they are not insurmountable, they are to be resolutely encountered; and considering the little offence which the scheme proposed directly offers to the customs and institutions of the country, we may hope that as the blessings of female education will be more practically understood, and its influence even on our temporal interests more justly prized, many will be heroic enough to despise the taunts and sneers of their neighbours, and to contend for the cause of female emancipation in spite of their slanders. The educated native mind is not so destitute of moral energy that on matters of acknowledged importance it will blindly submit to the clamour of an ignorant multitude, whom it holds in contempt, and treats with ridicule. Our countrymen may not be willing to provoke the jealousy and ill-will of their friends and neighbours for things which they have not learnt to appreciate. Nor can apathy in a cause which is itself not prized, be considered a conclusive evidence of a want of moral courage. Radical changes in manners and customs, which the mind has been inured to hold in reverence ever since it first began to think, and over which antiquity has spread her delusive charms, are not to be expected, but in the pursuance of objects which are felt to be momentous, and under the influence of motives, sufficiently powerful to counteract the force of early impressions, and the deep-rooted prejudices of early education. Few can adequately conceive, without actually experiencing, the difficulty which attends the task of reconciling one’s self to new manners, new customs, new habits, and new modes of thought and action; and the repugnance of the Hindus to female education is sufficiently accounted for, when its tendency to overturn the present structure of their domestic economy is minutely investigated. The ignorance of women is so interwoven with the entire government of the household, that no active measures can be extensively adopted, without tolerating considerable innovations in domestic life. Failures, if they attend our scheme for a time, ought not therefore to make us droop in despair; but on the contrary, they should move us to more determined and vigorous exertions, whereby to illustrate the advantages, and create among the natives a just appreciation, of female education. We cannot here refrain from making reference to the attempts, made more than ten years ago, to introduce education into the harem of Mahomet Ali, the pasha of Egypt The success which crowned the exertions of Miss Holliday in the land of Ham, must encourage the friends of female education in the pursuit of similar schemes of domiciliary instruction in Bengal. Our countrymen cannot guard their females more closely than the followers of the Arabian prophet; and if an European lady could find means to recommend herself to the ladies of a Turkish palace, why may not similar openings be looked for in the mansions of the gentry of British India? The friends of female education must however abstain from hasty interference with inveterate prejudices. The spirit of Him who in every practicable 42

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way condescended to human infirmities, and the example of the apostle who was made all things to all men that he might by all means save some, should ever be borne in mind in a country like India. He who is forced to give up what is within his reach in his eagerness to grasp at too much, cannot be exonerated from the charge of imprudence; nor should the intelligent Christian consider himself as neglecting his Master’s cause, if he be obliged to content himself for a time with teaching nothing but literature and science. The sapper and the miner are agents as essential to the success of an army as the gunner and the musketeer. The counsel of Hekekyan Effendi to Miss Holliday, cannot be too strongly enforced upon the attention of similar labourers under similar circumstances.33 The extensive spread of education through the Hindu College, the General Assembly’s Institution, the Free church and other schools, which has caused, in Calcutta at least, a great movement in the native mind, opens a fair and cheerful prospect to our imagination, and is calculated to produce sanguine hopes regarding the future interests of India. It has turned the thoughts of the rising generation into a new channel, and imparted a degree of intellectual vigour which will not easily shake before the nod of a bigoted community. Our young friends have imbibed a spirit of mental independence, which renders them superior to a blind adulation of Brahminical authority; and which will fortify them against the encroachments of corrupt priestcraft. Already have a goodly number asserted their unrestricted right to think and act for themselves, by publicly abjuring the superstitions of the country in the very teeth of her false hierarchy, and by adopting a rational and a holy creed, in spite of the frantic rage of a depraved society; and if all have not displayed a like energy and fortitude, the whole community is still preparing for some great revolution, to signalize perhaps this very century, and to complete the triumph of knowledge against ignorance. As the educated youths become masters of families, a wide field will be opening for the exercise of female benevolence. We may hope that many of their number will accept for their wives the advantages of education, if tendered within their doors. Their minds have been sufficiently strengthened by the ennobling effects of education, so as not to waver in the performance of acknowledged duties to their wives and daughters, when a feasible plan shall be laid before them. The plan to be feasible must wink at certain conventional customs believed to be essential to the preservation of social order; nor should it demand great pecuniary sacrifices. Their resources is not generally so large as to suffice for the employment of proper instructors for the members of their Zenanas; nor are the bonds of kindred and natural affection so fragile in their breasts, as to be violated by any motive short of those which true religion furnishes; and if the simple object of education involved disbursements of funds which they could not command, or insisted on a renouncement of caste and relations, for which no earthly advantages could be felt as an adequate compensation; it would be difficult to conceive how the cause could prosper. But happily, the question of female education is not immediately connected with loss of caste, and may render a person obnoxious only to vain sarcasms from an ignorant and powerless multitude; and if it can be procured without 43

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great pecuniary sacrifices, a clear prospect will be before us, of, at least, a partial operation of the system. The progress of the system, however, will mainly depend upon the infusion of a more kindly spirit. The apathy which marks the efforts of the Hindus for the elevation of their females, must be supplanted by an animating zeal before much can be expected. In proportion as our countrymen will appreciate the benefits accruing from the instruction of their wives, they will be persuaded to exert more powerfully, and to contend more decidedly, against the impediments in their way. Under the present circumstances, therefore, every effort that tends to rouse them from their moral lethargy, and to incite them to energetic action, must be acknowledged to be a preparatory step towards the consummation of the object. But with speculative expositions of its benefits, our patience has nearly been exhausted. The error of our friends, we are convinced, lies not in theory. They acknowledge the advantages of female education, and are not afraid or ashamed to assert them in their writings. In fact, verbal approbations of such a cause have become so fashionable in the new school, that a deep stigma is set upon a person that presumes to raise a dissentient voice. But empty and theoretic assertions that survive not their articulation, have as yet procured no benefits for the sex; and the cause shall continue stagnant, so long as the support it meets with is confined to mere wordy declamations. Even though the professed advocates of female improvement continue for ages to plead by their lips and pens, the objects of their benevolent declamation shall nevertheless continue in their present state, while nothing is actually done. It is much to be regretted, that our intelligent countrymen have so little personal experience of the happy results of female education in European society. Although they can comprehend in theory the advantages to be derived from the instruction of their women, and may be fairly charged with coldness of heart and weakness of principle, for hesitating to act upon their convictions; yet it must be acknowledged in justice to them, that their inactivity is neither surprizing nor unnatural. They understand speculatively, indeed, that females, when educated, must become more valuable members of society, and better fitted for the discharge of their duties; but they have not as yet practically witnessed these effects. They have not as yet seen with their eyes the superiority which education imparts to female recipients: the reports of female elevation of which they hear or read, cannot influence their hearts so much as ocular evidence might do. Few would be able to answer in the affirmative, if asked, whether they had ever been in company with and spoken to any educated females; and none could say, yes, if the question referred to their acquaintance with many superior members of the sex. Whatever plans may introduce intelligent Hindus more extensively to the society of educated ladies, and thereby familiarize their senses with spectacles of female superiority, must operate like a magical spell upon the civilization of the country. Few minds are so dull as to witness the happy effects of female enlightenment among their neighbours, without a longing desire of enjoying the same blessings in their own family; and an ocular attestation of what is at present 44

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known only from books and oral reports, cannot fail to exercise an actuating and a persuasive power peculiar to itself. When such large bodies of Europeans are sojourning in the East with their ladies, the ocular evidence, which is so great a desideratum, is perfectly feasible. If every gentleman that desires the amelioration of native society, would condescend to allow the intelligent Hindus of his acquaintance a sight of what female education has done in his own domestic circle, by occasionally introducing them to his family, the happiest results might be anticipated. Man has been often styled an imitative creature, that is influenced more by the tangible effects of a beneficial scheme, than by all the theories and fairy prospects which his judgment or his imagination can conceive or fancy. The actual operation and visible consequences of a salutary project are as greater incentives to duty than mere theories, as examples are more efficacious than precepts; and accordingly, if our educated countrymen can themselves witness the happy fruits of education among European females, their minds will receive an impetus, which cannot but lead to vigorous efforts for the reformation of their domestic lives.34 If the minds of the rising generation be deeply imbued with impressions favourable to female education; if they be made, by constant intercourse with Europeans, to witness with their own senses the advantages produced upon society, and the benefits accruing to families, from the moral and intellectual improvement of women, more than half the work which we fondly desire, shall be thereby consummated. The elderly members of the Hindu community, who have been accustomed all their life to review with religious reverence the institutions of their country, and the examples of their ancestors, cannot be expected easily to renounce opinions and prejudices to which such sanctity is attached, or to discontinue practices endeared to them by the observance of their forefathers, and enforced by the advice of priests and the general tone of society. Much cooperation or assistance in the cause of female education cannot therefore be looked for from the older and more orthodox Hindus. These champions of Brahminism dote upon every thing which they find was sanctioned by Menu or Vyas, and are hostile to any advance towards improvement. But the rising generation who have themselves received a liberal education, and upon whom the tenets of Hinduism have but a feeble hold, and the Brahmins possess scarcely any ascendancy, who have imbibed from the examples of high-minded Reformers, commemorated in History, sentiments of aversion to antiquated superstitions, promise to become the most powerful and efficient instruments for helping in the cause of female education. If opportunities be sought whereby to direct their energies to this great object, if proper and powerful inducements be offered in order to move them to ameliorate females under their influence, their good will and co-operation may be secured. If those whose opinions they treat with respect, and whose approbation they are ambitious of securing, constantly remind them of their duties to women, and they begin to feel that it would be almost disreputable to neglect one half of their wards and dependents, they may not only embrace with gratitude every opportunity offered by European benevolence of educating their wives and 45

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families, but also labour of their own accord to ensure this object. The youthful husband may then be filled with a desire of imparting to his wife those advantages which he has freely received at school, and thus a spirited beginning may be made to end with the most important consequences. Large fields for the dissemination of education among females have been opened in those places, where great numbers of natives have embraced Christianity. Relieved from the spell of those prejudices which have perpetuated female degradation in the East, and stimulated by motives which are inseparable from a healthy state of Christianity, these Hindu Christians have the singular felicity of freely imparting to their daughters the advantages of a liberal education. But the author is deterred by a feeling of delicacy from expatiating on the efforts a community of which he is himself a member, and which, though yearly rising in importance by fresh accessions, is still but a mere speck in native society. Nor must we confound the efforts of a few individual converts with cultivated minds, who have embraced Christianity after rational conviction, with the doings of the mass whose principles and motives must be estimated agreeably to what we are bound to believe in charity rather than according to what we can depose from actual observation. For it must be acknowleged that the vast majority of converts have come from the lowest ranks of Hindu society and are perfectly illiterate. But the religion they have adopted possesses a self-elevating power, the influence of which must eventually benefit the community of its recipients. We are aware, indeed, of the suspicions with which their strength of evangelical principle is viewed by many of their own friends and supporters; but much, we are assured, may nevertheless be done among them and with them. In a country where a most monstrous and demoralizing system of error has prevailed for ages immemorial, it cannot be a matter of surprise, if the first converts be tainted with the corruptions under which they had so long lived and grown. Even of the European nations constituting the ornament of Christendom, the original converts were weak in the faith, and had but faintly adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour. The barbarians who emigrated from the vast plains of Central Asia, and carried misery and desolation wherever they went, put on, upon their conversion, the form, without exhibiting in their lives, the power of godliness. It was not till the Gospel had taken deep root in their countries, that its influence was visible in their life and character; and then what the fathers had merely professed, the sons adorned in the succeeding ages. Similar may in the Providence of God be the case with the multitudes that have embraced Christianity in India. However weak their own principles and doubtful their personal improvement, their children are under the influence and controul of their pastors; and if the Church perform her duty to her neophytes, happy results may be anticipated with God’s blessing upon her efforts. Not that we are at all to slacken our discipline with reference to the admission of new professors. We cannot be too cautious in the reception of candidates to the fellowship of the gospel. But as the most vigilant minister is not proof against deception, and as unworthy professors have crept in, we must do what we can to extract good from evils which we cannot avoid. Much may and ought to be done 46

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with their children, for whose education the Christian community is partly responsible, and whose characters must, to a certain extent, be influenced by the advice and instruction of their pastors and teachers. We cannot here dissemble our surprise at the little that has been done with the children of native Christians. We can name several individuals whose fathers for two generations had been Christians by profession, and we know numbers who were born after the conversion of their parents. These have from their infancy been brought up more or less under the eye of European missionaries, and yet none from their ranks has to this day received any but an imperfect education; and strange to say, the only native catechists as yet raised in that great collegiate institution of the Church of England, which stands as a monument, on the banks of the Hooghly, of the piety and Christian energy of the first Protestant Bishop in India, are students of the Hindu and Medical Colleges, subsequently embracing Christianity. Not a single native has passed Bishop’s College, whose parents were Christians, or whose elementary education was conducted under the auspices of a Missionary Society.35 We hope not to be understood to reflect against any of those respected and honoured individuals, who from love to God and regard for souls, have left the society of friends and relations, and have braved oceans and seas in order to preach the Gospel to the heathen. We would gladly bear testimony to the privations and troubles they voluntarily undergo, and the cares and anxieties which incessantly harass their minds in the prosecution of their Master’s cause; and for the deficiencies we have mentioned, the whole Christian community generally, and not any persons individually, appear to be responsible. One great cause which has occasioned the shortcomings alluded to, and sadly embarrassed the educational and other agencies of Missionary Societies, is the want of union, and consequently of strength, in the Church. So little do Christians of modern times endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, that sects and denominations have multiplied without number, and as each pursues a separate interest, and keeps a separate establishment, the large funds which Christian piety supplies, are spent upon multitudes of isolated schools, which, in consequence of these divisions, all become more or less inefficient. If the unity and uniformity which Christ himself so fervently desired (John xvii. 21.) were sought by those that bore his name, a graduated series of institutions, mutually depending upon each other, might be founded, from elemental and grammar schools, to academic and collegiate establishments;36 the children of Christian natives would not then occupy that degraded and prostrate position in morals, intellectuals, and spirituals, which is at present their portion. To return from this digression;—we consider the education of the female children of native Christians as a great step toward the instruction of the weaker sex in the country, and most decidedly would we raise our feeble voice in support of the appeals made from time to time for the education of Christian children in the interesting district of Kishanghur. We hope however that the managers of Missions will aim at a high standard in the education they bestow. 47

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The establishment of infant schools in different parts of the country, for the instruction of both male and female children, would also greatly help the cause of female education. The Hindus do not seclude their women in the tender age of childhood, and might be easily prevailed upon to send them to school as infants, if respectable institutions were opened. The effects of such a system would perhaps surpass all expectation, and lead to a new æra in the history of our females. Many husbands would gladly, as they might easily, keep up the instruction of their wives, where it had already been carried to a certain height; and if the case has been otherwise with those whose partners have been instructed in the central and other schools, it is because the husbands in the lower classes (and the present public schools have never been able to attract the higher orders) are themselves illiterate, and could neither help nor encourage their wives to continue their education. But we must not be understood to look with very fond hopes or sanguine expectations on any of the plans we have suggested above. As almost the only expedients that can be adopted under present circumstances, with any prospect of success, they are doubtless entitled to a fair trial. But the progress of female education depends so much upon the social improvement of the nation, that we cannot calculate upon much success before we advance considerably in civilization. The education of females may at the same time be considered a cause and an effect of social improvement. The one is intimately associated with the other. No people can be civilized while their women are in a state of moral and intellectual prostration; nor can women be long suffered to pine in ignorance, when civilization is once introducted. Neither the way here recommended of sending female teachers into the Zenana, nor any other that is imaginable, can work vigorously before the demoralizing institutions of Brahminism are subverted by the sacred fabric of divine truth, and before the secular affairs of our countrymen prosper under the twofold influence of more liberal and humane legislation on the part of our conquerors, and of more industrious and active habits in our own community. While the women continue as exiles from society under the sentence of seclusion, and while they are forced to accept unknown husbands long before the dawn of reason in their minds, little can be attempted with any hope of success for ameliorating their condition. The authority of Menu and Vyas must be superseded by the higher sanctions of divine inspiration, before a complete, or even an extensive, emancipation of the weaker sex can be expected in India. If our educated countrymen consider attentively the lessons of history, they will easily discover the true remedy for the perils of female society, and ascertain what has proved the most mighty instrument in the enfranchisement of women. It is a remarkable fact, striking the senses of the most superficial observer, that Christianity, and Christianity alone, has as yet been their most faithful and devoted friend. By practically inculcating the salvability of their souls, and their responsibility as moral agents, the Gospel furnished a provision for their comforts and improvement, which has teemed with such happy consequences in the West. The father was taught the duty of educating his daughter as an intelligent and moral agent; the husband was instructed on the propriety of loving his wife, even as Christ loved his Church; 48

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and on society was enforced the obligation of honouring those that composed the better half of the human species. The practices of polygamy, of unlawful and arbitrary divorces, and of tyranny over the weaker sex were thus eradicated from the face of Christendom; and an impetus was communicated to the cause of female elevation, the effects of which are visible in the society of European ladies. Previous to a like radical change in the sentiments and feelings of our countrymen, and a like stimulus to female improvement conveyed by the sanctifying influence and the holy motives of the Gospel, one could not look with sanguine hopes for the full consummation of our object. The unhappy captive in the Zenana cannot be rescued so long as the inhuman monster that sentenced her incarceration, is not spoiled of his dominion and banished from the land; nor can the degradation of our sisters tadmit of complete relief, before the nation will acknowledge the truth, and be actuated by the spirit of that religion, whereof one characteristic motto is, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” But though our own belief is that female education will not generally prevail before the introduction of Christianity, we are prepared to hail with joy every movement toward the instruction of our country-women. An enlightened Hindu, that is not himself a Christian, will of course disagree with us in our anticipations. We shall rejoice to find him realizing the idea of female instruction in the present state of society. We shall rejoice to see any person, whatever be his religious creed, leading in the great cause of improving the fairer half of the population of India. This cause demands the most attentive consideration on the part of all who can appreciate the benefits of knowledge. Those, especially, who would make us believe that pure Hinduism, the unadulterated teaching of the Vedas, is in itself a most rational body of divinity, are bound to show that their theory is not practically incompatible with the improvement of their wives, daughters, and sisters. As our improvement in spirituals is necessary to awake us to a sense of our duties, and thereby stimulate our exertions for the welfare of just one half the human species, so is the temporal amelioration of our condition necessary to the execution of our project. It is a sad but an undeniable fact, that the greatest portion of our countrymen can ill dispense with the services of their women to afford them leisure for study, and are forced by their reduced circumstances to impose upon them their whole domestic drudgery. This hard necessity must long teach them the policy of perpetuating the ignorance and degradation of those, for whose intellectual recreation they can allow no vacation, and whom they cannot exempt from the meanest employments of the house. The mental exertion which the reception of education requires, can scarcely be made with any success, while the hand is full of such a variety of hard tasks as falls to the lot of the woman in Hindustan; nor can placidness and contentment, in a mind capable of literary occupations, consist with incessant calls to the most laborious and fatiguing toils. What time or taste can our sisters have for intellectual amusement, while they are continually worried by the alternate performance of the duties of sweepers, bearers, cooks, khetmutgars, and masalchees? And yet their husbands cannot help this. The rooms must be swept, the beds and lights 49

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must be prepared, the meals must be dressed and served out, the plates must be cleaned; and if the men must attend to their professional employments, and their poverty allow not the entertainment of servants, the tasks must devolve upon the women. How then can the natives be reasonably expected, under such circumstances, imprudently to encourage a system of education, which may interrupt the performance of domestic business, and create in the females a refined taste for expensive articles, the gratification whereof must multiply calls upon their exhausted purses? Under this extensive view of things, every attempt that is made to enlighten and convert, to enrich and raise the males from their present spiritual and temporal condition, must eventually exercise a happy influence upon the welfare of the women. Knowledge must be disseminated, superstition must be eradicated, truth must be implanted, trade and the arts must be countenanced, indigenous talent, genius, and industry must be encouraged, before a considerable change can be expected in native society; and prior to such a change, much improvement cannot take place in the most delicate point of treatment to females. Men must be reclaimed from a blind adulation of custom, the sanctifying energies of truth must work upon them, the languor and inclemency of poverty must be removed from the leading members of society, before the Hindus will set their hearts upon such a total reform of domestic life, as female education, if extensively diffused, will call for. To expect that they will at once relieve their partners from hard manual task, or that these will turn to good account an immediate lift to the post enjoyed by the educated ladies of the West, is to expect a miracle. If the past dealings of Divine Providence may form good criteria for anticipating the future, no sanguine expectations can reasonably be entertained. For centuries did the renovating truths of the Gospel shed their benign influence upon Europe, once involved, more deeply perhaps than Asia, in darkness, before society acquired its present tone, and put on its present features. Long had the powers of the human mind developed in various ways, and commerce and the arts had helped the cause of human improvement, before the spectacle of female enfranchisement, such as we now see, was exhibited. And is a precocious advancement to be expected in India? Are we to do here in a few years, what was not achieved in Europe before many ages? Are inveterate evils of deeper root to be eradicated in a moment from Hindu society, when the work of destroying the same in Europe occupied so many centuries, and required such continued exertions? Thus then we see that previous to the conversion of the natives, and the amelioration of their temporal condition, much cannot be looked for in the way of female education. It is impossible that many can be instructed under the present unfavourable circumstances. Respectable native females must be raised up as tutoresses and schoolmistresses, and the women must be liberated from their imprisonment and relieved from their laborious tasks, before the cultivation of letters can come into general vogue among them. But such a system can never be introduced before the dissemination of the gospel, and the social improvement of the people. 50

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We must here take the liberty of reminding our British conquerors of the duties devolving upon them from their peculiar position in the East. Divine Providence has tolerated their elevation to the dignity of rulers in an empire, which even the Macedonian victor had failed to annex to his almost unlimited dominions. They are now enjoying precedence and supremacy in a land, which had from time immemorial attracted the eye of the world, but of which, by their birth, they possessed not even the rights of citizenship. They are deriving wealth, and patronage, and influence, and power from a country, thousands of miles distant from the place which gave them birth. Is it to be supposed that God has crowned their projects with success, and signalized their arms with victory, for the sole purpose of multiplying their enjoyments, extending their patronage, and increasing their opulence? Was it only that they might taste the milk and honey with which the heritage flowed, that they have been suffered to obtain such a firm footing in India? By no means! He that had promised to his Son, “the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession,” rescued this vast empire from the clutches of Brahma and Mahomet, that the standard of the Cross might supplant those of the Trishula and the Crescent. He that had predetermined the preaching of his Gospel unto all creatures, and the restoration of the numberless sheep he owned among the Gentiles, entrusted the country to his favoured servants of Christian Britain, that the superstructure of divine truth might accompany the erection of their castles and fortresses, and that the religion of peace, with all its attendant blessings, domestic and social, might be offered to the adoption, and commended to the consciences of the people, about to the emancipated from the thraldom of demons and monsters. So long then, and so far only, as our masters labour in the execution of these great purposes, they rightly retain their vassalage under God. How immensely does this consideration enhance their obligations in the sight of the Almighty! It is their part not only to assist, but to take the lead in the improvement of the country, and the regeneration and complete civilization of her inhabitants! If the possession of gospel knowledge, and the enjoyment of the two-fold promises of gospel godliness, entail of themselves the most weighty obligations on their partakers, so that every Christian may say with St. Paul, “I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise;” how much more pressing do these duties become, when, in addition to these advantages, the facilities that have been opened, and the active influence that has been vouchsafed to the British nation, is taken into account? Be it understood that we are talking generally of the duties which Christian England owes to her heathen dependancy India. We acknowledge with gratitude that our country is infinitely better off under British auspices, than she ever was within the memory of man. Neither the Mogul, nor the Afghan, nor any of our own native dynasties, understood the principles of that enlightened policy, which is the glory of British supremacy. We do not therefore mean to deny our own obligations to England, when we still speak of her duties to us. We are fully sensible of the improvements effected in our country under her influence; of the security 51

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we enjoy under her powerful protection; of the progress of education under the immediate patronage of the local governments; of the encouragement tendered to native talent, and the removal of invidious distinctions and disabilities as far as the power of the authorities on the spot extends; of the stimulus given to the commerce of the country and the development of its wealth; of the principle of a representative government generously introduced by the municipal act of 1847. We also acknowledge with thankfulness the piety and charity of many a private society in England, devoting large funds for the spiritual improvement of our countrymen. Why then, it may be asked, do we still admonish our governors on their duty? Simply because there is room for further improvement; because our estimate of British duty is formed by a consideration of the high principles which distinguish the august legislature of Westminister; because Britain stands on a proud eminence as the improver and civilizer of the world. The children of a great man may be excused for lofty aspirations which might ill befit the offspring of a pauper; the subjects of a great sovereign may desire boons, proportioned to the moral dignity of their rulers. We have already remarked that the temporal amelioration of our countrymen is necessary for the improvement of our females, and it may not be irrelevant to add that this amelioration depends in a great measure on a still more liberal encouragement of native talent on the part of our rulers. The local governments of India have indeed given this encouragement to the utmost of their porwer, and it would be ungrateful not to acknowledge that we could not be placed under governors more humane. They have never neglected the claims of native subjects in the distribution of preferments. But their hands are fettered; their powers are restricted. They can only make Deputy Collectors, Deputy Magistrates, Deputy judges (i. e. Moonsiffs and Sudder Ameens,) and Sub-assistant Surgeons. In appointments of greater importance their choice is limited by law. Is it unreasonable to desire, now that the country can produce so much of indigenous talent, that the supreme ruler of this magnificent appendage of the British crown, representing the majesty of a kingdom, at once the most powerful and the most civilized on the face of the globe, may be unfettered in his selection of public functionaries? may be invested with those powers of which even the viceroys of the Afghan and Mogul dynasties were not destitute? The possession of such unrestricted powers will, on the one hand, impart to the British Proconsul the full complement of the dignity, due to the representative of a sovereign, whose dominions extend to every quarter of the globe, and to the supreme ruler of a country which produces an annual revenue of twenty crores of Rupees; and it will, on the other hand, supply every one, permanently attached to the soil, with fresh motives of self-improvement, and stimulate him with the laudable ambition of serving his country under the auspices of a powerful and paternal government. The administration of some of the Mogul emperors was rendered illustrious in India by the co-operation of Hindu and Mahometan functionaries in the service of the state; but that lustre will dwindle into the glimmering of a feeble taper, when a galaxy of Todermuls and Man Sings will reflect the full 52

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blaze of the policy, which magnifies the honor, and consolidates the power of Great Britain, while it raises the character, and promotes the social improvement of the most distant nations of the Earth. But it is time to relieve the reader’s patience; we will trespass only a few moments longer on his attention, while we briefly advert to the duties our own countrymen owe to themselves, their families, and their country. The regeneration and complete civilization of India are objects, with reference to which, the duty and interest of the natives are intimately linked together. They ought therefore to put forth all their energies for the amelioration of their native land. And much depends on their personal exertions. The philanthropic efforts of Europeans can be no avail, so long as the natives will not help themselves. However liberal the parliament may be in its legislation for India, and how zealously soever the local governments may give effect to laws calculated to improve the social condition of their subjects, no permanent good can result unless the people introduce reforms in their own households; unless those that are educated reduce their principles to practice in their own homes. Many there are who can beautifully theorize on female improvement; how small the number that is resolved to verify the theory! Many there are that can inveigh against the custom of giving away infant girls by early marriages; perhaps none has yet waxed bold enough practically to protest against the evil. How long is the present state of things to continue? How long is principle to be sacrificed to custom, fear, or policy? The custom is acknowledged to be vicious; the fear is groundless; the policy is questionable. The heads of Hindu dals or clans may threaten with excommunication the spirited individual that may think of rescuing his daughter from the debasing effects of the Hindu rules of marriage; but the number of educated natives is sufficiently large to form a dal of their own. Why do they not attempt it? No exertions can be more patriotic, more worthy of instructed minds, more honourable in themselves and beneficial to India, than efforts to improve the tone of female society and to ameliorate its condition Let the educated Hindus discontinue the force of a child of eight or nine entering into a solemn matrimonial contract; let them in their own turn brand with the stigma of inhumanity, the man who would sacrifice the lasting interests of his daughter for the sake of maintaining his caste; let them excommunicate from their dal those who would continue to perpetuate female degradation. Such a practical exhibition of principle would be truly heroic; it would embalm the memory of the leading reformers in the estimation of the latest posterity; it would raise the Bengali character beyond conception, and put the bitterest of our detracting opponents to silence. Nor must it be forgotten that righteousness exalteth a nation. We are far from desiring that our countrymen should adopt our opinions on our own credit; Christianity itself repudiates the idea of depending on no other basis than human influence. But addressing ourselves to intelligent and educated men, we do not perhaps incur the danger of being mistaken or misrepresented, when we say, that it is the part of a rational man to inquire for himself and satisfy his mind of religious truth. No social reform in India can be complete without the aid of true religion. False 53

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religion deteriorates the mind; no religion leaves a blank in it, and deprives society of its only great bond. It is when true religion sheds its benign influence over the instructed mind, that nations and individuals may expect all the improvement of which they are capable.

Notes 1. The following is a list of the duties which the Brahmin must religiously perform every day in the order in which they are here mentioned, and according to the manner prescribed under each head in the Shasters. 1. Answering the calls of nature.—2. Cleaning.—3. Washing.—4. Binding the hair.—5. Rules for taking water into the hand for purifying the mouth.—6. Brushing the teeth.—7. Morning bath and prayer—8. Duties during the first eighth part of the day.—9. Those during the second eighth part.—10. Concerning writing.—11. Duties during the third eighth part of the day.—12. Those during the fourth eighth part.—13. Offerings of water to the manes of deceased relatives.—14. Prayer.—15. Worship—16. Worship of the Sun.—17. Meditations on the Vedas.—18. Worship of the Gods.—19. That of Ganesha.—20. Of the lingum of Shiva.—21. Offerings of incense.—22. Of lighted candles.—23. Of eatables.—24. Rules for entertaining guests.—25. Offerings to cows—26. Of eating.—27. Offering to the five airs of the body, and eating only with the fingers.—28. On the six seasons, and the food most appropriate for each.—29. The qualities of the six tastes.—30. Criteria for judging of different constitutions of the body.—31. Qualities of rice.—32. Of herbs and pulse.—33. Of salt.—34. Of fruits.—35. Of water.—36. Of milk.—37. Of curds— 38. Of sugar.—39. Of ghee.—40. Of sugar cane.—41, Duties during the sixth-eighth part of the day.—42. Duties of the night.—43. Rules relating to making and going to bed. Each of these heads has been largely dwelt upon in the A’hniha Taltwa, whence we have extracted them. The prescribed rules have scarcely left room for individual discretion in any of the actions just enumerated. The arrogance with which the Hindu legislators have ordained uniformity of observance in a religious way on the most indifferent and ordinary matters, cannot be contemplated without the utmost indignation and contempt; while the two-fold authority, to which they aspired, of physical and spiritual doctors, and the confidence with which they delivered opinions on the medicinal properties of eatables and drinkables,—and that under the pretended sanctions of the Most High,—may be somewhat amusing to the professors of materia medica. It was almost impossible, however, that such encroachments upon personal liberty could be tolerated for any considerable length of time. Custom has long since dispensed with this daily ritual; the rules laid down by our sapient lawgivers stand only as dead letters on their writings. Mr. Colebrooke has made a digest of the ceremonies which Brahminism enjoins upon its votaries, whence European readers may derive some notion of the fetters by which the followers of this system are bound. See his Miscellaneous Essays, vol. i. 2.

A mother having brought forth a boy may be allowed to do her accustomed work, bathing after twenty nights; but after a month, when she is delivered of a girl.—PAITHANASI in the Suddhi Tatttwa.

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3.

“Come, O thou blessing-dispensing goddess! celebrated by the name of the Great Shashthi, and by thy divine energy protect my son in the watch-room. “As Scanda the son of Gouri, was ever guarded by thee, so may this my son be likewise preserved! Reverence to thee, O Shashthi!”—Jyotis Tattwa. 4.

“At the age of five, when Janárdan (Vishnu) is not in a state of slumber, a boy is to be made to commence the study of letters, Hari, Lakshmi, and Saraswati having been first worshipped.”—Vishnu Dharmottara. 5.

“The tutor sitting with his face towards the east is to instruct the pupil having his face turned towards the west.”—Vrihaspati. “He is a good scribe whose letters meet at the top, are full, and well arranged in the line.”—Matsyapwrana. 6. A friend who reviewed the first edition of this work pointed out the following passage from the Mahanirvan Tantra, prescribing the duty of educating females:

The daughter should likewise be nursed and educated with care, and married with gifts of money and jewels to a learned man.” 7. “The Vedas are not even to be heard either by the servile class, women, or degraded Brahmins.”—Shri Bhágavat. “Women have no business with the texts of the Veda.”—Menu ix. 18. A few solitary instances are on record of the Vedas being expounded to females; the most striking example is that of Yaguawalkya catechizing his wife Maitreyi. 8.

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“Pronunciation, description of sacred rites, grammar, versification, pure and mixed mathematics, and glossarial explanation of obscure terms are the six members of the Vedas.”—Amara. The friendly reviewer, already referred to, is inclined to think that the Vedangas are not forbidden to the classes to whom the study of the Vedas is decidedly prohibited. This is perhaps a point open to controversy. 9. “The treatise on the Nyáya, above referred to, is by many believed to be Lilávati’s own composition, although the book itself (at least the copy I have used, being that which belonged to the Library of Fort William College, and is now preserved in the Asiatic Society’s Museum) purports to be the production of Acharya Ballabha. It is also a commonly received opinion that there were two Lilavatis, the heroines of the two works mentioned above. 10. The words of Menu are very expressive:

Ch. 5, v. 151, which Sir W. Jones has thus rendered, “Him to whom the father has given her, or her brother with the paternal assent, let her obsequiously honour while he lives; and when he dies, let her never neglect him.” 11. “The seizure f a maiden by force from her house, while she weeps and calls for assistance, after her kinsmen and friends have been slain in battle or wounded, and their houses broken open, is the marriage styled Rakshasa.” Menu iii. 33. This kind of marriage is in the 26th verse pronounced admirable for the military classes. 12.

“The marriage of a girl (whatever her caste) is to be celebrated after she is seven years old, otherwise it becomes contrary to the dictates of religion. At the age of eight she becomes a Gouri, (that is, her father by giving her away at this age obtains the merit attached to the gift of Gouri,) at the age of nine she becomes a Rohini, and at the age of ten a mere virgin. Her youth commences if she is older. Therefore the wise are to dispose of her before the close of her tenth year, even if the time were otherwise inauspicious or improper. The father of an unmarried girl, that has passed her tenth year, incurs the crime of destroying her embryo, and such a girl brings upon herself the stigma of a

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Vrishali. The weak-minded Brahmin that espouses such a girl loses his title to funeral obsequies, and ought to be turned out of society as the husband of a Vrishali.” Bhavadeva Bhatta in Udvaha Tattwa and Atri and Káshyapa. Menu has somewhat softened the rigor of these rules by sanctioning the postponement of a girl’s marriage if a well qualified husband is not found.

“It is better that a maiden, though of full age, should remain unmarried all her life, than that she should ever be given to a worthless husband.”—Institutes ix. 89. 13. See the meaning of in Wilson’s Sanscrit Dictionary.—Lakshmana thus expresses his astonishment on finding a woman, walking in a desert wild:— “What! art thou wandering fearless, whose form is that of one who should not see even the sun?”—Bhatti. 14. Rukmini, daughter of the king of Vidarbhs, a few days before her expected marriage with a person for whom she had no esteem, writing to Krishna, the report of whose accomplishments had attracted her affections, thus takes notice of the obstacles which lay in the way of her lover’s access to her:

“Having come, O thou invincible one! secretly into Vidarbha at the head of thy officers on the day before the marriage, and having subdued the forces of Shishupala and the king of Magadha, carry me away suddenly as the just reward of thy valour, agreeably to the rules of Rakshas matrimony. If thou ask, how thou shalt take me who am secured in the recesses of the palace, without killing my friends and relations, I will tell thee an expedient by which thy way may be cleared. There is on the day before the matrimony a great family procession, when the bride must issue out for the purpose of worshipping Girisha.”—Shri. Bhag. 10th Scandhs. The celestial swan, who cuts such a prominent figure in the Naishadha, and who was boasting of the lessons he had given on gesticulation to the ladies of a royal family, attributes his admittance into their company to his volant powers:

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“The recesses of the palace not being inaccessible to birds, we enter therein and instruct the beauteous queens on the most graceful gesticulation.”—Naishadha, chap. iii. When Nala got access, by an especial and miraculous providence of the gods, into the quarters of Damayanti, daughter of Bhims, she inquires with astonishment:

“How is it thou hast come here? How is it thou hast not been observed? For my quarters are well guarded, and the king is severe in his discipline.”—Mahabharata. We do not mean to assert that females were excluded in ancient times with the same rigor as at the present day; but the practice is not entirely owing to the Mahometans. 15. Cecrop’s law, and perhaps a few others, are happy exceptions. 16.

The wife who commits herself to the flames on the death of her husband shall equal Arundhati, and reside in Swerga. She who thus follows her husband shall dwell in heaven as many years as there are hairs on the human body, even three and half crores of years. Angiras in Shuddhi Tattwa.

“She, whose sympathy feels the pains and joys of her husband, who mourns and pines in his absence, and dies when he dies, it a good and loyal wife.”—Harita in ditto. “According to the Rig-Veda the loyal wife shall not be deemed a suicide”—Brahma Purana in ditto. 17.

18. “He whose widow is not dead, has half his body in the land of the living.”—Yagnawalkya. 19.

“By a girl or by a young woman, or by a woman advanced in years, nothing must be done even in her own dwelling place according to her mere pleasure. In childhood must

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a female be dependent on her father; in youth on her husband; her lord being dead, on her sons: a woman must never see independence.”—Menu.

“On the death of the husband, without issue, his relations have the dominion over his widow, having all authority to controul her gifts, and to maintain her person. If the husband’s relations be dead, then the widow must be subject to her paternal kindred; and if both her husband’s and father’s relations be defunct, then she is to depend upon the reigning government.”—Nárada. 20.

“Where females are honoured, there the deities are pleased; but where they are dishonoured, there all religious acts become fruitless. Where female relations are made miserable, the family of him who makes them so, very soon wholly perishes, but where they are not unhappy, [t]he family always increases.”—Menu iii. 56, 67. 21. The author knows personally individuals that have married twenty wives, without possessing any means, or pursuing any employment, whereby to sustain their own lives, much less to afford a decent maintenance to their wives. It is not uncommon for sons of Kulins to profess perfect ignorance of the number of their half-brothers and step-mothers. Their fathers multiply wives, even after passing the age of 60 or 70, and they do not always succeed in making a correct census of the increasing number of their mothers. 22. A Bengali newspaper lately reported a strange story. The daughter of an inhabitant of Jessore was married to a Kulin, who had not visited the family for a long time. An impostor made his appearance one evening, introducing himself as the husband of the damsel. The inmates of the house had not seen the real husband for many years; and the impostor played his part so artfully that every one was deceived. The parents of the girl were far too glad on the advent of their supposed son-in-law to question the veracity of their guest. They gave him a hearty welcome, and introduced him to their daughter’s quarters, where the impostor slept for the night; but before break of day the next morning he decamped, carrying with himself the jewels which he had stolen from the unhappy girl’s person. 23. A letter appeared lately in one of our Bengali newspapers containing a description of the present state of our female society, and purporting to be the composition of a native lady. The facetious editor attributed its authorship to a fair correspondent with the sole intention, perhaps, of producing a dramatic effect on his readers. The picture, whether drawn by a female pencil or not, appears however to be taken from life. We have elsewhere inserted an English translation of the remarkable epistle. See A Appendix. 24. The abolition of the Suttee has we are happy to say saved our Bengal females from the peril of a violent suicide. The same humane law has now been adopted in many of the native states throughout Hindustan.

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25. So little is the care which our Bengali authors have taken to avoid indelicacy of expression, that even the Probodh Chundrika and the Hitopadesha, works printed under European patronage, are not free from objections in this respect. 26. Menu considers liberty allowed to females as a dangerous indulgence; and classes it in the same category with other incentives to crime.

“The following six lead to crime and impurity in women—vis. drinking, keeping company with bad men, quarrelling with their own husbands, wandering at large, sleeping at unseasonable hours, and lodging at a stranger’s house.”—Institutes ix. 13. Much sagacity is displayed in this remark; it was certainly well applicable to the state of society in which Menu lived. 27. An enlightened friend and countryman, familiar with the idea of female instruction in his own family, suggests the propriety of sketching the kind of education we would recommend to our countrywomen. His letter we have printed by permission in the Appendix. 28. Rajah Buddinauth Roy. 29. This was written in 1841. 30. “Fæminæ per fæminas, says Grotius, primi Christianismi cognitione imbui et sic ad Ecclesias pertrahi debebunt.” Clemens (of Alexandria) speaks more particularly; συνδιακονους προς τας ουκουσας γυναικας (by which he meant the female catechists,) δι ων εις την γυναικονιτια. αδιαβλητως παρεισδυετο ἡ του κυριου διδασκαλια. And the author of the Apost. Const. testifies to the same effect; εστι γαρ ὀποταν εκ τισιοικιαις ανδρα διακονον γυναιξιν ου δυνατον πεμπειν δια του απιστους αποστελεις ουν γυναικα διακονον. It must be acknowledged that we are indebted for these passages to Hamon L’Estrange. 31. The following representation by Corn. Nepos of Greek manners, as contrary to Roman, may be called an exact antitype of Hindu customs in this respect:—“Contra ea pleraque nostris moribus sunt decora, quæ apud illos turpia putantur. Quem enim Romanorum pudet uxorem ducere in convivium? Aut cujus mater familias non primum locum tenet aedium, quæ in celebritate versatur. Quod multo sit aliter in Græcia, Nam neque in convivium adhibetur, nisi propinquorum; neque sedet, nisi in interiore parte ædium, quæ gynæconitis appellatur: quo nemo accedit, nisi propinqua cognatione conjunctus.” —Corn. Nepo. Prefam. 32. It were exceedingly to be wished, that the literary exercises of this lady, if she left any, together with a memoir of her life, and a detailed statement of her intellectual progress, were presented to the public. Such a compilation would be deeply interesting both as a monument of her father’s singular fortitude, and also as the precious remains of the first native girl that was property educated in European literature; and its effects upon intelligent Hindus would be incalculable. Many that followed the Baboo in professing their regard for the females, might thereby be actuated to imitate his example. 33. The history of Miss Holliday’s intercourse with the ladies of Mahomet Ali’s harem is so full of instruction that we have been tempted to reprint several extracts from her letters in the Appendix. 34. We cannot help adverting in this place to the conversational parties that used to be held upwards of seventeen years ago in the house of a gentleman since departed from India. He devoted an evening once a fortnight to the cultivation and maintenance of social intercourse with his native acquaintance, to whom the doors of his drawing room were thrown open, and who were introduced to his family. Those of

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his own countrymen who did not think such familiarity with natives derogatory to their dignity, were also occasionally invited to join these interesting parties. The consequences of such social intercourse between Natives and Europeans surpassed all expectation. The conversation generally embraced local subjects, appertaining to the improvement of the people; and the degree of light thus diffused, and the zeal thus communicated, were incalculable. Unfortunately, however, this exemplary course could not be long pursued by the friend who assembled the parties. His peculiar profession forced him to discharge official duties in the night, and the meetings were necessarily discontinued. 35. A few native students have been received in Bishop’s College since the publication of our first edition, who were born of Christian parents. 36. We are not here reflecting those most efficient institutions, the General Assembly’s and the Free Church. These will not, however, perhaps answer for a long time to come the object of training up the children of native Christians. The respected Missionaries of the Scottish Churches have no large nativ Christian congregations under their care, from which to draw many Christian students for their institutions.

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4 ‘AN APPEAL FROM A NATIVE CHRISTIAN OF THE PUNJAB TO THE INDIAN FEMALE NORMAL SCHOOL AND INSTRUCTION SOCIETY’, INDIAN FEMALE EVANGELIST (JULY 1875), 289–291

To the Honourable Committee, to whom has been intrusted by God the noble work of giving to those who have for long been oppressed by Satan, the perfect liberty which is in Christ Jesus. I make known to you the wish of my heart. About fifteen years ago I was appointed by the Umritsur Mission to preach the Word of Life. At that time very few had heard the Gospel; but through the great diligence and devotion of the Church, the Word of Truth quickly and abundantly spread abroad in the towns and villages. Unfortunately the Missionaries’ work having now increased in the cities, they cannot preach so much in the country. Some of the Missionaries with whom I have been acquainted, such as Mr. Bruce, Mr. Browne, and Mr. Downes, were the means of doing much good in this land, but unfortunately they went home leaving their work only half done, and have never returned to finish it; there has consequently been much loss. Now I will make known my request. Much thought and effort has been spent on the men of the Punjab, but till now the women have been excluded from the blessings which are offered in Christ Jesus to the whole race of mankind. Although four or five Miss Sahibs have come out, they are but few, for the Punjab is not a city, but a large country, in which there are thousands of men, women, and children, whose precious souls are perishing day by day. Certainly this land is in a very sad condition. The wicked practices and false religion of its people are like a bleak mountain. The “purdah” of the women is like a strong fort, in which they are imprisoned from their childhood, and pass and end their days in complete ignorance both of this world and the next. It is the duty of the Church of God to enlighten them. How can it fulfil this responsibility? Man’s part in the matter is this. The “great company of women” which David speaks of in Ps. lxviii. 5–2, must be sent. When the company of priests sounded the trumpets round the walls of Jericho, they fell flat down, and the city came into the hands of God’s people. So the strong fortress of women’s “purdah,” and all its evil customs, 62

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will fall before the trumpets of this army of preachers. Nearly two years have gone by since I first came to live in Batala. When a census was taken some time ago, the population was reckoned at 24,000, another census is now being taken, and the number will probably be found still larger. There has been a great deal of preaching in the bazaars; so much so that probably every man in the place has heard of the gift of salvation through Christ, but the poor women are so shut up in their houses, that the voice of the preacher, be it ever so loud, cannot reach them. Certainly the Hindu women are sometimes allowed to go out to worship their idols, and to sing impure songs at their marriages or to weep at a funeral; but their worship is as it were only a cover, under which is concealed the various forms of wickedness connected with idolatry; the rejoicing at their marriages is but the laughter or fools, which, Solomon tells us (Eccles. vii. 6), is as “the crackling of thorns under a pot,” and their weeping for the dead is like the wailings of despair which come from hell. Their children become from their earliest childhood accustomed to all that is sensual and worldly, while of the heavenly and spiritual they know nothing. They may break the commandments of God, but no one cares. They are most particular to observe all their own ordinances, because, if they did not do so, they would be excommunicated from their caste; but as far as man is concerned they may lie or commit any kind or wickedness with impunity. In this condition, they cannot listen to the word of God. Satan, not satisfied with oppressing them thus, causes them to commit folly upon folly. For instance, when a child or any relation is sick, the devil puts all kinds of evil thoughts in their hearts. He tells them this is the effect of an evil spirit. You must present an offering that it may be pacified and the sick one healed. So they bow down before their gods and on the graves; sometimes they think that some bad man has looked on the child, and that this sickness is the consequence of his evil eye. So mentioning the names of a pir (a false prophet), a faqir, or a charmer, or some verse from the Koran, they breathe over him, or they give away alms even at the risk of parting with all they possess. When they get tired and no effect is produced, this fable is repeated to them:—“The father of a sick child came one day to Mahomet and asked for help. Mahomet said you must sacrifice a sheep; the father having done so, came back and told him the child was no better. Mahomet said, ‘offer another.’ This was repeated six times, but the man refused to give any more. Then the child died. The weeping father came to Mahomet saying, ‘The light of my house has been extinguished.”’ Then Mahomet opened the eyes of the man, and looking towards his house, he saw on the roof a seven-mouthed bala (a monster who comes to carry away the spirits of the dying); in six of the mouths were the sheep he had sacrificed, in the seventh his child. ‘See’ said Mahomet, ‘if you had offered the seven sacrifices, seven sheep would have been devoured and your child would have been saved.’” By the repetition of such tales the faqirs impress on the people the necessity of making offerings, and so the poor unfortunate ones often not only suffer the loss of their relations by death, but much of their substance is wasted in vain attempts for their restoration. Yet they will not understand that this trouble is simply a bodily sickness which cannot be healed without medicine. So, having no doctor for either body or soul, they are brought under the power of divers diseases. The native 63

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doctors understand very little of medical science, and what they do know they sell very dear. So people not receiving from them the benefit they expect, naturally fall back again on their foolish superstitions. Native doctors who have received English teaching have lately been established in the country; but they only carry on their practice from fear of Government or love of gain. There is no love and pity in their hearts towards their patients; indeed they often show such harshness and bitterness that a sick person weakened with illness will bear any amount of suffering rather than meet with it. Of course they receive no medicine, and no doctor will go to see them in their own houses, or if they are persuaded to do so, demand such heavy fees that the people are scarcely able to pay them. Although many refuse the blessings of the Christian religion, and often choose to remain ignorant of them; they do not refuse medicine, but will receive it thankfully from the hands of a Christian; for though they know nothing of spiritual knowledge, they well understand the evil of sickness. Dr. Elmslie’s work amongst them was so valued that they mention his name now with the greatest respect, and lament over his death. They cannot easily forget the kindness that he showed in giving them remedies. By this means Christians can gain entrance into many houses, and by prayerfully administrating medicine and teaching, can give health to the body and light to the mind. On such occasions the women will listen to the Word of God. Would that you could see the state of this country with your own eyes! then the place for pity in your hearts would grow larger, for one glance would show you that the inhabitants are indeed sitting in darkness, and then you would thrust forth a host of goodly women into the Punjab. I am alone in Batála. My knowledge and understanding are very small; still, having studied the Gospel, I make it known to others; but my wife cannot even do so much amongst the women as I can amongst the men. If the state of a city is so bad, what must that of the country be, where no Christian woman has ever yet set foot? Perhaps you will ask what are the wives of our native pastors doing? I don’t wish to blame them, but many of them are not capable of doing this work; they rather need instruction themselves. If they were able to do it, we should not make this request to you. So many preachers of the Word of Life are required here. Please give this notice to your people, that now is the opportunity, by a little effort, to win a priceless crown. It is, as it were, the evening, when only one working hour remains, yet God is calling labourers into His vineyard, and gives them the same reward as those who have worked all through the day. By a little trading now, great profit may be gained; by spending five talents by a little toil, five more may be won. Please consider this my request, and at least send to Batála a Miss Sahib, or some Christian woman who understands medicine. Many women, both from the cities and all around, will come for relief, and so there will be glorious opportunities for sowing the seed of the Word of Life, and for ministering health and soundness to the whole man. When this is accomplished we shall indeed bless God for what you have been the means of doing. All honour and glory be to Him for ever.—Amen. Your obedient servant, SADIK, Catechist, Batála. C.M.S. March 18, 1875. 64

5 EVIDENCE OF SYED BADRUDDIN TYABJI ON MUSLIM EDUCATION, EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE BOMBAY PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE AND MEMORIALS ADDRESSED TO THE EDUCATION COMMISSION (CALCUTTA: SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, 1884), 497–508

Evidence of THE HONOURABLE BADRUDIN TYABJI, Barrister-at-Law. Ques. 1.—Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on the subject of education in India, and in what province your experience has been gained. Ans. 1.—I do not profess to have had any special opportunities of studying the question of general education in India. My personal knowledge is limited to the Presidency, or rather to the city, of Bombay. I may however say that I am fairly acquainted with the state of Muhammadan education in India. My knowledge and experience have mainly been derived from the difficulties I myself and many members of my family have had to encounter in acquiring English education;— and from my connection with the Surmay a Jamati Sulemani,—the Madrasa-iAnjuman Islam, and the University of Bombay. I have been a somewhat active member of the Anjuman, which has taken great interest in the cause of Muhammadan education. I have been a Secretary of the Anjuman for several years, and have taken a leading part in the foundation and management of the Anjuman schools. I was myself educated partly in India and partly in England, partly at home and partly at public schools and colleges. I was about 7 years in England for the purposes of my general and professional education. Ques. 2.—Do you think that in your province the system of primary education has been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirements of the community? Can you suggest any improvements in the system of administration, or in the course of instruction? 65

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Ans. 2.—Confining myself to Muhammadan education, I do not think that the system of primary education amongst Muhammadans has been placed on a sound footing. Indeed, no system at all has been adopted with any reference to the requirements of the Mussulman community. I would suggest the establishment of Mussulman schools in all the centres of Muhammadan population. These schools should have Mussulman teachers; Hindustani and Persian should be taught in addition to the vernacular of the place, and the other usual branches of knowledge Special regard should be paid to the feelings and ideas, and even in some respects to the prejudices of the Mussulmans From a report presented to the Anjuman by a Committee specially appointed for that purpose, I find that in August 1879 there were about 110 private schools for Muhammadan boys in Bombay, giving instruction in the Korán, Hindustáni, and Persian to about 3,000 pupils; 70 out of these 110 schools taught nothing but the Korán. The aggregate amount of the salaries of the teachers appears to have been about Ɍ1,000 per month. This subject is more fully dealt with by me in answer to question 36. Ques. 3.—In your province is primary instruction sought for by the people in general, or by particular classes only? Do any classes specially hold aloof from it, and if so, why? Are any classes practically excluded from it, and if so, from what causes? What is the attitude of the influential classes towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society? Ans. 3.—Speaking generally I think primary education is sought for by the people in general. The higher classes of Muhammadans are to a great extent excluded from Government schools by reason of no attention being paid to their special requirements. They attach great importance to a knowledge of Hindustani, Persian, and Arabic, and are therefore unwilling, as a rule, to go to a school where instruction is only given in Gujarathi or Marathi and English. I think that the influential Muhammadans would support a system of education suited to the requirements of their community. They are at present perfectly indifferent, if not averse, to the cause of English education, because they consider it inconsistent with sufficient, instruction in their own classical languages. The proper remedy, therefore, is to combine Oriental learning with instruction in Western Literature, Arts, and Sciences. (See also my answer to question 67.) Ques. 4.—To what extent do indigenous schools exist in your province? How far are they a relic of an ancient village system? Can you describe the subjects and character of the instruction given in them, and the system of discipline in vogue? What fees are taken from the scholars? From what classes are the masters of such schools generally selected, and what are their qualifications? Have any arrangements been made for training or providing masters in such schools? Under what circumstances do you consider that indigenous schools can be turned to good account as part of a system of national education, and what is the best method to adopt for this purpose? Are the masters willing to accept State aid and to conform to the rules under which such aid is given? How far has the grant-in-aid system been extended to indigenous schools, and can it be further extended? Ans. 4.—I believe that indigenous schools exist in almost every part of the Presidency. So far as the Muhammadan indigenous schools are concerned, they are 66

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generally attached to a mosque or are conducted by a Kari or a Mulla, where little more than reading the Korán and perhaps a little Urdu is taught, all other subjects being, as a rule, entirely excluded. No discipline is observed. No separate classes are formed. As a rule, there is but one teacher in each school. No registers or catalogues of attendance are kept. Very slight fees are charged. Sometimes no remuneration is paid to the teacher except a present on the completion of each chapter of the Korán, &c. The poorer boys are admitted entirely free. The qualifications of these teachers are next to nothing They know little more than what they actually teach. They have no idea of arithmetic, or geography, or history. Many of them are unable to write These indigenous schools could be easily incorporated into a general national system by bringing them into connection with higher schools and by offering a small reward, say one rupee, for each boy sent up from these indigenous schools at stated periods after having passed a satisfactory examination in the subjects actually taught. There are some indigenous schools of higher description kept by learned men, where Persian and Arabic and logic and philosophy, as well as religious books, are taught. These it would be almost impossible to incorporate into the national system, owing to the religious character of the instruction given and the utter inability of the teachers to adapt themselves to Western ideas. The grant-in-aid system has not, so far as I am aware, been extended to any of these indigenous schools, but it might be extended with great advantage to some of them at least in the manner above indicated. The Anjuman-i-Islám has had for some time past under its consideration the important question of incorporating the indigenous schools in Bombay into the educational system established by the Anjuman itself, by offering a small reward to the teacher for each boy sent up from his school to one of the recognised central schools, as suggested above. Ques. 5.—What opinion does your experience lead you to hold of the extent and value of home instruction? How far is a boy educated at home able to compete on equal terms, at examinations qualifying for the public service, with boys educated at school? Ans. 5.—I attached the greatest value to home instruction when combined with instruction at a public school, but otherwise I think the advantages of a public school are far greater: a boy educated merely at home would not, in my opinion, be able to compete with boys educated at a public school. Ques. 6.—How far can the Government depend on private effort, aided or unaided, for the supply of elementary instruction in rural districts? Can you enumerate the private agencies which exist for promoting primary instruction? Ans. 6.—I do not think the Government can depend very much on private efforts for the supply of elementary education of a satisfactory kind in rural districts. The private agencies for Muhammadans would seem to be schools attached to mosques and other charitable institutions—private teachers who make a living out of the instruction given to their pupils, and learned men who open private classes in the higher branches of Oriental learning and philosophy. To this must be added schools opened by the different Missionary Societies, and which are only resorted to by the people when no other schools are available. 67

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Ques. 8.—What classes of schools, should, in your opinion, be entrusted to Municipal Committees for support and management? Assuming that the provision of elementary instruction in towns is to be a charge against Municipal funds, what security would you suggest against the possibility of Municipal Committees failing to make sufficient provision? Ans. 8.—It seems to me that some of the Municipalities in the Bombay Presidency are suffciently advanced to take charge of the lower as well as the higher schools. We have, however, no practical experience to guide us on the subject, but I can see no reason to apprehend that the Municipal Corporation of Bombay, for instance, would be unable to manage even the higher schools to the satisfaction of the people, as well as the Government. If the provision of elementary education is to be a charge on the Municipal fund, the only security that I can suggest is that a stipulation should be made that a certain percentage of income, not less than the amount now expended, should be spent by the Municipality, and that such expenditure should be gradually increased according to the requirements of the people. Ques. 10.—What subjects of instruction, if introduced into primary schools, would make them more acceptable to the community at large, and specially to the agricultural classes? Should any special means be adopted for making the instruction in such subjects efficient? Ans. 10.—Speaking of Muhammadans only, I certainly think that the introduction of Hindustani and Persian, together with mental arithmetic as taught in indigenous Gujarathi schools, would make the schools more acceptable to the Muhammadan community than they are at present (see answer to question 67.) Ques. 11.—Is the vernacular recognised and taught in the schools of your province the dialect of the people? And if not, are the schools on that account less useful and popular? Ans. 11.—Speaking generally the vernacular recognised and taught in the schools is the dialect of the general Hindu population, but not the language of the higher class of Muhammadans; and that is one chief reason why they have hitherto held aloof from resorting to such schools. Ques. 13.—Have you any suggestions to make regarding the taking of fees in primary schools? Ans. 13.—Considering the great poverty to which the Muhammadan community has been reduced, I would suggest that all poor boys should be admitted entirely free, and that fees should only be charged to those who are able to pay them without inconvenience Such fees should, of course, be always moderate (see answer to question 67.) Ques. 14.—Will you favour the commission with your views, first, as to how the number of primary schools can be increased; and, secondly, how they can be gradually rendered more efficient? Ans. 14.—I think that the number of indigenous primary schools could be easily increased by giving them the benefit of the grant-in-aid system, and they could be rendered more efficient by proper inspection and supervision, and by the introduction of some of the rules in regard to keeping of registers and catalogues. A little arithmetic might be insisted upon with advantage. 68

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Ques. 16.—Do you know of any cases in which Government institutions of the higher order might be closed or transferred to private bodies, with or without aid, without injury to education or to any interests which it is the duty of Government to protect? Ans. 16.—I do not know any case in which Government institutions of the higher order could be closed without injury to the cause of education, nor am I aware of any institution which could be transferred to any private agency without causing serious harm to the progress of mental culture in this Presidency. I cannot approve of the suggestion that the Arts College at Poona should be closed. Ques. 18.—If the Government, or any local authority having control of public money, were to announce its determination to withdraw, after a given term of years, from the maintenance of any higher educational institution, what measures would be best adapted to stimulate private effort in the interim, so as to secure the maintenance of such institution on a private footing? Ans. 18.—I think that if the Government or any local authority having control of public funds were to withdraw from the maintenance of any higher educational institution, such institution would cease to exist, or would exist only in a very inefficient condition. I can suggest no measures which would obviate these disastrous consequences. I do not think that the people at present sufficiently appreciate the benefits of education so as to relieve Government of its burdens and responsibilities in this respect. Ques. 20.—How far is the whole educational system, as at present administered, one of practical neutrality, i.e., one in which a school or a college has no advantage or disadvantage as regards Government aid and inspection from any religious principles that are taught or not taught in it? Ans. 20.—I think that the educational system as at present administered is one of practical neutrality, and to my mind it would be dangerous in the highest degree to depart from it. Ques. 25.—Do educated Natives in your province readily find remunerative employment? Ans. 25.—Educated Muhammadans have the greatest possible difficulty in finding remunerative employment either under Government or otherwise. The reasons for this are obvious; first, because little value is now-a-days attached to their accomplishments as Persian or Arabic scholars; and, secondly, because, although perfectly well educated in their own way, they have not, in consequence of the practical difficulties I have already and shall hereafter point out, the same facilities for acquiring English education as their other more favoured fellow subjects; and, thirdly, in consequence of political prejudices which have practically excluded them from all public service whatever. I know several Muhammadan graduates of the University, belonging to the most respectable families, who are unable to get any employment, although most strenuous efforts were made on their behalf by men of position and influence. Ques. 26.—Is the instruction imparted in secondary schools calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further with useful and practical information? 69

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Ans. 26.—I think that some branches of knowledge are taught in secondary schools which are comparatively useless to people if they do not prosecute their studies further, and which are generally forgotten soon after they cease their studies. I refer to the details of geography and history, as well as to Euclid and Algebra, &c. I think that mental arithmetic and book-keeping might be introduced with great advantage to the commercial classes. Ques. 27.—Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the Entrance Examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstance impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? Ans. 27.—I think it is perfectly true that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the Entrance examination of the University, and that this circumstance to a certain extent impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life. If there were two distinct public examinations, one for those who wish to enter the colleges, and the other for those who do not desire to pursue their studies further, I think it would give room for a more various, as well as a more practical, course of instruction in the different schools, (see also answer to question 26.) Ques. 31.—Does the University curriculum afford a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools, or are special Normal schools needed for the purpose? Ans. 31.—In my opinion the University curriculum affords a fair training for teachers in secondary schools, and I do not think that special Normal schools are absolutely needed for this purpose, though such schools would, of course, be very valuable Ques. 32.—What is the system of school inspection pursued in your province? In what respects is it capable of improvement? Ans. 32.—As a rule, there is no system of school inspection in Bombay, except in regard to Government or aided schools. I would recommend inspection and supervision by an independent Committee of competent and influential citizens. The present mode of inspection by the educational authorities is insufficient to do any real good to these schools. Ques. 33.—Can yon suggesst any method of securing efficient voluntary agency in the work of inspection and examination? Ans. 33.—I think there ought to be no difficulty whatever in securing the services of distinguished gentlemen, both European and Native, for the inspection and examination of schools. There are a large number of perfectly competent gentlemen in Bombay who would deem it a pleasure, as well as an honour, to undertake this task. The Anjuman schools are daily inspected by prominent members of the Muhammadan community, and I think their efficiency is greatly owing to this circumstance, Ques. 34.—How far do you consider the text-books in use in all schools suitable? Ans. 34.—Speaking generally, I see no objection to the text-books ordinarily used in the schools in Bombay. It is highly desirable to secure as great a variety as 70

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possible. In regard to Muhammadan schools there is no series of text-books which can be adopted with perfect satisfaction The compilation of such a series is one of the great aims which the Educational Department ought to keep in view. The Anjuman-i-Islám is also directing its efforts to attain this end. The Urdu Series lately issued by the Punjab educational authorities is a great improvement upon its predecessors, and might be adopted with advantage in the Muhammadan schools until a better one is produced As to Persian there are no satisfactory text-books at all. Ques. 36.—In a complete scheme of education for India, what parts can, in your opinion, be most effectively taken by the State and by other agencies? Ans. 36.—I am afraid that in the present backward state of India the whole responsibility of educating the people must fall upon the State The Government could not with any safety or without the certainty of prejudicing the cause of education withdraw from its present liberal policy of providing schools and colleges for the people. It would be impossible to rely upon any voluntary agencies. Such agencies would be very good auxiliaries, and might supply any deficiencies in the Government system of education, but I think it would be a fatal mistake on the part of the Government to rely exclusively upon them. Any high schools or colleges established by Missionary or other religious bodies would always be looked upon with grave suspicion by the people, and a withdrawal of Government in their favour would lead to serious misapprehension in the mind of the people in regard to the general policy and intentions of Her Majesty’s Government. This in itself would be a grave evil and a political blunder of the first magnitude, but I think there are even higher considerations which make it imperative on the Government to continue their present policy in regard to education. Her Majesty’s Government has repeatedly given pledges and assurances that the Natives of this country would be allowed a larger and larger share in the administration of India. The present Viceroy has, by the numerous Resolutions recently issued, given practical proof of his determination to carry out those assurances. It is now the settled policy of the Government of India that the blessings of self-government should be conferred upon the people of this country to as large an extent as practicable. If therefore the Natives of India are henceforth to take a more active part in the administration of their own country, it follows that they must at least be fairly educated, and it is obvious that they could not be so educated without proper facilities being afforded to them It seems to me, therefore, that a clear responsibility rests upon the Government to provide, not only primary education for the masses, and secondary education for the middle classes, but also high education for the future generations of those into whose hands the administration of the country must henceforth be more or less committed. The happiness, prosperity, and contentment of the people of India depend far more upon the civil administration of the country than upon its military system, and no civil administration can be satisfactory unless it is largely carried on by properly educated and enlightened Natives of the country To obtain the services of such gentlemen, however, it is necessary to continue and even to increase the facilities for sound education. It must further be borne in mind that the persons who most appreciate the blessings conferred upon India by the British 71

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Government are the people who have received good education. It is to the educated Natives of this country that the Government must look for moral support, and it is they alone who are, on the one hand, the interpreters to the masses at large of the feelings and intentions and policy of the Government, and, on the other hand, the exponents to Government of the sentiments, aspirations, thoughts, and prejudices of the people. Surely, then, it would be a very unwise policy on the part of the Government to do anything which would have the effect of alienating the sympathy of the educated classes or of giving them room to suspect that the Government was averse to the progressive enlightenment of the people On the whole, therefore, I am strongly of opinion that both the interests of the people and the interests of the State imperatively demand the continuance of the present liberal policy of Government in regard to education in all its branches I am, of course, hopeful that in course of time education will be so widely spread in India, and its blessings so universally appreciated, that its absence would not be tolerated by the people, and voluntary and perfectly efficient machinery would be forthcoming to provide it even without the support of Government In that case it might be well for Government gradually to withdraw from the direct support or management of the high schools and colleges and leave them to the operation of the law of demand and supply. At present, however, the people in general do not appreciate the value of high or even secondary education, there is not sufficient spontaneous demand for it, and the withdrawal of State support would mean the complete collapse of the whole educational system I am afraid there are no grounds for hoping that our wealthy citizens or noblemen would, at present at least, be willing to come forward with contributions of sufficient magnitude for the foundation or endowment of high schools or colleges. If, however, the present system continues in force for some time yet, and if the light of education penetrates to the upper and wealthier strata of Native society, as it will undoubtedly do in course of time, then we may hope that large schools and colleges will be gradually established in all parts of the country by charitable donations, and the burden of the Government will be gradually lightened and ultimately removed. The large endowments, both by Muhammadans and Hindus which exist everywhere in India show that the people of the country are disposed to be charitable according to their lights. Such charity, however, at present finds vent in the establishment of mosques, temples, dharamshalas, &c. From charity for religious purposes to charity for intellectual purposes is, however, but one step, and I entertain very little doubt that in the course of a few years, provided only the Government pursues its present policy in the meantime, rich Hindus and Muhammadans will begin to make the same munificent donations for educational institutions as they have hither to done for purely religious purposes. My objections, therefore, to any change in the present policy of the Government may be summarised as follows— (a) That it would lead to the educational system practically passing into the hands of missionary or other similar bodies and thus shake the confidence of the people in the religious neutrality of the Government. 72

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(b) That it would raise grave suspicions in the minds of the educated classes of the Natives of this country in regard to the policy and intentions of the Government as to the moral, intellectual, and material progress of the country. (c) That it would retard, if not completely stop, the progress of education in India, as there are at present at least no other agencies capable of taking the place of Government with anything like the same efficiency. (d) That the supply of educated Natives would gradually fail, and it would become impossible for Government to give effect to its declared policy of conferring the blessing of self-government upon the people of this country Ques. 39.—Does definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct occupy any place in the course of Government colleges and schools? Have you any suggestions to make on this subject? Ans. 39.—There is no definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct in Government colleges and schools except incidentally in the course of general instruction. I do not think it necessary to teach this as a special subject otherwise than by the instruction to be derived from good examples set by the teachers, &c. In my opinion intellectual training of a high order, combined with college discipline in itself, operates as a great teacher of duty and moral principles. Ques. 40.—Are any steps taken for promoting the physical well-being of students in the schools or colleges in your province? Have you any suggestions to make on the subject? Ans. 40.—As a general rule, there are no special steps taken for promoting the physical well-being of students in the schools and colleges in the Presidency of Bombay. Some of the schools and colleges have a play-ground and gymnasium, &c., attached, while others do not possess either I would recommend that a gymnasium should be attached to each institution of any importance. A prize might be awarded for proficiency in athletic sports, &c., in order to direct the attention of the students to their physical improvement. Ques. 41.—Is there indigenous instruction for girls in the province with which you are acquainted, and if so, what is its character? Ans. 41.—There are very few indigenous schools for girls in the Bombay Presidency Amongst the Mubammadans, however, females belonging to respectable families are usually taught at least how to read, if not how to write. There are some Karis or Mullas in the chief centres of Muhammadan population who teach the Korán and perhaps a little Hindustani and Persian to guls. Every Muhammadan of the higher order thinks it hisduty to teach his daughters how to read the Korán if nothing more’, and, as a general rule, women amongst the genuine Muhammadans are far more generally and far better educated than the women of other Native communities in India. All the remarks which I have made on the subject of the education of Muhammadan boys apply more or less to the education of Muhammadan girls also There are about 70 schools for Muhammadan girls in Bombay containing about 850 pupils But very little more than reading the Korán is taught in these schools. 73

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Ques. 42.—What progress has been made by the Department in instituting schools for girls, and what is the character of the instruction impacted in them? What improvements can you suggest? Ans. 42.—So far as I am aware, very little progress has been made by the Educational Department in instituting schools for girls. It is highly desirable that such schools should be established on a proper basis in Bombay at least. At present Native girls have either to remain ignorant, or be educated at home at great expense, or to attend Missionary schools, where, as a rule, Christianity is taught as a necessary part of the curriculum. There is not a single school for Muhammadan girls in Bombay where English is taught, although such a school, if established on a proper basis, would certainly be a great success, and would be supported by the respectable classes of the community. This important subject is at present engaging the attention of some of the prominent members of the An-juman-i-islam, and I am not without hope that some practical result may ensue from it Ques. 43.—Have yon any remarks to make on the subject of mixed schools? Ans. 43.—I do not think that mixed schools are desirable in the present state of Native ideas and feelings. There is an insuperable prejudice in the minds of the Native community against boys and girls mingling together in the schools. Ques. 47.—What do you regard as the chief defects, other than any to which you have already referred, that experience has brought to light in the educational system as it has been hitherto administered? What suggestions have you to make for the remedy of such defects? Ans. 47.—I think the chief defects of the present educational system are, that it tends to produce scholars of one stereotyped kind, that it leaves little room for the development of different styles of education in different schools in India, that it teaches a number of subjects which are of little practical utility; and that it omits to teach other subjects of far greater practical importance. I think some schools ought to be opened with the special view of assisting those who, for instance, wish to adopt a mercantile career. In the elementary classes more importance should he attached to mental arithmetic than has hitherto been done. Book-keeping might be introduced with great advantage in some of the schools. Classes for agricultural and technical instruction ought to be opened. Ques. 48.—Do you think that any part of the expenditure incurred by Government on high education in the Presidency of Bombay is unnecessary? Ans. 48.—I do not think that any part of the expenditure incurred by Government on high education in the Presidency of Bombay is unnecessary. On the contrary, I consider that the facilities for high education ought to be extended no less than for primary education, and so far from considering any portion of this expenditure unnecessary I am of opinion that it ought to be gradually increased so as to keep pace with the progress of primary and secondary education—until at least institutions of a high order are voluntarily established by the people themselves to take the place of the Government colleges. I have, however, no reason to hope that this will be the case for many years yet to come. 74

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Qnes. 53.—Should the rate of fees in any class of schools or colleges vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil? Ans. 53.—I think that the fees ought to vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil, and I am of opinion that great consideration ought to be shown to deserving pupils whose parents are unable to pay the usual fees; and especially in the case of Mussulmans whose ignorance and poverty have now become almost a danger to the State and for which it has become imperatively necessary to provide a remedy. Ques. 58.—What do you consider to be the maximum number of pupils that can be efficiently taught as a class by one instructor in the case of colleges and schools respectively? Ans. 58.—I think 30 to 40 is about the number that one instructor can teach with advantage in schools, and about 50 to 60 in colleges: this must, however, greatly depend on the mental development of the students and the amount of individual attention required in each class. Ques. 60.—Does a strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools. Ans. 60.—In my opinion a strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality does not in anyway require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools, provided only that Government itself does not in any way identify itself with any particular system of religion. It seems to me that the withdrawal of Government in the manner suggested in this question would simply be fatal to the cause of education in India, as the whole management of such institutions would then practically devolve upon the Missionary bodies, and the people would be put to the alternative of either not receiving a liberal education at all or receiving it at the hands of persons whose primary object in this country is to detach the people from their religion, I do not think that Natives of this country would care to run this risk in the case of their children, and the inevitable result would be that liberal education would gradually cease to exist in India. Ques. 62.—Is it desirable that promotions from class to class should depend, at any stage of school education, on the results of public examinations extending over the entire province? In what cases, if any, is it preferable that such promotions be left to the school authorities? Ans. 62.—I am unable to see why promotions from class to class at different stages of school education should depend on the results of public examinations extending over the entire province. The present system seems to me to work very well. The teachers of each class in conjunction with the examiners seem to me to be the best authorities on the question as to whether a particular pupil should or should not be promoted inasmuch as a variety of matters may have to be taken into account with which the examiners acting merely as such would have no concern at all. Ques. 63.—Are there any arrangements between the colleges and schools of your province to prevent boys who are expelled from one institution, or who leave 75

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it improperly, from being received into another? What are the arrangements which you would suggest? Ans. 63.—There are no arrangements of the kind that I am aware of, nor do I consider any such special arrangements necessary. I presume that each institution makes what it considers sufficient enquiries before admitting a pupil who has apparently received instruction elsewhere, and this seems to me to be sufficient for all practical purposes. Ques. 65.—How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B.A. standard. Ans. 65.—I do not consider it absolutely necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B.A. standard for every subject, though I consider such a course highly desirable in regard to some subjects at least. Native gentlemen of exceedingly high qualifications can, without much difficulty, be found to teach some subjects, while for others European gentlemen would be the best. I consider that at present at least English professors ought to be employed to teach English literature and history and the classical languages, and perhaps mathematics and the natural sciences, while Native professors might with advantage be employed to teach all branches of Oriental learning. These remarks are made without reference to the merits or qualifications of particular individuals, because in certain special cases this rule might be departed from with benefit to the students. Ques. 66.—Are European professors employed, or likely to be employed, in colleges under Native management? Ans. 66.—I see no reason why European professors should not be employed in colleges under Native management when their services would be necessary or desirable. The general tendency in the native community is to exaggerate rather than under-rate the value of European agency in giving instruction. European professors might, perhaps, be dispensed with in course of time when our Universities have sent forth a sufficient number of able and competent Native scholars, but I fear that such a desirable consummation is yet far distant. Ques. 67.—Are the circumstances of any class of the population in your province (e g., the Muhammadans) such, as to require exceptional treatment in the matter of English education? To what are these circumstances due, and how far have they been provided for? Ans. 67.—I am convinced that the Muhammadans in the Bombay Presidency do require exceptional treatment in the matter of English education. It is quite apparent that they have not participated in the general prosperity of the empire, or in the diffusion of knowledge, to anything like the same extent as the other classes of Her Majesty’s subjects. The schools, the colleges, the liberal professions, the public services, are all almost exclusively filled from classes other than the Muhammadans. No one has ventured to suggest that, as a body, Muhammadans are wanting in ability, for wherever they have made their appearance they have shown themselves quite capable of holding their own. What, then, is the reason of the general depression amongst the 76

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Muhammadans? I am clearly of opinion that it is capable of being traced to the following causes.— (1) A feeling of pride for the glories of their past empire, and the consequent, inability to reconcile themselves to the circumstances of the present. (2) Love and pride for the glorious literature of India, Arabia, and Persia, and the Oriental arts and sciences to which they have been so long attached, and the consequent inability to appreciate the modern literature, arts, and sciences of Europe, or to bear the former being supplanted by the latter. (3) A vague feeling that European education is antagonistic to the traditions of Islam and leads to infidelity and atheism, or to conversion to Christianity. (4) A feeling that the Government of the country takes no notice of their reduced position and does nothing to extricate them from it. (5) Failure or neglect, or inability on the part of the Educational authorities, to provide anything like the same facilities for the education of Muhammadan youths as the other classes of Her Majesty’s subjects. (6) Poverty which prevents them from availing themselves even of such schools as have been already established for the subjects of Her Majesty in general. (7) A feeling prevailing amongst the trading classes that English education as given in Government schools is of little practical value, and that some of the subjects taught are useless in ordinary life, while others (in their opinion) of greater importance are neglected in Government schools. Now, as to the remedies— The first above specified cause seems to me to be beyond the power of the Government to remove. It will, however, work its own cure in course of time, as the Muhammadans must gradually be convinced that the only way to vindicate and to be worthy of the past is to make the most of the present opportunities, and that a policy of sullen indifference will not in the least ameliorate their condition, but will, on the contrary, make their position worse and worse every day. The more thoughtful portion of the community are already convinced that, while they have been wasting their time on useless regrets for the past, their Hindu and Parsi and Christian neighbours have been making rapid progress towards civilisation and prosperity, and that it is now high time to wake up and, make amends for time and opportunities so long thrown away. As I said before, the removal of this cause, that is to say, the awakening of the conscience of the community and making them feel ashamed of their indolence and apathy, is a task not so much for the Government or the Education Commission as for enlightened and influential Muhammadans themselves, who by holding public meetings, delivering lectures, writing in the press, establishing societies for the promotion of knowledge, &c., can alone convince their co-religionists of the fatal results of their present indifference. The Mussulmans ought to be gradually convinced that while the glories of their ancestors were achieved by the sword, and in the field, the prosperity of themselves and the glories of their posterity will depend entirely, or almost entirely, on the pen 77

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and the desk, and that it is high time for them to exchange the former for the latter. I rejoice to think that this conviction is gradually forcing itself upon the Muhammadan community, and that it has begun to bear some beneficial fruit already. As to the second cause, there is great justification for it. The Muhamnaadans have every reason to be proud of their glorious literature and to cling to it with love and affection. They have no more right, however, to despise the literature of the West than Europeans have to despise the literature of the East. In each case this feeling of contempt is the direct offspring of ignorance. The two classes of literature are, moreover, by no means antagonistic to each other. Oriental learning can well go hand-in-hand with Western literature, and the true solution of the difficulty is to combine the two together and to make the Muhammadans feel that while they are acquiring English education they are not by any means compelled to give up their Persian and Arabic classics. This course has been adopted with wonderful success by the Madrasa-i-Anjuman-i-Islám at Bombay, And on a larger scale by the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Alligurh, and I earnestly commend it to the most careful consideration of the Commission. If good schools and colleges are opened where Indian, Persian, and Arabic classics are taught in addition to the different branches of European learning, I feel convinced that the Muhammadan youths of the Presidency would flock to them, and it would be clearly demonstrated that the present backwardness of the Mussulmans is due, not so much to their own faults as the inability of the educational authorities to understand the real cause of the disease and to provide the proper remedies. The third cause is again one which is not in the power of Government to remove. Government has hitherto very wisely refrained from taking the side of any religion whatsoever so far as educational matters are concerned, and it would be extremely mischievous to depart from this policy even in the smallest degree. The feeling that English education is antagonistic to the traditions of Islám is, however, founded upon a gross misconception of facts and upon an utter ignorance of the true nature of all liberal education. In reality Western education is inimical to Islám at the utmost in the same degree and no more than it le to Christianity, Hinduism, and any other religion whatever on the face of the earth. Muhammadans have, therefore, no greater reason to avoid the European arts, sciences, and literature than have Christians, Hindus, Parsis, and other communities. This feeling of dread is, however, so widely spread that it can only be eradicated by the examples and precepts of educated and influential Muhammadans themselves. Already there are signs of its gradually giving way, and I entertain little doubt that it will completely disappear in the course of a few years if the other causes which hinder Muhammadan education are removed and to which I invite the most careful and earnest attention of the Commission. As to the fourth cause, I think the complaint of the Muhammadan community, though exaggerated, is not altogether without foundation. I am far from attributing the whole blame to Government; indeed, I think that the largest portion of it must fall upon the Muhammadans themseleves. No one is more ready to admit 78

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than I am that the Muhammadan community could never have been reduced to their present wretched condition if it had not been to a great extent for their own indolence and bigotry, and for the operation of causes 1, 2, and 3, for which they are themselves more or less responsible. After, however, making all due allowance for these considerations, I cannot help thinking that the Muhammadans have hitherto been very hardly treated; that until recently they have not received anything like the same consideration as the other classes of Her Majesty’s subjects; and that for some reason or other they have been practically excluded from a share in the administration of the country. These facts have naturally produced a feeling of despair in the minds of the community and made them think that it was no use acquiring education or doing anything else as the Sirkar was not favourably disposed towards them, and that political justice was not to be had when they came into competition with more favoured communities. This is a most dangerous feeling, and not the less so for being largely founded upon mistaken notions as to the policy or intentions of Government. It is a feeling, however, which it behoves Government to take into its most careful consideration and to try and remove if possible. That it can be removed to a very great extent no man who has studied the question can doubt for a moment. Why should not Muhammadan languages, for instance, be recognised by Government? Why should they be supplanted by other and inferior dialects? Why should Muhammadan literature be practically excluded from schools and colleges? Why should not the claims of Muhammadans to State patronage be recognised in the same manner as the claims of the other communities? Let me give an example. There have been Hindu, Parsi, and European Sheriffs of Bombay, but not a single Muhammadan. Is it pretended that there is not a single gentlemen amongst the Mussulmans fit to hold that sinecure office? Are Muhammadans much to blame if they consider this as a gross neglect of their community? If, therefore, Government do really desire, as I have not the least doubt they do, that the Muhammadans should stir themselves and should acquire European education, let them distribute the State patronage in a just and impartial manner; let them organise the educational system on a proper basis and with fair consideration for the feelings and the requirements of the Mussulman community, and the desired result will unquestionably follow, and the complaints about the ignorant and depressed and discontented condition of the Mussalmans will cease to exist. As to the fifth cause. The matter seems to me to be so clear that it would almost be a waste of time to discuss it at any length. It is enough to state that until the Anjuman-i-Islám of Bombay appealed directly to the Government and got a special grant of Ɍ500 a month for the purpose of establishing an institution for Muhammadan youths in Bombay, there was not a single school in the whole of the Bombay Presidency where Hindustani-speaking Mussulman boys could learn English through the medium of their own mother-tongue. They had first to learn either Gnjarathi or Marathi, and then to attend one of the ordinary schools for Hindi or Parsi boys, where English was taught through one of those languages. But in order to learn either of those languages, not only was a great deal of time 79

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wasted for nothing, but the ordinary, as well as the classical, languages of the Muhammadans had to be given up. What wonder, then that only a few Muhammadans could be found who would be willing to give up ther own mother-tongue and their own classical literature for the purpose of acquiring a language like Gujarathi or Marathi, which was of no value to them in ordinary life, and possessed but small literary attractions, and could only be useful to those who wished to enter into Government service, and that too in those places only where those languages prevailed. The absurdity of compelling Muhammadan boys either to remain ignorant of Western literature altogether or to learn Gujarathi or Marathi in order to acquire a knowledge of English, was repeatedly pointed out to the Educational authorities. The Anjaman-i-lslám strongly appealed to the Director of Public Instruction to open a school suitable for Muhammadan boys where English education might be imparted through the medium of Hindustani, which is the mother-tongue of the Muhammadans of India as a body, but to no purpose. The Educational Department could not be convinced that many Muhammadans remained ignorant because there were no suitable means provided to educate them. At last the Anjuman-i-Islám appealed direct to Government and succeeded in obtaining from them a grant of Ɍ6,000 per annum for Muhammadan education only. With the assistance of the Government grant, aided by private subscriptions, the Anjumani-Islám started a school under the name of the Madrasa-i-Anjuman Islám of Bombay on the 20th September 1880. The success of this institution, notwithstanding some persistent efforts to injure it and to depreciate its advantages, has been most encouraging. In less than a year it had 450 pupils on the rolls. So rapid was its growth that the funds at the disposal of the Anjuman were wholly insufficient for its increasing wants. The Anjuman accordingly appealed to the Director of Public Instruction to apply a portion of the Municipal grant for primary instruction in and of the Muhammadan education, but to no purpose The doctrine of “first come first served” was deemed a sufficient answer to the appeals of the Anjuman. The Anjuman then applied direct to the Municipality with the gratifying result that a special grant of Ɍ5,000 per annum was made in aid of schools under the management of Anjuman, and we are now educating 450 boys at Peydhoni and 75 at Nagpada, although the Nagpada branch was opened only on the 20th June last. I may add that no portion of the Municipal grant has yet come to the hands of the Anjuman, although frequent applications have been made for them. The above history of the straggles of the Anjuman on behalf of Muhammadan education and the success of the Madrassa, combined with my own knowledge and experience of Muhammadans, have established in my mind the following conclusions:— (a) That no suitable schools for giving English education to Muhammadans existed before the Madrassa was opened on 20th September 1880 80

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(b) That the Educational authorities were either indifferent, or unable, or unwilling to make any suitable arrangements for Muhammadans, even after the necessity for such arrangements had been clearly pointed out to them. (c) That the success of the Madrasaa-i-Anju man Islám proves that Muhammadans are just as willing and able to learn as the other classes of Her Majesty’s subjects when proper schools are established for them. (d) That the ignorance prevailing amongst Muhammadans is to a great extent due to the absence of all educational facilities for them, and in particular to the absence of instruction through the medium of Hindustáni. (e) That Muhammadan schools to be a success must teach Hindustáni, and perhaps Persian, in addition to the other usual branches of knowledge and the vernaculars of the provinces. ( f ) That a committee of educated and independent Muhammadans is the best machinery for establishing and conducting schools for Muhammadan boys. (g) That such a committee is forthcoming without much difficulty in Bombay, although, of course, great caution must be exercised in selecting men who really take an interest in educational matters. (h) That the ideas, feelings, and sentiments, and even the prejudices of Mussalmans, must be carefully taken into account in founding or managing schools intended for them. (i) That the Muhammadans have not hitherto been treated with sufficient consideration in regard to educational matters, and that a fair share of the Government, as well as Municipal, grants should be applied specially for their benefit. ( j) That their ordinary Gujarathi and Marathi schools are utterly unsuited to Muhammadans, most of whom do not understand or care for either of those languages, and that instruction must be imparted to them in Hindustani. (k) That Muhammadan teachers and Muhammadan Inspectors or supervisors are necessary for Muhammadan schools. Before I leave this subject I am anxious to point out that, although the Government and the Municipal grants have enabled the Anjuman-i Islám of Bombay to place elementary education within the reach of a considerable number of Mussalman boys of Bombay, yet the funds at our disposal will not be sufficient to enable us to carry our institution up to the Matriculation standard. We have now gone as far as the fourth, and we may perhaps go as far as the fifth standard, but there we must stop unless further funds are forthcoming. I would, therefore, strongly urge that some means should be devised by which the education of Muhammadan youths should be carried up to the Matriculation standard, and I respectfully submit that to provide such instruction for Muhammadans is no less the duty of Government, and should be no less a part of the general system of education, than to provide the same for Gujarathi and Marathi-speaking boys. The Muhammadan population of the city of Bombay is about 160,000, and it is, therefore, not asking for more than justice to say that the expenditure on the 81

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education of Mussalmans should at least be in proportion to their numbers, if not in proportion to their requirements. The ignorance of Muhammadans must lead to their poverty, and their poverty to discontent, and no thoughtful politician would deny that the discontent of such a large community as the Mussalmans of India would be a grave source of danger to State, and ought to be removed at all cost and without delay. The sixth cause is again a very important one, and must be carefully borne in mind when considering any scheme for the education of Mussulmans. Special provisions must be made for admitting poor but respectable boys to schools free of charge. So extreme is the poverty of the community as a whole that, although the fees at the Anjuman schools are little more than nominal, yet we have been obliged to admit a large number of boys free of charge Many of these boys, though poor, are very deserving, and belong to respectable families who, but for the indulgence shown to them, would grow up in ignorance and become a burden and certainly not an honour to the community. I have recently received letters from the head master of the high school at Nariad, lamenting the extreme poverty of the Mussalmans of the place, and asking the Anjuman to take some practical measures for giving education to the Muhammadan youths of the district who, he says, are willing to learn, but cannot afford to pay the school fees. This is a state of things which, I submit, the educational authorities ought to remedy at once. Another result of the poverty, combined with the bigotry and indifference, of the community is that Government cannot at present at least reckon upon the foundation of English-teaching schools for Mussalman boys by Mussalmans themselves My late experiences in connection with the Madrassa Fund are not quite satisfactory, and the persistent efforts which have recently been made to depreciate the schools established by Anjuman—to prevent people from subscribing fresh funds, and to deter ignorant people from availing themselves of the advantages offered by the schools—show the enormous difficulties with which the true friends of Muhammadan education have to contend. These circumstances, however, only make the duty of the Government still more plain because they show that the very community which needs education most is the one which is least capable of helping itself. The seventh cause is one of general operation, and applies to the other communities just as it does to the Mussalmans, though perhaps in a less degree. With regard to the Muhammadans, however, its operation is more obviously and extensively mischievous, because it operates precisely on those classes which are not barred from availing themselves of European education by the force of causes 1, 2, 4, and 6 The Muhammadan community may be roughly divided into the trading and the non-trading classes, the former consisting of Memons, Khojahs, and Borahs, and the latter of Dekhanees, Konkanees, &c, and the descendants of the old noble and official classes, &c. Now it will scarcely be denied that the education imparted at Government schools is of a less practical character than that required by the mercantile classes. It is the right sort of education for 82

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those who wish to pursue their studies further—for candidates for the public service or the liberal professions,—but it is not exactly the kand of education that the merchants themselves require. Good mercantile and technical schools, therefore, where real practical knowledge is imparted, seem to me to be great desiderata in India. Ques. 69.—Can schools and colleges under Native management compete successfully with corresponding institutions under European management? Ans. 69.—I can see no reason why schools under Native management should not compete success fully with corresponding institutions under European management. All depends upon the gentlemen in charge of the institutions, and primá facte I would say that (caeteris paribus) Native gentlemen would understand the peculiarities and the requirements of Native boys better than Europeans could be expected to do As to colleges, the case is perhaps different, as it may be difficult to find Native gentlemen of sufficiently high qualifications who are both willing and able to take charge of such colleges. For a long time yet to come I think it would not only be desirable, but even perhaps absolutely necessary, that the management of colleges should be entrusted to Europeans. I hope the day may come when European agency in this respect may be gradually dispensed with, but to dispense with it at this moment would perhaps be to postpone that happy day forever.

Cross-examination of By MR. LEE-WARNER. Q. 1.—Can you tell us the history of the decline of the Arabic College founded in Surat in 1809 by Muhammadan Borahs, and do you think it could be revived? A. 1.—I am not very well acquainted with the circumstances, but one cause of its failure was a want of funds. It was a college originally founded, I believe, by the Daudi Borahs, the head of which community got involved in debt. I think it could be revived on a partially secular basis with a grant-in-aid from Government. I shall be happy to obtain information and furnish it in a statement to the Commission hereafter. Q. 2.—What is the monthly income of the Anjuman-i-Islam raised by (i) private subscriptions, and (ii) by fees? A. 2.—The monthly fees realised are about Ɍ100. Our subscriptions nominally amount to Ɍ50,000, out of which about Ɍ40,000 have been paid and invested. This is exclusive, of course, of the grant from Government of Ɍ500 a month, and Ɍ416 from the Municipality, which has not yet been paid. Our endowment fund may be raised when we apply to the Native Chiefs and Princes. Q. 3.—You recommend that the course of study in primary schools be made to include mental arithmetic and book-keeping. Has the Anjuman-i-Islám introduced the subjects, and if so, what is the system of instruction? 83

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A. 3.—We have partially introduced mental arithmetic up to multiplicationtables, but not the book-keeping. In the Baroda State schools book-keeping has lately been introduced. Q. 4.—In reference to answer 4 of your evidence-in-chief, can you tell us the decision regarding incorporating indigenous schools at which the Anjuman-iIslam has arrived? A. 4.—We have decided to incorporate the indigenous schools, if we have funds. We are about to enter into correspondence with the masters of such schools in Bombay city, and we intend to propose the payment of a special grant of Ɍ1 for each boy sent up by them into our Hindustani department Q. 5.—In reference to your answer 8, what do you mean by the amount “now expended”? expended by Government or by the Municipality? The case is this,— Municipalities do not contribute 10 per cent of the cost of primary schools, the cess income raised in the town is very small, and practically the cess raised in the villages, or the Provincial assignment which belongs to it as a grant-in-aid, is spent in the towns The rural boards regard this as a spoliation of the rural cess fund, and I want to know if you would advocate that this inequality be rectified before the present expenditure incurred by Government is handed over to Municipalities. A. 5.—I think that there should be a financial arrangement between local District and Municipal Boards before the ways and means of primary education are handed over to the other, so that any unequal assignment of funds, which at present exists, may be rectified at the outset. Q. 6.—In reference to your answer 67, do you mean the Commission to understand that there were not Hindustani schools in every district in the Presidency? A. 6.—I allude to the fact that there was no school in which boys could learn English through their own Hindustani. Q. 7.—In your answers 2 and 32, and generally throughout your evidence, when the context does not show that you are speaking of the whole Presidency, is not your use of the word “Bombay” meant in the narrow sense of Bombay city? A. 7.—It is. Q. 8.—When you speak in your answer 67 (J) of the vernacular of the Muhammadans not being taught and of Gujarathi being useless to them, have you studied the figures? I understand that in Sind, out of nearly two million Muhammadans, only 16,000 speak Hindustani. In Gujarathi the great mass of the trading classes speak Gujarathi, and although in the Deccan the Muhammadan gentry use Urdu, Marathi, or Marathi and Hindu is the common language used. A. 8.—I considered these facts before I gave my evidence Those who speak the vernaculars are practically the illiterate classes of Muhammadans and outside our system of education. Those whose educational wants are now pressing speak Hindustani Q. 9.—When you talk of the Muhammadans being depressed and more or less left outside our educational system, have you ever compared the percentage of

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Muhammadans educated or under instruction in each division with Hindus? I make it to be as follows In Bombay Island 19 per cent Muhammadans and 17 6 per cent Hindus, in Northern Division 9 per cent. Muhammadans and 7 per cent. Hindus, in Central Division 8 7 per cent Muhammadans and 4 1 per cent. Hindus. In the North-East Division the propoition is the same. In the Southern Division, the Muhammadans are still behind the Hindus, and in Sind the Muhmmmadans are entirely illiterate If you compare these figures with the last census, I observe a marked improvement in the Muhammadan community. A. 9.—I had not worked out the figures in this way, I am very glad to hear of the progress, but I would illustrate the present backward state of Muhamnadan education by the following figures— As to high education, for instance— The Deccan College has 133 students, and not a single Muhammadan The Elphinstone College has 175 students, out of whom only 5 are Muhammadan The Ahmedabad College has 24 students and no Muhammadan The St Xavier’s College has 71 students and only 1 Muhammadan The General Assembly’s Institution has 85 students, but not a single Muhammadan Again, as to scientific or special education— The Government Law School has 152 students, out of whom only 3 are Muhammadan The Grant Medical College has 282 pupils, out of whom only 3 are Muhammadan The Poona Engineering College has 159 pupils’ out of whom only 5 are Muhammadans. Again, as regards Matriculation— During the 23 years from 1859 to 1381 no less than 15,247 students matriculated, but only 48 of these were Muhammadans Again, as to high schools— The Poona High School has 574 pupils, out of whom only 12 are Muhammadans, the Sholapur High School has 110 pupils, and only 2 are Muhammadans, the Ratnagiri High School has 179 pupils, and only 10 are Muhammadans, the Elphinstone High School has 795 pupils, and only 17 are Muhammadans, the St. Xavior’s High School has 675 pupils, and only 19 are Muhammadan. As to secondary education, the case is no better, inasmuch as out of a total of 6,735 boys learning English in the city of Bombay, not more than 220 are Muhammadans Total of scholars learning English in the Central Division is 9,586, out of whom only 307 are Muhommadans, in the North-East Division, 977, with only 39 Muhammadans, in the Northern Division, 4,459, with only 182 Muhammadans, in the Southern Division, 2,801, with only 62 Muhammadans, in Sind Division, 19,965, with only 795 Muhammadans.

The above figures are taken from the Report of the Director of Public lnstruction for 1880–81.

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By MR. TELANG. Q. 1.—Do you think that the Managers of the Muhammadan indigenous schools will consent to keep registers, &c, as required by the Education Department? A. 1.—I think they would. It would merely require explanation. Q. 2.—With regard to answer 16, do you approve of the suggestion to reduce Deccan College to the status of a college teaching up to the Previous Examination only? A. 2.—I do not. Q. 3.—Have you any objection to state the general nature of the difficulties raised against the employment of the Muhammadan graduates referred to in answer 25? A. 3.—I never could ascertain what the objections were. But I understood the feeling to be a fear that Hindu susceptibilities would be wounded by the employment of the Muhammadans in Gujarth for instance. Q. 4.—In reference to answer 26, what is the practical course of instruction which you would recommend for those students who do not wish to enter the colleges? A. 4.—I would recommend the omission of algebra, Euclid, and the details of geography and grammar, I would add book-keeping and mental arithmetic, also object-lessons and letter-writing. By MR. JACOB. Q. 1.—In your 2nd answer you suggest that Mussalman schools under Mussalman teachers should be opened at all the centres of the Muhammadan population. Do you know that at the end of March last the Education Department was maintaining 99 schools and classes at such centres, and that Hindustani only was taught in them? A. 1.—Yes, I am aware of the fact. But I think those schools do not meet the exact wants of the Muhammadans. Q. 2.—Are you aware that in the whole Presidency, including Native States, except Baroda, the number of Muhammadans children in the de partmental primary schools last year was nearly as large in proportion to the Muhammadans population as that of the Hindu pupils in proportion to their population? A. 2.—I had not worked out the question of percentage Q. 3.—You suggest in the same answer that special regard should be paid to the feelings and ideas of the Mussalmans. Are you aware that early in 1881 two special Muhammadan Deputy Inspectors were appointed to supervise Hindustani schools, one for Gujarath and one for the Maharashtra? A. 3.—I am well aware of the fact, as it was the direct result of our own negotiations on the subject with Government. Q. 4.—But would you maintain that the Department had not tried for several years previously to secure the necessary funds for creating these Deputy Inspectorships? 86

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A. 4.—I do not think the Department had been pressing the matter so earnestly Q. 5.—Is it the fact that there are special Persian and Arabic teachers employed at the training colleges for Muhammadan students, and that the conditions of entrance to the training colleges are easier in the case of Muhammadans than in the case of Hindu students? A. 5.—I am not aware of the fact. Q. 5.—In connection with the same answer, are you aware that the masters of the Local Fund Hindustani schools are permitted to teach the Korán in the schoolhouse, provided they do so out of the ordinary school hours? A. 6.—I was not aware of the fact, but if they teach out of school hours, I suppose it does not make much difference. Q. 7.—With reference to answer 13, have you ever heard that in several districts the Local Fund Committees have reduced the fee-rates by 50 per cent for Muhammadan pupils, and that the number of free students is allowed to be 20 and in some districts even more than 40 per cent, of the total number on the rolls? A. 7.—I was generally aware that some allowances had been made for Muhammadans. But I consider them inadequate. Q. 8.—In your 67th answer you recommend that Indian, Persian, and Arabic classics should be taught in addition to European learning. Is not this already done in the Elphinstone College and at a considerable number of high schools At Elphinstone High School, e.g., there are four Persian teachers employed and more than 400 students learning under them. At Poona High School there are nearly 100 students of Persian, and so on A. 8.—That does not meet my point at all. What they teach in the Elphinstone College is mere elementary knowledge to any educated Muhammadan; the educated Muhammadan undergraduates do not even care to attend the lectures, as they already know more than what is taught there. Q. 9.—Then would you maintain that the University standard is far too low and does not touch the standard works of great Muhammadan authors? A. 9.—Certainly, speaking from a purely Muhammadan point of view. Q. 10.—In your answer 67 you state that there was not a single AngloHindustani school in the Presidency before the Anjuman-i-Islám School was opened. Are you aware that the Government were then maintaining AngloHindustan schools or classes at Poona, Nasik, and Ahmednagar, and that an attempt has been made by the Department in 1870 to maintain one in the city of Bombay? A. 10.—I was aware only of the attempt made in Bombay in connection with the class at the Gokuldas Tejpal School. Q. 11.—Yon state that the Anjuman-i-Islám has not been permitted to draw any of the Municipal grant. Is it a fact that the Educational Department expressed its readiness to disburse as much of the grant as was necessary to meet the actual net expenditure incurred by the Society? Is it also a fact that the Director offered the Society the services of some of the best Government school masters? A. 11.—Both these are facts. 87

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Q. 12.—In your 40th answer you state that no special steps have been taken for promoting the physical well-being of students in schools and colleges in the Presidency. Is it not a fact that nearly all the high schools and colleges have gymnasia, that the Deccan College has a boating-club, that Elphinstone and several other high schools have cricket-clubs, and that there are public gymnasia and swimming-baths in the vicinity of most of the schools in the Island of Bombay? A. 12.—I was speaking generally of all classes of schools, specially those of the primary and lower secondary kind. Q. 13.—With regard to your 43rd answer about mixed schools, is it not a fact that the Muhammadans freely send their daughters to the mosque schools? A. 13.—They do; but the boys are taught in separate classes from the girls. Q. 14.—If the Department were to offer grants-in-aid for pupils in the mosque schools and Madrassas who could read and write from the Korán, do you think that the school Managers would be willing to accept such aid? A. 14.—I think so.

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6 EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE BOMBAY PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE AND MEMORIALS ADDRESSED TO THE EDUCATION COMMISSION, VOL. II (CALCUTTA: SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, 1881), 223–242, 255–259, 261–270, 302–313, 11–14 (APPENDIX)

STANDARD LIST. Questions suggested for the examination of Witnesses before the Commission on Education. (Witnesses are requested to select any of these questions on which they have special knowledge, or they may propose others.)

1. Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on the subject of Education in India, and in what Province your experience has been gained. 2. Do you think that in your Province the system of primary education has been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirements of the community? Can you suggest any improvements in the system of administration, or in the course of instruction? 3. In your Province, is primary instruction sought for by the people in general, or by particular classes only? Do any classes specially hold aloof from it, and if so, why? Are any classes practically excluded from it; and if so, from what causes? What is the attitude of the influential classes towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society? 4. To what extent do indigenous schools exist in your Province? How far are they a relic of an ancient village system? Can you describe the subjects and character of the instruction given in them, and the system of discipline in vogue? What fees are taken from the scholars? From what classes are the masters of such schools generally selected, and what are their qualifications? Have any arrangements been made for training or providing masters in such schools? Under what

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circumstances do you consider that indigenous schools can be turned to good account as part of a system of national education, and what is the best method to adopt for this purpose? Are the masters willing to accept State aid and to conform to the rules under which such aid is given? How far has the grant-in-aid system been extended to indigenous schools, and can it be further extended? 5. What opinion does your experience lead you to hold of the extent and value of home instruction? How far is a boy educated at home able to compete on equal terms, at examinations qualifying for the public service, with boys educated at school? 6. How far can the Government depend on private effort, aided or unaided, for the supply of elementary instruction in rural districts? Can you enumerate the private agencies which exist for promoting primary instruction? 7. How far, in your opinion, can funds assigned for primary education in rural districts, be advantageously administered by district committees or local boards? What are the proper limits of the control to be exercised by such bodies? 8. What classes of schools should, in your opinion, be entrusted to municipal committees for support and management? Assuming that the provision of elementary instruction in towns is to be a charge against municipal funds, what security would you suggest against the possibility of municipal committees failing to make sufficient provision? 9. Have you any suggestions to make on the system in force for providing teachers in primary schools? What is the present social status of village schoolmasters? Do they exert a beneficial influence among the villagers? Can you suggest measures, other than increase of pay, for improving their position? 10. What subjects of instruction, if introduced into primary schools, would make them more acceptable to the community at large, and especially to the agricultural classes? Should any special means be adopted for making the instruction in such subjects efficient? 11. Is the vernacular recognised and taught in the schools of your Province the dialect of the people? And if not, are the schools on that account loss useful and popular? 12. Is the system of payment by results suitable, in your opinion, for the promotion of education amongst a poor and ignorant people? 13. Have you any suggestions to make regarding the taking of fees in primary schools? 14. Will you favour the Commission with your views; first, as to how the number of primary schools can be increased; and secondly, how they can be gradually rendered more efficient? 15. Do you know of any instances in which Government educational institutions of the higher order have been closed or transferred to the management of local bodies, as contemplated in paragraph 62 of the Despatch of 1854? And what do you regard as the chief reasons why more effect has not been given to that provision? 16. Do you know of any cases in which Government institutions of the higher order might be closed or transferred to private bodies, with or without aid, without injury to education or to any interests which it is the duty of Government to protect? 90

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17. In the Province with which you are acquainted, are any gentlemen able and ready to come forward and aid, even more extensively than heretofore, in the establishment of schools and colleges upon the grant-in-aid system? 18. If the Government, or any local authority having control of public money, were to announce its determination to withdraw, after a given term of years from the maintenance of any higher educational institution, what measures would be best adapted to stimulate private effort in the interim, so as to secure the maintenance of such institution on a private footing? 19. Have you any remarks to offer on the principles of the grant-in-aid system, or the details of its administration? Are the grants adequate in the case of (a) Colleges, (b) Boys’ schools, (c) Girls’ schools, (d) Normal schools? 20. How far is the whole educational system, as at present administered, one of practical neutrality, i.e., one in which a school or a college has no advantage or disadvantage as regards Government aid and inspection from any religious principles that are taught or not taught in it? 21. What classes principally avail themselves of Government or aided schools and colleges for the education of their children? How far is the complaint well founded, that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education? What is the rate of fees payable for higher education in your Province, and do you consider it adequate? 22. Can you adduce any instance of a proprietary school or college supported entirely by fees? 23. Is it in your opinion possible for a non-Government institution of the higher order to become influential and stable when in direct competition with a similar Government institution? If so, under what conditions do you consider that it might become so? 24. Is the cause of higher education in your Province injured by any unhealthy competition; and if so, what remedy, if any, would you apply? 25. Do educated natives in your Province readily find remunerative employment? 26. Is the instruction imparted in secondary schools calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further with useful and practical information? 27. Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils in unduly directed to the entrance examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstances impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? 28. Do you think that the number of pupils in secondary schools who present themselves for the University entrance examination is unduly large when compared with the requirements of the country? If you think so, what do you regard as the causes of this state of things, and what remedies would you suggest? 29. What system prevails in your Province with reference to scholarships; and have you any remarks to make on the subject? Is the scholarship system impartially administered as between Government and aided schools? 30. Is municipal support at present extended to grant-in-aid schools, whether belonging to missionary or other bodies; and how far is this support likely to be permanent? 91

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31. Does the University curriculum afford a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools, or are special normal schools needed for the purpose? 32. What is the system of school [Illegible Text] pursued in your Province? In what respect is it capable of improvement? 33. Can you suggest any method of securing efficient voluntary agency in the work of inspection and examination? 34. How far do you consider the text-books in use in all schools suitable? 35. Are the present arrangements of the Education Department in regard to examinations or text-books, or in any other way, such as unnecessarily interfere with the free development of private institutions? Do they in any wise tend to check the development of natural character and ability or to interfere with the production of a useful vernacular literature? 36. In a complete scheme of Education for India what parts can, in your, opinion, be most effectively taken by the State and by other agencies? 37. What effect do you think that the withdraw of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education, and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes? 38. In the event of the Government withdrawing to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges, do you apprehend that the standard of instruction in any class of institutions would deteriorate? If you think so, what measures would you suggest in order to prevent this result? 39. Does definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct occupy any place in the course of Government colleges and schools? Have you any suggestions to make on this subject? 40. Are any steps taken for promoting the physical well-being of students in the schools or colleges in your Province? Have you any suggestions to make on the subject? 41. Is there indigenous instruction for girls in the Province with which you are acquainted; and if so, what is its character? 42. What progress has been made by the department in instituting schools for girls; and what is the character of the instruction imparted in them? What improvements can you suggest? 43. Have you any remarks to make on the subject of mixed schools? 44. What is the best method of providing teachers for girls. 45. Are the grants to girls schools larger in amount, and given on less onerous terms, than those to boys’ schools; and is the distinction sufficiently marked? 46. In the promotion of female education, what share has already been taken by European ladies; and how far would it be possible to increase the interest which ladies might take in this cause? 47. What do you regard as the chief defects, other than any to which you have already referred, that experience has brought to light in the educational system as it has been hitherto administered? What suggestions have you to make for the remedy of such defects? 92

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48. Is any part of the expenditure incurred by the Government on high education in your Province unnecessary? 49. Have Government institutions been set up in localities where places of instruction already existed, which might by grants-in-aid or other assistance adequately supply the educational wants of the people? 50. Is there any foundation for the statement that officers of the Education Department take too exclusive an interest in high education? Would beneficial results be obtained by introducing into the department more men of practical training in the art of teaching and school management? 51. Is the system of pupil teachers or monitors in force in your Province? If so, please state how it works. 52. Is there any tendency to raise primary into secondary schools unnecessarily or prematurely? Should measures be taken to check such a tendency? If so, what measures? 53. Should the rate of fees in any class of schools or colleges vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil? 54. Has the demand for high education in your Province reached such a stage as to make the profession of teaching a profitable one? Have schools been opened by men of good position as a means of maintaining themselves? 55. To what classes of instit [Illegible Text] you think that the system of assigning grants according to the result of periodical examinations should be applied? What do you regard as the chief conditions for making this system equitable and useful? 56. To what classes of institutions do you think that the system of assigning grants in aid of the salaries of certificated teachers can be best applied? Under what conditions do you regard this system as a good one? 57. To what proportion of the gross expense do you think that the grant-in-aid should amount under ordinary circumstances in the case of colleges and schools of all grades? 58. What do you consider to be the maximum number of pupils that can be efficiently taught as a class by one instructor in the case of colleges and schools respectively? 59. In your opinion should fees in colleges be paid by the term, or by the month? 60. Does a strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools? 61. Do you think that the institutions of University professorships would have an important effect in improving the quality of high education? 62. It is desirable that promotions from class to class should depend, at any stage of school education, on the results of public examinations extending over the entire Province? In what cases, if any, is it preferable that such promotions be left to the school authorities? 63. Are there any arrangements between the colleges and schools of your Province to prevent boys who are expelled from one institution, or who leave it 93

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improperly, from being received into another? What are the arrangements which you would suggest? 64. In the event of the Government withdrawing from the direct management of higher institutions generally, do you think it desirable that it should retain under direct management one college in each province as a model to other colleges; and if so, under what limitations or conditions? 65. How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B. A. standard. 66. Are European professors employed or likely to be employed in colleges under native management? 67. Are the circumstances of any class of the population in your Province (e. g., the Muhammadans) such as to require exceptional treatment in the matter of English education? To what are these circumstances due, and how far have they been provided for? 68. How far would Government be justified in withdrawing from any existing school or college, in places where any class of the population objects to attend the only alternative institution on the ground of its religious teaching? 69. Can schools and colleges under native management compete successfully with corresponding institutions under European management? 70. Are the conditions on which grants-in-aid are given in your Province more onerous and complicated than necessary.

EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE BOMBAY PROVINCIAL COMMITEE. N.B.—The serial numbers of tie questions in the Examination in Chief of the witnesses refer to the numbers which those questions bear in the Standard List of queries forwarded to all witnesses and reprinted at the beginning of the volume. W W. H.

Evidence of MR. V. S. APTE. Ques. 1.—Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on Education. Ans. 1.—I am Superintendent of the new English School at Poona But the views which I express in my evidence represent the general views of the whole body of conductors of the school with which I am connected Ques. 18.—If the Government or any local authority having control of public money were to announce its determination to withdraw after a given term of years from the maintenance of any higher educational institution, what measures would be best adapted to stimulate private effort in the interim, so as to secure the maintenance of such institution on a private footing?

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Ans. 18.—If “private effort” means the effort of the various Missionary societies, then I am decidedly of opinion that the withdrawal of Government from the maintenance of any higher educational institution generally will be productive of very bad effects upon the progress of education in this country This point is discussed at length in my answers to questions 6 and 7, and I do not dilate upon it here. If it be the sincere desire of Government that, when it retires from a direct connection with schools or colleges, it should leave education in the hands of such bodies as are of indigenous growth, and being such would be far better calculated to inspire confidence in the minds of the people, if Government means to teach the Natives of this country the art of self-education as it means to teach the art of self-government, and thus prepare them for taking up the work when it means to leave it, if it ardently wishes that education, upon which the success of men in all their various avocations in life principally depends, and upon the nature of which rests the good or otherwise of their countrymen, should be managed by the people themselves if these be the sincere desires of Government, then I should certainly say that the experiment, such as that which seems contemplated in the question, would be worth trying It would be only another feature of the development of the Local Self-Government scheme; and even if some additional expenditure has to be incurred, the object itself is so laudable that I do not think the expenditure will not be adequately requited I proceed to state the measures that would be adapted to stimulate private effort in the interim, so that the institutions may be maintained on a private footing— (a) If any body of gentlemen come forward and say that they will be ready to maintain some of the institutions of a higher order after a given term of years, Government should, by first assuring itself of the abilities, efficiency, and chances of permanency shown by them, be ready to introduce a more liberal and less interfering system of grant-in-aid, such as would be given further on, free from the faults which the present system shows, as given in my answer to the next question Unless the system of grant-in-aid be liberal and leaves sufficient scope for free development of the institution, the object aimed at, both by Government and by those who would agree to, try the experiment, will not be accomplished to any appreciable degree (b) Another step to secure the desired end would be to maintain one Government institution, at the place where the experiment may be tried, in good order and efficiency, both to serve as a model and to produce the necessary degree of efficiency in the private institution, and thus enable it and the Government institution to continue efficient when Government withdraws from any direct connection with its own institution. The model to be maintained, so long as the private institution becomes thoroughly efficient, ought to be in a very efficient state, otherwise the copy would be ill-made. After the institution has grown up in this manner and become able to take charge of its own institution as well as the model, the body of gentlemen might be asked to take charge of other schools in other districts on the grant-in-aid system. Every facility ought to be given to the private institution that

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it might become a thoroughly efficient central institution, able, in course of time, to take charge of other schools in other places. (c) But the most important measure which would be best adapted to secure the desired end in a rapid and certain manner is the permission to be given by the University to that private institution to open a college branch if it finds that it has the means of doing so. If after a given term of years, say five or six years, the institution, being able to manage the local Government institution, desires to undertake the management of Government schools in other places on the grant-inaid system, it will not generally happen that it will get all the men wanted for this purpose from the Government colleges themselves It will have very often to send out men trained in its own ways of thinking and acting, and very often the number of persons wanted would be greater than what the colleges might supply. If that institution shows ability and efficiency and sufficiently reasonable prospects of permanency, it may be affiliated to the University as an institution teaching up to the PE, First BA or second B.A., according to its efficiency. If the institution, by being recognised by the University, be able to pass graduates from itself, the difficulty to be experienced about the supply of teachers would be considerably obviated But this is too good to be expected all at once. It cannot be expected that an institution will be affiliated within the period of one or two years. People must devote themselves to college-work, and show that they will be able to teach the subjects taught in colleges, and then only may the University be expected to recognise it as a college institution. But how are people to show themselves efficient to teach in a college if they have no opportunities given them to have an experience thereof? To remove this difficulty, I would suggest that the University might grant permission to such an institution to send up candidates for University examinations without keeping terms at an affiliated institution The restriction as to keeping terms prevents several students from availing themselves of collegiate instruction, and they are obliged to betake themselves to seeking employments. If permission of the kind suggested above be granted to an institution, it will benefit not only poor boys themselves, those people that might think of getting their institution affiliated would also have a fair chance of proving themselves able to discharge their higher duties I do not think that this permission will be availed of by anybody to the highest steps at once. The members of the institution will first try to send students for the P.E. only, and when they find themselves able to teach those subjects, they might think of rising one step higher, and, so on, try to rise up by degrees. The candidates that may be prepared in this manner privately may be tested by the same rigid tests as are applied to students from other colleges, those only who might stand that test successfully should be declared as having passed Such a step will, I think, enable men to be prepared to teach higher subjects when the University might affiliate the institution This would be a sort of preparatory college, and I believe that if this idea be properly encouraged, not only will the object aimed at by Government to withdraw from a direct connection with higher education be fulfilled, but the Natives 96

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will be taught a very great lesson of depending upon themselves in the matter of education Now, an objection might be raised: if the restruction as to terms be removed, then the students would be deprived of the general salutary influences arising from the presence of the professors in recognised colleges, and that the attention of the students would be devoted more to the passing of examinations than to the formation and development of their character. With, regard to this objection, I must say it is more fanciful than real under the present circumstances of colleges at least Some 15 or 20 years ago one could have justly talked of the salutary influences produced upon the mind by the agreeable sort of life led at the college, and the frequent opportunities afforded to students of freely mixing with professors and discussing subjects with them, but the change now to be seen is too clear to require any explanation Even if the good of the presence of professors and the wholesome influence of company be actually matters of fact, I do not think that people should be deprived of the advantages of collegiate instruction simply because they are not able to bear the costly expenses of a college life, which, in all, amount to Ɍ25 per month even in a city like Poona If the restriction as to terms be dispensed with, several people who hopelessly give up their studies will be encouraged to prosecute them further, and even if this restriction be removed it will not certainly be attended with a very rapid fall in the attendance at colleges, for some people there will be who will like to avail themselves of the regular college instruction The removal of the restriction will operate as a strong inducement to several people to complete their course those who cannot afford to bear the heavy college expenses will not have recourse to Government colleges, those who can will try to prosecute their studies at Government colleges. In this way scope will be left for both classes of students If this proposal be acted upon, and its execution be assisted by an adequate system of grant-in aid, I see no reason why Native gentlemen should not be ready to take charge of Government institutions after a given term of years As I have said at the outset, the experiment is worth trying, and even slight failures at the commencement should not be regarded as bad signs, seeing that, if vigorously and sincerely continued, the experiment is sure to result in an incalculable good both to Government and the people themselves. Ques. 19.—Have you any remarks to offer on the principles of the grant-in-aid system or the details of its administration? Are the grants adequate in the case of colleges and boys’ schools? Ans. 19.—As this is a very important question, I shall have to dwell upon it at some length. (a) It would not be out of place to give a short history of this system. The grant-in-aid system, which is justly called the pivot of the educational system, was introduced in conformity with the directions contained in the Despatch of 1854 “Since Government can never be expected to do all the work of education by its own unaided efforts,” it was deemed necessary to encourage local efforts among the Natives of India, and to make them, by means of contributions from the State, take a more extensive part in education. In paragraph 52 the Court of 97

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Directors said “We confidently anticipate, by thus drawing support from local resources in addition to contributions from the State, a far more rapid progress of education than would follow a mere increase of expenditure by the Government, while it possesses the additional advantage of fostering a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combinations for local purposes which is of itself of no mean importance to the well-being of a nation.” With this view the system was propelled, and rules were framed for that purpose. At first a large extension of schools was caused by means of what was called the “partially self-supporting system.” But in 1857 (April) the Government of India expressed its censure of this sort of system of extending schools as being opposed to the spirit of the Despatch. Then rules were promulgated for giving grants, but till the year 1865–66 the system of payment by results was not introduced, but a lump sum to be given to a school was determined by the Inspector, considering the efficiency of instruction imparted This system had its own evils, and thus the more efficient system of giving grants according to the results of periodical examinations was brought in. That system, with several alterations and modifications made in the rules from time to time, has been in use till the present day. In the rules framed for grants-in-aid for the first time, the true spirit of the Despatch was scrupulously adhered to, but in the rules subsequently framed the same accuracy was not observed. In the rules given in page 229 of the Educational Report for 1856–57, we find “This system of Government grants-in-aid is founded on an entire abstinence from interference with the religions doctrines inculcated in the schools to be aided, and that aid will be given to all schools in which a good secular education is imparted, but conditions like these do not appear to be given any significant prominence in the rules published in 1867–68, 1871–72, 1876–77, or 1881–82. There are various details in these rules which have been introduced from time to time, and they will be considered when I come to the details of the administration of the grant-in-aid system. (b) One of the principles that is open to serious objections is the principle now followed by the Educational Department of giving grants to Missionary institutions, though they professedly teach their religious books to pupils during school-hours, and thus violate the principles of religious neutrality, the chief point insisted upon in the Despatch. I for myself am unable to see how, following strictly the instructions contained in the Despatch of 1854 which the advocates of Missionary institutions take as the basis of their arguments, Missionary institutions, conducted as they are at present, should be entitled to get grants (I) In the first place the objects with which the framers of the Despatch inaugurated the system of grants-in-aid was to give encouragement to local efforts, “to foster a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combinations for local purposes.” Wherever the grant-in-aid system is alluded to, the idea of local efforts and the encouragement to be given to such efforts are prominently and distinctly brought forward. In paragraph 61 of the Despatch it is said “We desire to see local management under Government inspection and assisted by grants in-aid taken advantage of wherever it is possible to do so” This sort of reliance upon 98

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local exertions and combination for local purposes is not encouraged among the people by encouraging Missionary institutions. In the paragraph above referred to it is clearly said that Government will supply the wants of particular parts of India by temporary establishment of schools, in districts where there is little or no prospect of adequate local efforts being made for this purpose If, then, the spirit and aim of the Despatch be to encourage people to come forward with local contributions and, assisted by Government, to aid in the cause of extending the sphere of education, I cannot perceive how grants paid to Missionary efforts, which, are evidently no local efforts, will bring about the object of the system The Government of India themselves see that Native efforts ought to be encouraged the Resolution No. 2152 of February 1882 says: “It is not a healthy symptom that all the youths of the country should be cast, as it were, in the same Government educational mould. Rather it is desirable that each section of the people should be in a position to secure that description of education which is most consonant to its feelings and suited to its wants. The Government is ready, therefore, to do all that it can to foster such a spirit of independence and selfhelp.” The Times of India, in a leading article in its issue of the 5th of May, writes on thus subject much in the same strain, and, as it properly expresses my views on this point, I give an extract from it— “The Missionaries regard the Despatch as the character by which they claim the right to have their schools and colleges aided by the Government, but in fact there is nothing throughout this Despatch to show that the idea of such assistance was really entertained by its framers. In fact we think it is highly improbable that the idea ever occurred to the real framer of the Despatch (J S Mill) The object of the grant-in-aid system introduced by the Despatch was distinctly stated to be the encouragement of local efforts. (Then follows paragraph 52 quoted above) But when Government support a Missionary school they cannot by any stretch of language be supposed to foster a spirit of reliance upon local exertions. The Despatch informs us that Government expected that their efforts would be aided not only by educated and wealthy Natives of India, but by other benevolent persons. No doubt Missionaries are benevolent persons, but they do not always start schools from the purely philanthropic motive of spreading knowledge.”

It will be seen, therefore, that the application of Government money towards Missionary institutions is not encouraging “local” efforts as was contemplated by the Despatch (II) In the second place the giving of grants to Missionary institutions violates the principle of religious neutrality to which Government adheres. It is one thing to abstain from interfering with the religious beliefs of the students, and only to inculcate precepts of advice and morality so as to tend to their well-being in this world and in the next, as is done in Government institutions; but it is quite a different thing to preach a belief in another religion to students of entirely differing and varying sects of belief, as is done in Missionary institutions Missionary institutions try to subvert the faith of their pupils by introducing them to the belief of their own Christian religion by the use of the Bible in schools and colleges, and thus directly interfere with the religious opinions of the pupils (with what effect is immaterial), whereas Government 99

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institutions give them general precepts of morality without trying to tamper with anybody’s individual beliefs Thus, the former violate the principle of religious neutrality, so clearly and prominently insisted upon in the Despatch It will be seen that when the rules for grant-in-aid came to be first introduced here, the then Director of Public Instruction, Mr Howard, strongly opposed the idea of giving grants to Missionary institutions, concurring in the views expressed on this question by Lord Ellenborough, President of the Board of Control, in a letter to the Chairman of the Court of Directors on 28th April 1858 Mr Howard wrote “I beg to express my respectful concurrence in the arguments by which Lord Ellenborough deprecates grants-in-aid to professedly Missionary schools as inconsistent with religious neutrality. No pecuniary grant has been made in this Presidency to any Missionary school” (Report for 1857–58). Lord Ellenborough’s views are very explicit, and I quote some paragraphs because they fully bear out what I say “22. The primary object of the Missionary is prosolytism. He gives education because by giving education he hopes to extend Christianity. He may be quite right in adopting this course, and left to himself unaided by the Government, and evidently unconnected with it he may obtain some, although probably no great, extent of success. But the moment he is ostensibly assisted by the Government, he not only loses a large portion of his chance of doing good in the furtherance of his primary object, but by creating an impression that education means proselytism, he naturally impedes the progress of Government directed to education alone” *

*

*

*

*

“26. Our scheme of education pervaded the land. It was known in every village. We were teaching new things in a new way, and often as the teacher stood the Missionary, who was only in India to convert the people “27. I must express my doubt whether to aid by Government funds the imparting even of purely secular education in a Missionary school is consistent with the promises so often made to the people and till now so scrupulously kept of perfect neutrality in matters of religion “28. It is true that the money of the State is only granted to the Missionary on account of the secular education which alone he engages to give to the Native unless the Native should otherwise desire, but it may often, if not always, happen that it is only through the aid thus given professedly for secular education that the Missionary is able to keep the school at all, which he only designs for other, and those proselytising purposes “29. We thus indirectly support where we profess to repudiate and practically abandon the neutrality to which at all times we have pledged ourselves to adhere. Such conduct brings into question our good faith, and may naturally give alarm to the people”

It is true that these emphatic thoughts, coming so close after the mutiny, will lose a little of their warmth when applied to the present state of Missionary

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institutions, but the fact is none the less true that, though proselytism is not regarded by them as a near certainty now, yet it is that to which all their secular as well as religious efforts are slowly, but surely and remotely, directed. The times have vastly changed no doubt, but the Missionaries, though they are not confident of any success, still retain the principle of religious instruction and thus violate the principle of strict religious neutrality. As for supplying the vacant minds of students, undermined by the secular instruction in Government schools, with a sense of moral obligations in an evangelical way, the Missionaries would do well to leave it to the Natives themselves They might preach morality without going to the Bible. The reason why Natives attend mission schools, though their tendencies are proselytising, is that they generally can afford to admit boys at a far less rate of fees than other schools, and that they admit a large number of free students. Sharp and diligent boys, however, invariably prefer other schools, because they give a far superior instruction. The views of those who had charge of the Educational Department, when the rules were first systematically introduced, were opposed to the principle of granting aid to Missionary institutions, but subsequently Educational officers showed themselves favourably inclined to their cause, and the consequence has been that most of the mission schools, those of the higher class at least, now get grants-in-aid. Missionary advocates must have succeeded in inducing Educational officers to believe that the language of the Despatch guaranteed the grants of money to private agencies that might be available; and even now, having a strong interest at home to back them, and having the sympathies of men like Lord Halifax: and the Duke of Argyll, &c., they are using all the weight of their arguments, and humbly asking for their share by standing upon the provisions of the Despatch (The three or four pamphlets published by the Reverend Johnston during 1880 and 1881 on this subject may be taken as examples) I have no mind to enter into a refutation of their arguments, as this is neither the time nor the place to do so. I merely take the fact as it stands now—that there are very few Missionary schools now that are not assisted by Government with a grant-in-aid (c) The Department of Public Instruction, as now constituted, is generally not inclined to encourage the growth of indigenous private enterprise by a liberal application of the grant-in-aid system. If a school is started by Natives and shown to several able officers, and even if it secures certificates of efficiency and good management both from the results of the Entrance Examinations and from the Educational authorities themselves, the school gets no chance of being registered on the ground, not of inefficiency, but want of funds at the disposal of Government. The Poona Native Institution may, I think, be given as an example of this sort. It is only now that the Manager of the institution has, by a marvellous dint of much personal exertion, succeeded in getting it registered To illustrate what I mean by the attitude of the Department towards this institution, I take the following extracts from letters written to the head-master, Mr. Bhave, by Educational authorities—

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“No. 2219 of 1880-81. 13th September 1880 To THE MANAGER, Poona Native Institution. SIR, With reference to my inspection of your school I have the honour to inform you that the Director of Public Instruction has no money to give to the support of private institutions, &c. 2 At the same time I may inform you that I was surprised and pleased to find your institution so well conducted and efficient. I consider that, looking to the difficulties you have to meet in the way of funds, your management of the institution has been praiseworthy, and the results obtained better than could have been expected I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, (Sd.) E. GILES, Acting Educational Inspector, C.D.”

Here follows a letter from the Director himself— “No. 2958 of 1880 81. 15th September 1880 To MR WAMAN PRABHAKAR BHAVE, Head-Master, Poona Native Institution. SIR, In reply to your letter of the 11th instant, I have the honour to state that I have no funds for any private high school in Poona. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, (Sd) K M. CHATFIELD, Director of Public Instruction”

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It might be supposed that the Government grant was withheld from this school on the ground that it showed no signs of permanency, but that this ground was disposed of so far back as 1878 by no less an authority than Mr. Kirkham, may be seen from the Educational Inspector’s Report No 2343, dated 15th November 1878, from which the following is an extract— “Government had very strong reasons for refusing a grant to the institution for so many years. They wanted to see its permanency Since Dr Kielhorn’s inspection, much has been done to improve the teaching staff The mere fact of the institution continuing for so many years without Government and conclusively proves that it supplies an educational want long felt in the town Now, the time has arrived when the benefit of the Government grant can, with great convenience, be extended to this institution.”

Some of the greatest changes made in the grant-in-aid rules occurred in the year 1876, on the ground that there were no sufficient funds available In that year four Native high schools were struck off the list of registered schools When Baba Gokhale’s school was so struck off, it was not, so far as my knowledge goes, given a further trial even of one year; whereas the local mission school, which, I may say from my personal experience of it for six months, was then and is even now in a worse condition than Baba’s school in its worst condition; and though it is a “permanent institution” it has during the last five years, passed on an average 1 60 students every year, while Bhave’s school passed 14 students during the same five years, though it was an unaided institution. It is rather a strange fact that, though Missionary schools are supported by large funds at home by the contributions or subscriptions of their friends, sympathisers here, and still more by the favourable attitude of the Department towards them, yet the results shown by such institutions at the Matriculation Examination during the last five years are far inferior to those shown by Native private unaided institutions From a calculation made of the results of the nine Missionary schools in this Presidency which send up boys for the Matriculation and of those shown by the nine unaided private institutions existing in Bombay and Poona, it is found that the latter schools passed 252 boys, while the former not more than 160! This shows the efficiency of instruction in Native schools though they have to labour under very great disadvantages, and it also shows that Missionary institutions (with one notable exception) are far below the mark even in that branch in which they ask Government to hand over its institutions to them, i e., secondary education When the grants were withdrawn from Native schools in 1876, it was quite natural that their efficiency should be seriously marred. Though the Native schools were struck off the list of registered schools, the number of Missionary schools and other European and Eurasian schools that received grants on the reduced scale continued very nearly the same in 1877–78 The Director in his Report for 1877–78 wrote that the falling-off in the number of aided schools that was recorded “may possibly be attributed to the cessation of the Government grant

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and the consequent inability or unwillingness of the proprietors to employ teachers thoroughly qualified to teach up to the Matriculation standard” If the words “was surely” be substituted for “may possibly” in the above passage, I think the Director will have stated the chief reason of the falling-off referred to. In order to show how the grants of Government are divided amongst aided schools, I give the following table from the Report of 1880–81—

Year

1879–80 . . 1880–81 . .

Colleges

Permanent schools for Europeans and Eurasians.

Permanent Schools for Natives

Rs

Rs

A.

P

Rs

8,525 3,600

30,883 34,800

8 0

0 0

35,780 37,739

A P

Private Schools Rs

A P

Total.

Rs

A. P

4 2 3,815 0 0 76,002 12 2 5 7 4,469 8 0 83,698 13 7

This shows what a despicably small portion of the grants is obtained by schools started by Natives (that is, hardly 12 per cent.), and how great a portion is absorbed by European and Eurasian schools (that is, nearly 46 per cent) An argument is sometimes put forward by the Department that if the Native schools are good they want no Government support, but I must say here that a due appreciation of the efficiency of instruction is not made by 75 out of 100 persons, and though a school might be good, it does not in all cases mean that it will continue long so without a grant from Government If I may be allowed to state here the present Director’s opinion about Native private enterprise in general, I shall re-produce it.—“I think,” said he to me at a private interview, “the system of grants-in-aid to private schools is a sort of fallacy When we find that the ways and means of our Government high schools become equal by the raising of fees proportionately, we might employ the sum we now spend on them in opening other schools, instead of supporting a lot of mushroom schools which may spring up to-day and die in no time.” I must admit here that there is some truth in his remark, Government is not bound to aid a school of which there appears no reasonable chance of permanence, or which might be merely started for filling the belly. Such “mushroomh” schools it might not aid; but I think the “mushroom” nature of school ceases if it continues for more than four years without the least aid from Government in an efficient manner. (d) I now come to the details of the administration of the grant-in aid system itself. The foremost of such points is the system of payment by results, which means the system of awarding grants to schools according to the results of periodical examinations The chief evil of this system is that it does not give facilities for the maintenance of permanency in an institution, its nature is very uncertain A school might get a very bad batch of boys one year, and if the results in an examination of those boys be bad so as to give a less grant that year, how should the school pay the teacher that taught those boys? The labour of the teacher is not 104

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lessened even if the boys be very raw. Even if the results of examinations show a great variation from year to year, the school will have to maintain the number of teachers, and so a constant expenditure. If the results are bad one year the school cannot afford to pay its teachers properly, if it should turn them out, there would be very little likelihood of getting in this manner any teacher who would agree to teach in the school for a certain number of years The frequent change of teacher is greatly detrimental to the interests of boys in private schools, more so than in Government schools; but if the grants be of a varying and precarious nature, the evils arising from such a frequent change of teachers would be seriously aggravated In fact, the Managers of a school would, I think, find it difficult to be able to keep up a standard of efficiency, if they have to depend, for the most part, upon the payments to be got by the results of examinations. It is well known that the results of examinations are generally of a very uncertain nature Far more uncertain, and consequently far more injurious to the interests of a school, are the results of those examinations in which the examiners are bound by a particular limit, beyond which the funds at the disposal of Government cannot go If the amount of funds that can be spent in grants-in-aid is already settled and fixed upon, it can hardly be expected that examiners who are, under the present system, Government servants, i.e., Deputy Inspectors or Educational Inspector, should not try to cut down the grants as far as possible, so as to bring them within the fixed limits. When examiners go to examine a school with the knowledge that the funds at the disposal of Government cannot exceed a certain amount; and when other causes—such as the chance of getting a bad batch, the hurried, and therefore unsatisfactory, way of examinations, the difference in the degree of tests for any two years, the personnel of the Department being liable to constant fluctuations, and the fact that boys frequently get nervous or are quite unable to show their usual attainments before an examiner whom they have not seen before—when these and the like causes are taken together, they all, I think, go to enhance the very uncertain nature of the system of payment by results when applied exclusively to a school. The other way followed by the Department in the case of some schools in the Presidency is to give in the lump a fixed grant every year. In this way Ɍ24,303 2–9 were given to schools during the year 1880–81. Whatever be the advantages of getting a grant free from the unstable effects of payment by results, I am not inclined to think that a fixed grant will have a good effect upon the working of a school Though payment by results has many evils when introduced exclusively, one advantage of it is that it always leaves occasion for vigorous exertions, gives an impulse to work hard, and thus dispels all source of idleness, looseness, or carelessness, which are inevitable when it is certainly known that the school will get very nearly the same grant next year. By this system one of the chief incentives to work sincerely and zealously, which are essential in a private school, is removed, and I think the sure prospect of getting a certain amount of grant, whether the work is done sincerely or not, prevents teachers from increasing every year the standard of efficiency once attained. Payment by results has the element of rousing a spirit of emulation which is wanting in the fixed grant system. I, for myself, would not like to 105

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have a fixed grant given every year, though at the same time I should not wish the payment-by-results alone maintained without other elements of permanency. When we apply for the registration of our school, we should certainly like to have the elements of both the systems—a fixed grant and payment-by-results— combined in a manner in which the evils of both would be removed and the good promoted. Payment-by-results by itself might be of some use in the case of those schools which are not likely to suffer, if passing certain examinations be made the goal of ambition of their teachers Such schools would be the primary schools and the extension of primary education might be sought by a judicious application of this system and thus encouraging the growth of indigenous schools in villages wherever practicable. But this system, if used exclusively in higher schools and colleges, will not be productive of much good, and how it may be made beneficial by a just combination with the fixed grant system, will be given in my answers to questions 11 and 12, where I shall propose a system of grants-in-aid, combining the advantages of both the present systems (e) Several important changes were made in the grants-in-aid rules from time to time; but three very important changes, among others, were effected in 1876; namely, the withdrawing of grants for passing Matriculation and grants for the salaries of teachers, and reducing by one-half the grants for passing the F A and B.A. Examinations, which were formerly 200 and 350 respectively. Since 1877 a college that passed a F.A. and B.A. got only 100 and 175; when the rules were again revised in the early part of this year, the grants for Matriculation and teachers’ salaries were not renewed, though the causes which prompted the sudden changes in 1876, i e., the paucity of funds owing to famine, had to a great extent disappeared in February 1882. The only changes made were in the grants for the three University examinations, for each of which Rs 100 were assigned. By this great decrease, where a college got before 1878 Ɍ550 for sending out one graduate, it can now get Ɍ300 only with the additional risk of having to get a student through three, instead of two, examinations, with one more chance of failure. The effect produced by these changes upon the progress of aided colleges must indeed have been very serious, and if Government be desirous of encouraging indigenous private efforts in the work of education, I think the scale of these grants will have to be considerably increased But in the ease of aided high schools also the sudden and great changes with regard to salaries and Matriculation grants, which still continue unmodified even in the recently revised rules, told very heavily, and will tell more heavily still, on the aided schools. It is a strange anomaly that the standards below the Matriculation standard are examined and grants paid for them, but that standard which determines the degree of efficiency of a high school remains out of consideration. It is this standard of which the greatest care is required to be taken, as it is that which proves the school to be efficient and prosperous Passing one boy in the Matriculation could, before 1876, give the school Ɍ100, but since then it gives nothing. Besides, there being now no grants allowed for salaries of masters, the Managers of a school have no inducements to employ abler and efficient teachers, for they cannot, merely depending upon 106

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the uncertain payment-by-results, afford to spend large sums for this purpose. When masters get some fixed grants according to their degree of knowledge, it is very easy for a school to secure the services of competent teachers. The result of these circumstances has been that private schools find it impossible to obtain the services of able teachers on low salaries; failure to get able teachers renders the standard of instruction very low, and thus the cause of the school begins to sink more and more, till at last a final extinction is considered better than a disgraceful, lingering death Owing to the withdrawal of grants in these two respects, the progress of high schools conducted by Natives has been hampered, and I don’t think that, unless important changes are made in these two particulars, the Natives of this Presidency would find it worth their while to take a part in the education of their own countrymen. ( f ) Leaving the minor defects in the administration of the grant-in-aid system, such as the undue severity of examinations in considering a boy as incapable of getting a grant for a head if he fails in any of its subdivisions, the greater attention paid at the time of an inspection or examination to the neatness of external forms and their exact conformity to Government or prescribed modes rather than to the kind or quality of instruction given, the uncertainty of the standard adopted by an inspecting officer to enable him “to speak well of the quality and intelligence of boys” at an inspection, and the like defects, I must not omit to mention the last, but not the least one, i e, that the present rules interfere largely with the free growth of private institutions. The chief faults of the official machinery as contrasted with private enterprise are, as pointed by Herbert Spencer as early as 1854 in the Westminster Review, the want of promptness, want of efficiency, and the want of adaptability to the requirements of those affected by it Though the second fault cannot be in all cases charged against Government institutions, yet the two others may, I believe, be predicated of most of them. And the way in which the grant-inaid rules are applied to schools only serves to heighten them instead of trying to remove them The tendency of the Government machinery is to reduce everything to stereotyped forms and to leave no scope for the free exercise of independence in internal management. The rules require that the schools should be examined according to the standards prescribed for Government institutions. The several serious faults noted with regard to the arrangement of subjects for different standards and touched upon in my answer to question 10, are, therefore, carried into private schools also, and the unadaptability of subjects, instead of being cured in the socalled independent institutions, is increased, by being scrupulously followed Any school, therefore, that may be registered and may claim to get grants-in-aid, has to regulate all its studies according to the models act by Government, howsoever illconstrtucted or faulty they may be. Thus, if it wants any assistance from Government, it must conform itself to all the rules, regulations, forms—good or bad—in fact, everything done in Government schools. It yet remains to be seen whether a school being registered and presenting boys for examination under standards differently constituted from the Government ones, not merely in point of difference of books, but in the change of subjects also, will be assisted by Government with 107

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a grant. If Government desire to ultimately withdraw from the direct management of its schools and colleges by encouraging local efforts, private institutions ought to be given a perfect liberty of action in all internal arrangements; they must not be bound dawn by the stereotyped forms obtaining in Government institutions, even though they be seriously faulty; there ought to be every room for improvement and progress and continued development as circumstances may render necessary. The University has fixed the standard for the Matriculation, and whatever paths, easy or difficult, private schools might follow to attain this end, in other words, though the standards that they might adopt be different, Government ought to have no objection to examining such schools on the ground that they are not, as it were, “uniform in one volume.” Many Managers of aided institutions might desire to make some radical changes in the course of instruction, but they dare not do so, lest they should be in danger of forferting what small grants are placed within their reach If, for example, the New English School is registered, we would make it as the first condition of making ourselves amenable to the grant-in-aid rules, supposing the present rules be allowed to remain unmodified, that the Inspector will not see by what kind of standards the school course is regulated, what the intermediate ways are by which we reach the goal. He should satisfy himself about the efficiency of instruction as conveyed in the school, and should declare results accordingly We have adopted standards, adapted, in out opinion, to the wants of students as they advance. We have now reduced the whole course to six years, and by opening a vernacular feeder, which we hope to do at no distant date, we hope to reduce the school course by one more year at least Thus, where a boy in a Government school might complete his Matriculation course after 11 years at least, supposing him to be a very sharp boy all round, we hope we shall be able to arrange to complete it within 8 or 9 years. If such changes are effected, and if the grants-in aid rules continue to he as rigid as now, I do not see how such a school will be thought worthy of Government support. It is upon a right adjustment of this point that the success of private institutions in my opinion depends more than upon others. If we should become ready to join the banners of Government standards and submit to their rules, that which has, I may say without any feeling of egotism, made it a school having some distinctly peculiar features of its own, will be lost, and it will be only going over the old beaten path without the means of making any improvements in the course of instruction It is this point in the administration of grants-in-aid that must be grappled with and solved with care, prudence, and honesty of purpose Ques. 21.—What classes principally avail themselves of Government of aided schools and colleges for the education of their children ? How far is the complaint well-founded that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education? Ans. 21.—The classes that generally avail themselves of instruction in schools and colleges are the poorer and middle classes, and the higher classes generally do not take as much interest in any education as it is supposed they do. The persons who send their sons to schools or colleges are mostly Government officials, clerks in Native States, or in private offices or businesses, or small land-holders, and there are very few who can be said to belong to the wealthier classes. Even a person 108

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who gets 100 or 200 rupees a month, but who has a large family to support and has to look to the education of, say, two sons or relatives at college, cannot be said to belong to the rich class In proof of this I give a statement with regard to the Deccan College. Out of 105 students from whom information could be obtained, 5 are the sons of persons getting Ɍ500 and upwards per mensem, 11 are the sons of persons getting between Ɍ250 and Ɍ500 per mensem, 19 are the sons of persons between Ɍ100 and Ɍ250 per mensem, 31 are the sons of persons getting between Ɍ50 and Ɍ100 per mensem, and 39 are the sons of persons getting below Ɍ50 per mensem From this it will be clearly seen that the students in the Deccan College at least are not the sons of wealthy parents Nearly 38 per cent are the sons of poorer classes who ill afford to give Ɍ20 or Ɍ22 per month for the education of a boy at college out of an income of only Ɍ50 per mensem About 48 per cent, are the sons of parents who get above Ɍ50 or below Ɍ250, and this, too, I must say, does not show that the rich class avails itself of education. Hardly 4 per cent are the sons of persons who get anything like Ɍ500 or upwards. As an example of what classes of people send their boys to secondary schools, I give below a table showing the rank of parents of boys in the New English School taken on the 28th of July 1882— Standards

Total Number 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th of Boys

{

YEARLY INCOME.

Beggars . . . . . . . . . . Within Rs. 100 From ” 100 to Rs 200 From ” 200 to ” 400 From ” 400 to ” 600 From ” 600 to ” 1,000 From ” 1,000 to Rs 3,000 From ” 3,000 to ” 5,000 and upwards Total of Boys

.

2 19 30 29 8 18 14

3 12 18 17 19 12 6 7

4 14 21 25 16 13 19 7

4 12 16 15 26 8 25 3

3 9 5 16 11 6 16 2

2 1 3 1 1 4 3 7 4 8 9 12 5 8 1

19 70 95 113 87 78 92 20

130 92 119 111 67 27 37

573

It will be seen from this that even in a large city like Poona, the number of those parents or guardians who get between Ɍ200 and Ɍ300 per month is 20 only out of 573, or about 3 5 per cent. It thus becomes evident that the majority of those who send their boys to schools belong to the struggling middle or poor class, and that the richer or higher classes keep aloof from education. This is acknowledged in the Resolution of the Government of India which appointed this Commission “Hitherto those who have been most ready to take advantage of superior instruction have frequently belonged to families of comparatively limited private means, and there should, in the opinion of the Government of India, be no each sudden and general raising of fees as to carry high education beyond the reach of those classes who at present boná fide seek for it, 109

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or to convert the Government colleges into places to which the higher classes only procure admission” Those who, therefore, urge that Government might safely withdraw from a direct connection with colleges and secondary schools on the ground that the richer or wealthier classes who attend these institutions are able to pay the cost of their own education, do not appear, to me at least, to have made out a strong, nay, any case, in their favour In my opinion the wealthy classes are really the Sirdárs who have some jágirs, or big Shettias or Bháttias or Pársis of the position of Sir Jamsetji Jijibhái or Kawasji Jehángir Readimoney. It is only now that people of this class have begun to evince an interest in the cause of education, but some years must elapse before they can be induced to take an active and intelligent part in the noble cause of education When the number of those wealthy persons who avail themselves of collegiate or school education, is so insignificantly small as almost zero, it is an idle complaint to say that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education. Ques. 26.—Is the instruction imparted in secondary schools calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further with useful and practical information? Ques. 34.—How far do you consider the text-books in use in all schools suitable? Ques. 35.—Are the present arrangements of the Education Department in regard to examinations or text-books, or in any other way, such as unnecessarily interfere with the free development of private institutions? Do they in any way tend to check the development of natural character and ability, or to interfere with the production of a useful vernacular literature? Ans. 26, 34, & 35.—I shall first take the question of text-books and then come to the other questions. (a) The text-books used in primary (vernacular) schools that require any consideration are those relating to the vernacular, i e., the serial reading-books and the work on grammar. I believe I may say emphatically that the reading-books which form the chief part of a boy’s instruction in primary schools are exactly what they should not be. The book on grammar is abstruse and too scientific in its treatment, and is not a book which can be safely given into the hands of the teachers to teach their young pupils from, much less into the hands of the pupils themselves. A grammar written in a clear, easy, and less scientific manner, capable of being readily understood, if learnt by heart, would be the sort of book which will suit the wants of young boys learning in primary schools Again, the vernacular serial books are not suited to the wants of the sons of non-agriculturists even, far less suited are they to the requirements of the sons of ryots It is found that in primary schools, especially those situated in villages, the number of sons of cesspayers is about 60 or 61 per cent. In each schools, where boys are to be taught such subjects as would be practically useful to the sons of the ryots, it might be expected that the reading-books should contain lessons on subjects like the fall and distribution of rain, sowing, and harvest times, manures, their use, &c., and such other subjects a knowledge of which would be highly useful to the sons of ryots, who might thus 110

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be able to make a better use of their fields How necessary it is that this sort of practical knowledge should be imparted to the sons of ryots, may be seen from the following paragraph from the Despatch of 1854— “Para 41.—Our attention should now be directed to a consideration, if possible, still more important, and one which, we are bound to admit, has been hitherto too much neglacted, namely, how useful and practical knowledge suited to every station in life may be best convered to the great mass of the people, who are utterly incapable of obtaining any education worthy of the name of then own unaided efforts and we desire to see the active measures of Government more specially directed for the future to this object, for the attainment of which we are ready to sanction considerable increase of expenditure”

If the existing reading-book be carefully examined, it will be found that there is nothing in them that is calculated to give a useful and practical knowledge to the mass of the population such as was contemplated by the framers of the Despatch, and if this is not done, I do not know how a return may be said to be made to those ryots who pay a special educational cess to get their children taught at least the rudiments of useful knowledge In my opinion the knowledge to be imparted in village schools should be a good knowledge of reading and writing, casting account, and general information of subjects connected with agriculture. My belief is that there ought to be a separate set of subjects appointed for village schools These appear to me to be the prominent defects in the text-books used in primary schools, and when this fact is coupled with another, i e, that the teachers in those schools are not able, nor have they any inducements, to make the instruction practical, the defects become serious enough. (b) Passing on to secondary schools, I may say that the defects in text-books are not so serious and inexcusable, though the standards that are in use are open to many serious objections, in point of division and arrangement of subjects. The series in English used in middle-class schools is not so useful and instructive as some others that are now left to the option of teachers, i.e., the Royal Reader Series, Chambers Series, &c. The series now generally used deprives students of much of the useful and instructive knowledge that might be given to them compatible with their young and phant intellectual faculties, if other books were used I may say here that a progressive series for the lower standards of high schools, such as would exactly suit the wants of Native youths, ought to be prepared by Natives themselves, the higher books being borrowed from English works. Then the two reading-books in Maráthi are utterly unsuited to young boys, being full of lessons on chemical, astronomical, anatomical, and such other scientific subjects hardly capable of being understood by the teachers themselves of those classes, much less by young students not knowing anything of Sanskrit When a boy passes on to higher standards he learns text-books that are considerably easier than these two, both in point of style and choice of subjects, such as Bálamitra, Socrates’ Life, Elizabeth, &c. The defects in the text-books become serious, to a great degree, because the way in which boys are taught Maráthi grammar—the foundation of their knowledge—is simply mechanical, parrot-like, and quite unproductive of any 111

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substantial good to the pupils themselves. This I may say boldly from the frequent admissions made by me into the lower standards of the school I do not wish to go into details, but this much, I think, I must say, that the general way in which boys are taught in primary schools is defective, unproductive of any practical good, and seriously detrimental to their intellectual faculties and energies Then, as regards text-books in history, I must say here also there is much to be said against them, In the second standard is put into the hands of the students Morris’ History of India, than which, I may say, a more denationalising and partial book at will be difficult to find. Then the English history taught in the higher standards, in a shunting way, and at every time upon different sorts of rails, deserves to be considered. I strongly believe that no student can afford to read English classical books without a knowledge of the ancient histories of Greece and Rome— the ancient lands of classical celebrity—without at least a knowledge of the general facts in the two histories. But these two histories have been prescribed from the standards, and thus, probably, the means left to the students of having some enlarged ideas as to how nations rise, thrive, and fall, are removed, and the general feature of the dead-level system prominently brought to light. My charges with regard to secondary schools are not so much against the text-books as against the half-hearted and perfunctory way generally followed by teachers in teaching their pupils, and this, goes, I think, a great way in making the present textbooks so unsuitable Of this I have had some experience during the last two years whenever I had to admit boys from the local high schools or other high schools, and I found that seven out of ten boys had to be admitted into one standard lower into our school (c) To go now to the question whether the instruction imparted in secondary schools is calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further with useful and practical information, I am constrained to answer the question in the negative. Even from the commencement of his English course, the student is deprived of useful and practical information such as may be found in the Royal Readers or Chambers Educational Course, &c. Then we see nothing like a knowledge of the histories of Greece and Rome, not to mention any general history. There are no subjects introduced into the standards such as would give him a general knowledge of the laws of political economy, the wonders of science (an instruction insisted upon by philosophical writers like Professors Huxley, Spencer, and Tyndall), a general knowledge of, at least, what the duties and bindings of men are as the members of society, and as subjects of the State, and also what relations and obligations hold between men as between themselves and as towards others, such subjects as would serve to give a student some ideaof what the ways of the world practically are and how they can be usefully followed. Supposing the student does not wish to continue his studies after the Matriculation, he should be sent into the world with some useful practical knowledge. I think something of the kind suggested above ought to be done, besides making it obligatory on teachers to impart as much practical knowledge regarding subjects already set forth in the standards as it may be in their power to do. I believe text-books on the above 112

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subjects, written in an easy, lucid, and instructive manner, should be prepared by the Education Department and may be set for Standards V, VI, VII (d) As regards the first part of question 10, I have already answered it at sufficient length in my answer to question 3. I believe that, unless examinations, the selection of text-books, or the other tests examination, be so regulated that they do not interfere with the internal management and development of private schools, that they leave every scope for independence of action consistent with the requirements of the Department, and that they will look more to what is expected from such schools than to how or in what manner it is obtained, the free growth of private institutions, such as was contemplated by the framers the Despatch of 1854, will be greatly hampered As I have already said, if a private school undertakes to teach boys as far as the Matriculation with six, instead of seven, standards, the Department should not raise any objection on the ground that the system does not correspond with its own. The extent of knowledge to be tested may be fixed, but whether that is acquired by going through the usual grooves or different ones should not be inquired into. (e) The second part of the question deserves to be more carefully considered. Is there any tendency in the present arrangement of the Department to check the development of natural character and ability, or to interfere with the production of a useful vernacular literature? I should certainly say yes The monotonously uniform system of instruction conducted upon English models and English tastes, the removing of means by which students may be reminded of their nationality, even in innocent sports and games, the adoption of such text-books as Morris’s History, the tenour of which goes to magnify British influence and British power and to lower and degrade Indian men and manners, and the proscription of such as would keep awake the idea that students are but members of a great nation having certain duties towards it,—these and the like means tend, in my opinion, to check the unrestrained growth of natural (by which, I suppose, is meant national) character, and the remedies to make up the defects are not far to seek. But the latter clause of the question is more important still. The high school standards are so arranged that if a student takes up Sanskrit, Latin, or Persian for his second language in the fourth standard and continues it as far as his college course, he bids a good-bye to his vernacular, a farewell, a long farewell, to its grammar, its idiom, and even the slight favour of using it in his ordinary conversation. It is only at the time of translating from the vernacular into English that the hands of the student are allowed to be for a time defiled by a contact with that language. Explanations of passages, paraphrases, themes, letter-writing, all contribute to give English a very great importance which is considerably enhanced by the fact that all knowledge is to be shown viá English, and that if, therefore, he happens to be specially weak in English, he has no chance whatever of passing his examinations I do not know if translation from English into the student’s vernacular is carefully attended to or practised in all high schools At the time of the annual examination examiners hardly care to know whether the student knows how to translate any passage into his vernacular. In the Matriculation a passage is now given for translation from 113

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the candidate’s vernacular into English with the alternative of a paraphrase (a very just alternative indeed): but I do not know why a passage is not similarly given for translation from English into vernacular. If the candidate’s knowledge of his vernacular is to be tested, it must be by translation from English into the vernacular also Excepting this opportunity of coming into contact with his vernacular, the student, if he happens to join a college, severs all connection with his vernacular, he reads, talks, lectures, or gossips, in English or, at the most, hybrid English. The poor vernaculars are not allowed to cross the threshold of the seminaries of education, and students who pass with vernaculars for their second languages, are required to take up one of the classical languages recognised by the University. When the attitude of the Education Department and the University is so unfavourable to the vernaculars, it cannot but happen that the student, though he obtains a first class in his B A or M A, forgets all about his mother tongue. The aim of the whole educational system, as at present administered, appear to me to make the Natives speak and write good English, to make them Burkes, Addisons, or Macaulays in English, and not to enable them to be masters of their own mothertongue, as if the object of the University were to send forth into the world every year a lot of Anglicised graduates instead of graduated Natives! I do not impute the blame in any way to the students. The fault lies with “the system of education. The knowledge of his vernacular to be found in even the ablest graduate is all that he might have acquired when he threw off his Sixth Reading-book and Dádoba’s Grammar in the third standard. Under these circumstances it is scarcely possible that graduates should be able to produce a useful vernacular literature I think I shall not be making an over-statement if I say that 80 or 85 per cent. of the graduates now sent out by the University, are unable to write well and with ease in their vernaculars at one cast. My belief is that the chief object of education is to make the possessor able to use it himself and to communicate it to his ignorant poor countrymen, to diffuse, so to speak, the knowledge acquired by him of useful European arts, inventions, &c., among his countrymen through the vernaculars. That this was the chief object of the authors of the Despatch of 1854 may be seen from the following extracts—“We must emphatically declare that the education which we desire to see extended in India is that which has for its object the diffusion of the improved arts, science, philosophy, literature of Europe, in short, of European knowledge” “We look, therefore, to the English language and the vernacular languages of India together as the media for the diffusion of European knowledge, and it is our desire to see them cultivated in all schools in India of sufficiently high class to maintain a schoolmaster possessing the requisite qualifications” Those who possess this education were expected to be “more useful members of society in every condition of life.” Viewed from the standpoint of the Despatch, I do not think that the system of keeping the vernaculars out of the pale of the University is calculated to produce a useful vernacular literature To remedy this defect I would not go the length of proposing here new degrees to be founded in the vernaculars, but I would propose that the students should be compelled to learn their vernaculars at high schools more thoroughly than now Some general 114

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question, such as translation from English, and essay to be written in the vernacular, and some questions on idiom, should be asked in the general English paper, just as translation into English is now given, and in the University examinations every candidate should have to answer a paper containing questions from books appointed in his vernacular, along with questions on essay-writing, besides the paper he may have to answer in the second language chosen by him I think if something like this be done, a knowledge of the vernaculars will be preserved by students, and the production of a healthy and useful vernacular literature will be greatly facilitated How the scheme may be put into practice and worked I would leave the Syndicate to decide Ques. 27.—Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the Entrance examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstance impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? Ans. 27.—I think there is a good deal of truth in the statement that the attention of pupils as well as teachers is unduly directed to the Matriculation examination When boys after learning the several lower standards reach the Matriculation standard, the chief care of the teacher or teachers appointed to that class is to see how many boys are capable of being made to “pass” the Entrance examination, for upon passing a smaller or greater number depends, to a great extent, the inefficiency or efficiency of the school. When teachers as well as students know that a good deal of their success in this world depends upon passing the examination, it is natural that both of them should concentrate their attention upon this important object They think that the best way to secure the desired object is to make the students go through the subjects set by the University somehow or other, which practice they are obliged to follow more because the tests applied by the University in passing candidates are extremely fluctuating and arbitrary. The standard of examination being liable to constant variations, teachers cannot generally keep to one course of instruction Every year new examiners with new ideas about the requirements of candidates step into the lists, and in order to accomplish the desired object teachers think of the ready means of getting up the various subjects by cramming and hammering them into the heads of students. Though I grant that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to this examination, I must say that the cause of this must be investigated, and so long as the cause remains, it cannot be expected that their attention should be otherwise directed. I mean the fact that English language is made the medium through which students are to show their knowledge of any subject learnt by them, goes a great way in strengthening this idea of teachers and pupils. Teachers find that they have to teach their boys a certain number of subjects and they begin them with their pupils If a teacher thinks of going beyond the stereotyped forms of teaching and gives his pupils some general useful extra knowledge regarding any subject, he would find that the greatest difficulty is to make them reproduce this information 115

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in English at the time of examinations If they be told to reproduce the same in their vernacular, they would do it very easily, supposing they have grasped what the teacher told them; but English being a foreign language, it goes hard with them to give in that language their ideas, not violating English idiom, grammar, usage, &c So, this difficulty deters teachers from imparting a useful, practical, or a comprehensive knowledge of any subject, if they wish that their pupils should be able to show that knowledge at the time of examinations. Thus, not only is the imparting of a useful practical knowledge greatly limited, but the intellectual energies are spent away in learning English first and then the subjects themselves, and I may say that more than three-fourths of the time of a student is taken up in mastering the peculiarities of a foreign language itself Whatever be the cause, the fact remains that the practical value of the instruction given in secondary schools, so far as the requirements of ordinary life are concerned, is considerably impaired by the circumstance that the attention of teachers and pupils, whether rightly or wrongly, is greatly directed to the Entrance examination Though it is not warranted by the question itself, I may say that the same or nearly the same result is perceivable in college examinations by reason of the triplicate system of examinations introduced into the University during the régime of Sir R. Temple It would be out of place to discuss here the propriety or otherwise of the step taken by the University under the Chancellorship of Sir Richard, but so much may, I think, be safely said, that the value of instruction given in colleges is now considerably impaired by the fact that a student has to pass three different examinations before he should be able to earn an honourable livelihood for himself I think it will be granted that the mind of a student is greatly disturbed when he finds that he has to pass one examination every year Having to learn different sets of books and different sets of subjects for each successive examination, he has hardly any time at his command to devote to other subjects than those actually prescribed, he is thus obliged to “get up” the anomalous subjects set for his examinations, to cram the books, and thus by pursuing the same course for three or four years, he manages to get through or pass the B A. examination (Happy is he if he gets through successfully within three years!) The mind of a student being thus engrossed with the care of “passing” one examination every year, he has no scope left to acquire a useful and practical knowledge of the subjects he studies, he comes out of the college as a man whose head is stuffed with a variety of subjects, but who is not able to give to the people practically the result of his knowledge. And in this manner what the country expects of him—that he should not merely be able to occupy a good place under Government, but to convey what he has acquired to the poor masses of the people, to “filter down,” as it were, the knowledge acquired by him through the various strata of the population of his country—is not realised in most cases. This is, in my opinion, the object, at any rate one of the chief objects, which a graduate is generally expected to be

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able to fulfil But his attention being taken up by examinations, his knowledge is not sound, comprehensive, and practical, and thus this circumstance also considerably impairs the practical value of the education given in institutions higher than secondary schools, for the requirements of ordinary life. I have alluded to this point, as it seemed to me to be of a nature analogous to that appearing in the question. Ques. 37.—What effect do you think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes? Ques. 38.—In the event of the Government withdrawing to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges, do you apprehend that the standard of instruction in any class of institutions would deteriorate? If you think so, what measures would you suggest in order to prevent this result? Ans. 37 & 38.—(a) The effect of a sudden withdrawal from the direct management of schools or colleges by Government would be fatal to the cause of education If Government withdraws all connection with schools or colleges, the only organised agency that can take up the work of education is the Missionary agency. There is no organised Native agency that can be expected to adequately supply the place of Government institutions. It is a curious fact that Missionary writers have now begun to pose as the warm sympathisers of Natives, and talk of the ability, energy, and spirit of self-reliance now-a-days evinced by them. The Reverend Johnston, who has been for some years past writing on this subject, says, if Government withdraw from direct education, “the Natives of India, who are capable of managing the higher education, if only they were encouraged to do it, the European residents and Missionary societies will keep up an educational system fully equal to the wants of the country, under the stimulus of the grants-in-aid, while it would call forth a spirit of liberality which is suppressed, and of independence which is crushed by the present system” The state of Native activity and readiness described above may be very well true in the case of the Madras or Bengal Presidency, but certainly not in the case of this Presidency. I, for myself, should have received with great delight the high opinion entertained of our abilities by others; I am as great a patriot as Missionary writers would show us to be; but it is simply a false patriotism which blinds one to his own real interests. I must candidly confess that, except in large towns like Bombay and Poona, which have far advanced in intellectual activity, the spirit of self-reliance and self-sacrifice, which is so essential to the maintenance of private institutions, is yet dormant. It is only now that people have begun to show some signs of independent activity and to throw off their languid torpor; and without being liable to the charge of being called unpatriotic, I may say that some years must elapse before that state ascribed to us by the Missionaries is really observable amongst us in almost all localities, and does not remain confined to places like Poona or Bombay, and before the educated Natives become

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able to maintain high education, if left by Government That educated Natives should take the work of educating their own countrymen in suitable ways, in their own hands, with a slight aid from the State, is a consummation devoutly to be wished for, and none will desire it more ardently than myself. But the time is not yet come when Government might withdraw from the work of education at once and leave it to private enterprise in all places, without serious damage to the cause of education so nobly pursued by it If, therefore, under these circumstances of Native activity and energy, Government should think of withdrawing from the work of education as persistently maintained by a considerable section of Missionary writers, then, I must say that Government will have simply “played into the hands of Missionary bodies,” will have fostered the belief among the people that it desires to force Christian teaching upon them, and thus given a good scope for those “benevolent” bodies to accomplish their object more easily. It needs no proof that the avowed object of Missionary “benevolence” in India is the subversion of the religions of the Natives. Aware of this very evil, prudent and foresighted men positively declined to take any steps that might be construed as identifying Government with the cause of these religious bodies. I might quote here a paragraph from a Despatch to the Government of India, dated 22nd July 1857— “We cannot approve of that part of the scheme which identifies the Government in measures prosecuted by the Missionaries, and so exposes the arrangement to the risk of perverted misconstruction We are well aware that the Church Missionary Society has been marked equally for zeal as for rectitude of intention and laborious devotion to benevolent intentions. But however entitled to our confidence such an institution may have proved itself, we adhere to the conviction that it would be altogether opposed to the rules, if you were to take any steps which might have the appearance of uniting the Government with such a society in measures having the aim of converting any class of the population to Christianity.”

(The italics are mine.) The Natives themselves would not like such a hasty transference of secondary schools to Missionary bodies. See what the Times of India says:— “At present Missionary schools create little alarm among the Native community, because, as it happens, they are mere media for conveying secular instruction. But if Government were to retire from higher education and the Missionary schools were to use their new-born strength for the purpose of conversion, the purpose for which they are supposed to exist, the cry raised against them by the Natives will be very loud, and it would be a cry that no Government could afford to ignore It was Admitted in the Despatch of 1854 that Government would undertake the charge of secondary education until they could hand it over to some other agency. But what agency? That is the rub. The Natives would strongly object to being thus handed over to the Missionary agency, and by withholding or withdrawing their schools, Government would not create those elements of society which are needed for the establishment of private schools.”

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For Government to give encouragement to such bodies by a sudden withdrawal from education, and thus to place the whole education in their hands, would be, in my opinion, an extremely impolitic and dangerous step Every one will freely acknowledge the great good done by these bodies to the cause of education, especially the primary one, and one cannot speak of them in connection with it without a feeling of gratitude, But if they, not being content with their lot and with the opportunities now afforded them of using their presence as means of converting our faith, desire to go beyond that and advocate the encouragement of private enterprise, knowing that it simply means their own encouragement, then surely Government may tell them to go about their own business, leaving that work to competent Native bodies when they are organised. They make education only a means to an end, and such bodies should not be allowed more facility of pushing forward their work of evangelisation. (b) Let us see what the effects of such a withdrawal will be upon the three sorts of education—primary, secondary, and higher. I am strongly of opinion that the State ought to keep in its hand the control of primary education and work it up by the grant-in-aid system It may encourage, wherever possible, indigenous schools by suitable grants-in-aid, but it ought not to sever its connection with it. Doing so would open a very wide door to the Missionary agency to carry forth its work of religious propagandism The ignorant people in villages will only look upon Missionaries as so many engines sent out by Government to convert them to Christianity, and it is possible that their minds will be dangerously prejudiced against Government. (c) As regards secondary schools, as I have already stated, it will be detrimental to the interests of education if Government closes or transfers high schools to private bodies in places like Ratnágiri, Belgaum, or Ahmedabad, where there are at present no Native organised agencies A gradual closing or transference of high schools in places where there are Native agencies to work, would be a prudent policy. A withdrawal may be effected in Poona, though with some caution, but it cannot for some years more be effected at all in any of the lees advanced cities of the Presidency. (d) As for colleges, I must say decidedly that the time has not yet come when higher education may be taken care of by private (Missionary) bodies. Higher education is an important branch of education, and it cannot be completely made over to proselytising bodies. If Government colleges be closed, Missionary colleges will be without any rival, the spirit of emulation, so necessary to the maintenance of efficiency, will be gone, and they being masters of the situation, laxity, irregularity, absence of models, and other deteriorating causes will come into play; and when all wholesome rivalry is taken away, there is no saying whether the present standard of efficiency will be properly kept up. I do not see what good can come out of the abolition of the Doccan College, which costs about Ɍ47,000 to the State. A saving: of Ɍ47,000 effected at the great sacrifice of the interests of those middle-class students who annually join it to effect a saving in expenditure by not going to Bombay, will be of no value. In the interests of higher education which, 119

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if left to Missionaries alone, would considerably deteriorate in point of efficiency of instruction, I suggest that Government should not be induced to make over colleges to Missionary bodies—the only existing private agency now available in the Presidency I think that if Government wishes to follow the principles of the Despatch of 1854 in a true spirit and wishes to stimulate local efforts under local management, it should do something like that suggested in my answer to question 2. That would be a wholesome step, and will serve to effect the desired object, without subjecting Government to the worst of obloquies, that of becoming the means of converting the religious faiths of its subject-population (e) As for the growth of reliance on local exertions and local combinations, I have great misgivings It is only now that people amongst us are becoming ready to make some endowments to the University (a Government institution) at the prospect of their name being connected with the endowments, but it is extremely doubtful whether any would be ready to endow private colleges of Natives even. They would never endow Missionary colleges I do not believe that if the Deccan College be closed, people will readily come forward to make up the necessary funds. Rich people, as will be seen from my answer to question 4, do not avail themselves of college education, and hence have not yet acquired any great interest in education Instead of abruptly withdrawing from all direct connection with school or college education, Government should take to the work of preparing Natives in the art of educating themselves by giving them facilities as mentioned before. For some years at least, say five or six years, the State cannot sever off its connection with education in secondary schools or colleges, without seriously affecting the cause of education. Ques. 55.—To what classes of institutions do you think that the system of assigning grants according to the results of periodical examinations should be applied? What do you regard as the chief conditions for making this system equitable and useful? Ques. 57.—To what proportion of the gross expense do you think that the grant-in-aid should amount under ordinary circumstances, in the case of colleges and schools of all grades? Ans. 55 & 57.—(a) I have already stated that the system of payment-by-results may be advantageously employed, where an undue attention paid to examinations will not be productive of bad effects, i. e., in the case of primary education, in developing and encouraging indigenous schools, wherever possible; but, as I have also stated, this system of payment by results will not be very useful for schools of a higher order and colleges if it be exclusively used (b) As regards the way in which the grants might be given, some would suggest these two ways—(1) That Government should give half the gross expense incurred in a private institution. This principle applying to private schools will be undesirable it takes away the only good feature of the system of payment by results, while it leaves a large scope for Government to interfere, or have something to do with the way in which the internal arrangements with regard to the expenses are made. I do not therefore prefer this way (2) Others would say that

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Government should allow a large sum for the Matriculation examination, should make that examination as the only final test of the school, and the grant should be such as to cover all the expenses to be incurred for a boy till he passes that examination, say Ɍ150 to Ɍ200 for every boy that the school may pass. This method, besides being open to the gravest objection that it would make the fate of the whole school, boys and teachers, depend upon the figure cut by some boys, would be quite inapplicable where a school may not be able to teach as far as the Matriculation standard. This way also I do not prefer as being generally useless and inapplicable. (c) The system of grants-in-aid I propose would be something like the following:— (I) The grants-in-aid of the salaries of teachers should be revived, and the scale, according to the degrees of test now fixed by the University, should be as follows (this would be the lowest scale)— For an M.A. ” ” ” of a teacher in college ” a B.A. . . . . . . . . . . . ” ” 1st B.A. . . . . . . . . . ” ” P.E. . . . . . . . . . . . ” ” Matriculate . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

Ɍ 40 per mensem. 100 ” 30 ” 25 ” 20 ” 15 ”

. . . . .

(II) When the salaries of teachers are aided in this manner, the grants for the several standards need not be as large as those given by the present rules. They may be about half the sum now allotted for each standard, namely— Standard I . . . II . . III . . . . IV . . . . V . VI .

. . . . .

Ɍ 3 5 7 9 12 15

(The subdivisions for the several heads may be similarly arranged by halving the present grant for each head) (III) In the case of primary private schools, encouraged by the development of the indigenous school system, where a final examination to be held at the taluka or zilla town, once a year, may be made as the only test of vernacular schools, the teacher should be given Ɍ8 for every boy that might pass at such a central examination, if he gets a fixed pay and also a capitation allowance, Ɍ4 or 5.

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(IV) The grants for University examinations should be as follows— For passing Matriculation ” P Examination ” 1st B.A. . . . . ” 2nd B.A . . . . ” M.A. . . . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

Ɍ 50 100 125 150 200

These arrangements would ensure some sort of permanency and efficiency of teachers, and would remove the evils of payment by results exclusively used (V) Besides these grants and the grant for building as given by the present rules, adequate and reasonable grants for library and apparatus should be given. An institution sending up boys for University examinations can ill afford to be without these two necessary items of school furniture. (VI) The persons who examine suet high schools should not be connected with the Educational Department. The board of local management or the school-board that might be formed in pursuance of the orders of the Supreme Government, should include as ex-officio members the following officers of Government:— The District Judge, The Collector, and The Subordinate Judge. A board constituted in this manner should examine the school annually and report to Government as to efficiency, results, &c. I do not think that these officers being well trained and experienced will be considered as unable to examine schools in which six English standards may be taught. The board of ordinary members will exercise a general supervision over the school, acting as a body of visitors, advisers, or teachers (VII) If it be found by results that the teacher of a class has not worked properly during the year, the grant for results will of course not be paid, but the teacher’s grant should not be discontinued that very year; and if he fails to show better results for three years consecutively, then his grant as a teacher may be discontinued. (VIII) The three officers of Government and the permanent board should examine the school in the standards in which the students may be presented. The arrangement of subjects, &c, need not be necessarily according to the Government model standards. It will depend, to a very great extent, upon differing local circumstances, such as the aptitude of boys and the general intelligence of the population of any district The standards that might be taught to students in Poona, Sátára, or Shikárpur, will not be applicable to Dhárwár or to Ahmednagar, where an adjustment of subjects will have to be made according to the degree of capacities of the students. In this manner all interference with the internal arrangement 122

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of schools will be removed, and the free development of indigenous superior institutions will not be hampered (IX) Excepting these particulars, the general features of the present rules for grant-in-aid may be retained. (X) It will be seen that the changes proposed in the present system of grants-in-aid are expressly for those private Native institutions which, being under, a local management, will give a reasonable guarantee of permanency. Missionary institutions cannot, according to a strict interpretation of the principles of the Despatch of 1854, claim to be assisted by Government; but, as they are bodies benevolently devoted to the cause of education, and have done signal service to Government in the lowest class of education, they may be assisted by Government, till the Natives are able to do for themselves what they now do for them, according to the present rules for grantin-aid, with the addition of the Matriculation grant of Ɍ50, if desirable, on these conditions that the teaching of the Bible or any other scriptural book is strictly prohibited in the school, that a purely secular education is imparted to students, that the Bible may be taught, if necessary, out of school-hours or school-days, say on Sundays, and that it should not be compulsory on any student to attend such lectures. I believe that if, as His Excellency the Viceroy thinks, it be found that the imparting of a purely secular instruction in schools and colleges is attended with serious consequences, Government might sanction the appointment of a pandit or a shástri for each high school or college to give students general lectures on religious, ethical, and moral precepts, so as to direct their mind to a deep sense of duty, or the teachers themselves might be directed to devote an hour or two every week to this purpose Accordingly, Missionary institutions which go in for religious instruction should secure the services of a pandit or a shástri to lecture on general religious and moral precepts, in conformity with the general beliefs of the students themselves. This is the utmost that can be conceded to Missionary bodies, who complain of the want of religions instruction in schools or colleges I would object to Missionary institutions getting grants according to the system proposed above, on the ground that they are backed by large funds at home set apart for religious purposes, and consequently a small encouragement given to them, provided the above conditions are strictly observed, will enable them to assist Government in the cause of education The obvious difference in the two kinds of grants is based on the same principle that justifies the great difference between grants given to European and Eurasian schools and Anglovernacular schools, namely, that private efforts by Native bodies are to be encouraged, developed, and matured, and thus made fit to take charge of Government institutions in due course of time The principle of encouragement to those who deserve to be supported underlies the proposed arrangement If, after giving encouragement in the manner proposed above, educated Native gentlemen are found unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the opportunities given them of developing their own institutions, if they show themselves slack in assisting Government in the noble work of education and thus enabling it to promote the spread of primary education, then the fault will be solely with them Government will have done its duty in conformity with the principles of the Despatch of 1854, and if even then our people do not shake 123

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off their torpor, Government might fairly think of extending its aid to Missionary institutions on more favourable terms The experiment, therefore, ought to be tried by Government with an unflinching honesty of purpose, that it might not become liable to blame of a serious nature—neglect of duty conscientiously made (XI) If encouragement be given to Native efforts on the lines suggested above, Native bodies, for instance, the conductors of the New English School, Poona, would be willing to assist Government in some places at least. Let me, however, show that if Government gives grants, in the way mentioned above and in my answer to question 2, to Native bodies, for example, the new English school above referred to, and thus encourages them to gradually (alter some years) take charge of Government high schools in the districts that they may choose, Government will have saved on the whole one-half of the money that it spends from the Provincial revenues for education on those schools Let me illustrate by two or three examples how this will be I shall first take some towns which are not as advanced in intellectual activity as Bombay or Poona Take, for instance, Ratnágiri. Supposing there would be 200 boys in the school, there will be 7 classes at the rate of 30 or 35 boys for one class. Of the 7 teachers we shall suppose 2 are B.A.s, 2 having passed the 1st B.A. or P.E., and 3 Matriculates. Thus, the grants for teachers would be— Ɍ 2 × 30 = 2 × 22½ = 3 × 15 =

60 per mensem. 45 ” 45 ” 150

or Rs. 1,800 a year. Then, supposing that each class would get by payment by results on an average as much grant as 10 boys passing in all heads would get, and taking the average grant per boy for each standard to be Ɍ8, we get 10 × 7 × 8 = Ɍ560 Add to this library or apparatus grant, about Ɍ50 Supposing 10 boys matriculate, their grant will be Ɍ500. Thus, the total grant to be obtained from Government will be— Ɍ For salaries of teachers ” boys’ grants ” apparatus, &c ” Matriculation 10 (boys)

1,800 560 140 500 3,000

Thus, by the most liberal calculation the Ratnágiri High School being made an aided institution, will cost Government Ɍ3,000 for educating 200 boys, i.e., Ɍ15 per boy, whereas in 1880–81 Government spent Ɍ6,699 for about 160 boys, that is, Ɍ42-10-8 per boy Thus, if Government spent Ɍ42-10-8 for every boy taught in the Ratnágiri school in 1880–81, it would have to spend Ɍ15, or one-third only 124

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(considering the increase in boys), that is, it will have saved about 66 per cent. of its present expenditure, by making that high school an aided school Take Ahmednagar. Take the amount of grant obtained by this school to be as large as Ɍ3,000, as in the case of Ratnágiri. In 1880–81 that school cost Government Ɍ4,972, or Ɍ57-6-7 per boy (the number of boys being less than 100). By making this school aided it will cost Government Ɍ3,000 for 200 boys, i e., it will cost it about one-fourth of what it spent in 1880. Thus, its saving will be 75 per cent, in this case Similarly, taking Dhárwár and Sátáia, the saving to Government in each case will be 66 and 50 per cent respectively. Again, take Poona itself, which has made far greater progress in education than any other town in the mofussil In this city there are in all about 1,400 boys learning English (excluding the several schools in the camp) Supposing these boys were taught in one school, there would be about 40 classes, and, say, 10 graduates, 15 having passed 1st B.A. or PE, and 15 matriculates. Then the masters’ grant would be— Ɍ 10 × 30 = 300 15 × 20 = 330 15 × 15 = 225 855, or 10,260 a year.

Then, on the same calculation as before, the grant for boys would be Ɍ10 × 40 × 8 = Ɍ3,200. Supposing 40 boys pass the Matriculation, the grant for 40 boys would he Ɍ2,000, and the library and apparatus grant, say, Ɍ500. Thus, the total grant to be attained from Government would amount to Ɍ10,260 + 3,200 + 2500= Ɍ15,960. Government in 1880–81 spent Ɍ11,24,3 for about 440 boys, and according to this arrangement it would have to spend only Ɍ15,960 for 1,400, or about Ɍ4,000 more than what it spent for 440 boys, to educate 1,000 boys more This would, I think, be no small advantage. Spending Ɍ4,000 more would enable it to educate in all 1,400 boys; supposing that it does not mean to spend more than Ɍ12,000, even if it gives the local school in charge of a private institution and thus makes the number of learners about 1,400, such an arrangement would make it a loser by 20 per cent in the case of this high school Adding together the several savings and this loss we get— For Ratnágiri ” Ahmednagar ” Sátára ” Dhárwár . ” Poona .

.

66 per cent saving. 75 ” ” . 50 ” ” . 66 ” ” . 20 ” loss 47 per cent, for 5 schools

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In other words, Government will have saved on the average of five high schools nearly 47 per cent of its expenditure on those schools in 1880–81. The advantages to Government from the adoption of the proposed grant-in-aid system are thus significant, and they need no further amplification If Government, therefore, were to announce its determination to withdraw from the maintenance of high schools one by one, after a given term of years, private bodies, such as the conductors of the new English school, would be willing to maintain those high schools as aided institutions, according as they find themselves able to take charge of them, provided the arrangements for grants-in-aid proposed above be carried into effect. I must admit that Government will have to incur some additional expenditure at the commencement of this experiment, in order to train up one central institution, and before it becomes ready to take charge of the schools; but, looking to the great good to be derived from the adoption of the system, it should not, I think, be unwilling to incur that expenditure The question of the great saving to Government that will be effected in course of time being set apart, the very fact that it will have encouraged the Natives to take the education of their countrymen in their own hands and thus contributed to the slow but sure, rapid, onward progress of the nation, will amply redound to the glory of the British rule, and it will encourage a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combinations for local usefulness, which is of itself of no mean importance to the well-being of a nation. “It is to the wider extension of the system of the grants-in-aid, especially in connection with high and middle education, that the Government looks to set free funds which may then be made applicable to the promotion of the education of the masses,” and though the system I have proposed above will not give an immediate saving to Government, yet, if honestly and prudently followed, it will be able to accomplish the desired object within a few years from the time of its adoption To make, then, a definite proposal, the new English school will, within eight or ten years, be ready to take charge of Government high schools in the chief towns of the Maháráshtra, if it be properly encouraged according to the methods suggested and discussed above (XII) I would suggest that Government should maintain one institution of its own at the Presidency-town—the Elphinstone High School—in an efficient order, so as to serve, if necessary, as a model to other non-Government institutions It would be inadvisable to make such a largely endowed institution as the Elphinstone High School an aided one It might, however, be given under the control of the local municipal corporation, and the examination conducted as now by the professors of the Elpinstone College In Poona, Government might, if it be profitable, maintain its own institutions permanently, or hand it over to the new English school in the way above referred to. Ques. 65.—How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B.A. standard? Ans. 65.—As far as mathematics, natural science, and the oriental languages are concerned, I decidedly think that Natives will be quite as able and competent to teach these subjects in colleges as any European professors. The facts that 126

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Ráo Bahádurs K. L Chhatre and D. N. Nagarkar have occupied for a long time the mathematical chairs with complete satisfaction to their superiors, that Mr Naegámwála, a Master of Arts in science, is now made a professor of natural science in the Elphinstone College; Mr. Sanjána, a professor of mathematics in the Gujaráth College; and that Mr R. G Bhándárkar is permanently appointed professor of oriental languages in the Deccan College (though not without a good deal of hard fighting continued for some months), tell their own tale. But I believe that in mathematics and the oriental languages none but Native professors can, or ought to, fill the chairs, if the duties are to be ably and usefully discharged. Vivid examples are before us to illustrate the truth of what I say, and I do not think I should dilate upon this point, though the question of mathematics does not yet appear to be decided, as in the case of the oriental languages As regards history and philosophy, I must say much would depend upon the qualifications and individual propensities of the person to be appointed One who has to keep up his knowledge of history and philosophy will have to progress with the progress of the world, will have to read every little book that may be published on these subjects in any part of the world So the man must only continue his habit of reading and study, must continue to be a student himself in order to be a professor He must not allow his mind to stagnate into a muddy pool, but must ever keep it flowing by a constant course of reading If this is done, I do not think that Natives would not be able to fill a chair in this subject with credit. The chief want felt by him would be his ignorance of languages such as Latin, Greek, German, French, but he may have recourse to translations that are read nearly with the originals themselves. In this quarter I do not see a great difficulty. But the question raised is, how will Natives be able to teach English. This question has a good deal of weight in it, and must be carefully considered. It is said that, as Maráthi can be best taught by a Maráthi man, so English can be best taught by an Englishman There are in English works idioms, phrases, turns of expression, allusions to English domestic manners, scenes, incidents, and the pronunciation of words, which can be best attended to by an Englishman. Yes, it is so, no doubt, but we must inquire what the object of the educational system really is. If it be urged that more attention is to be paid to idioms, peculiarities of grammar, &c, than to the worth or substantial value of the instruction received, in other words, if it be intended that the object of education should be to enable Natives to compete with Englishmen in the accuracy of idiom, &c, of English, then I must say that this object, at least with the majority of students, has not been, and will not be, accomplished I do not think I shall be guilty of exaggeration if I say that even an able M.A. (unless he be an exceptionally well-read English scholar) will be liable to commit mistakes in idiom, &c, which an Under-graduate at Oxford or Cambridge would be easily able to correct; and this is not unnatural Even where there are European professors to teach English in colleges, I do not think the students under them are, as a matter of fact, able to write more idiomatically than those not receiving that instruction. Natives can never aspire to go and teach English to students in the 127

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Oxford or Cambridge Universities. The utmost they do, can do, and ought to do, is that they would be able to write upon any subject in English, not committing mistakes in grammar or gross violations of idiom; and I believe that intelligent Natives will by practice be able to write correct, though not quite idiomatic English I cannot say if, as a rule, boys in high schools under a European head are able to write more idiomatically, or even more correctly, than those in high schools under Native management, because the former have had the advantages of European correction and revision At least I did not perceive such a difference when I was myself a student in the Deccan College By listening for an hour or two to Europeans, or by having an English exercise corrected once a month or two, I do not think that boys will catch idiomatic English from their professors, since very few have any opportunities of freely mixing and talking with them for any number of years. If Natives who have made English their special study, be appointed to teach English an colleges, they will be able to give all the knowledge required to be given to the students by taking proper precautions to read the books appointed carefully and critically They will impart knowledge and information just as European professors would do. The only difference will be that the former will not, in all cases, be able to teach idiomatic English, while the latter can I, for myself, can say, without being ungrateful to the worthy professors under whom I learnt, that I derived no very substantial advantages from being taught by European professors. My opinion, therefore, is that to teach the English books and to give special and extra knowledge with reference to the books appointed, Native professors may be appointed in order to effect a large saving, and an Englishman may be appointed to teach composition to students, say, once a week, on a small salary Such an arrangement; would be more desirable if Natives think of opening colleges. They cannot afford to employ highsalaried Europeans to teach English. What they should do would be to employ the services of a competent Englishman to take care of composition for an hour or two during the week, and take the rest upon themselves If the object of education be to make a graduate serve the purposes aimed at by the Despatch,— to be a useful member of society by communicating his knowledge of others through the vernaculars,—then, I fear, even for composition an Englishman will not be deemed necessary. But, according to the present state of education, such an appointment will, I think, be necessary to do so. I believe that the special subjects taught in indigenous school and mentioned in answer 4 are better taught in the Government schools. At present we have 13 added and 11 unaided primary schools, with 1,344 scholars in them We follow the Government system and standards as far as possible for all these boys: the unaided schools are for low caste boys and in a backward state, and not yet developed up to the Government standard. Q. 2. —In reference to your answer 48 I understand that you wish to alter the third line. A. 2—Yes. The school at Ahmedabad was a boys school and at Rájkot a girls’ school. These were opened alongside the mission school. 128

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Evidence of MR. SORABJEE SHAPURJEE BENGALI, J. P. of Bombay. Ques. 1.—Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on the subject of education in India, and in what province your experience has been gained. Ans. 1.—My experience on the subject of education is confined chiefly to the city of Bombay, of which I am a native. I have taken part in the founding of several schools for girls, and have been connected with the management of others for the last 25 years. I have, moreover, interested myself in educational matters generally for a long time past. Ques. 2.—Do you think that in your province the system of primary education has been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirements of the community? Can you suggest any improvements in the system of administration or in the course of instruction? Ans. 2.—A good deal has been done of late years in the matter of primary education in Bombay, and I believe throughout the Presidency. I think that the system is capable of further development, both as to improvement in administration and as to the course of instruction, regarding which I shall speak in my reply to question 12. Ques. 3.—In your province is primary instruction sought for by the people in general, or by particular classes only? Do any classes specially hold aloof from it; and if so, why? Are any classes practically excluded from it; and if so, from what causes? What is the attitude of the influential classes towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society? Ans. 3.—The desire for primary education for boys is general in nearly all sections of the people in Bombay City, but the fulfilment of their wish is hindered only by want of means, or the necessity which compels the poorer classes to send their children to work for their living. If schools were provided for the large number of children working in the cotton factories of Bombay, I believe that they would be largely attended in the hours during which respite from work is now happily secured to them by the Factory Act. Ques. 8.—What classes of schools should, in your opinion, be entrusted to Municipal committees for support and management? Assuming that the provision of elementary instruction in towns is to be a charge against Municipal funds, what security would you suggest against the possibility of Municipal committees failing to make sufficient provision? Ans. 8.—I would refer to my answer to question 36. Ques. 10.—What subjects of instruction, if introduced into primary schools, would make them more acceptable to the community at large, and especially to the agricultural classes? Should any special means be adopted for making the instruction in such subjects efficient? Ans. 10.—In addition to reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and elementary science in the vernacular, I think that more complete instruction than at 129

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present should be given in the Native system of book-keeping and accounts in all primary schools for boys. Ques. 13.—Have you any suggestions to make regarding the taking of fees in primary schools? Ans. 13.—In order to bring primary education within the reach of all classes of people, the amount of school fees should never exceed what may be necessary to pay the rent and contingent charges of a school,—the salaries of teachers being provided in all cases by the State, the Municipality, or from other sources. Ques. 21.—What classes principally avail themselves of Government or aided schools and colleges for the education of their children? How far is the complaint well founded that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education? What is the rate of fees payable for higher education in your province, and do you consider it adequate? Ans. 21.—Government schools and colleges are availed of for the education of their children mainly by the middle classes, and less frequently by the poor, but respectable classes of the people. The aristocratic and wealthy classes in India, as a body, are not keen about giving superior education to their children, from the unfortunate fact that learning has been looked upon as only a means for obtaining a livelihood. There is no basis, therefore, to support the complaint that the wealthy classes in this country do not pay enough for the higher education provided for their children by the Government Since the prospective good of the country depends so much on the higher education of its people, and since its wealthier classes do not correctly appreciate the value of higher education, it becomes the duty of Government to foster its growth as much as possible, and to place it within the reach of people of limited means I therefore think that the present rate of fees charged in all the Arts colleges as well as professional colleges of Government ought to be reduced by at least one-half, in order to enable more students to join them. I have known instances of promising boys being prevented from prosecuting their studies in colleges by reason of the heavy rates of fees, and of some being able to remain there only as holders of scholarships, or by means of eleemosynary aid from private individuals. Ques. 22.—Can you adduce any instance of a proprietary school or college supported entirely by fees? Ans. 22.—There are in the city of Bombay a number of primary, Anglovernacular, and high schools owned by one or more Native proprietors and supported entirely by fees. The teaching in the bulk of them is fairly good, but in point of discipline and training they do not, particularly the high schools, equal in efficiency either the Elphinstone or the St Xavier’s High Schools. Ques. 27.—Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the Entrance examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstance impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? Ans. 27.—I agree with those who state that the attention of teachers and pupils is generally unduly directed to the Entrance examination of the University This 130

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leads to cramming to an unwholesome extent in the proprietary schools more than in other schools. The remedy lies in some change being made in the University Entrance examination by which the pupils may be compelled to study, more than they do now, such subjects as may be of use to them in the requirements of ordinary life. Ques. 34.—How far do you consider the text-books in use in all schools suitable? Ans. 34.—I am well acquainted with the Gujaráthi text-books known as Hope’s Series. They appear to me well adapted for primary schools, but they might be better printed and more fully illustrated than they are at present. Ques. 35.—Are the present arrangements of the Education Department in regard to examinations or text-books, or in any other way, such as unnecessarily interfere with the free development of private institutions? Do they in any wise tend to check the development of natural character and ability, or to interfere with the production of a useful vernacular literature? Ans. 35.—I do not consider that the Government Education Department in any way unnecessarily interferes with the free development of private institutions, nor with the production of useful vernacular literature, nor the development of natural character and ability. On the contrary, I am of opinion that the Education Department, directly and indirectly, greatly helps the progress of many outside efforts in these directions. Ques. 36.—In a complete scheme of education for India, what parts can, in your opinion, be most effectively taken by the State and by other agencies? Ans. 36.—On this important question I am of opinion that the duties pertaining to the establishment, management, and maintenance of primary schools for boys throughout the country should devolve upon Municipalities, local fund committees, and other similar bodies. A certain portion (say, 2 to 3 per cent.) of their gross annual income should he devoted, as a matter of obligation, to the primary education of boys in each city or district, the duties of Government being restricted to the inspection of these schools, to seeing that schools are established wherever needed, and generally to watching that the requirements of the law regarding them are complied with. In Bombay City, if the Municipal corporation is compelled to set aside annually 2 per cent. of its gross income for the purpose of primary schools, the amount will be sufficient to give instruction to 12,000 or 13,000 boys. I calculate that, the rent and contingent charges being arranged as payable from the fees, an expenditure of Ɍ5 per annum for each pupil on the average would be sufficient to provide for the salaries of teachers competent for their work. The matter of primary schools for girls should be reserved for consideration to a future time so far as the Municipalities and local fund committees are concerned. These bodies cannot be fairly charged with the work until the people generally are able to appreciate the advantages of female education in the same way as they now appreciate the benefits of education for their male children Until then, the schools of all grades for female children should be managed and maintained either by Government or by the grant-in-aid system, or by the voluntary efforts 131

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of sections of the Native community who understand the value of educating their female children. The funds that may be saved to the State by transferring the burden of maintaining primary schools for boys in the manner above suggested, together with such additional grants as may be possible out of the Imperial exchequer, should be devoted to the maintenance and extension of secondary, higher, and technical education, and of female education. At present the contribution by the State to all the colleges and high schools put together in this Presidency amounts annually to about 2¾ lakhs of rupees. People in England who complain that primary education in this country is neglected in favour of higher education, cannot be aware of the fact that in this important Presidency the total grant from Government for colleges of every kind barely amounts to £15,000, and for high schools less than £9,000, in sterling money per annum On behalf of technical education throughout the Presidency the contributions of the State amount to just £2,000, and for Native girls’ schools to about the same sum. Educational progress in India is needed all along the line; that is to say, much more requires to be done in higher and secondary as well as primary education than has been accomplished hitherto. People who recommend Government connection with primary education only, mechanically follow the system adopted in England, without taking into account that the higher and upper middle classes of the population in England are composed of enlightened men and women. In India the same classes of men, with rare exceptions, do not appreciate education at its true worth, and the women know nothing about it. The time is yet very distant when the higher education of the people of India can progress, or even be kept on its present footing, without direct Government aid, management, and control. High education would be nowhere here but for the countenance and aid of Government. There are a few Arts colleges in the country conducted by Christian Missionaries, but they cannot be put on a par in point of efficiency with Government institutions of the same kind. Besides, these Missionary colleges, supported as they are by the inclinations of religious congregations, can only be conducted with the narrow object of changing the religious faith of the people, and would not therefore be availed of by considerable sections of them. Government will be failing in the performance of one of its most sacred duties if it tries to leave the higher education of the people, on which depends so much of the regeneration, of India, to hands which cannot freely develop its progress, and which may possibly strangle it altogether. The immense benefits conferred upon the people of this country even by the small number of educational institutions of the higher order established by Government up to the present time, is a matter on which there can be no two opinions. By Government the benefits must have been felt in the vastly improved character and abilities of the men employed in the upper ranks of its Native Services and in the management of Native States. The material advances that have taken place of recent years in every branch of administration would not have been practicable, had Government made no efforts in the direction of supplying higher education 132

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to the people In the progress of commerce and industry these benefits have been equally great, although they have hitherto been only partially utilised. In my humble opinion, higher education has, in an indirect way, uncovered the moral teachings which for many centuries had remained smothered by the superstitions and ceremonials of the religious faiths prevailing in this country. In proof of this, and also as an answer to the charge of irreligiousness sometimes urged against the Government system of education, I would point to the labours and publications of the religious associations of Samajs which under various names, within the last twenty years, have sprung up in many of the large towns and cities of India. The members of these bodies are generally English-speaking Natives, whose aim is to worship God free from idolatry and degrading superstition. The character of their numerous publications can be judged with correctness from the book of prayers of the Ahmedabad Prarthana Samaj, a copy of which work I beg to tender herewith for the information of the Education Commission. This book, as well as the Samaj, are typical of one of the many happy results attained through higher education in India. What little progress has already been made in female education, and in the emancipation of women, must be rightly attributed to this higher education. For further gain in all these matters the same course should be followed and extended by the multiplication of Government colleges and schools where European learning up to the highest degree can be imparted on easy terms to the youths of this country through the medium of European languages. If I were to find any fault with the Government system of education in this country, it would be with reference to the very little that has hither to been done as regards technical education. The need of this to India is very great, in view of its agricultural and manufacturing competition with highly civilised countries of Europe and America; and yet scarcely anything has been done by the State in this direction. I am unable to speak with confidence, but I believe that no systematic and sustained efforts have been made for giving the country agricultural schools, which might become practically successful institutions afterwards. These schools in the early stages of their existence ought to be treated in the same way as the Grant Medical College was, when first started in this Presidency, namely, that the students should be stipendiary and men of education, and that, until a public demand has been created, the promise of employment at remunerative salaries should be given by Government to induce men of ability to come forward to prosecute studies which are somewhat novel in this country. The difficulty of finding students, and afterwards suitable employment for them, will not, however, occur in the case of other schools, such as technical schools for spinning and weaving, in aid of our newly developed cotton mills industry, on the model of similar schools now existing in Germany. A large technical school divided into several departments, established in Bombay, from which Native lads, trained and fitted for higher posts than they now occupy, could be supplied to the locomotive and other railway workshops, would not only greatly benefit the people, but in time would be of financial advantage to the railway companies in the matter of 133

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obtaining cheap skilled labour and supervision, which continue to be still largely imported from England. Ques. 37.—What effect do you think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education, and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes? Ans. 37.—My answer to this question may be inferred by the reply given to the previous one. The effect of the withdrawal of Government from the management of high schools and colleges would be most disastrous to the cause of education. Local exertions cannot adequately supply, under present circumstances, the loss that must be caused by Government adopting any such step. Ques. 42.—What progress has been made by the Department in instituting schools for girls, and what is the character of the instruction imparted in them? What improvements can you suggest? Ans. 42.—As far as my experience goes, the Education Department of Government has not been backward in supporting the cause of female education. Primary schools for girls have increased rapidly throughout the Presidency, and are likely to increase further. In Bombay City nearly all Parsi female children receive primary education without Government assistance, and their example is being followed by other portions of the Native community steadily, though slowly For the improvement of these girls’ schools, I would suggest that the larger ones among them should have two divisions, one of which, for children under seven years, should be conducted on the infant school system of making attendance pleasant for the pupils, and in the other or upper division, the instruction should include the Native system of accounts, geography, elementary science, singing, and needlework, besides reading, writing, and arithmetic. Female teachers should be employed, whenever possible, in all girls’ schools. It would be of great help to the education of girls here if two or three certificated lady-teachers brought out from England were attached to the Education Department, whose business should be to guide the Native female teachers in conducting their schools after the model of similar schools in England, and specially the infant schools there. A school established by Government for the higher education of Native girls in Bombay City, like the Bethune School at Calcutta, would be sure to be largely attended, and would prove to be of much advantage to the cause of female education generally. Ques. 44.—What is the best method of providing teachers for girls? Ans. 44.—There are at present two training schools for vernacular female teachers, one at Ahmedabad and the other at Poona. A similar school at Bombay would be even more appreciated and useful. In the absence of it, the necessity may be provided for to some extent by the Education Department establishing evening classes for the purpose of training and further educating teachers of female schools. These teachers in Bombay consist for the most part of girls who have been selected from among the advanced pupils of existing schools, and who have received no regular training to fit them thoroughly for the duties of their profession. 134

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Ques. 45.—Are the grants to girls’ schools larger in amount and given on less onerous terms than those to boys’ schools, and is the distinction sufficiently marked? Ans. 45.—The Education Department is, rightly I think, less exacting in examination, and sufficiently more liberal in the matter of grants-in-aid, to girls’ schools than to boys’ schools. A primary school for girls in this city giving instruction in subjects I have already mentioned, through a staff of fairly good female teachers, should cost on the average Ɍ10 to 12 per annum fur each pupil. Ques. 46.—In the promotion of female education, what share has already been taken by European ladies; and how fur would it be possible to increase the interest which ladies might take in this cause? Ans. 46.—Within the last twenty-five years, barring one or two individuals, I have not known European ladies, excepting those connected with mission work, take any earnest or active part in the promotion of Native female education. Ques. 53.—Should the rate of fees in any class of schools or colleges vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil? Ans. 53.—The lowest rates of fees practicable should be charged in every school for all pupils alike, but option may be given to the Inspectors to allow a certain number of very poor but deserving pupils to attend school without paying fees. Ques. 54.—Has the demand for high education in your province reached such a stage as to make the profession of teaching a profitable one? Have schools been opened by men of good position as a means of maintaining themselves? Ans. 54.—The demand for higher education has considerably increased within the last twelve or fifteen years. In Bombay City the Education Department having failed to meet this growing demand by omitting to provide two or three new high schools on behalf of Government, encouraged the establishment of a number of schools owned by one or more Native proprietors with an exclusively native staff of teachers. Instruction is given in these schools up to the Matriculation standard, but, as a rule, there is more cramming and less intellectual training in these proprietary schools than in the Elphinstone or other public high schools, and they are decidedly hurtful in their influence on the character of the boys in point of discipline and good behaviour. I believe that some harm has been done to the youths of this city by this neglect of Government, which has passively permitted such inferior establishments to grow up, where the proprietors are naturally mindful at least as much of their pecuniary gains as of the cause of education. Ques. 60.—Does a strict interpretation of the principle of religions neutrality require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools? Ans. 60.—There is no reason to think that the principle of religious neutrality has ever been infringed, even by a strict interpretation, by the direct management by Government of schools and colleges, and the Native community has never complained about it to my knowledge. It is in consequence of this principle of religious neutrality in Government schools that well-to-do Natives prefer to pay 135

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their children’s school-fees and send them to Government institutions, rather than keep them in mission schools and colleges, where no fees or smaller fees are charged. Ques. 63.—Are there any arrangements between the colleges and schools of your province to prevent boys who are expelled from one institution, or who leave it improperly, from being received into another? What are the arrangements which you would suggest? Ans. 63.—I am aware of no such arrangement as mentioned in this question, although such an understanding has long been needed within my own knowledge, and was at one time proposed unsuccessfully by myself in connection with the Bombay proprietary schools already referred to. Ques. 64.—In the event of the Government withdrawing from the direct management of higher institutions generally, do you think it desirable that it should retain under direct management one college in each province as a model to other colleges; and if so, under what limitations or conditions? Ans. 64.—I am decidedly against the withdrawal of Government from the direct management of higher institutions, by which I mean colleges and higher schools. The time is not for withdrawal, but for Government to take a still more active part in pushing forward higher education, which would suffer greatly if Government withdrew, leaving only one college in each province under its direct management. Ques. 65.—How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B.A. standard? Ans. 65.—I think that European professors should be employed exclusively in all colleges, and I am further of opinion that every high school should have at least one European teacher If the intellectual development of the pupils were the only object, Native professors could perform the duties fairly as regards most of the subjects of study in the schools and colleges of India; but there are other considerations involved, and association with European teachers of superior culture would give the pupils an advantage in general training which could not be obtained through Native professors. There is no doubt that some of the defects in character complained of by Europeans in educated Natives arise from the latter not having the benefit in most cases of European tutors, and of association with Europeans at the earlier period of their education. As European teachers of standing can be brought out more easily now than before, I think it very advisable that the European teaching staff under the Education Department should be largely augmented, and that all college professors should be Europeans, and that in cases of large high schools there should be more than one European master. Ques. 68.—How far would Government be justified in withdrawing from any existing school or college in places where any class of the population objects to attend the only alternative institution on the ground of its religions teaching? Ans. 68.—I do not think that Government would be at all justified in acting as suggested in this question. It would be considered an indirect method of compelling pupils to receive religious education foreign to the creeds of their parents, or 136

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it might be taken as an attempt to check the spread of education among the middle or better sections of the Native community. Ques. 69.—Can schools and colleges under native management compete successfully with corresponding institutions under European management? Ans. 69.—I do not believe that for a long time to come schools and colleges under Native management, as a rule, will be able to compete successfully with corresponding institutions under European management. Evidence of PROFESSOR R. G. BHANDARKAR, M.A. Ques. 1.—Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on the subject of education in India, and in what province your experience has been gained. Ans. 1.—In my boyhood I attended two indigenous schools at different times at my native town Málvan, in the southern part of the Ratnágiri Zilla. In 1847, while I was in my tenth year, I attended for some months a Government Maráthi school at Rájápur in the same zilla, and afterwards at Ratnágiri for about three months From October 1847 to January 1853, I was a pupil in the Ratnágiri Government English School, and afterwards for one year in the first, or candidate class as it was called, of the school department of the Elphinstone Institution at Bombay. From January 1854 to April 1858 I was a student in the Elphinstone College, and for the last three months of 1858 an assistant master in the Elphinstone High School From January 1859 to May 1860, and from January 1861 to May 1861, I was a Dakshiná Fellow in the Elphinstone College, and a Dakshiná Fellow in the Poona (now Deccan) College from June 1860 to December 1860, and from June 1861 to July 1864. From the 15th of August 1864 to about the end of April 1865 I was Head Master of the High School at Hyderabad in Sind, and of the Ratnágiri High School from June 1865 to December 1868. From January 1869 I have been Acting Professor or Assistant Professor of Sanskrit, mostly in the Elphinstone College. I have also been University Examiner in Sanskrit since 1866, and was a member of the University Syndicate for about eight years. Ques. 2.—Do you think that in your province the system of primary education has been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirements of the community? Can you suggest any improvements in the system of administration or in the course of instruction? Ans. 2.—The system of primary education in the Bombay Presidency does not seem to me to be capable of development up to the requirements of the community, for the Educational authorities are obliged to reject applications for the establishment of schools for want of funds It has thus not been placed on a sound basis. Improvements I will suggest in connection with my answer to question 4. Ques. 3.—In your province is primary instruction sought for by the people in general, or by particular classes only? Do any classes specially hold aloof from it, and if so, why? Are any classes practically excluded from it; and if so, from 137

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what causes? What is the attitude of the influential classes towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society? Ans. 3.—Primary instruction is sought for by all people except, speaking generally, the Sudra cultivators and bodily labourers; and also the lowest castes, such as Mahárs and Mángs, and Chámbhárs or shoe-makers One reason why these classes hold aloof is ancient tradition, and another is that in the pursuit of their occupation they do not feel any great necessity for it I do not know of any classes which are practically excluded from it. Even Mahárs and Mángs are admitted into the schools, and in a few cases special schools have been opened for them The attitude of the influential classes towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society is that of indifference; they would neither actively oppose nor promote elementary instruction. In the case of the Mahárs, Manga, and Chámbhárs, they do not insist that these classes should not be instructed; but that they should not by their too close vicinity contaminate their boys. I see from the Report of Public Instruction for 1880–81 that the number of boys and girls belonging to the caste of cultivators under instruction in Government Schools and Colleges is stated to be 47,342. But I believe the number includes cultivators of the Bráhman and other higher castes. The number of Súdra cultivators will, I expect, be found on careful examination to be very small. The number of sons of cultivators attending the Government colleges is given as eight. But I do not remember having seen many or any Súdra cultivator among the students of the Elphinstone College Ques. 4.—To what extent do indigenous schools exist in your province? How far are they a relic of an ancient village system? Can you describe the subjects and character of the instruction given in them, and the system of discipline in vogue? What fees are taken from the scholars? From what classes are the masters of such schools generally selected, and what are their qualifications? Have any arrangements been made for training or providing masters in each schools? Under what circumstances do you consider that indigenous schools can be turned to good account as part of a system of national education, and what is the best method to adopt for this purpose? Are the masters willing to accept State aid and to conform to the rules under which such aid is given? How far has the grant-in-aid system been extended to indigenous schools, and can it be further extended? Ans. 4.—Nearly every large village which has not a Government school has an indigenous school; and there are some in towns also. Indigenous schools are not, in my opinion, a relic of any ancient village system. They simply depend for their existence on the law of demand and supply Some sort of instruction for their boys is required by members of the Bráhman and other higher castes; and there are men with no better means of livelihood who can meet the demand. These, therefore, open schools and keep them going so long as it is convenient to them. When one man who has conducted such, a school for some time gives it up, it is by no means always the case that another immediately takes his place Often the village has to do without a school for some time. The subjects of instruction are, reading Modí letters, writing Modí, and menial arithmetic. The boys are also taught to sing Native songs. Bálabodha reading or 138

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reading printed books is not attended to, except in cases when the master happens to be one who has himself been taught in a Government school. Writing or speaking correct Maráthi is not taught. Punctual attendance, diligence, and good conduct are enforced by means of punishments. Bad conduct even at home is noticed by the schoolmaster. But the schoolmaster himself does not often possess regular business habits. He works when it is convenient to him, and does not when he is disposed to enjoy ease or has got something else to attend to. The school is his private speculation, and he is responsible to none. For this reason his pupils take a long time to learn the little that is taught. The ordinary rate of fees is 4 annas per month. The master generally belongs to one of the several divisions of the Brahman caste, including the Senvís. Sometimes an individual of a lower caste also opens a school. I know of a barber who conducted a school at Ratnágiri. Reading and writing Modí letters and casting accounts form the schoolmaster’s qualification generally. In some cases he is able to read and explain indigenous Maráthi literature. Since, as stated above, these schools do not owe their origin to any organised system, there exist no arrangements for training or providing masters for them. The principal drawbacks in the case of these schools are, it will thus be seen, these: 1—Though they supply a real want and consequently must as a body always exist, there is no guarantee that any particular school will continue to exist for a given period. 2—There is no arrangement for training or providing masters. 3.—The schoolmaster is responsible to none, and consequently often irregular in his work. 4.—The standard of instruction is too low. The last two defects only can in some cases be remedied by giving a grant-in-aid to these schools, but not in all; for many masters will not be found willing for the sake of a few rupees to impose an additional burden upon themselves, or to sacrifice the liberty they enjoy. But to remove all these defects and reduce schools of this nature to a regular system, more radical measures should be adopted. There is no efficient local agency that can undertake the task. It must therefore be assumed by the Department of Public Instruction. Every large Government vernacular school should have a Normal class attached to it composed of young men intending to make teaching their profession. These should be examined by the Deputy Educational Inspector and certificates given to such as pass the examination. The holders of these certificates should be promised rupees 4 per mensem as a grant-in-aid if they opened schools, and procured 15 pupils at least. They should be at liberty to charge any fee they may consider advisable, and the proceeds should be theirs. The grant should be withdrawn if the number of pupils falls below 15, or if the school is found to be exceptionally inefficient. These schools should be registered by the department, and appointments to vacancies made by the educational authorities. I believe that in course of time these trained masters will supplant the present masters of indigenous schools and the number of these schools will increase. In this way the demand that gives rise to indigenous schools will be supplied by the department in a more systematic and efficient manner by using the existing material. And some time hence, when this system develops, it will be found practicable to convert the 139

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schools that are at present wholly conducted by Government into aided schools of this nature, and with the same amount of money that is at present spent on primary schools for boys it will be possible to maintain a far larger number than we have at present. Thus, in the year 1881 the amount spent on these, exclusive of fees which under the system I propose will be appropriated by the schoolmasters, was Ɍ9,00,098, while the number of schools in the last month of the year was 4,001. The average annual expense of each school is thus about Ɍ225, while under the proposed system it will be 48. For one school now maintained, therefore, we shall have at least four and a half, that is, in the place of the four thousand schools we have now got we shall have about eighteen thousand, But it will not be advisable to convert all our present schools into aided schools of this nature. Supposing three-fourths were so converted, we should still have thirteen thousand five hundred Of course the plan must be worked slowly, and it will be many years before the ideal I sketch is realised. Ques. 6.—How far can the Government depend on private effort, aided or unaided, for the supply of elementary instruction in rural districts? Can you enumerate the private agencies which exist for promoting primary instruction? Ans. 6.—My answer to this question is involved in that to question 4. Government, in my opinion, cannot at present depend on anybody for the supply of elementary instruction in rural districts, except on the natural operation of the law of demand and supply spoken of in my answer to question 4. Ques. 7.—How far, in your opinion, can funds assigned for primary education in rural districts be advantageously administered by district committees or local boards? What are the proper limits of the control to be exercised by such bodies? Ans. 7.—I think the funds will be better administered by local boards and district committees, if they are so constituted as to combine the popular element with so much of the official as will simply direct and watch. The primary education of the district might be wholly entrusted to such bodies, but the Department of Public Instruction should lay down the standards and arrange for inspection Ques. 8.—What classes of schools should, in your opinion, be entrusted to Municipal committees for support and management? Assuming that the provision of elementary instruction in towns is to be a charge against Municipal funds, what security would you suggest against the possibility of Municipal committees failing to make sufficient provision? Ans. 8.—Primary schools only, as a general rule, should be made over to such Municipalities as can support them. If the intelligence and public spirit of a Municipal committee are not so great as to ensure its making adequate provision for the primary education of the town, the schools should not be entrusted to it, but some annual contribution exacted from it. Ques. 9.—Have you any suggestions to make on the system in force for providing teachers in primary schools? What is the present social status of village schoolmasters? Do they exert a beneficial influence among the villagers? Can you suggest measures, other than increase of pay, for improving their position? 140

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Ans. 9.—If the system of primary instruction is to develop in the manner I have described in my answer to question 4, one Normal school for one division will not be sufficient. As I have already stated, each of the larger vernacular schools should have a Normal class. The master of a Government school in a village enjoys the respect of the villagers The position of the master of an indigenous school is not so high; but he too possesses some influence with the people, and often is the public scribe or notary of the place. Ques. 10.—What subjects of instruction, if introduced into primary schools, would make them more acceptable to the community at large, and especially to the agricultural classes? Should any special means be adopted for making the instruction in such subjects efficient? Ans. 10.—Modí writing and mental arithmetic, as well as the method of keeping accounts, would, if greater attention were paid to them in primary schools, render them more acceptable to the people. No special means are necessary, strict orders to the schoolmasters are, I think, enough. Ques. 12.—Is the system of payment by results suitable, in your opinion, for the promotion of education amongst a poor and ignorant people? Ans. 12.—If the conductors of an institution are highly educated men and possess some means already, the system of payment by results is the fairest and most suitable. If, however, they are men of little or no culture, and are poor like the masters of our indigenous schools, the system is not suitable. Ques. 13.—Have you any suggestions to make regarding the taking of fees in primary schools? Ans. 13.—The sons of persons belonging to the classes that seek instruction should be charged fees, but those of Súdra cultivators and of persons belonging to the lowest castes should be admitted free. And to attract these classes even small scholarships should be given. Ques. 14.—Will you favour the Commission with your views, first, as to how the number of primary schools can be increased; and, secondly, how they can be gradually rendered more efficient? Ans. 14.—My answer to this question is contained in my answer to question 4. Ques. 15.—Do you know of any instances in which Government educational institutions of the higher order have been closed or transferred to the management of local bodies, as contemplated in paragraph 62 of the despatch of 1854? And what do you regard as the chief reasons why more effect has not been given to that provision? Ans. 15.—No the reason is there have been no local bodies capable of conducting such institutions. Ques. 16.—Be you know of any cases in which Government institutions of the higher order might be closed or transferred to private bodies, with or without aid, without injury to education or to any interest which it is the duty of Government to protect? Ques. 17.—In the province with which you are acquainted, are any gentlemen able and ready to come forward and aid, even more extensively than heretofore, in the establishment of schools and colleges upon the grant-in-aid system? 141

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Ques. 36.—In a complete scheme of education for India, what parts can, in your opinion, be most effectively taken by the State and by other agencies? Ques. 37.—What effect do you think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education, and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes? Ques. 54.—Has the demand for high education in your province reached such a stage as to make the profession of teaching a profitable one? Have schools been opened by men of good position as a means of maintaining themselves? Ques. 58.—What do you consider to be the maximum number of pupils that can be efficiently taught as a class by one instructor in the case of colleges and schools respectively? Ans. 16, 17, 36, 37, 54, & 58.—I will answer these questions together. It is plain that Government desires that education of all grades—higher, secondary, and primary—should not only continue to be in the condition in which it is at present, but should extend Often, however, the idea has been put forth that the duty of Government is only to give primary instruction to the masses, leaving education of the higher and secondary grades to take care of itself. The idea, I suppose, is based on the relation of the Government to national education in European countries such as England. The state of circumstances here is, however, different, and the analogy is not applicable. Our Government belongs to a more civilised and progressive race, and its civilisation in many respects is better than that of the people it governs. As an enlightened Government, it is desirous that its own higher and better civilisation and progressive spirit should be communicated to the people of this country. One of the most effective means for the purpose is a system of education. It will be admitted that primary education is not at all suited for the purpose; for a mere knowledge of reading, writing, and casting accounts is not calculated to awaken the mind and improve and elevate the spirit Instruction in the literature, the history, the philosophy, and science of Europe is indispensable To give superior education to the people is therefore a higher and prior duty of the British Government in India than to give primary education. Where the people and the Government stand on the same level, as in the countries of Europe, the case is different. This fact was recognised by the pioneers of education on this side of the country, when they established the Elphinstone College and gave a Government English school nearly to every zilla town before there were any or many vernacular schools. Even in 1851, when the Poona College was elevated to its present status, primary education was in a state of infancy; for I remember there were then about 20 vernacular schools in the Ratnágiri zilla, while at present the number is a 130. It appears to me, then, that if the question of the withdrawal of Government from any branch of education were raised it should rather be with reference to withdrawal from primary than from higher education. The effects of the withdrawal of Government from higher education cannot but be injurious to its interests. The people themselves are not yet qualified to undertake the work; for the generality do not understand and appreciate the value of 142

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higher education; and even if they did, they are not capable of organised and united action. Instruction in the Vedas and in the Sanskrit Shástras the people at large do appreciate. They see that the study of these is gradually dying out; but the only efforts hitherto made for promoting it that I have heard of, are the establishment of a school for the Shástras of an inferior sort at Nasik, to which the Educational Department gives a small grant-in-aid, and of another at Poona, the expenses of which are defrayed by one of the Gujaráthi Mahárájás, as well as of a school for the Vedas at Ratnágiri, the income of which is very trifling There is no guarantee that any of the last two will continue to exist even for the next two years. Just as indigenous primary education depends upon individual effort, so does education of this sort. A Shástri, or an áchárya, in a town or village considers it a point of honour to take pupils and instruct them in the Shastra or Shástras which he has specially studied. The pupils in return do what bodily service they can to their master, and do not, and often cannot, make money payments The Shástri lives on the presents made to him out of religious motives by the rich people about him, if he has got no hereditary income of his own. Generally, kings and princes in former times had, as Native chiefs now have, several Shástris in their service who, like the rest, took pupils Often lands were given as ináms to Shástris of distinction, and they were thus put in a condition to transmit Sanskrit learning for many generations It will thus be seen that higher Sanskrit education depends on the isolated efforts of individual Shástns assisted by the bounty of kings, prince, and merchants, whose grants, however, are made, as presents to the Shástns themselves, out of a religious motive, and not directly for the promotion of education There were, however, some institutions which can be compared to the colleges of Europe. These were mathas, or establishments for samnyásins, or recluses belonging to the many sects that sprang up at different times in the country There a great many pupils were taught and by more than one samnyásin. Sometimes lands were given for the support of such mathas by princes and chiefs, and they were also maintained by contributions made by the lay followers of the Samnyásins The Buddhist monasteries, or viháras, were often colleges of this nature, as were also the hermitages of the rishis in pre-historic times. Relics of these mathas are still to be met with. But these are exceptional cases, and in them the great motive force was the desire to propagate particular religions tenets, which is powerful in the infancy of a sect. The general truth, therefore, stated above remains unaffected, that higher, as well as primary, education depends on the efforts of individuals, and not of organised bodies, while in the first case religions motives are present But higher English education is, as I have already observed, not even appreciated and valued by the people generally, while, as regards religious motives, they are, of course, absent. It is impossible, therefore, that even individual effort should be available in this case I therefore apprehend that if Government withdraws from higher education, there will be none from amongst the Natives to take its place. Hitherto I have considered whether people of the old school, or those who have not been influenced by English education, are likely to step into the place vacated 143

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by Government. Let us now see if the educated men themselves will do it. These no doubt value the education they have themselves received, but their number is yet small and their means extremely limited Besides, it is still a question with me whether organising powers and public spirit or the capacity of uniting for common purposes are sufficiently developed in them to enable them to undertake the task of giving higher education to the people of the Presidency, even supposing they had adequate means, which certainly they do not possess Now here the fact of some young graduates of the University having opened a school at Poona may be brought forward as opposed to the view I maintain These young men have voluntarily sacrificed all their prospects in life, and, contenting themselves with an income of Rs. 30 or 40 per mensem in the place of Ɍ100 or 150, which elsewhere most of them would have got, have undertaken a work which they believe to be calculated to do good to their country. Such a self-sacrificing spirit is not to be found in many persons, and perhaps does not often continue to characterise the same individual throughout his life. A school, however, such as theirs can only be kept up by men who are actuated by that spirit. I have, therefore, great doubts whether for the next ten or fifteen years it will continue to exist. But whether it does or not, it is, I think, vain to expect that the whole education of a Presidency should be carried on by men influenced by such exceptional motives Education so conducted can hardly be said to be placed on a firm basis. If the occupation of teaching were remunerative, then only would there be some chance of its attracting men fitted for it. But, as a matter of fact, it is not so. The best guarantees for the permanence of a school are an organised body to conduct it, and endowments, and no school has yet been established on that basis in the mofussil. As regards this last point, it may be said that endowments will come in in the course of time, such as the Elphinstone College and the University of Bombay have got. On an examination, however, of the nature of the endowments and benefactions that these institutions possess, and the circumstances under which they were made, it will appear that the expectation that a private college or a high school can be conducted by means of such endowments and benefactions, is not well founded The personal influence of men in office had to be exerted before the largest of them were obtained; and it will be seen that in a great many cases the amounts were first offered to Government, and in some to Sir A. Grant, ViceChancellor of the University, who was believed to possess great influence with men in authority. The donors in most cases expected some sort of acknowledgment from Government. It is not likely, therefore, that an institution conducted by private individuals, and not backed by the overwhelming influence of Government, will be similarly favoured And the object of all such endowments, whether large or small, is to perpetuate the memory of some individual; and therefore each must be devoted to some specific object. They cannot all be combined, and a school or college supported out of the proceeds, for a school or college can perpetuate one or two names only and not many And it has not been found possible for a single individual to contribute such a sum as will permanently maintain a college such as the Elphinstone or Deccan College, But, after all, in these respects 144

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Bombay must be considered an exceptional place, for the wealth of the city is no indication whatever of the economical condition of the districts, especially the Maratha districts, which are poor, and from which no considerable grant can be expected for educational purposes. It will thus be seen that in my opinion there are no individuals or bodies in the Presidency generally that will come forward and aid in the establishment of schools and colleges The effect of the withdrawal of Government must be to throw higher education into the hands of Christian religious societies. This will be injurious to the cause of higher education; for institutions conducted by religious societies in this Presidency have been far less successful than those under Government management And of the two colleges of this description that have been affiliated to the University, the Free General Assembly’s has shown but very poor results. To prove this point I will compare the results produced by the Deccan College and by the two aided institutions, leaving the other Government college out of consideration, since it may be objected to as being in exceptionally favourable circumstances. Graduates from the Deccan College and the Free General Assembly’s Institution appear on the University records for the first time in 1864 and from St Xavier’s in 1872 From the University Calendar for 1881-82

College

Deccan St. Xavier’s Free General Assembly’s

Bachelors of Arts

114 27 20 5

Number of Years which the Institution has been training Candidates for B.A.

Average per Year

17 9 17

67 8 12

Thus, the Deccan College is more than thrice as efficient as St Xavier’s, and more than five times as successful as the Free General Assembly’s; and yet the total expenditure of the last college in 1880–81 was Ɍ18,000; that of the Deccan College, Ɍ54,002, that is, for a sum of money three times as large, the Deccan College graduates more than five times as many men It must also be borne in mind that money is not the sole agency available to Missionary societies. Religious zeal forms a very important part of the resources at their disposal, and its place must be supplied by additional money in the case of Government educational institutions. But another and a more serious objection against Government withdrawing from higher education and assisting Missionaries by grants of money to do its work, is the violation, that it involves, of the cardinal principle of British Indian Government, viz., religious neutrality. This action of Government will have the appearance of its having abandoned its function of civilising the races under its rule and assumed that of proselytising them. He who makes large annual 145

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contributions towards the expenses of schools the purpose of which is to proselytise, can in no way be distinguished, in practice, from him who puts his name down in the subscription list of the societies that have established those schools. Even the grants that are at present given to such schools and colleges involve a violation of religious neutrality in principle. But since excellent Government institutions of the kind are available to satisfy the educational wants of the people, this matter attracts little notice, and is not felt as a grievance If, however, these Government institutions made room for others, established by proselytising societies, the people would be reduced to the necessity or either sending their children to them and risking the chance of their being cut off from themselves by becoming converts, or of keeping them without the benefits of higher education and then this new departure on the part of Government would form the subject of bitter complaints, and I have little doubt the views of Government would be misunderstood, and it would be regarded as desirous of Christianising the country It will be seen from the foregoing remarks that in my opinion the Natives themselves are not in a condition to conduct higher education, while primary instruction is sought for and given by spontaneous Native agency In answer to question 16, therefore, I would say that this should be utilised in the manner indicated in my answer to question 4, and three-fourths of the Government primary schools converted into grant-in-aid schools, and Municipal agency used wherever available, while Government should take higher education under its own management I would answer question 16 by saying that no institution for higher education should be made over to a private body; neither do I think that any such existing institution should be closed. Since the Department of Public Instruction was organised in 1855, primary education has very greatly developed, and we have now about ten times as many schools as we had before, but the number of colleges continue to be the same. We had two before and have those two now. It is only within the last two or three years that a college teaching up to the standard of the previous examination has been established at Ahmedabad, one-fourth only of the expenses of which are paid by Government, and another at Kolhapur, supported by the State. But colleges teaching up to that standard and having but the sort of establishment that these have, deserve to be considered only as superior high schools So that it may even now be truly said that the institutions for higher collegiate education continue to be only as many as we had before the Despatch of 1854. Higher education should, I think, be fostered by Government, not only for its civilising influence, but because it is the only means of improving its own administration of the country, if it must employ Native agency. The administration of justice throughout the Preisdency has admittedly vastly improved within the last twenty years; and this is solely due to the fact that highly educated Natives have been employed as subordinate judges, and have become vakils or pleaders. Educated Natives alone are qualified to understand the views and motives of the British Government and its powers, and thus to act as interpreters between the rulers and the ruled. Natives of the old school and those who have had the benefits of primary and secondary education only do not possess that capacity. I therefore 146

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think it would, in every way, be a backward step to close any institution of the higher order. It has been suggested that the Deccan College might be reduced to the standard of an institution teaching up to the previous examination. This, in effect, means that as a college it might be closed. But the only justifiable ground for closing a college is its having very few students, or its not producing satisfactory results. But, as I have shown, the Deccan College graduates have as many students again as the two aided colleges put together every year on an average; while the average daily attendance in 1880–81 was 113, which is equal to that of the two colleges together. The closing of such an institution, therefore, cannot but deal, in my opinion, a serious blow to higher education in this Presidency. If the Deccan College is reduced to a lower grade, the candidate passed by it will have to go to the Elphinstone College to read for the higher examinations The number of students at present in the two higher classes is 18 and 28 The corresponding classes in the Elphinstone College have 20 and 47; so that, if the proposed reduction be effected, the two classes in that college will come to have at least 38 and 75 students, since our number have been rising and not falling. Now, in my opinion, 25 or 30 is the highest number of students forming a class that can be taught efficiently. The effect, therefore, will be that the classes in the Elphinstone College will become so unwieldy that it will be impossible to teach them properly, and the efficiency of that college will be greatly impaired. The Elphinstone College will be the only institution for preparing men for the first and second B.A. examinations in the Presidency; and it will have to take up the work of teaching all the students passed by the Deccan, the Kolhapur, the Ahmedabad, and the Baroda Colleges, that is, its establishment will have to be increased, or, in other words, two colleges will have to be opened within the same walls But the present arrangement, in virtue of which the passed students are distributed between the two colleges, is preferable to closing one college and giving a double establishment to another Ques. 21.—What classes principally avail themselves of Government or aided schools and colleges for the education of their children? How far is the complaint well founded that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education? What is the rate of fees payable for higher education in your province, and do you consider it adequate? Ques. 53.—Should the rate of fees in any class of schools or colleges vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil? Ans. 21 & 53.—The classes whose occupation under the old regime was writing, avail themselves of the Government and sided schools and colleges But education has made some progress with the mercantile classes also, especially in Bombay Sardars and other rich tamilies of by-gone times do not, as a general rule, care for this kind of education. The complaint that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education is groundless In support of my view I give the following table showing the monthly income of the guardians of 105 of the students at present in the Deccan College:— 147

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I

From Rs. 250 to Rs. 500 II

More than Rs. 100 and less than Rs. 250 III

From Rs. 50 to Rs. 100 inclusive. IV

5

11

19

31

Rs. 500 and upwards

Less than Rs. 50

Total.

V 39

105

The expenses of each student including fees vary from Ɍ15 to 20 per mensem This amount is certainly beyond the reach of 39 of the students. They, therefore, maintain themselves on the scholarships they get, and in some cases borrow money Those in Class IV (31 in all) can just afford to spend the required amount. So that the complaint referred to is certainly not true in the case of 70 out of 105 students, and an increase of fees in their case would be a hardship. The present rate is Ɍ5 per mensem; and it may be raised to Ɍ7½ in the case of 19 students forming the third class, while the 16 in the first and second classes may be paid to Ɍ10 even. But the parents of these 35 students are by no means to be called wealthy. And this income test is sometimes fallacious; for a man, though in receipt of Ɍ250, has perhaps got a large family to support, or Ɍ250 represents the ancestral income of a family composed of 25 members. A man in these circumstances can hardly afford to spend Ɍ15 to 20 per mensem on his son. But the principal objections to a varied rate of fees is the difficulty of ascertaining a man’s exact income and the temptation to which it exposes him to conceal it. The rate of fees payable at Elphinstone College is Ɍ10 per mensem. I do not think it can bear being raised except by the introduction of varied rates, which, however, are objectionable on other grounds. Ques. 23.—Is it in your opinion possible for a non-Government institution of the higher order to become influential and stable when in direct competition with a similar Government institution? If so, under what conditions do you consider that it might become so? Ans. 23.—It is perfectly possible for a non-Government institution of the higher order to become influential and stable when in direct competition with a similar Government institution, provided it has got funds, and, above all, good teachers who will zealously devote themselves to their duties. If, however, a foreign religion is taught in that school, that will be so much against it in its way to influence and popularity. But if the teachers are good, and the students not compelled to attend the religious classes, the school is under no disadvantage. St. Xavier’s College in Bombay is an instance in point Ques. 24.—Is the cause of higher education in your province injured by any unhealthy competition; and if so, what remedy, if any, would you apply? Ans. 24.—No, so far as I am aware. Ques. 25.—Do educated Natives in your province readily find remunerative employment? Ans. 25.—Not very readily. Still there are no complaints. They do find employment eventually in the Educational, Revenue, Customs and Judicial Departments, 148

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and sometimes in Native States. There are a few instances of Bombay mercantile firms having taken our graduates. The practice of the law is also open to them. Ques. 26.—Is the instruction imparted in secondary schools calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further, with useful and practical information? Ans. 26.—One who has gone through the high school course successfully, and has passed the Matriculation examination, possesses, I believe, useful information. I do not know what is exactly meant by “practical information.” But a good many of the boys who matriculated from the Ratnagiri High School, during the time I was Head Master there, were taken into the Collector’s office and the Bombay Customs, as as well as other departments, and several were employed as assistant masters in my own school. They have all been doing well. Two have become mámlatdárs. One is a senstadár to a Judge, and another holds a similarly important post at Ratnagiri. Ques. 27.—Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the Entrance examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstance impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? Ans. 27.—The attention of teachers and pupils is almost exclusively devoted to the requirements of the Matriculation examination of our University, but not unduly so, for the standard of that examination is, I think, a good standard for general education, and those who pass that examination are, I believe, generally well fitted for the ordinary occupations of life. Knowledge of a classical language is necessary for those who wish to continue their studies in an affiliated college, but not for those who do not. The last, therefore, as a general rule, do not devote their time to it, but take up their vernacular as their second language for Matriculation. The Matriculation examination thus serves two purposes: that of testing a young man’s general education as well as fitness for entering upon higher studies. Objections have been taken to this double character of the examination, but I do not see what harm is done by it. The standard is well fitted to serve both ends. It is not undesirable to allow room for the development of peculiar aptitudes in boys, and in schools generally. But our standard, by allowing an option as regards the second language, and requiring only a small minimum in each of the subjects, renders it possible for a boy or a school to devote particular attention to any one of the subjects, whether English, Sanskrit, Latin, Arabic, Persian, a vernacular, mathematics, or general knowledge. But if no such standard were imposed on the high schools, and the masters were allowed to teach what they chose, the result in my opinion would be that they will teach very little, and that too carelessly, and thus the standard of education would deteriorate. The influences which in the absence of such a standard are calculated to keep masters and boys duly and usefully employed, are wanting in the present circumstances of our country. Ques. 28.—Do you think that the number of pupils in secondary schools who present themselves for the University Entrance examination is unduly large when compared with the requirements of the country? If you think so, what do you 149

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regard as the causes of this state of things, and what remedies would you suggest? Ans. 28.—The number of pupils in secondary schools who present themselves for the Matriculation Examination of our University is not unduly large. Ques. 29.—What system prevails in your province with reference to scholarships; and have you any remarks to make on the subject? Is the scholarship system impartially administered as between Government and aided schools? Ans. 29.—Before the University was established, the Elphinstone College had two private scholarship endowments, and two scholarships endowed by the Gáikawád of Baroda, while it had six of Ɍ20 each and three of Ɍ30 per mensem paid out of Government funds. The last nine scholarships were called Normal scholarships, and the original idea was that the holders of them should, after the close of their studies, take service as masters of English schools But the idea was soon given up. Under the administration of the Director of Public Instruction, the scholarships of Ɍ30 were reduced to Ɍ20 and placed on the same level with the other Government scholarships. The Deccan College also had its scholarships before the Department of Public Instruction was organised, though they were rearranged afterwards. In those days Government did not connect itself in any way with Missionary schools, and consequently no claim for the scholarships could be set up on their behalf. No new Government scholarships have been instituted in this Presidency since the University began its operations as in Bengal. Hence, there are none which the students of all colleges, whether managed by Government or aided by it, can compete for. The old Government scholarships belonging to the Government colleges have grown with them, and cannot be taken away from them without doing them serious injury. They have become as much theirs as the private scholarships which they have and which the aided colleges have. Separate examinations are held for them every year in these colleges. The scholarships that have been founded by private individuals in connection with the University are of course open to all affiliated institutions. The high schools have Government scholarships; but their number and monthly value are so small that they hardly deserve to be considered. My answer to question 29, therefore, is that no scholarship system common to the Government and aided colleges, or in connection with the University, has yet been founded by Government. Ques. 31.—Does the University curriculum afford a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools, or are special Normal schools needed for the purpose? Ans. 31.—My experience is that the University curriculum affords a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools, and no special Normal schools are wanted. Ques. 32.—What is the system of school inspection pursued in your province? In what respect is it capable of improvement? Ans. 32.—For aided primary schools, such as those as I have spoken of in my answer to question 4, the elaborate system of examining and assigning marks in each subject is not necessary. A general inspection such as prevailed under the late 150

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Board of Education and before the grant-in-aid rules were framed, will be quite enough. When the system of primary schools develops, each Deputy Educational Inspector should have under him two or three Sub-Deputies on a salary of about Rs. 30 or 35 per mensem, and these should be charged with the duty of examining the primary schools. Ques. 39.—Does definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct occupy any place in the course of Government colleges and schools? Have you any suggestion to make on this subject? Ans. 39.—The vernacular and English text-books used in the schools contain some moral lessons; but original prose and poetic works are taught in colleges, and there can, of course, be nothing of the kind in them. But it appears to me that, placing dry moral receipts before young men is not a very efficacious method of making them virtuous or instilling moral principles into their minds. The teacher’s effort should be directed to the cultivation of the emotional side of the pupil’s nature, wherein lies the root of morality, and to the formation of tastes. For this purpose nothing, I believe, is better suited than the best prose and poetic literature of such a great country as England. History too, if properly taught, is calculated to promote the same end These means are availed of in Government colleges and also in high schools. The study of ethical philosophy which has been recommended by some is, I apprehend, not always efficacious. Butler’s Sermons on Human Nature, his Dissertation on the Nature of Virtue, and the first part of his Analogy, produced, I know, a very wholesome effect on the minds of a good many of my friends and of myself, when we were at college, and the impression then received was deep, and will never be effaced. But other systems of moral philosophy opposed to that of Butler are, in the hands of certain teachers, apt to deprive the moral law of its grandeur and awe, and become the means of unsettling one’s notions of morality and religion. Besides the effect that such studies naturally produce, the discipline under which a student has to be for about eight years in a high school and a college, cannot but induce habits of regular work and self-restraint. The imputations cast upon the morality of educated Natives are groundless. The general moral tone is healthy, though there may be exceptions. Many years ago, in my native district, stories of corruption in the Native judicial service were very common; but now they have almost disappeared, and the people have confidence in their subordinate judges as regards this point. The Revenue Department has not yet taken many of them, but those that are employed there also maintain a character for integrity There are, I believe, some atheists and sceptics among the educated Natives, but that is by no means due to the instruction imparted in Government colleges In English thought, the agnostic and atheistic side has at present acquired prominence, and India being now intellectually affiliated to England, as well as politically, it must be expected that all phases of thought in that country should cast their reflections here. But to this influence the students of Missionary, as well as Government, colleges are equally open, and the result in both cases is the same. 151

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With reference to the points involved in this question, I have to observe that the tendency to specialise the studies of students has lately become too strong, in my opinion. At present, the general education of a young man, for the most part, stops at the previous examination. History and philosopy, which, I believe, are of great value to the Indian student, are put down as optional subjects for the B.A. degree, while the quantity prescribed for the previous examination, which is compulsory on all, is insignificant, I have also to suggest that in order that the means available may produce the best possible results, it is necessary that the selection of professors for our colleges should he carefully made. Latterly the evil of acting appointments has greatly increased. One or other of the permanent professors in the Elphinstone or Deecan College is always absent, and it is by no means an easy matter to procure a fit person to act for him. Some arrangement should be made by the Department, in virtue of which the European gentlemen in the Department below the rank of professors should be men possessing the same qualifications as the professors themselves, and be fit to take their places in their absence. Another way of remedying this evil I shall suggest in connection with my answer to question 34. The relations between the professors and the pupils should be more intimate than they are It is in this way alone that the professor will be able to influence the character of his pupils, and to give a proper direction to their thoughts and feelings There should be conversational parties or social gatherings at which the professor and his pupils may meet on more familiar terms than are possible in the class-room. Ques. 41.—Is there indigenous instruction for girls in the province with which you are acquainted; and if so, what is its character? Ans. 41.—There is no indigenous instruction for girls in the province with which I am acquainted Female education in this Presidency was begun, about the year 1848 by educated Natives, especially the students and ex-students of the Elphinstone College, under the guidance and encouragement of their professors, the late Mr Patton and Dr. R. T. Reid. They established Marathi, Hindu, Gujaráthi-Hindu, and Gujaráthi-Parsi schools at Bombay, Since there were no funds in the beginning, they volunteered themselves as teachers. In the course of time, after indefatigable exertions, they succeeded in collecting a sufficient amount of money. A good many Parsi gentlemen came forward with contributions for the education of girls of their own race, and a committee was formed which took away the Gujaráthi-Parsi girls’ schools from the Students’ Literary and Scientific Society, and managed them themselves. The Gujaráthi Hindus did likewise after the lapse of a good many years more; and now the society has got the Maráthi schools only under its management. From Bombay the movement spread to the mofussil. Orthodox opinion was strongly opposed to female education. Educated Natives published pamphlets and delivered lectures, advocating the cause and meeting the arguments of the orthodox Subscriptions were collected and schools opened in some of the principal towns. 152

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Ques. 42.—What progress has been made by the Department in instituting schools for girls; and what is the character of the instruction imparted in them? What improvements can you suggest? Ques. 44.—What is the best method of providing teachers for girls? Ans. 42 & 44.—The late Board of Education had sufficient employment in the education of boys, and did not turn its attention to the education of girls. The Department of Public Instruction followed for a long time the traditional policy of the Board, but has established a good many schools latterly. Still, proportionately little has been done. It must be admitted that there are peculiar difficulties in connection with female education arising from the social customs of the Hindus. The orthodox prejudice against it, though considerably weakened, has not yet disappeared. But things would be in a much more satisfactory condition if trained female teachers were available. There is, however, a very great difficulty as regards this point Girls are married at a comparatively young age and soon enter on the duties of a married life. They are therefore mostly not available as pupils for our Normal schools. Trained young widows and wives of uneducated men are not exactly the persons we should employ as schoolmistresses. I should therefore think that so far as possible the wives of young men attending the Training College should be attracted to the Female Normal School by the offer of liberal terms; and, as a general rule, after their education is complete, the husband and the wife should be employed at the same place Ques. 43.—Have you any remarks to make on the subject of mixed schools? Ans. 43.—I do not think we should have mixed schools. Ques. 59.—In your opinion should fees in colleges be paid by the term or by the month? Ans. 59.—The fees in the Elphinstone College are paid by the term, and in the Deccan by the quarter. This rule does not cause much inconvenience. Ques. 60.—Does a strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools? Ans. 60.—Decidedly not, for in Government institutions nobody’s religious belief is tampered with. But the principle of religions neutrality requires, as I have indicated in my remarks on higher education, that Government should cease to aid institutions the ultimate object of which is to proselytise, while the withdrawal of Government from the direct management of schools and colleges must lead to such institutions being assisted on a larger scale, that is, to a more systematic interference with the religious beliefs of the people than is involved in the present educational policy. Ques. 61.—Do you think that the institution of University professorships would have an important effect in improving the quality of high education? Ans. 61.—University professorships, instead of those we have at present in connection with the colleges, will do more harm than good. In our present circumstances we want tutors, and not mere lecturers, and the professors in our colleges are in effect tutors. But for another purpose, University professorships 153

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to be held by the Natives of the country, with small salaries attached to them, are very desirable. At present there is no provision for promoting the growth of learning and raising a class of learned men. All educated Natives, after they leave college, have to follow an occupation that takes up the greater portion of their time, and leaves them very little leisure for the pursuit of their favourite studies. Mr Howard, one of our early Directors of Public Instruction, perceived the want, and, with a view to supply it in some measure, used the amount of the dakshiná fund at his disposal, and instituted Fellowships in connection with the Government colleges. During his administration and some time after it, they were tenable for any length of time, but gradually the original idea was forgotten and the tenure shortened, and now they are held for one year, and in a few cases for two. What permanent good they do with such a short tenure it is difficult to perceive. I would, therefore, propose that out of the sum available from the dakshiná fund, University professorships should be founded. Five senior professorships of Ɍ200 each per mensem, and five junior of Ɍ100, will be enough to begin with. Whenever a senior professorship falls vacant, a junior professor alone should be appointed to it. The senior professors should deliver a course of ten lectures at least every year in connection with the University, and they, as well as junior professors, should be attached to the Government colleges, where they should assist the college professors. The senior professors will be available for doing the work of the professors in the Government colleges during the time they may be absent on leave, and thus the evil I have spoken of in my answer to question 31 will, to a great extent, be mitigated The amount at present spent on the Dakshiná Fellowships in the two colleges is, I believe, Ɍ675 per mensem. It will not be difficult to raise it to Ɍ1,500 per mensem, which is the amount required for the professorships I propose; for the daksinuá fund at the disposal of the Director of Public Instruction is pretty large, and it will go on increasing as the dakshiná now enjoyed by the old Biahmans lapses in consequence of death. The purpose which the dakshiná originally given by the Peshwas to learned Brahmans served, was the promotion of learning, and it will be in keeping with this purpose to devote it now to the creation of a learned class. Ques. 63.—Are there any arrangements between the colleges and schools of your province to prevent boys who are expelled from one institution, or who leave it improperly, from being received into another? What are the arrangements which you would suggest? Ans. 63.—There is a tacit understanding among the heads of Government and aided colleges that a student belonging to one is not to be admitted into another without the permission of the principal of his first college. Ques. 65.—How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B.A. standard? Ans. 65.—Two European professors to teach English literature and history, political economy or philosophy, are necessary for every college teaching up to the B.A. standard. 154

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Ques. 66.—Are European professors employed, or likely to be employed, in colleges under Native management? Ans. 66.—One or two European professors are likely to be employed in colleges conducted by Natives. Ques. 68.—How far would Government be justified in withdrawing from any existing school or college, in places where any class of the population objects to attend the only alternative institution on the ground of its religious teaching? Ans. 68.—On the principles I have laid down Government will not be justified in withdrawing from an existing school or college in order that an institution in which a religion objected to by the people as antagonistic to theirs is taught may flourish. Such action on the part of the Government will not unjustly be construed as springing from a desire that the people should be taught that religion, and, if possible, become converts to it.

Supplementary Question. Ques. 71.—Please state what opportunities yon have had of forming an opinion on the subject of female education in India, and in what province your experience has been gained. Ans. 71.—I was Maráthi Secretary to the Students’ Literary and Scientific Society in Bombay for several years, and as such had charge of the girls’ schools established by that society. I was also a member of the managing committee of that body up to December last. Evidence of MR. NOWROZJEE FURDOONJEE. Ques. 1.—Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on the subject of education in India, and in what province your experience has been gained. Ans. 1.—I have had the opportunities of forming an opinion on the subject of education in India during my connection with the Government Educational Department up to 1845 and with the Parsi Girls’ School Association and other educational institutions from 1853 to the present time. For some time I acted as a member of the Bombay Female Normal School Committee appointed by Government, and also as a member of the subcommittee appointed by the Town Council of Bombay to visit the primary schools supported and maintained partly by the Municipal Corporation and partly by Government, and Honorary Secretary to the Parsi Girls’ School Association of Bombay. My experience has been gained exclusively in the Bombay Presidency. Ques. 2.—Do you think that in your province the system of primary education has been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirements of the community? Can you suggest any improvements in the system of administration or in the course of instruction? 155

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Ans. 2.—The scope of primary education is thus defined in the first clause of the Act passed this year by the French Legislature:— “Primary education comprises moral and civil instruction, reading, writing, geography, particularly that of France, history, especially that of France up to the present day, some notions of law and political economy, the elements of natural, physical, and mathematical science, their applications to agriculture, health, industrial arts, manual labour, and uses of the tools of the principal crafts, the elements of drawing, modelling, and music, gymnastics, for boys military drill, for girls needlework.”

This provision might be modified and adapted to the circumstances of India, and should, I submit, form the basis on which primary education should be conducted by the state of this country. I think that in Bombay the system of primary education has, with notable exceptions, been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirments of the community. The improvements which I venture to suggest in the system of administration and course of instruction are the following— (a) Readiness and rapidity of calculation, proficiency in mental arithmetic and Native method of book-keeping and accounts, subjects to which great attention had been paid in the indigenous schools, but they have been displaced by the course of instruction prescribed in Government schools and imparted from textbooks which are not quite adapted to the capacity of the pupils. (b) The introduction of a systematic course to instruction in the principles of morality and ethics. I am of opinion that this is a great desideratum which, if supplied, will be attended with beneficial results (c) The impartment of technical education for qualifying the people for acquiring the practice of useful trades, industrial arts, and professions. But I am sorry to learn that this important question does not come within the scope of the enquiries entrusted to the Commission (d) The necessity of establishing Normal schools in Bombay for qualifying and training male and female teachers in English and in the vernacular languages. (e) The existing number of primary schools for boys and girls being utterly inadequate, it is necessary for Government to make a larger grant According to the recent census, there are 140,250 children of school-going age (between 6 and 15 years) in the town and island of Bombay, of whom 31,417 only are under instruction and 108,833 children are not under instruction. Of the latter, 11,405 are just able to read and write, whilst 97,428 are totally illiterate. It appears, from the following statistics given in the latest report of the Director of Public Instruction, Bombay, that the number of schools established by Government throughout the entire Presidency is inadequate to supply the educational wants of the people, and the amount contributed thereto by the State greatly falls short of the needs of the people, numbering 16,454,414 souls:— 156

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Expenditure. No. of No. of By the Schools Scholars State

3,960

From Local Rate of Cessea

From From From School Municipal Native Fees Grants States

Ɍ Ɍ Ɍ 440,069 2,49,714 5,01,603 1,18,272

Ɍ 35,692

Other Sources

Total

Ɍ Ɍ Ɍ 1,18,673 48,684 10,72,578

The ratio of persons under instruction to the entire population is 1.54 per cent The inadequacy of the above expenditure will appear most glaring if contrasted with the large sum, Ɍ2,19,98,630, granted by Parliament in April last for primary education and for the expense of the Education Department in England and Wales Ques. 3.—In your province is primary instruction sought for by the people in general, or by particular classes only? Do any classes specially hold aloof from it, and, if so, why? Are any classes practically excluded from it; and if so, from what causes? What is the attitude of the influential classes towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society. Ans. 3.—Primary instruction is sought for by the people in general, except by the poorest class, who are unable to pay the fees. Hitherto Muhammadans have to a large extent stood aloof from it, chiefly because the Koran is not taught in the Government schools. I am glad to find that an organised effort has recently been made in the city of Bombay, by several intelligent and public spirited Muhammadans, to overcome the repugnance of their co-religionists, and Government, as well as the Municipal Corporation, have made large grants in aid of the schools established by the Anjuman-Islam. Recently there has been an increase in the number of schools and in the attendance of Muhammadan scholars. The attitude of the influential and enlightened classes of Natives towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society is all that can be wished for. Ques. 4.—To what extent do indigenous schools exist in your province? How far are they a relic of an ancient village system? Can you describe the subjects and character of the instruction given in them, and the system of discipline in vogue? What fees are taken from the scholars? From what classes are the masters of such schools generally selected, and what are their qualifications? Have any arrangements been made for training or providing masters in such schools? Under what circumstances do you consider that indigenous schools can be turned to good account as part of a system of national education, and what is the best method to adopt for this purpose? Are the masters willing to accept State aid and to conform to the rules under which such aid is given? How far has the grant-in-aid system been extended to indi genous schools, and can it be further extended? Ans. 4.—According to the last report of the Director of Public Instruction (pages 61, 62) there are 1,305 indigenous schools throughout this Presidency attended by 36,054 pupils. Of these there are 143 schools attended by 9,405 pupils in the island of Bombay. These statistics do not appear to be complete 157

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and accurate. Aid is given by the Department to a very small number of these schools. Numerous schoolmasters have declined to receive aid on account of their inability to conform to the rules of the Educational Department These institutions are a relic of the ancient indigenous system, of which the chief peculiarity consist of teaching lessons and arithmetical tables, &c, by heart, readiness of calculation and useful mental arithmetic. Simple elementary instruction is communicated in reading, writing, and mental arithmetic, often without any organised plan. The fees levied range from two to eight annas per month, in addition to presents on birth-days, marriage, and other festive occasions and holidays. They are conducted chiefly by hereditary schoolmasters who do not generally possess the requisite qualifications. Several of these schools are pretty [Illegible Text] conducted, whilst many are badly managed. In the island of Bombay many of these schools are located in exposed verandas and dark over-crowded rooms situated on the basement in different parts of the fort and native town. The discipline is seldom good. No arrangements have been made for training or providing masters for such schools. In Gujaiath the indigenous schools are, I am informed, generally of a better class, and deserve encouragement. The sister Presidency of Bengal, which, I am informed, possesses 700,000 indigenous schools, of which 600,000 are partially aided by Government, carries off the palm of superiority in this matter. In the absence of extensive efforts by Government to make adequate provision for primary education, I think it is necessary to turn the existing indigenous schools to good account, and to use every endeavour to encourage, extend, and improve them. With this view I would suggest to the Commission to recommend the Department to modify and relax the rules for giving grants-in-aid to indigenous schools so as to remove the difficulties and place it within the means of the conductors to avail themselves of the assistance of the State. Ques. 5.—What opinion does your experience lead you to hold of the extent and value of home instruction? How far is a boy educated at home able to compete on equal terms, at examinations qualifying for the public service, with boys educated at school? Ans. 5.—There is scarcely any home instruction in this Presidency, because the mothers are, for the most part, uneducated, and the male parents are too much engaged in their work and calling to spare any time or attention to the education of their children, Parents who can afford the means, in some cases employ private teachers out of school-hours to give instruction to their children at home in the morning or evening to assist the progress of the latter at school. Instances of children being educated at home are rare Ques. 6.—How far can the Government depend on private effort, aided or unaided, for the supply of elementary instruction in rural districts? Can you enumerate the private agencies which exist for promoting primary instruction? Ans. 6.—Government cannot, I think, depend on private effort, aided or unaided, for the supply of elementary instruction in rural or other districts in the mofussil, unless they rely on the schools that are established by Christian Missionaries with the avowed object of converting the Natives. These schools are attended chiefly 158

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by children of the lowest class, with whom the generality of Hindus do not hold any social intercourse, and by the children of the poorest class, who are unable to pay the higher rate of fees charged in Government schools. Ques. 7.—How far, in your opinion, can funds assigned for primary education in rural districts be advantageously administered by district committees or local boards? What are the proper limits of the control to be exercised by such bodies? Ans. 7.—Funds assigned for primary education in the rural districts can, in my opinion, be advantageously administered by district committees or local boards, subject to such rules and limitations as it may be deemed necessary to prescribe. Ques. 8.—What classes of schools should, in your opinion, be entrusted to Municipal committees for support and management? Assuming that the provision of elementary instruction in towns is to be a charge against Municipal funds, what security would you suggest against the possibility of Municipal committees failing to make sufficient provision? Ans. 8.—I am of opinion that primary schools should be entrusted to properly constituted school boards or Municipal committees for support and management in large towns and cities if such Committees possess surplus funds adequate for the purpose. With some exceptions their resources are so inadequate that after spending their funds on the primary and legitimate objects of conservancy and sanitation they can spare very little money for promotion of primary education but in any case they should not be compelled to have recourse to additional taxation, which might press heavily on the people. Primary education is a fair charge on the general revenues of the country. The Imperial Parliament has recognised the charge and has made adequate provision for primary education from the public revenues as shown in my answer to question 2. Ques. 9.—Have you any suggestions to make on the system in force for providing teachers in primary schools? What is the present social status of village schoolmasters? Do they exert a beneficial influence among the villagers? Can you suggest measures, other than increase of pay, for improving their position? Ans. 9.—I think it is necessary that trained teachers should be provided for primary and secondary boys’ and girls’ schools. There are several training schools and colleges and Normal schools in the Deccan, Dhárwár, Gujaráth and Sind, but no such institution exists in Bombay, where the large majority of masters employed in the vernacular and Anglo-vernacular schools are untrained. In the Normal Schools none but scholars of the higher class, studying in secondary schools, and matriculated students, should be admitted. After being duly trained and qualified, they should be taught the art of teaching in practising schools, and when their training is finished, they should receive certificates of competency as teachers from the heads of the Normal schools. The status and emoluments of the vernacular schoolmasters should, I think, be improved so as to keep pace with improvements in their qualifications and training. The salaries of vernacular schoolmasters of the lower grade at present range from Ɍ10 to 12 (being equal to the pay of ordinary house-keepers), of the middle grade Ɍ15, and of the higher grade Ɍ20 to 25. These low salaries do not and cannot attract competent men 159

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to occupy these responsible posts It is also necessary to improve the position of the village schoolmasters by increasing their emoluments and by other means, because they exercise a beneficial influence amongst the villagers. Ques. 10.—What subjects of instruction, if introduced into primary schools, would make them more acceptable to the community at large, and especially to the agricultural classes? Should any special means be adopted for making the instruction in such subjects efficient? Ans. 10.—To make the primary schools popular and attractive, I would recommend that, in addition to other subjects, much attention should be paid to mental arithmetic, composition, epistolary and mercantile correspondence, moral duties, adages and maxims, Native book-keeping and accounts, and lessons on objects, also instruction in trades and industrial arts. Ques. 11.—Is the vernacular recognised and taught in the schools of your province the dialect of the people? And if not, are the schools on that account less useful and popular? Ans. 11.—The vernaculars recognised and taught in the different schools in the Bombay Presidency are the dialects of the people. The instruction imparted therein is therefore useful as well as popular. Ques. 12.—Is the system of payment by results suitable, in your opinion, for the promotion of education amongst a poor and ignorant people? Ans. 12.—Yes, excepting in villages and rural districts, where it is necessary to encourage and assist well-conducted indigenous schools. Ques. 13.—Have you any suggestions to make regarding the taking of fees in primary schools? Ans. 13.—The fees levied in primary schools ranging from Ɍ1 to Ɍ3 press heavily on the poorer classes of the people. They should be reduced, say, onehalf, so as to place it within the means of the poor students to avail themselves of the advantages held out to them. In vernacular schools the fees ranging from 4 annas to 8 annas, and in some cases 1 rupee, are heavy and should be reduced Students who cannot afford to pay the school fees should be admitted free The present restriction of the free list, 15 per cent., should be removed, so that the doors of the Government schools should not be closed against poor candidates Ques. 14.—Will you favour the Commission with your views, first, as to how the number of primary schools can be increased; and, secondly, how they can be gradually rendered more efficient? Ans. 14.—The number of primary schools can, I believe, be increased by Government opening new schools in suitable localities and giving grants-in-aid and scholarships, and by enlisting the sympathies and inviting the co-operation of influential and enlightened Natives. Ques. 15.—Do you know of any instances in which Government educational institutions of the higher older have been closed or transferred to the management of local bodies, as contemplated in paragraph 62 of the Despatch of 1854? And

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what do you regard as the chief reasons why more effect has not been given to that provision? Ans. 15.—I do not know of any instances in which Government educational institutions of the higher order have been closed or transferred to the management of local bodies, as contemplated in paragraph 62 of the Despatch of 1854. The reason is obvious. Education has not yet made sufficient progress to warrant Government in closing their colleges or high schools to make way for private institutions. Ques. 16.—Do you know of any cases in which Government institutions of the higher order might be closed or transferred to private bodies, with or without aid, without injury to education or to any interests which it is the duty of Government to protect? Ans. 16.—I do not know of any cases in which Government institutions of the higher order might be closed or transferred to private bodies, without injury to education or to interests which it is the duty of Government to protect. The time for carrying out this suggestion has not arrived. Ques. 17.—In the province with which you are acquainted, are any gentlemen able and ready to come forward and aid, even more extensively than heretofore, in the establishment of schools and colleges upon the grant-in-aid system? Ans. 17.—In the Bombay Presidency several public-spirited and liberal gentlemen have come forward and aided more extensively than before in the establishment of schools and colleges and the erection of elegant buildings for educational purposes; but I do not know if there are any that are able and willing to come forward and aid in such work at present Ques. 18.—If the Government or any local authority, having control of public money, were to announce its determination to withdraw, after a given term of years, from the maintenance of any higher educational institution, what measures would be best adapted to stimulate private effort in the interim, so as to secure the maintenance of such institution on a private footing? Ans. 18.—If the Government or any local authority having control of public money were to announce its determination to withdraw, after a given term of years, from the maintenance of any higher educational institution, the probability is that it will be impossible to stimulate private effort to secure the maintenance of such institution on a private footing. Ques. 19.—Have you any remarks to offer on the principles of the grant-in-aid system, or the details of its administration? Are the grants adequate in the case of (a) colleges, (b) boys’ schools, (c) girls’ schools, (d) Normal schools? Ans. 19.—I venture to offer the following remarks on the principle of the grant-in aid system, the details of its administration, and the principle of religious neutrality which should be observed by Government When the grants-inaid system as instituted under the despatch of 1854 from the Court of Directors was introduced and earned out by the Local Government, the benefit of such aid was withheld from all schools and educational institutions, established and

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conducted by Christian Missionaries and other religious societies, on the ground that it would militate against the principle of religious neutrality observed by Government. I invite the attention of the Commission to an admirable despatch addressed by the late Lord Ellenborough, then President of the Board of Control, to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Court of Directors, dated 28th April 1858. In this important document His Lordship makes the following pertinent remarks against the extension of grants-in-aid to Missionary schools:— “21. This measure, even guarded as it appears to be, by restricting the aid of Government to the secular education of the Natives in Missionary schools, seems to me to be of a very perilous character “22 The primary object of the Missionary is proselytism He gives education, because by giving education, he hopes to extend Christianity He may be quite right in adopting that course, and left to himself, unaided by the Government, and evidently unconnected with it, he may obtain some, although probably no great, extent of success, but the moment he is ostensibly assisted by the Government, he not only loses a large portion of his chance of doing good in the furtherance of his primary object, but by creating the impression that education means proselytism, he materially impedes the measures of Government directed to education alone “23 This has been the view taken of the effect of any appearance of connexion between the Government and the Missionaries by some of the most pious as well as the most able men who have ever been employed under the Government of India, and I have, at all times, adhered to their opinion.

*

*

*

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*

“27 I must express my doubt whether the aid by Government funds to the imparting even of purely secular education in a missionary school is consistent with the promises so often made to the people, and till now so scrupulously kept, of perfect neutrality in matters of religion “28 It is true that the money of the State is only granted to the Missionary on account of the secular education which alone he engages to give to the Native, unless the Native should otherwise desire, but it may often, if not always, happen, that it is only through the aid thus given professedly for secular education, that the Missionary is enabled to keep the school at all, which he only designs for other, and those proselytising purposes “29. We thus indirectly support where we profess to repudiate, and practically abandon the neutrality to which we have at all times pledged ourselves to adhere. Such conduct brings into question our good faith, and may naturally give alarm to the people,”1

On the abovementioned grounds, His Lordship recommends the advisability of “withholding the aid of Government from schools with which Missionaries are connected.” The Director of Public Instruction, Bombay, in his report for the year 1857–58 (page 30) publicly expresses his “respectful concurrence in the arguments by

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Lord Ellenborough (in paragraphs 20—30), deprecates grants-in-aid to professedly Missionary schools as inconsistent with religious neutrality,” and declares that no pecuniary grant has been made in this Presidency to any Missionary school Sir George Russel Clerk, the then Secretary of the India Board and late Governor of Bombay, in an able memorandum recorded by him under date 29th March 1858, makes the following important recommendation:— “The Government of India should be directed to consider in a calm and unobtrusive spirit the best mode of rendering education really popular, to regulate it with no attempt at proselytism, open or disguised, and to rely that our greatest strength consists in regarding with feelings of clarity and patience the pursuit of religious instruction by all the different persuasions according to their several creeds.”

Sir John Peter Grant, late Governor of Bengal, has also recorded a minute against giving grant-in-aid to Missionary schools. Mr. Hodgson Pratt, late Director of Public Instruction in Bengal, has borne the following important testimony:— “The only Natives who send their children to Missionary schools are those who cannot afford to pay school fees No man who is tolerably well off will send his child to a Missionary school, and I have scores of times been applied to (unsuccessfully) by the sons of poor men for a small allowance to save them from the hardship of attending the Missionary school, and to enable them to go to the Government institution instead”

The above remark is applicable to this Presidency also. Here Natives of the poorest classes, who cannot afford to pay the heavy fees charged in Government schools, are compelled, much against their wish, to send their children to Missionary schools, where small and almost nominal fees are levied and a large number of free students are admitted. In 1857 the principal Native inhabitants of Bombay memorialised the Government of Bombay against the use in the Elphinstone Institution of class-books prepared expressly for the use of children professing the Christian religion and abounding in lessons containing the doctrines and principles of Christianity. In reply to their memorial, the Natives were informed that Government had directed the Director of Public Instruction to issue an order “prohibiting the teachers in Government schools from reading or teaching the lessons complained of by the petitioners2 The class-books used in all the Missionary schools consist for the most part of lessons relating to the principles, doctrines, and tenets of the Christian religion—books which have been prepared for the purpose of carrying out the object for which Missionary societies have established schools throughout the Presidency, namely, as an instrument in aid of the cause of the subversion of the ancient religions of India and the conversion of the Natives to Christianity. The study of the Bible and the course of Christian religious instruction prescribed for the

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Missionary schools are not optional but obligatory on all Native students attending these schools. And yet, for reasons with which I am unacquainted, a departure from the policy of religious neutrality was sanctioned by the Government of Bombay for the first time in the year 1863, and educational institutions supported by different Missionary societies have been allowed grants-in-aid since the year 1865–663 This proceeding has produced wide-spread dissatisfaction amongst the natives of this Presidency. On these grounds I venture to recommend that Government should be asked to revert to the original policy of withholding grants-in-aid from all schools conducted with the object of propagating Christianity or any other religion. The following statistics contained in the last report of the Director of Public Instruction, Bombay, show that the distribution of grants-in-aid amongst the educational institutions established for different classes of the people in this Presidency can scarcely be deemed to be fair. In the year 1880–81 the undermentioned sums were awarded for grants-in-aid by results, aggregating Ɍ80,698:—

To two colleges, viz., the St. Xavier’s Collage and Free General Assembly’s Institution To 28 permanent schools for Europeans and Eurasians To 91 permanent schools for Natives conducted chiefly by Missionaries To 19 private schools for Natives Total

Ɍ

s.

p.

3,600

0

0

34,890 37,739 4,469 80,698

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

The bulk of this amount was awarded to colleges and schools established by Christian religious and Missionary societies, leaving a small sum, less than Ɍ10,000, awarded to private schools established by Natives, These figures show the advisability of making a better and more equitable distribution of the grantsin-aid, so that the Natives might get a fair share. I regret to learn that the grants-in-aid allowed to several large and wellconducted educational institutions—namely, the Fort High School, the Chandunvádi High School of Bombay, and Bába Gokley’s School at Poona—have all been totally withheld since the year 1877–78, on grounds which, from the correspondence that has taken place, appear to be scarcely justifiable. The reason assigned by the Director of Public Instruction is that “the receipts of the institutions in question, independent of Government aid, are sufficient to maintain them in an efficient state, and also to yield an income to the proprietors” On referring to paragraph 53 of the Government Despatch of 1854, the Commission will find that no such instruction is laid down for awarding grants-in-aid. The only conditions prescribed are that they should be “under adequate local management, that is to say, one or more private patrons, voluntary subscribers or the trustees of endowments who will undertake the general superintendence of the school and be 164

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answerable for its permanence for some given time,” and “provided also that their managers consent that the schools shall be subject to Government inspection and agree to any conditions which may be had down for the regulation of such grants,” In vain the proprietor of the Fort High School pointed out that “the withdrawal of all Government aid must inevitably reduce the school from its present flourishing state to one of comparative inefficiency,” and prevent improvements being made in the seminary. The proprietors of another school, namely, the Chandunvádi High School No. 2, from which the grant was discontinued, represented that it would be impossible for them to maintain a well-trained teaching staff and other appliances and keep up the efficiency of the institution without a grant-in-aid from Government. Grants are still given to similar schools in Madras. The consequence of discontinuing the Government grant from Bába Gokhley’s School at Poona was, I hear, fatal to its existence. This seminary had, I am informed, competed successfully with the Government High School for several years Grant-in-aid has been withheld for several years from the Poona Native Institution—a seminary ably conducted by Mr. Vaman Piabbakar Bhave, which had educated and passed several youths in the Matriculation and Public Service examinations every year. Although three successive Educational Inspectors, who examined the school, reported favourably regarding the efficiency and successful management of the institution, yet aid was refused on the ground that there were “no funds for any private high school in Poona.”4 It appears from the report of the Director of Public Instruction for the year 1876–77 (p. 24) that, in consequence of the number of aided schools having in six years risen from 85 to 255, Government ordered a revision of the grant-in-aid rules and the framing of new rules, withdrawing grants for passing Matriculation and grants for salaries, and reducing by one-half the grants for passing the F.A. and B.A. examinations. The large reduction in grants which took place in 1876–77 is attributable to the strict enforcement of the revised rates. I regret to learn that a further reduction has been made this year to a considerable amount in the award of grants-in-aid, and the English school at Breach Candy Road has been struck off the register. I would submit to the Commission the desirability of restoring the grants that have been withheld or curtailed. Private educational institutions are obliged to incur heavy expense for employing and maintaining a qualified staff of teachers and appliances for the highest standard in preparing scholars for Matriculation. In order to contribute towards this heavy expenditure, it is necessary, in my opinion, to restore these grants and to confer them on a liberal scale. The grants-in-aid are adequate in the case of colleges, but are totally inadequate in the case of boys’ and girls’ schools. The amount of grants-in-aid for the English-teaching Anglo vernacular and vernacular schools and girls’ schools should be at least doubled, and should be so regulated as to enable private Native schools to recover a morety of the costs of their maintenance. There being no private Normal schools in this Presidency, there are no grants for them. 165

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Ques. 20.—How far is the whole educational system, as at present administered, one of practical neutrality, i.e,. one in which a school or a college has no advantage or disadvantage as regards Government aid and inspection from any religions principles that are taught or not taught in it? Ans. 20.—I found considerable difficulty in understanding the object and bearing of this question On enquiry I have been given to understand that the object of the question is to ascertain whether there is any truth in the contention of a certain class of persons who allege that the tendency of the Government system of education being atheistic, Government practically violate the principle of religions neutrality, and that they should, therefore, retire from the field of high-class education. I believe there is no truth in the contention just referred to. Having myself been educated under the Government system, and having come in contact with a great many alumni of the Government colleges in the Presidency, I am in a position to deny the allegation of an atheistic and immoral tendency. I am not aware of any of the professors inculcating the doctrine of atheism in any of the colleges in this Presidency. A high moral tone pervades the text-books and permeates the course of instruction imparted in Government colleges and schools. If it is intended to be suggested by this question that the educational institutions conducted by the Missionaries are disliked or discouraged by the Department, I must say that the result of my enquiries and information distinctly negatives such a suggestion. I am informed that in this Presidency and throughout British India the case is different. As stated in my answer to question 19, Government have given undue encouragement to Missionary schools and colleges by giving them liberal grants-in-aid, and have thereby departed from the principle of religious neutrality. These grants, although ostensibly given towards secular education, are virtually applied towards carrying out the primary object of these schools, viz., the impartment of instruction in Christianity with the view of converting Native children from their respective ancestral faiths to Christianity I cannot understand the principle on which Missionary societies accept pecuniary aids from Imperial and Provincial revenues raised from taxes contributed by the Natives for the general purposes of Government, and not for proselytism. Ques. 21.—What classes principally avail themselves of Government or aided schools and colleges for the education of their children? How far is the complaint well founded that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education? What is the rate of fees payable for higher education in your province, and do you consider it adequate? Ans. 21.—All classes of the people, with the exception of Muhammadans of the non-commercial class, avail themselves of Government and aided schools and colleges for the education of their children. I do not think the complaint is well founded that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for education. The rate of fees payable for higher education has been greatly enhanced, so that it presses heavily on the middle and poorer classes of the people. It amounts to Ɍ10 per month. I would, therefore, recommend a reduction in the rate, so as to place higher education within the reach of classes who are desirous of availing themselves of the advantage. 166

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Ques. 22.—Can you adduce any instance of a proprietary school or college supported entirely by fees? Ans. 22.—I can adduce two notable instances of proprietary schools in Bombay supported entirely by fees, namely, the Fort High School and the Fort Proprietary School. But the fact should be borne in mind that the proprietors of these seminaries give their services to them as head masters in consideration of the amount of surplus realised by them from fees after deducting all other charges and expenses connected with the maintenance of these institutions in a state of efficiency. Ques. 23.—Is it in your opinion possible for a non-Government institution of the higher order to become influential and stable when in direct competition with a similar Government institution? If so, under what conditions do you consider that it might become so? Ans. 23.—In my opinion it is possible for a non-Government institution of the higher order to become influential and stable when in direct competition with a similar Government institution. The conditions under which it might become so are good management and adequate resources and support. Ques. 24.—Is the cause of higher education in your province injured by any unhealthy competition; and if so, what remedy, if any, would you apply? Ans. 24.—I am not aware of the cause of higher education in the Bombay Presidency being injured by any unhealthy competition. Ques. 25.—Do educated Natives in your province readily find remunerative employment? Ans. 25.—Educated Natives in this Presidency have considerable difficulty in finding remunerative employment. If a vacancy occurs in a public or private office, some fifty or a hundred applications are received from candidates seeking employment I am of opinion that Government should utilise the large expenditure incurred in connection with high education by holding out sufficient inducements to the under-graduates and graduates of the University for admission into the public service by open competition, instead of favouritism. With this object I would recommend that two standards of qualifications should be prescribed, one for the lower grade and another for the higher grade of the public service, and periodical examinations should be held of candidates for employment in the public service, and the following amongst other appointments should be conferred on the successful candidates:— 1. Head Clerks, Shirastedárs and Názirs in the District Courts. 2. Assistants, Head Clerks, Chitnis, Dafterdáis, Accountants, Mámlatdáirs, Deputy Accountants, Head Kárkúns and Shirastedárs to the Revenue Commissioners, Collectors and Magistrates, and Assistant Collectors and Magistrates 3. Uncovenanted Assistants and Head Clerks to Secretaries to Government, Collectors of Customs and Excise, and Political Agents. 4. Deputy Collectors and Magistrates. 5. Overseers and Assistant Engineers, P. W. D. 167

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6. Deputy Educational Inspectors, Masters of High Schools, Training Colleges, Normal Schools, and Anglo-Vernacular Schools, and other officers of the Educational Department. 7. Translators. 8. Inspectors of Registration and Stamps. 9. Telegraph Officers. 10. Forest Officers. 11. Superintendents and Inspectors of Post Offices and Postmasters. I am of opinion that if proper standards be framed, and suitable rules be prescribed, and admission to the above-mentioned public services be thrown open to public competition by Government, the difficulty now experienced by educated youths in obtaining employment will disappear, and the character and efficiency of the public service will be considerably improved. One step has, I am glad to say, already been taken in this direction by Sir R. Temple’s Government, by instituting a competitive examination for the admission of graduates of the University5 to a limited number of situations in the Revenue Department, but as these posts, beginning with kárkunship on Ɍ35 per month, are not worth much, they do not hold out sufficient inducements The principle is excellent. I therefore request the Commission to recommend that it should be carried out on the extended scale I have proposed. Ques. 26.—Is the instruction imparted in secondary schools calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies farther with useful and practical information? Ans. 26.—I am of opinion that some change in the instruction imparted in secondary schools should be introduced with the object of storing the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further with useful and practical information. Instruction in the classical languages might be dispensed with in the case of those who do not wish to matriculate. Ques. 27.—Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teacher and pupils is unduly directed to the Entrance Examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstance impairs the practical value of the education in the secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? Ans. 27.—I think there is some truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the Entrance Examination of the University; but this cannot be avoided, although this circumstance to some extent impairs the value of the education imparted in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life. Ques. 28.—Do you think that the number of pupils in secondary schools who present themselves for the University Entrance Examination is unduly large when compared with the requirements of the country? If you think so, what do you regard as the causes of this state of things, and what remedies would you suggest? 168

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Ans. 28.—I do not think that the number of pupils in secondary schools who present themselves for the University Entrance Examination in this Presidency is unduly large when compared with the requirements of the country. Ques. 29.—What system prevails in your province with reference to scholarships; and have you any remarks to make on the subject? Is the scholarship system impartially administered as between Government and aided schools? Ans. 29.—The system prevailing in the Bombay Presidency with regard to Government Scholarships is different from that which, according to my information, prevails in the other Presidencies. Here all these scholarships, excepting University Scholarships, are awarded to Government schools and colleges, and none to aided schools. Scholarships endowed by private individuals are awarded either to Government or private institutions according to the conditions stipulated by the donors. The Bombay University Scholarships, Fellowships, gold medals and prizes comprise 20 Scholarships, ranging from Ɍ120 to Ɍ400 per annum, 2 Fellowships of Ɍ800 and Ɍ410 per annum, 4 gold medals and 14 prizes from Ɍ50 to Ɍ540 per annum, and are awarded by open competition to students of Government, Missionary, and private institutions with liberty to prosecute their further studies at any recognised college. Ques. 30.—Is Municipal support at present extended to grant-in-aid schools, whether belonging to Missionary or other bodies; and how far is this support likely to be permanent? Ans. 30.—I am not aware of Municipal support being extended in this Presidency to Missionary schools. Ques. 31.—Does the University curriculum afford a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools, or are special Normal schools needed for the purpose? Ans. 31.—The University curriculum hardly affords a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools. Special Normal schools are therefore necessary for training teachers in secondary and primary schools, as shown in my answer to question 9. Ques. 32.—What is the system of school inspection pursued in your province? In what respect is it capable of improvement? Ans. 32.—The system of school inspection pursued in the Bombay Presidency is that which is prescribed by the Government Educational Department. I would suggest one improvement as being particularly necessary. Much of the time of the Inspectors and Deputy Inspectors is, according to the present system, taken up with voluminous official correspondence, of which they ought to be relieved, so as to enable them to devote more time and attention to their legitimate duties. Ques. 33.—Can you suggest any method of securing efficient voluntary agency in the work of inspection and examination? Ans. 33.—I cannot suggest any method of securing efficient voluntary agency in the work of inspection and examination, unless such of the professors of Government colleges, masters of Government and private schools, and the graduates of the University, can be induced to undertake the task as a labour of love. Ques. 34.—How far do you consider the text-books in use in all schools suitable? 169

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Ans. 34.—Several of the text-books in use in all the schools are, in my opinion, not suitable to the wants and circumstances of the Natives. In the Government English schools, McCulloch’s series of school-books, which were in use for a considerable time, were superseded, I believe, on account of the objection that they contained many lessons in Christian doctrines and religion. Mr. Howard’s Series are now in use in Government schools, and the Royal Readers are used in most of the private schools, Native and European. Chambers’ Moral Class Book and its Gujaráthi translation by Messrs. Kahandas Mansaram and Nusserwanji Chandabhai have been discontinued, and no text-book on this important subject has been substituted by the Department. In Gujaráthi schools Hope’s excellent series have been in use for the last twenty years, as well as the Punchopakhyan Æsop’s Fables, and the Balmitra, an admirable translation of Burquins Children’s Friend. The latter three books have been discontinued. With a view to meet the requirements of the present state of progress and advancement in English and vernacular education and remedy the defects of several class-books, I would suggest to the Commission the advisability of recommending to Government or the Educational Department the appointment of a committee to examine and report on the school-books now in use, and, in cases in which any books are found to be unsuited, to propose the substitution or compilation of other text-books better adapted for the different classes of schools now existing in this Presidency. Ques. 35.—Are the present arrangements of the Education Department in regard to examinations or text-books, or in any other way, such as unnecessarily interfere with the free development of private institutions? Do they in any wise tend to check the development of natural character and ability, or to interfere with the production of a useful vernacular literature? Ans. 35.—The present arrangements of the Educational Department in regard to examinations or text-books, or in any other way, do not appear to me to be such as unnecessarily interfere with the free development of private institutions; nor do they in any wise tend to check the development of natural character and ability, or to interfere with the production of a useful vernacular literature. I should think the tendency is quite the contrary. In fact, the Department fosters and encourages the production of a useful vernacular literature. Ques. 36.—In a complete scheme of education for India what parts can, in your opinion, be most effectively taken by the State and by other agencies? Ans. 36.—In a complete scheme of education for India, in my opinion, higher and middle-class as well as primary education can be most effectually undertaken and conducted by the State, aided by private local hoards and municipal agency, and public bodies and associations. Ques. 37.—What effect do you think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education, and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes? Ans. 37.—I think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would produce disastrous consequences 170

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and check the spread of education. I do not believe it will promote the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes. On the contrary, it will, I apprehend, nullify the effects of education and retard the accomplishment of England’s noble mission to qualify the Natives for selfgovernment and detenorate the character of the public, and thereby injuriously affect the interests of Government. Ques. 38.—In the event of the Government withdrawing to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges, do you apprehend that the standard of instruction in any class of institutions would deteriorate? If you think so, what measures would you suggest in order to prevent this result? Ans. 38.—In the event of the Government withdrawing to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges, I apprehend that the standard of instruction in institutions of that class would deteriorate. It would be therefore impolitic for Government to withdraw from the direct management of educational institutions in this country until education has taken a deep root and has made a great progress throughout British India. Ques. 39.—Does definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct occupy any place in the course of Government colleges and schools? Have you any suggestions to make on this subject? Ans. 39.—This important branch of instruction does not, I regret to say, occupy a place in the course of Government colleges and schools. Due attention should, I submit, be paid to a knowledge of the principles of moral conduct and duty—a study which is greatly needed, and which formed a part of the course taught in indigenous schools in the shape of moral maxims, precepts, and tales. I would strongly recommend the Commission to enjoin the necessity of supplying the omission and introducing a systematic course of instruction in the principles and precepts of morality and the duties of life. This measure, if properly carried out, will be attended with great advantage in improving the conduct and character of the rising generation. Ques. 40.—Are any steps taken for promoting the physical well-being of students in the schools or colleges in your province? Have you any suggestions to make on the subject? Ans. 40.—Sufficient steps are not taken for promoting the physical well-being of students in the schools or colleges in this Presidency. I would strongly recommend that all the large schools and colleges be provided with the necessary means and appliances of physical education, viz., gymnasia and play-grounds, and that prizes should be awarded for athletic sports and cricket matches, riding, fencing, and other exercises. In the city of Bombay, in the Fort and on the Esplanade, there are several large schools, such as the Elphinstone High School, the Anglo-Vernacular Schools, the Proprietary, the Fort High and the Chandunvádi High Schools, without any gymnasia or play-grounds. I would recommend that Government should provide two or three large gymnasia and play-grounds on the Esplanade for the large number of students, about 3,000, attending these seminaries, and should give liberal grants to all private gymnasia, play-grounds, and libraries that are not self-supporting. 171

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Ques. 41.—Is there indigenous instruction for girls in the province with which you are acquainted; and if so, what is its character? Ans. 41.—Owing to the seclusion of females, there is scarcely any indigenous instruction for girls in this Presidency. Ques. 42.—What progress has been made by the Department in instituting schools for girls; and what is the character of the instruction imparted in them? What improvements can you suggest? Ans. 42.—Very little progress has been made by the Department in instituting schools for girls in this Presidency compared with what has been done in the Bengal Presidency and the North-Western Provinces. In 1870–71 there were 74 schools attended by 2,816 girls,6 maintained at a cost of Ɍ2,949 from Imperial funds and Ɍ10,328 from the educational cess. There has been a progressive increase in the number of female schools during the last decade. Last year there were 193 schools attended by 11,691 girls These schools were maintained at a cost to the Provincial revenues of Ɍ16,967 and Ɍ50,781 defrayed from local rates or cesses, fees, endowments, Municipal grants, the revenues of Native States, and other sources.7 The sum spent by Government on primary education for Native females in this Presidency amounts only to half the sum spent in awarding grants to schools for Europeans and Eurasians.8 It is utterly inadequate to the wants of the large population of this Presidency. In the city of Bombay Government had not opened a single female school up to the year 1873. In that year an enlightened Parsi gentleman, who has recently given a permanent endowment of Ɍ50,000 for providing a suitable building for the Fort school belonging to the Parsi Girls’ School Association, having offered to pay half the expenses, Government were induced to open a female school in this city. In 1878 the Municipal Corporation having given an increased giant to be appropriated to female schools, four small schools have since been opened by Government. These schools are small, and, with one exception, are not situated in good houses, nor conducted by competent female teachers. It is necessary greatly to improve their status and management and the character of the instruction imparted therein. Government should, in my humble judgment, spend a much larger sum than the amount now appropriated to female schools. They should employ better-paid and competent female teachers and introduce improvements in the studies. Less time and attention should be devoted to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar, and more to domestic economy, house management, singing, knitting, needle-work, embroidery, cookery, and other arts adapted to females. They should also establish more vernacular female schools throughout the Presidency and in this great city, and open at least two good English schools for Native girls to meet the growing wants of the metropolis in regard to primary education. At present there are 18 flourishing vernacular female schools in this city, established and conducted by public-spirited benevolent Native associations attended by upwards of 2,600 girls with liberal endowments for scholarships. They will serve as feeders of the English schools, and of vernacular schools of the higher class. Government should also establish

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one or more evening schools for giving education of superior character and training female teachers employed in the female schools. Ques. 43.—Have you any remarks to make on the subject of mixed schools? Ans 43.—I am not aware of the existence of mixed schools in this province. I do not consider it advisable to establish such schools, to which the generality of the people are sure to object. Ques. 44.—What is the best method of providing teachers for girls? Ans. 44.—The best method of providing qualified female teachers for girls is to train them under a competent tutoress or superintendent in a female Normal school or college. In 1868 the Government of India sanctioned for five years a grant of Ɍ12,000 a year for the establishment of a female Normal school in the city of Bombay. Before giving sufficient time for a fair trial to this important experiment, in the success of which I took a great interest, the then Director of Public Instruction transferred the school from Bombay to Poona in 1872, so that for the last twelve years the capital of the Bombay Presidency has been deprived of the benefit of a school, which is urgently required to supply trained female teachers for 24 female schools existing in this city attended by more than 3,000 girls. With a view to increase the efficiency of the female Normal school, I would recommend that one or more properly trained schoolmistresses or lady superintendents be got out from England and employed to supervise the Normal school, and also to visit and superintend the Government and private female schools, and to regulate the studies and maintain discipline on the best model. Ques. 45.—Are the grants to girls’ schools larger in amount and given on less onerous terms than those to boys’ schools, and is the distinction sufficiently marked? Ans. 45.—The grants-in-aid to girls’ schools are larger in amount and given on less onerous terms than those to boys’ schools and rightly so. The distinction is sufficiently marked, because it is necessary to hold out sufficient encouragement to such institutions. Ques. 46.—In the promotion of female education, what share has already been taken by European ladies; and how far would it be possible to increase the interest which ladies might take in this cause? Ans. 46.—In the promotion of female education no share that I am aware of has been taken by European ladies in Bombay. This is much to be regretted. To supply this desideratum to some extent, I have in my answer to question 44 suggested the advisability of getting out from England duly qualified trained schoolmistresses. Ques. 47.—What do you regard as the chief defects, other than any to which you have already referred, that experience has brought to light in the educational system as it has been hitherto administered? What suggestions have you to make for the remedy of such defects? Ans. 47.—In addition to the defects already pointed by me, that experience has brought to light in the educational system as it has been hitherto administered, I would refer prominently to a great defect which it is necessary to remedy, viz, the neglect of education of the masses and the absence of much of an utilitarian and 173

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practical character. Commercial, moral, agricultural, and technical education is more necessary than a classical, philosophical, and mathematical education for the bulk of the people. Ques. 48.—Is any part of the expenditure incurred by the Government on high education in your province unnecessary? Ans. 48.—The only part of the expenditure incurred by the Government on high education that is unnecessary is the high cost of direction and inspection. This expense, amounting to more than Ɍ2,20,000 per annum, is susceptible of retrenchments It is not so high in Bengal and Madras. The Universities in these Presidencies are self-supporting, whilst our University costs the State Ɍ32,000 per annum. Economy might be practised with considerable advantage by reducing the salaries of several highly paid Principals and graded professors and by employing qualified Natives on reduced salaries in the colleges Large grants which have been made by Government towards the construction of ornamental or high edifices in Bombay are unnecessary, and are, moreover, in contravention of orders issued by superior authorities. Ques. 49.—Have Government institutions been set up in localities where places of instruction already existed, which might by grants-in-aid or other assistance adequately supply the educational wants of the people? Ans. 49.—I am not aware of Government institutions having been set up in localities where suitable places of instruction already existed, which might by grant-inaid or other assistance adequately supply the educational wants of the people. Ques. 50.—Is there any foundation for the statement that officers of the Educational Department take too exclusive an interest in higher education? Would beneficial results be obtained by introducing into the Department more men of practical training in the art of teaching and school management? Ans. 50.—I don’t think there is any foundation for the statement that officers of the Educational Department take too exclusive an interest in higher education. Beneficial results would certainly be obtained by introducing into the department more men and females of practical training in the art of teaching and school management. Ques. 51.—Is the system of pupil teachers or monitors in force in your province? If so, please state how it works? Ans. 51.—The system of pupil-teachers or monitors is not in force in this Presidency. I would certainly recommend a trial of the system under favourable auspices. Ques. 52.—Is there any tendency to raise primary into secondary schools unnecessarily or prematurely? Should measures be taken to check such a tendency? If so, what measures? Ans. 52.—I am not aware of any tendency to raise primary into secondary schools unnecessarily or prematurely. Ques. 53.—Should the rate of fees in any class of schools or colleges vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil?

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Ans. 53.—The rate of fees in any class of departmental schools or colleges should not vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil, which it would often be difficult to ascertain exactly. But I would recommend that Principals and head masters of colleges and schools should be invested with discretionary authority to admit free of charge students whose circumstances are such as to prevent their parents from paying the prescribed fees. Ques. 54.—Has the demand for high education in your province reached such a stage as to make the profession of teaching a profitable one? Have schools been opened by men of good position as a means of maintaining themselves? Ans. 54.—The demand for high education in this Presidency has not reached such a stage as to make the profession of teaching generally a profitable one. In the Presidency town and in some large cities schools have been opened by men of good position as a means of maintaining themselves. But such cases are exceptional. Ques. 55.—To what classes of institutions do you flunk that the system of assigning grants according to the results of periodical examinations should be applied? What do you regard as the chief conditions for making this system equitable and useful? Ans. 55.—To all classes of educational institutions the system of assigning grants according to the results of periodical examinations should, I think, be applied. The chief conditions for making this system equitable and useful would be strict, impartial, and vigilant inspection. Ques. 56.—To what classes of institutions do you think that the system of assigning grants in and of the salaries of certificated teachers can be best applied? Under what conditions do you regard this system as a good one? Ans. 56.—I think that the system of assigning grants in aid of the salaries by certificated teachers can be applied to all classes of institutions? Ques. 57.—To what proportion of the gross expense do you think that the grant-in-aid should amount, under ordinary circumstances, in the case of colleges and schools of all grades? Ans. 57.—The grants-in-aid should, I think, amount under ordinary circumstances, in the case of colleges to one-third, and schools of all grades to one-half of the gross expense. Ques. 58.—What do you consider to be the maximum number of pupils that can be efficiently taught as a class by one instructor in the case of colleges and schools respectively? Ans. 58.—I consider that the maximum number of pupils that can be efficiently taught as a class by one instructor in the case of colleges should be forty and in schools twenty-five to thirty. Ques. 59.—In your opinion should fees in colleges be paid by the term or by the month? Ans. 59.—In my opinion fees in colleges should be paid by the term, and not by the month?

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Ques. 60.—Does a strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools? Ans. 60.—A strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality does not require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools, but it requires the withdrawal of grants from Missionary schools in which religions education for converting the students to Christianity forms the chief object. Ques. 61.—Do you think that the institution of University professorships would have an important effect in improving the quality of high education? Ans. 61.—I do think that the institution of University professorships has an important effect in improving the quality of high education. Ques. 62.—Is it desirable that promotions from class to class should depend, at any stage of school education, on the results of public examinations extending over the entire province? In what cases if any, is it preferable that such promotions be left to the school authorities? Ans. 62.—It is generally not desirable that promotions from class to class should depend at any stage of school education on the results of public examinations extending over the entire province. In the generality of cases it is advisable that such promotions should be left to the school authorities. Ques. 63.—Are there any arrangements between the colleges and schools of your province to prevent boys who are expelled from one institution, or who leave it improperly, from being received into another? What are the arrangements which you would suggest? Ans. 63.—There are no arrangements that I am aware of between the colleges and schools of the Presidency to prevent boys who have been expelled from one institution, or who leave it improperly, from being received into another. It is difficult to suggest practical measures in this matter. Ques. 64.—In the event of the Government withdrawing from the direct management of higher institutions generally, do you think it desirable that it should retain under direct management one college in each province as a model to other colleges; and if so, under what limitations or conditions? Ans. 64.—As I do not contemplate the contingency, suggested in this question, of the Government withdrawing from the direct management of higher institutions generally, I need not consider the alternative proposal. Ques. 65.—How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B.A. standard? Ans. 65.—I do not think it is necessary that all the professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B.A. standard should be Europeans I would recommend a mixture of European and native professors. The Principal and professors of English Literature, Logic, and Moral Philosophy, might for the present be Europeans But considerations of justice and economy obviously require that competent Natives should be appointed Professors of Mathematic, Chemistry, Biology, History, and Political Economy, Sanskrit, and other oriental languages 176

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and other departments of knowledge Some years ago Mr. Dadabhai Naorojee, and latterly Mr. Kero Lakshman Chhatre filled the mathematical chair in the Elphinstore College and Deccan College with ability and credit, and Mr. Mahadev Govind Ranade was acting Professor of History and Moral Philosophy in the former college. Ques. 66.—Are European professors employed or likely to be employed in colleges under Native management? Ans. 66.—There have been instances of European professors having been employed in a large educational establishment under Native management in Bombay. Ques. 67.—Are the circumstances of any class of the population in your province (i e, the Muhammadans) such as to require exceptional treatment in the matter of English education? To what are these circumstances due, and how far have they been provided for? Ans. 67.—The circumstances of a particular class of the population in this Presidency (e.g, the Muhammadans) are such as to require exceptional treatment in the matter of education These circumstances are due to apathy and religious prejudices. In Bombay the Anjuman-i-Islam, which has been recently established, has adopted measures to provide for the education of Muhammadans. Ques. 68.—How far would Government be justified in withdrawing from any existing school or college, in places where any class of the population objects to attend the only alternative institution on the ground of its religions teaching? Ans. 68.—Government would not be justified in withdrawing from any existing school or college, in places where any class of the population objects to attend the only alternative institution on the ground of its primary object being religions instruction or proselytism. Ques. 69.—Can schools and colleges under native management compete successfully with corresponding institutions under European management? Ans. 69.—Schools and colleges under Native management, if properly conducted, can compete successfully with corresponding institutions under European management. Ques. 70.—Are the conditions on which grants-in-aid are given in your province more onerous and complicated than necessary? Ans. 70.—I have shown in my answer to question 19 that the conditions on which grants-in-aid are given in this Presidency as revised in 1876–77 are more onerous than necessary, and that they should be recast on a liberal scale.

Supplementary Question. Ques. 71.—As you contend that the amount now spent by the State is inadequate to the educational requirements of the people, and as you advocate a large increase of expenditure on education, from what source do you 177

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propose that Government should provide the necessary funds? Do you propose any retrenchments or the levy of a larger cess than the existing tax for education? Ans. 71.—I do not propose that the funds required for education in the Presidency should be provided by increase of taxation. The head of the Government publicly declared a few years ago that the load of taxation presses on the poorer classes of the people with “crushing severity.” The recent reduction of the salt tax does not affect the inhabitants of this Presidency. The removal of import duties has not given any appreciable relief to the needy classes. By making judicious retrenchments in the present heavy expenditure of several public departments, Government will be able to save large sums which might be appropriated, not only to the extension of education, but also to the relief of taxation. Public expenditure, which has of late been largely increased from time to tune, admits of considerable retrenchment in the different departments. 1. The Ecclesiastical Establishment is kept up by the State on too large a scale not only for the spiritual wants of the British Army, but also of the well-to-do Christian civil population. In this Presidency Government not only maintains a Bishop on Ɍ25,600 per annum and more than two dozen Chaplains on salaries ranging from Ɍ6,000 to Ɍ9,600 each, but gives allowances to Missionaries, Clergymen, and Priests, and defrays all the expenses attendant on divine worship in St. Thomas’s Cathedral—a proceeding which militates against the principle of religious neutrality. The President of this Commission, in his address recently delivered at a large meeting of the Anjuman-i-Punjab at Lahore, is reported to have made the following declaration— “The State cannot teach the Muhammadan religion at the cost of the Hindu tax-payers, any more than it can teach the Christian religion at the cost of the Muhammadan taxpayers.”

I submit that the time has arrived for the disestablishment of the State Church in India. 2. The cost of direction and inspection in the Educational Department, amounting annually to about 2¼ lakhs, is high, because it absorbs more than one-third of the amount spent on all Government and aided institutions exclusive of the University and general and professional colleges not inspected by the Department. The cost of several colleges is also high and admits of reduction. Recently large contributions have been made towards the construction of ornamental buildings for schools in Bombay, although such expenditure has been prohibited by superior authority. 3. I would also suggest retrenchment, in other departments, civil and military, of the administration. For details I refer the Commission to the evidence which I gave in 1873 before the Parliamentary Committee on East India Finance. 178

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Memorial of the Sástris of Ahmedabad. May the blessings of the Pandits of the City of Ahmedabad attend His Excellency Lord Ripon, who has acquired a name for statesmanship in the land of England, and who, as Governor General, like the sun that imparts bloom to the lotus, confers happiness on us, the people of India! May our best wishes attend Dr. Hunter, the President, and the members of the Education Commission, who are verved in courtesy and doing good to others! This is the prayer of the Sástris and Pandits residing in the City of Ahmedabad. That the Mogul Emperors, Peshvas, and the Gaekvads, who successively reigned over this land, gave encouragement to Sanskrit literature. By the patronage of those rulers, teachers in Sanskrit, secure in their means of comfortable livelihood, left aside all other occupation and imparted education, day and night, to their pupils. Thus, the knowledge of the Sástras had, at that time, attained full development. Such is not the case at present. It is true that the knowledge of Sanskrit, as a language, has come to be diffused among all classes of people. Yet the study of logic, Mimansa, and other systems of philosophy, has almost disappeared. The object of modern students of Sanskrit is to acquire a familiarity with the Sanskrit tongue, and not with the various sciences expounded in that language. It cannot be argued that a mere knowledge of the language would enable those desirous of mastering the sciences to attain their object, because oral interpretation traditionally conveyed from teacher to pupil is necessary to a proper understanding of the real meaning of the various sciences, and because Western scholars are not expected to be familiar with the traditional interpretation of them. For this very reason German professors have secured the services of some old pandits for the benefit of themselves and of their pupils. But, by reason of the smallness of the number of pandits thus employed, and because of the growing rarity of pandits on account of the closing of the schools for them, Hindu sciences and philosophy stand a chance of rapid disappearance. The only means calculated, in our opinion, to put a stop to such a contingency happening is to establish Sanskrit colleges, and to employ a greater number of the old race of pandits in the existing colleges and schools. We therefore fervently pray that your Honourable Commission will recommend steps like these to be taken by those responsible for the government of the country, in order to bring about a revival of Sanskrit learning in India. AHMEDABAD, The 6th November 1882. To—The HONOURABLE W. W. HUNTER, C.I.E., L.L.D., PRESIDENT, and the MEMBERS of the EDUCATION COMMISSION The Memorial of the Anjman-i-Islam of Bombay RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH IS FOLLOWS.—Your Memorialists beg, in the first place, to put on record the lively satisfaction they feel at the arrival of the President 179

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and Members of the Education Commission to the capital of Western India, and to express a conviction that while the labours of the Commission cannot fail to do an immense amount of good to the cause of general education in India, it is the Muhammadan community, and the interests of Muhammadan education in particular, that must be more largely benefited than any other community in consequence of the peculiar circumstances by which they are surrounded. 2. That education has made rapid progress in India during the last twenty years, that its benefits have been more or less shared by all communities with one single notable exception, are facts which must be patent to all, and to none more so than to the members of the Education Commission. Whether we look to the schools, the colleges, the liberal professions, or the Government services, the same fact stares us in the face, and we find that while the Hindus, Parsis, Christians, and all other communities have participated in the general intellectual, moral, and material progress of the country, that community which only a short time ago was ruling India from one end to the other, has not only not progressed, but has actually been thrown back, and has now reached a depth of ignorance, poverty, distress, and degradation which, unless speedily remedied, cannot fail to be a source of danger to the State. 3. To show the present deplorable state of the Muhammadan community of this Presidency in regard to high education, your Memorialists beg to invite your attention to the following startling statistics taken from the Report of the Director of Public Instruction for 1880–81:— The Deccan College has 175 students, but not a single Muhammadan. The Elphinstone College has 175 students, and only 5 Muhammadans. The Ahmedabad College has 24 students, but not a single Muhammadan. The St Xavier’s College has 71 students, and only 1 Muhammadan. The General Assembly’s Institution has 85 students, and no Muhammadan. 4. The following figures show that the same painful state of things exists in regard to special or scientific education amongst Muhammadans:— The Government Law School has 152 scholars, and only 3 Muhammadans. The Grant Medical College has 282 pupils, only 3 of whom are Muhammadans. The Poona Engineering College has 159 students, only 5 of whom are Muhammadans. 5. The figures given below show that Muhammadans, as a rule, have not received any benefit from the High Schools of this Presidency:— The Poona High School has 574 students, out of whom only 12 are Muhammadans. The Sholapur High School Has 110 students, out of whom only 2 are Muhammadans. The Rutnageri High School has 176 students, out of whom only 10 are Muhammadans. 180

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The Elphinstone High School has 795 students, out of whom only 17 are Muhammadans. The St. Xavier’s High School has 675 students, out of whom only 19 are Muhammadans. The records of the University show that while no less than 15,247 students belonging to other communities have passed the Matriculation Examination during the last twenty-three years (1859 to 1881), only 48 Muhammadans youths have passed that examination, during the same period! 6. The figures given below show the same painful state of things in regard to secondary education,— There are 6,735 pupils learning English in the city of Bombay, out of whom only 220 are Muhammadans. There are 9,586 in Central Division, out of whom only 307 are Muhammadans. There are 977 in North-East Division, out of whom only 39 are Muhammadans There are 4,459 in Northern Division, out of whom only 182 are Mahummadans. There are 2,801 in Southern Division, out of whom only 62 are Muhammadans. There are 19,965 in Sindh, out of whom only 795 are Muhammadans. 7. In regard to primary education the Muhammadans have not fared much better, inasmuch as out of a total of 275,000 pupils in the vernacular schools of the Presidency we find that only 33,568 are Muhammadans, while no less than 238,077 are Hindus. 8. Your Memorialists submit that it is unnecessary to cite any further figures or statistics to establish the painful fact that from a combination of causes and circumstances, for some of which at least the educational authorities are distinctly responsible, the Mussulman population of this Presidency has been sinking deeper and deeper into ignorance, poverty, and distress. Neither does it appear to be necessary to argue at length the incontrovertible proposition that this state of things ought not to be allowed to exist one day longer than possible. 9. As to the causes which have brought about the present unsatisfactory state of the Muhammadan society in India, your Memorialists beg to invite your attention to the views expressed by the Honourable B. Tyabjee in his evidence before the Commission. Those causes may shortly be recapitulated as follows:— 1. A feeling of pride for the glories of their past empire, and the consequent inability to reconcile themselves to the circumstances of the present. 2. Love and pride for the literature of India, Persia, and Arabia, to which they have been so long attached, and the consequent inability to appreciate the modern arts, sciences, and literature of Europe. 3. A vague feeling that European education is antagonistic to the traditions of Islam and leads to infidelity or atheism. 4. Failure or neglect on the part of the educational authorities to provide suitable schools for Muhammadan youths. 181

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5. Poverty, which prevents them from availing themselves of even the existing schools. 6. A feeling that the Government of the country takes no notice of their reduced position and does nothing to extricate them from it. 7. A feeling that English education in Government schools is of little practical value and is useless for the ordinary purposes of life. 10. It is obvious that some at least of the above specified causes are capable of being speedily removed by the Government, and your Memorialists, while endorsing generally the views expressed by the Honourable B. Tyabjee in his evidence, would invite your earnest attention to the remedial measures proposed by bun and which may be summarised as follows— 1. The establishment of primary, secondary, and even high schools for Mussulman boys in all the principal centres of Muhammadan population throughout the Presidency. 2. The adoption of the Hindustani language as the medium of instruction in all Muhammadans schools. 3. That instruction in Hindustani, Persian, and Arabic should be combined with instruction in the other branches of knowledge. 4. That Mussulman teachers and supervisors should, as far as possible, be employed to conduct and superintend the management of such schools. 5. That, whenever possible, a Committee of educated and independent Muhammadan gentlemen should be invited to inspect and to advise upon the constitution and management of Mussulman schools. 6. That the ideas, feelings, and sentiments, and even the prejudices, of Mussulmans must be carefully taken into account in the foundation and management of schools intended for Mussulman boys. 7. That a series of text-books—Hindustani, Persian, and Arabic—should be published and adopted in Mussulman schools, and that the attention of Oriental scholars should be especially invited to this important subject by the oiler of suitable rewards. 8. That in consideration of the extreme poverty of the community, poor Mussulman boys should be admitted entirely free. 11. The observations which your Memorialists have hitherto made apply exclusively to Muhammadan education, but they feel that they ought not to lose this opportunity of expressing their views in regard to the general educational system to be established in India, and which must influence the prosperity or otherwise of the Mussulman community no less than that of the other subjects of Her Majesty in India. 12. In the first place, your Memorialists beg to deprecate in the strongest manner possible any idea or suggestion that the present policy of the Government in regard to high education should in any degree be departed from. Your Memorialists are 182

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satisfied that any such departure would be fatal to the cause of education in India, and they earnestly hope that the present Viceroy, who of all others has the good of the people at heart, would not seriously entertain a policy which, so far as your Memorialists can judge, has been universally and unanimously condemned by all competent and disinterested witnesses, and which, if adopted, would at one blow cut off all means for the moral, material, and intellectual progress of the people. 13. In the next place, your Memorialists would invite your earnest attention to the question of establishing schools for agricultural and technical education, where the masses of the people could be taught scientific methods of agriculture and other practical arts, sciences, and industries as a means of obtaining their own livelihood, and at the same time forwarding the material and intellectual prosperity of the country. Your Memorialists are aware that this is a most difficult and complicated question, but at the same time they feel that the time has now come for the Government to make one supreme effort for the purpose of rescuing the people from the baneful results of their own apathy and indifference in the matter. The soil of the country is being gradually impoverished, and those ancient arts and manufactures which had flourished in India for centuries have now been practically extinguished in consequence of the modern inventions of Europe and America, with the manufacture and practical working of which the people of this country are totally unacquainted. 14. Under these circumstances your Memorialists submit that the Government would only be discharging half its duty should it remain content with establishing high schools and colleges without making any efforts to make the masses of the people acquainted with those improved methods of agriculture and those practical arts, sciences, and industries,—and the use, manufacture, and working of those inventions and mechanics,—which have so completely altered the face of Europe and America during the present century. 15. Another important subject to which your Memorialists would beg to direct your attention is the establishment of some schools at least of a more practical kind, where more of useful and less of ornamental instruction may be given to those who wish to adopt a mercantile or an agricultural or some other practical profession, and who do not wish to graduate at the University, or to follow any of the learned professions. Your Memorialists are of opinion that in a commercial and practical Presidency like Bombay education would be much more general and would be much more largely supported by the wealthy and mercantile classes if suitable schools specially designed for giving a practical education were opened. As it is, all the commercial classes, whether Hindu—as for instance the Bhattias, the Lohannaa, and the Banias,—or Mussulman—as the Memons, the Khojas, and the Borahs,—have steadily kept themselves aloof from all Government schools. 16. For the purpose of attracting these commercial and other practical classes, your Memorialists would recommend the following modifications in the usual curriculum, viz.,— (a) Algebra and Euclid, as well as minute details of general geography, history, and grammar, should be omitted. 183

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(b) Mental and practical arithmetic, native modes of writing fraction?, casting accounts, letter-writing, book-keeping, Indian weights and measures, and multiplication tables, should be more systematically taught. 17. While advocating these reforms in the system of national education for hoys, your Memorialists cannot but press upon the Commission the extreme importance of extending facilities for the education of girls also. Hitherto the educational authorities seem to have confined their attention to the education of boys only, but it is obvious that India can never hope to be a really well-educated and civilised country so long as one-half of its population remains in a state of absolute ignorance. To attack this evil at the root it is necessary to establish elementary schools for girls where reading and writing, a little arithmetic, sewing, knitting, &c., should be taught. 18. Another matter of great general importance to which your Memorialist would draw your attention is the necessity of making some provision for the physical development of the pupils in the various Government schools. With this object your Memorialists would recommend the establishment of play-grounds, gymnasia, &c, and would insist upon a certain portion of the time being devoted to play and exercise superintended by the teachers themselves. 19. Your Memorialists are, of course, aware that to modify, extend, and develope the educational system of India in its primary, secondary, and higher phases in the manner indicated above, and to open new agricultural, technical, and commercial schools, as well as to provide suitable facilities for the education of girls, would require larger funds than are at present at the disposal of Government. Considering, however, not only the importance, but the magnitude of the interests involved in the question—considering that the moral, material, and intellectual progress of the nation depends very largely on the efficiency of its educational system—considering that the happiness, prosperity, and even the peace and security of Her Majesty’s Indian subjects depend far more upon the development of the national resources than upon the perfection of the military system, your Memorialists cannot but earnestly hope that you will recommend and that the Government of Lord Ripon will adopt some means or other for the accomplishment of these high and noble aims. 20. More specially do your Memorialists entreat the Commission to examine into the state of Muhammadan education, to consider, and, if possible, to remove the causes which have hitherto checked all progress—moral, material, and intellectual—of the Mussulman community, and to recommend and insist upon the adoption of such remedial measures as may enable that community to make up for lost time, and to participate in the blessings of enlightenment, and moral and material prosperity, along with the other communities of India. 21. The expenditure necessary for this purpose may be great, possibly greater in proportion than the expenditure on the education of the other communities of India; but your Memorialists do not hesitate to assert that no amount of expenditure can be too great, that no amount of expenditure can be justly grudged by the 184

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other communities when the object of the expenditure is to save 40 millions of Her Majesty’s subjects from sinking lower and lower in the scale of civilisation and becoming a standing menace to the security of the Empire. 22. Your Memorialists speak from a full knowledge of all the facts and circumstances relating to the present distressing state of Muhammadan society all over India, when they state it to be their firm conviction that it is absolutely necessary, not merely for the sake of the Mussulmans themselves, but for the peace, security, and welfare of the whole Indian community, that a strong effort should be made to rescue the Muhammadana from their present dangerous state of ignorance and consequent distress. And your Memorialists, as in duty bound, shall ever pray.

Notes 1. Vide Report of the Director of Public Instruction, Bombay for 1857–58, pp 11, 12. 2. Vide Report of the Director of Public Instruction, Bombay, for the year 1857–58, pp 24, 25, 32 to 36 3. Vide Report of the Director of Public Instruction, Bombay for the year [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text], p. [Illegible Text] 4. Vide Printed Reports of the Poona Native Institution for 1880 and 1881. 5. Vide Report of the Director of Public Instruction for 1880–81, pp. 135–137. 6. Vide Report of Public Instruction, Bombay, for 1870–71, p 108 7. Vide Report of Public Instruction, Appendix O, pp 54–55. 8. The greater portion of the cost of the primary male and female schools opened in this city by Government is defrayed out of the Municipal grant and school fees.

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7 JOTIBA PHULE’S STATEMENT TO THE EDUCATION COMMISSION, EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE BOMBAY PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE AND MEMORIALS ADDRESSED TO THE EDUCATION COMMISSION, VOL. II (CALCUTTA: SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, 1881), 140–145

A Statement for the information of the Education Commission. My experience in educational matters is principally confined to Poona and the surrounding villages. About 25 years ago, the missionaries had established a female school in Poona, but no indigenous schools for girls existed at the time. I, therefore, was induced, about the year 1854, to establish such a school, and in which I and my wife worked together for many years. After some time I placed this school under the management of a committee of educated natives. Under their auspices two more schools were opened in different parts of the town. A year after the institution of the female schools I also established an indigenous mixed school for the lower classes, especially the Mahars and Mangs. Two more schools for these classes were subsequently added. Sir Erskine Perry, the President of the late Educational Board, and Mr. Lumsdain, the then Secretary to Government, visited the female schools and were much pleased with the movement set on foot, and presented me with a pair of shawls. I continued to work in them for nearly 9 or 10 years, but, owing to circumstances which it is needless here to detail, I seceded from the work. These female schools still exist, having been made over by the committee to the Educational Department; the principal one being the female normal school now under the management of Mrs. Mitchell. A school for the lower classes, Mahars and Mangs, also exists at the present day, but not in a satisfactory condition. I have also been a teacher for some years in a mission female boarding school. My principal experience was gained in connection with these schools I devoted some attention also to the primary education available in this Presidency, and have had some opportunities 186

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of forming an opinion as to the system and personnel employed in the lower schools of the Educational Department. I wrote some years ago a Marathi pamphlet exposing the religious practices of the Brahmins, and, incidentally among other matters, adverted therein to the present system of education, which, by providing ampler funds for higher education, tended to educate Brahmins and the higher classes only, and to leave the masses wallowing in ignorance and poverty. I summarised the views expressed in the book in an English preface attached thereto, portions of which I reproduce here so far as they relate to the present enquiry— “Perhaps a part of the blame in bringing matters to this crisis may be justly laid to the credit of the Government. Whatever may have been their motives in providing ampler funds, and greater facilities for higher education and neglecting that of the masses, it will be acknowledged by all that in justice to the latter this is not as it should be. It is an admitted fact that the greater portion of the revenues of the Indian Empire are derived from the ryots’ labour—from the sweat of his brow. The higher and richer classes contribute little or nothing to the State’s exchequer. A well-informed English writer states that our income is derived, not from surplus profits, but from capital, not from luxuries, but from the poorest necessaries. It is the product of sin and tears. “That Government should expend profusely a large portion of revenue thus raised on the education of the higher classes, for it is these only who take advantage of it, is anything but just or equitable. Their object in patronising this virtual high-class education appears to be to prepare scholars who, it is thought, would in time vend learning without money and without price. If we can inspire, say they, the love of knowledge in the minds of the superior classes, the result will be a higher standard of morals in the cases of the individuals, a large amount of affection for the British Government, and an unconquerable desire to spread among their own countrymen the intellectual blessings which they have received. “Regarding these objects of Government the writer above alluded to states that we have never heard of philosophy more benevolent and more Utopian. It is proposed by men who witness the wondrous changes brought about in the Western world, purely by the agency of popular knowledge, to redress the defects of the two hundred millions of India, by giving superior education to the superior classes and to them only. We ask the friends of Indian Universities to favour us with a single example of the truth of their theory from the instances which have already fallen within the scope of their experience. They have educated many children of wealthy men, and have been the means of advancing very materially the wordly prospects of some of their pupils, but what contribution have these made to the great work of regenerating their fellow-men? How have they begun to act upon the masses? Have any of them formed classes at their own homes, or elsewhere, for the instruction of their less fortunate or less wise countrymen? Or have they kept their knowledge to themselves, as a personal gift, not to be soiled by contact with the ignorant vulgar? Have they in any way shown themselves anxious to advance the general interests and repay philanthropy with patriotism? Upon what grounds is it asserted that the best way to advance the moral and intellectual welfare of the people is to raise the standard of instruction among the higher classes? A glorious argument this for aristocracy, were it only tenable. To show the growth of the national happiness, it would only be necessary to refer to the number of pupils at the colleges and the lists of academic degrees. Each wrangler would be accounted a national benefactor; and the existence

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of deans and proctors would be associated, like the game-laws and the ten-pound franchise, with the best interests of the Constitution. “One of the most glaring tendencies of the Government system of high-class education has been the virtual monopoly of all the higher offices under them by Brahmins. If the welfare of the ryot is at heart, if it is the duty of Government to check a host of abuses, it behoves them to narrow this monopoly day by day so as to allow a sprinkling of the other castes to get into the public service. Perhaps some might be inclined to say that it is not feasible in the present state of education. Our only reply is that if Government look a little less after higher education and more towards the education of the masses, the former being able to take care of itself, there would be no difficulty in training up a body of men every way qualified, and perhaps far better in morals and manners. “My object in writing the present volume is not only to tell my Sudra brethren how they have been duped by the Brahmins, but also to open the eyes of Government to that pernicious system of high-class education which has hitherto been so persistently followed, and which statesmen like Sir George Campbell, the present Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, with broad and universal sympathies, are finding to be highly mischievous and pernicious to the interests of Government. I sincerely hope that Government will ere long see the error of their ways, trust less to writers or men who look through high-class spectacles, and take the glory into their own hands of emancipating my Sudra brethren from the trammels of bondage which the Brahmins have woven round them like the coils of a serpent. It is no less the duty of such of my Sudra brethren as have received any education, to place before Government the true state of their fellow-men and endeavour to the best of their power to emancipate themselves from Brahmin thraldom. Let there be schools for the Sudras in every village; but away with all Brahmin schoolmasters? The Sudras are the life and sinews of the country, and it is to them alone, and not to the Brahmins, that the Government must ever look to tide them over their difficulties, financial as well as political. If the hearts and minds of the Sudras are made happy and contented, the British Government need have no fear for their loyalty in the future. “JOTEERAO PHOOLEY.”

PRIMARY EDUCATION. There is little doubt that primary education among the masses in this Presidency has been very much neglected. Although the number of primary schools now in existence is greater than those existing a few years ago, yet they are not commensurate to the requirements of the community. Government collect a special cess for educational purposes, and it is to be regretted that this fund is not spent for the purposes for which it is collected. Nearly nine-tenths of the villages in this Presidency, or nearly 10 lakhs of children, it is said, are without any provision whatever for primary instruction. A good deal of their poverty, their want of self-reliance, their entire dependence upon the learned and intelligent classes, is attributable to this deplorable state of education among the peasantry. 188

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Even in towns the Brahmins, the Purbhoos, the hereditary classes, who generally live by the occupation of pen, and the trading classes seek primary instruction. The cultivating and the other classes, as a rule, do not generally avail themselves of the same. A few of the latter class are found in primary and secondary schools, but owing to their poverty and other causes they do not continue long at school. As there are no special inducements for these to continue at school, they naturally leave off as soon as they find any menial or other occupation. In villages also most of the cultivating classes hold aloof, owing to extreme poverty, and also because they require their children to tend cattle and look after their fields. Besides an increase in the number of schools, special inducements in the shape of scholarships and half-yearly or annual prizes, to encourage them to send their children to school and thus create in them a taste for learning, is most essential. I think primary education of the masses should be made compulsory up to a certain age, say at least 12 years. Muhammadans also hold aloof from these schools, as they somehow evince no liking for Marathi or English. There are a few Muhammadan primary schools where their own language is taught. The Mahars, Mangs, and other lower classes are practically excluded from all schools owing to caste prejudices, as they are not allowed to sit by the children of higher castes. Consequently special schools for these have been opened by Government. But these exist only in large towns. In the whole of Poona and for a population exceeding over 5,000 people there is only one school, and in which the attendance is under 30 boys. This state of matters is not at all creditable to the educational authorities. Under the promise of the Queen’s Proclamation I beg to urge that Mahars, Mangs, and other lower classes, where their number is large enough, should have separate schools for them, as they are not allowed to attend the other schools owing to caste prejudices. In the present state of education, payment by results is not at all suitable for the promotion of education amongst a poor and ignorant people, as no taste has yet been created among them for education. I do not think any teacher would undertake to open schools on his own account among these people, as he would not be able to make a living by it. Government schools and special inducements as noted above are essential until such a taste is created among them. With regard to the few Government primary schools that exist in the Presidency, I beg to observe that the primary education imparted in them is not at all placed on a satisfactory or sound basis. The system is imperfect in so far as it does not prove practical and useful in the future career of the pupils. The system is capable of being developed up to the requirement of the community, if improvements that will result in its future usefulness be effected in it. Both the teaching machinery employed and the course of instruction now followed require a thorough remodelling (a) The teachers now employed in the primary schools are almost all Brahmins; a few of them are from the normal training college, the rest being all untrained men. Their salaries are very low, seldom exceeding Rs. 10, 189

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and their attainments also very meagre. But as a rule they are all unpractical men, and the boys who learn under them generally imbibe inactive habits and try to obtain service, to the avoidance of their hereditary or other hardy or independent professions. I think teachers for primary schools should be trained, as far as possible, out of the cultivating classes, who will be able to mix freely with them and understand their wants and wishes much better than a Brahmin teacher, who generally holds himself aloof under religious prejudices. These would, moreover, exercise a more beneficial influence over the masses than teachers of other classes, and who will not feel ashamed to hold the handle of a plough or the carpenter’s adze when required, and who will be able to mix themselves readily with the lower orders of society. The course of training for them ought to include, besides the ordinary subjects, an elementary knowledge of agriculture and sanitation. The untrained teachers should, except when thoroughly efficient, be replaced by efficient trained teachers. To secure a better class of teachers and to improve their position, better salaries should be given. Their salaries should not be less than Rs. 12 and in larger villages should be at least Rs. 15 or 20. Associating them in the village polity as auditors of village accounts or registrars of deeds, or village postmasters or stamp vendors, would improve their status, and thus exert a beneficial influence over the people among whom they live. The schoolmasters of village schools who pass a large number of boys should also get some special allowance other than their pay, as an encouragement to them. (b) The course of instruction should consist of reading, writing Modi and Balbodh and accounts, and a rudimentary knowledge of general history, general geography, and grammar, also an elementary knowledge of agriculture and a few simple lessons on moral duties and sanitation. The studies in the village schools might be fewer than those in larger villages and towns, but not the less practical. In connection with lessons in agriculture, a small model farm, where practical instruction to the pupils can be given, would be a decided advantage, and, if really efficiently managed, would be productive of the greatest good to the country. The text-books in use both in the primary and Anglo-vernacular schools require revision and recasting, inasmuch as they are not practical or progressive in their scope. Lessons on technical education and morality, sanitation and agriculture, and some useful arts, should be interspersed among them in progressive series. The fees in the primary schools should be as 1 to 2 from the children of cess-payers and non-cess-payers. (c) The supervising agency over these primary schools is also very defective and insufficient. The Deputy Inspector’s visit once a year can hardly be of any appreciable benefit. All these schools ought at least to be inspected quarterly if not oftener. I would also suggest the 190

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advisability of visiting these schools at other times and without any intimation being given. No reliance can be placed on the district or village officers, owing to the multifarious duties devolving on them, as they seldom find time to visit them, and when they do, their examination is necessarily very superficial and imperfect. European Inspectors’ supervision is also occasionally very desirable, as it will tend to exercise a very efficient control over the teachers generally. (d ) The number of primary schools should be increased— (1) By utilising such of the indigenous schools as shall be or are conducted by trained and certificated teachers, by giving them liberal grants-in-aid. (2) By making over one half of the local cess fund for primary education alone. (3) By compelling, under a statutory enactment, municipalities to maintain all the primary schools within their respective limits. (4) By an adequate grant from the provincial or imperial funds. Prizes and scholarships to pupils, and capitation or other allowance to the teachers, as an encouragement, will tend to render these schools more efficient. The municipalities in large towns should be asked to contribute whole share of the expenses incurred on primary schools within the municipal areas. But in no case ought the management of the same to be entirely made over to them. They should be under the supervision of the Educational Department. The municipalities should also give grants-in-aid to such secondary and private English schools as shall be conducted according to the rules of the Educational Department, where their funds permit,—such grants-in-aid being regulated by the number of boys passed every year These contributions from municipal funds may be made compulsory by statutory enactment. The administration of the funds for primary education should ordinarily be in the hands of the Director of Public Instruction. But if educated and intelligent men are appointed on the local or district committees, these funds may be safely entrusted to them, under the guidance of the Collector, or the Director of Public Instruction. At present the local boards consist of ignorant and uneducated men, such as patels, enamdars, surdars, &c., who would not be capable of exercising any intelligent control over the funds.

INDIGENOUS SCHOOLS. Indigenous schools exist a good deal in cities, towns, and some large villages, especially where there is a Brahmin population. From the latest reports of Public Instruction in this Presidency, it is found that there are 1,049 indigenous schools with about 27,694 pupils in them. They are conducted on the old village system. The boys are generally taught the multiplication table by heart, a little Modi 191

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writing and reading, and to recite a few religious pieces. The teachers as a rule are not capable of effecting any improvements, as they are not initiated in the art of teaching. The fees charged in these schools range from 2 to 8 annas. The teachers generally come from the dregs of Brahminical society. Their qualifications hardly go beyond reading and writing Marathi very indifferently, and casting accounts up to the rule of three or so. They set up as teachers as the last resource of getting a livelihood. Their failure or unfitness in other callings of life obliges them to open schools. No arrangements exist in the country to train up teachers for indigenous schools. The indigenous schools could not be turned to any good account, unless the present teachers are replaced by men from the training colleges and by those who pass the 6th standard in the vernaculars. The present teachers will willingly accept State aid, but money thus spent will be thrown away. I do not know any instance in which a grant-in-aid is paid to such a school. If it is being paid anywhere, it must be in very rare cases. In my opinion no grants-in-aid should be paid to such schools unless the master is a certificated one. But if certificated or competent teachers be found, grants-in-aid should be given and will be productive of great good. HIGHER EDUCATION. The cry over the whole country has been for some time past that Government have amply provided for higher education, whereas that of the masses has been neglected. To some extent this cry is justified, although the classes directly benefited by the higher education may not readily admit it. But for all this no wellwisher of his country would desire that Government should at the present time withdraw its aid from higher education. All that they would wish is, that as one class of the body politic has been neglected, its advancement should form as anxious a concern as that of the other. Education in India is still in its infancy. Any withdrawal of State aid from higher education cannot but be injurious to the spread of education generally. A taste for education among the higher and wealthy classes, such as the Brahmins and Purbhoos, especially those classes who live by the pen, has been created, and a gradual withdrawal of State aid may be possible so far as these classes are concerned; but in the middle and lower classes, among whom higher education has made no perceptible progress, such a withdrawal would be a great hardship. In the event of such withdrawal, boys will be obliged to have recourse to inefficient and sectarian schools, much against their wish, and the cause of education cannot but suffer. Nor could any part of such education be entrusted to private agency. For a long time to come the entire educational machinery, both ministerial and executive, must be in the hands of Government. Both the higher and primary education require all the fostering care and attention which Government can bestow on it. The withdrawal of Government from schools or colleges would not only tend to check the spread of education, but would seriously endanger that spirit of neutrality which has all along been the aim of Government to foster, owing to the 192

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different nationalities and religious creeds prevalent in India. This withdrawal may, to a certain extent, create a spirit of self-reliance for local purposes in the higher and wealthy classes, but the cause of education would be so far injured that the spirit of self-reliance would take years to remedy that evil. Educated men of ability, who do not succeed in getting into public service, may be induced to open schools for higher education on being assured of liberal grants-in-aid. But no one would be ready to do so on his own account as a means of gaining a livelihood, and it is doubtful whether such private efforts could be permanent or stable, nor would they succeed half so well in their results. Private schools, such as those of Mr. Vishnu Shastree Chiploonker and Mr. Bhavey, exist in Poona, and with adequate grants-in-aid may be rendered very efficient, but they can never supersede the necessity of the high school. The missionary schools, although some of them are very efficiently conducted, do not succeed half so well in their results, nor do they attract half the number of students which the high schools attract. The superiority of Government schools is mainly owing to the richly paid staff of teachers and professors which it is not possible for a private school to maintain. The character of instructions given in the Government higher schools is not at all practical, or such as is required for the necessities of ordinary life. It is only good to turn out so many clerks and schoolmasters. The Matriculation examination unduly engrosses the attention of the teachers and pupils, and the course of studies prescribed has no practical element in it, so as to fit the pupil for his future career in independent life. Although the number of students presenting for the Entrance examination is not at all large when the diffusion of knowledge in the country is taken into consideration, it looks large when the requirements of Government service are concerned. Were the education universal and within easy reach of all, the number would have been larger still, and it should be so, and I hope it will be so hereafter. The higher education should be soarranged as to be within easy reach of all, and the books on the subjects for the Matriculation examination should be published in the Government Gazette, as is done in Madras and Bengal. Such a course will encourage private studies and secure larger diffusion of knowledge in the country. It is a boon to the people that the Bombay University recognises private studies in the case of those presenting for the entrance examination. I hope the University authorities will be pleased to extend the same boon to higher examinations. If private studies were recognised by the University in granting the degrees of B.A., M.A., &c., many young men will devote their time to private studies. Their doing so will still further tend to the diffusion of knowledge. It is found in many instances quite impossible to prosecute studies at the colleges for various reasons. If private studies be recognised by the University, much good will be effected to the country at large, and a good deal of the drain on the public purse on account of higher education will be lessened. The system of Government scholarships at present followed in Government schools is also defective, inasmuch as it gives undue encouragement to those classes only who have already acquired a taste for education to the detriment of 193

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the other classes. The system might be so arranged that some of these scholarships should be awarded to such classes amongst whom education has made no progress. The system of awarding them by competition, although abstractedly equitable, does not tend to the spread of education among the other classes. With regard to the question as to educated natives finding remunerative employments, it will be remembered that the educated natives who mostly belong to the Brahmincal and other higher classes are mostly fond of service. But as the public service can afford no field for all the educated natives who come out from schools and colleges, and moreover the course of training they receive being not of a technical or practical nature, they find great difficulty in betaking themselves to other manual or remunerative employments. Hence the cry that the market is overstocked with educated natives who do not find any remunerative employment. It may, to a certain extent, be true that some of the professions are overstocked, but this does not show that there is no other remunerative employment to which they can betake themselves. The present number of educated men is very small in relation to the country at large, and we trust that the day may not be far distant when we shall have the present number multiplied a hundred-fold, and all be taking themselves to useful and remunerative occupations and not be looking after service. In conclusion, I beg to request the Education Commission to be kind enough to sanction measures for the spread of female primary education on a more liberal scale. POONA; 19th October 1882

JOTEERAO GOVINDRAO PHOOLEY, Merchant and Cultivator, and Municipal Commissioner, Peth Joona Gunja. Poona.

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8 REPORT BY THE NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE WITH EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE BOMBAY PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE AND MEMORIALS ADDRESSED TO THE EDUCATION COMMISSION (CALCUTTA: SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, 1884), 282–302, 351–353, 373–376, 397–411, 412–418, 433–434, 442–443, 452–453, 462–470, 471–474, 478–479

Evidence of THE HON. SYED AHMED KHAN, BAHADUR, C.S.I. [The following questions are special and not contained in the Standard List]

Ques. 1.—Are you acquainted with the state of private and public instruction in Upper India and more especially in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh? Ans. 1.—Yes, I have such an acquaintance. But I am better acquainted with the state of education in the North Western Provinces than with that in Oudh or the Panjab. Ques. 2.—Describe the means by which you have obtained that acquaintance. Have you ever had any connection with the Educational Department? Ans. 2.—I have long taken an interest in the diffusion of education and enlightenment in my country, and have, to the extent of my ability, always invited the attention of my Hindu and Muhammadan fellow countrymen to that subject. In 1859 I succeeded in bringing about the establishment of a school for elementary education at Moradabad by subscriptions collected from the people. It flourished for some time, and was finally converted into a Tahsili school. In 1863 my endeavours in seeing 195

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an English school established in a similar manner at Ghazipur became successful. This school still exists under the name of Victoria School and has now attained the status of a high school. In 1864 I took part in the establishment of a scientific society, which still exists, and a magnificent building was erected for that purpose at Aligarh by raising subscriptions from the gentry of the neighbouring districts, the object of this society being to encourage and publish vernacular translations of works on European sciences. A bilingual (English-Urdu) paper, known by the name of “The Aligarh Institute Gazette,” was also started in connection with this society, and is still in existence. I have, moreover, convened meetings from time to time to review the Government educational system, and to examine its merits and defects. In 1866 I began a movement for the establishment of Educational committees in each district, which was also attended with success. I have myself acted for some years as a member of the Educational committee at Aligarh, which afforded me an opportunity of acquainting myself with the working of tahsili and halkabandi schools. Early in 1869 I undertook a journey to Europe primarily with the object of obtaining an insight into the English system of education. During my stay in England I published a pamphlet known by the name of “Strictures upon the Present Educational System in India,” and then, on my return to India in 1871, I formed a distinct “committee for the better diffusion and advancement of Learning among Muhammadans of India.” The endeavours of this committee were directed to investigating the means by which the Muhammadans may be reconciled to the study of Western sciences and arts. These endeavours resulted in the foundation, in 1875, of the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh, which has attained a wonderful progress. The college has since been affiliated to the Calcutta University up to the B.A. standard, and has some three hundred students on its rolls. I am an Honorary Secretary to the Standing Committee, whose business is to further the objects of the college, and to have the control of its funds. I am also an Honorary Secretary to two other committees of the same college—the “Managing Committee” and the “Committee of the Directors of Instruction in the various Languages and Secular Learning.” These are the means by which I have obtained an acquaintance with educational affairs. Ques. 3.—With reference to high and primary indigenous schools will you please describe what kind of schools they are, and how they are established? Ans. 3.—In the North Western Provinces and Oudh and the Panjab the high and primary indigenous schools were, and are still, found to be of four classes, as specified below— (1) Private Schools.—This class consists of those schools which are kept by private individuals at their own houses when a person engages a teacher primarily for the instruction of his own children, and allots a separate place for the purpose. But it not unfrequently happens that the children of his relatives and of his neighbours are also admitted to it each paying a trifling fee to the teacher, and thus a small school is established. Such school lasts as long as the teacher, or any successor of that teacher, continues in office. (2) Self supporting schools.—These schools come into existence in the following manner.—A teacher of some reputation, and one who enjoys the confidence 196

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of the people, takes the house in a quarter of a city or town, fixes his residence there, and opens a school for the tuition of boys. He lives entirely on the fees paid by the boys, and the school continues as long as the income derived from the fees suffices for the maintenance of the teacher. (3) Schools of private individuals, who devote themselves in offering gratuitous instruction to people simply for public benefit. The widespread fame of such persons generally attracts a large number of pupils from distant parts of the country, who fix their residence in the same town or city in which the teacher resides, and study the various branches of learning. I have myself seen the number of such students (whose proficiency may be classed with the standard of our higher college classes) rising to 30 and even to 40 in some places. (4) Schools established by private funds or charitable endowments.—In this class of schools a number of teachers is entertained, and students are not only gratuitously taught, but some provision is occasionally made for their maintenance also. The Arabic schools which exist in Jaunpur, Deoband, Saharanpur, and in the grand mosque at Aligarh fall in this category, and, if I remember rightly, the Maharaja of Cashmere had, a few years ago projected a scheme for the establishment of a similar Sanskrit school at Benares. Ques. 4.—What do you think to be the probable number of such schools in the North-Western Provinces? Ans. 4.—It appears from official papers that the number of indigenous schools in 1870–71 was 4,665, imparting an instruction to 54,575 boys. But I feel persuaded that this latter number is considerably below the actual number, for I remember that at the time when enquiries as to the number of indigenous schools and of the students reading in them were being conducted, a great misconception had arisen in the minds of the people regarding the object of this proceeding. Some of them used to detain their children from going to school, while teachers were invariably in the habit of giving less numbers than what they actually were. The number of the schools, too, was not correctly ascertained, and I have no doubt but that a large number of the schools of Class (I) had not come within the enquiries. It has been enjoined in the rules for the preparation of the annual statistical returns promulgated in 1879 that “no account should be taken in statistical returns of schools not under regular inspection.” As the indigenous schools have all been of this class, they have been entirely excluded from the enquiries of the Educational Department. Consequently we have no means by which the existing number of these schools and of the students reading in them may be known. But as Native of the country, I have reasons to believe that the number of these schools has now considerably decreased, which is indeed much to be regretted. Ques. 5.—What languages and what subjects are taught in them? Ans. 5.—The schools comprised in classes (I) and (II) afforded instruction in Persian literature to almost all the Muhammadans and Hindus of respectable position. The schools kept by Hindus did not differ from the Muhammadan ones in point of subject or instruction. Persian was, and is, still taught in them. Hindi was read only by those classes of people who held a lower rank in society, and 197

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who were engaged in some petty trade, as is still the case in the North-Western Provinces. In Persian schools much attention was paid to Persian literature and an education which, in my opinion, was much more efficient and advanced than the present standard of vernacular middle class, was imparted, and as the subjects were explained and discussed in Urdu, which is the vernacular of those provinces, and the translation of Persian texts was also made into that language, these schools were indirectly a means of improving the students’ proficiency in the Urdu language side by side with the Persian. Methods of composition and style were also taught to the students by giving them subjects to write upon, by which their acquirements were made substantially and practically useful to them. Elementary books, containing moral lessons in prose and poetry and written by authors of established reputation, were taught to beginners. A few rules of arithmetic, which are of essential importance to men in their daily life were sometimes included in the study. In Hindi schools no great attention was paid to Hindi literature. Their endeavour was confined to the acquisition of the degree of proficiency which might enable the students to put in writing, in Nagri character, the words just as they fall from the mouth. The mode of writing letters, &c., was also taught in them. These schools paid a far greater amount of care to the tuition of arithmetic than the Persian ones. This, however, was not done in a regular way by setting fixed lessons from a book, but by means of certain arithmetical tables and various practical rules and formulæ known by the name of “Gur,” which were all learnt by heart by the students, with the object of enabling themselves to settle mercantile and other daily-life accounts verbally, and without the help of pen and paper. European critics have viewed this mode of teaching with absolute contempt. No doubt, if this mode of teaching was intended to make the learner an adept in higher portions of arithmetic, their structures were just and right. But, considering that it only meant to qualify persons for petty commercial dealings, I do not think any other mode of instruction would better serve that purpose. We cannot but admit that the son of a petty shop keeper will tell the amount of interest due for a certain period on a certain sum of money, and the price at various rates of various quantities of the articles he buys or sells,—which to a student of a Government school who has received a regular instruction would take some time to work out his slate and pencil,—with wonderful quickness and without the slightest error. In this matter I fully concur in the remarks made by the Government of India in the 14th paragraph of the Resolution. The institutions that fall under classes (III) and (IV) impart instruction in Arabic and Sanskrit to a most advanced standard, and teach the highest branches of literature and philosophy, a detailed account of which does not appear necessary here. Ques. 6.—What are the races and social condition of the pupils who receive instruction in those schools, and what benefit do those schools, in your opinion, confer upon the country? 198

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Ans. 6.—The first two classes of the schools have pre-eminently afforded great benefit to high and middle classes of the people, as well as to the trading classes. The country, too, owes a great deal to these schools. Almost the whole number of those men who can lay a claim to learning in the North-Western Provinces, the Panjáb, and Behár, which, however, has a greater identity with the North-Western Provinces than with any other province, owes its education to these very schools, and I have no hesitation in saying that most of those men of approved abilities, both Hindu and Muhammadan, who form the amlas of judicial courts in those provinces, have been the offsprings of these alma maters. The third and fourth classes of the institutions have mainly contributed to the preservation and maintenance of oriental literature and science in this country. It is these institutions which have given birth to men so illustrious in oriental learning. Even at the present time those who have acquired any degree of fame for proficiency in oriental science or literature will be found to owe their celebrity to these very schools. As far as my own attainments extend, although they are very limited and quite insignificant in comparison with those of most others, I confess I have received no other sort of education than that imparted by the first and third classes of these institutions. Qeus. 7.—To what extent have they been utilised as a part of the educational system, and in what manner can others be similarly utilised, by means of regular monthly grants, or by the system of payment by results, or in any other way? Ans. 7.—As far as I can judge, I think the first two classes of the schools in the North Western Provinces which could most appropriately be utilised as a part of the educational system have not received a due consideration. I would even go to the length of thinking that the educational officers of those provinces have viewed these schools with jealousy. Officers connected with primary education considered it a great achievement to establish a new Government school, with a suitable number of boys, while the cessation of an indigenous school, which ought to be a matter of regret to them, was invariably regarded as a triumph. If I remember rightly, an educational officer had, in one of his annual reports, exultingly declared, in connection with the progress of the Government primary school system, that so many indigenous schools1 had ceased to exist that year. Such unfortunate circumstances have been the main cause of the decline of indigenous schools in the North-Western Provinces, and I know no school of the first or second class which may have been made a part of the Government educational system in those provinces. In some districts, however, teachers of the indigenous schools were transferred to the newly established Government schools, which only resulted in the ruin of the former. The number of unaided elementary schools in the NorthWestern Provinces is found to be 212. But they are not of the ancient indigenous type, but have been founded on the Government primary school system, and a certain amount of grant is allowed by Government in aid of them. To encourage indigenous system of schools and to improve the existing schools by making them a part of the educational system is undoubtedly calculated to benefit the country, and to further the objects of primary and vernacular middle education. I have no 199

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doubt that the indigenous schools of classes I and II can easily be utilised as a part of the educational system in the following manner, whether by means of grant in aid or of payment-by-results:— 1st.—The schools may be allowed the freedom of retaining their own languages, subjects, and text-books. 2ndly.—They may be requested to add a little of arithmetic, mensuration, history, and geography to their existing subjects of study, and to adopt, as text-books for these additional subjects, any books they choose out of the numerous works now procurable. 3rdly.—they may be induced to submit to their inspection by Deputy Inspectors of the Educational Department, and to the examination of students in these additional subjects, from time to time. 4thly.—The teachers may be required to submit short monthly returns showing the number of students and other necessary particulars. In this way the schools of classes I and II may easily be assimilated with the Government educational system. It may, at first sight, appear a gratuitous assumption to suppose that the teachers of such schools will have no difficulty in teaching these additional subjects. But, in my opinion, the subjects recommended are not so advanced as to be inaccessible to men of that standard of ability which the teachers of indigenous schools generally possess. No attempt should be made to displace any of these teachers, as the existence and prosperity of these schools entirely depend upon their personal influence and character. The schools of classes III and IV can by no means be so utilised, nor is there any necessity for that inasmuch as they impart education to the highest standard. The Deputy Inspectors should, however, enquire of their own accord into their state as much as they can, and then it will be advisable to enter the information thus gathered into the annual reports, for these institutions are the means of diffusing high oriental education in this country. Ques. 8.—With reference to vernacular schools for primary education recognised by Government, do you consider the existing number of Government aided and unaided schools in the North-Western Provinces sufficient for the purpose for which they have been established? Ans. 8.—It appears from official papers that the number of Government schools in 1881 in the North Western Provinces was 4,332, that of aided schools 212, and that of unaided schools 26, total 4,570. As the area of the North Western Provinces is 83,785 square miles, it gives an average of a little more than 18 square miles for each school, which places them at a distance of 4¼ miles from one another at the average rate. If indigenous schools, which still form a considerable number, be also taken into account, the average length of the intervening distances between the schools will be still more reduced. Now, considering the character of the country as regards population and the distances that lie between scattered towns and villages, I do not think the present number of schools inadequate. It does not require extension, except, perhaps, in some special cases. On the other hand, the existing institutions are, in my opinion, capable of affording instruction to a much 200

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greater number of pupils. Every available means should, therefore, be adopted for improving their efficiency and for making them more useful and popular. Ques. 9.—Are the existing arrangements for their inspection quite efficient, or do they call for improvement? What suggestions would you make on this point? Ans. 9.—I do not think the present system of inspection adequate. The Inspectors whose circles comprise a vast area do not, as a matter of course, find sufficient time for inspection, and have no means of acquiring an intimate acquaintance with the real state of the schools under them. It is exceedingly doubtful that they will be able to recognise the students of a certain school already inspected by them, should such students be again presented before them with the boys of some other school. I do not mean to say that the reports of Deputy Inspectors and Sub-Deputy Inspectors are not reliable but their contents certainly require to be examined and ascertained, for which the Inspectors have, of course, rare opportunities. I had an opportunity of inspecting many schools while I was a member of the Educational committee at Aligarh. I always found the registers of those schools which were situated at some distance from the city in a wretched state, and attendance was never found to correspond with the number of students given on the rolls. I have occasionally had reasons to suspect the correctness of the school registers. It was not unusual to enter supposed names in them. Once I set out to inspect a village school which used to send regular reports of its working and it appeared that a reasonable number of students was reading in it. But on reaching the village I was surprised to find that there was no school at all, that the place which was represented as the school building was no other than a shed for buffaloes, and that the contents of the registers and reports were altogether fictitious. Altogether, I am naturally led to believe that an improvement has since been introduced into the system of inspection, and that such flagrant cheatings have disappeared, or, at any rate, have become rare, yet I do not consider the present system satisfactory. I have reason to believe that the Deputy Inspectors and Sub Deputy Inspectors are generally assiduous in making their reports show a greater number of students than what it really is with a view of obtaining credit for good work. For these reasons the existing arrangements are not satisfactory in my opinion. Ques. 10.—Are the standards of education and the courses of study in vernacular schools popular? Do you consider them quite suitable for the purposes of education? Ans. 10.—The standard of education fixed for vernacular schools is, in my opinion, not popular, and is certainly not suitable. The standard of literature taught in those schools is hardly sufficient for enabling a student to acquire tolerable proficiency in subjects which are of use to him in his after life. The degree of proficiency acquired in indigenous schools in this respect far surpasses that afforded by these schools. And this fact makes them contemptible in the eyes of the people. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary to raise the standard of literature in those 201

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schools. The regular study of arithmetic should, in vernacular primary schools be supplemented by the indigenous method of gur, which is more practical. The present standard of history in vernacular middle schools,—which does not go beyond giving a list of the names of kings, the dates of their accession and death, and a very brief and imperfect account of their reigns, which leave no impression on the mind of the student, and which are forgotten as soon as the boy feels he has no more to do with them—should be carefully revised and replaced by a more advanced standard calculated to develop his mind. And when the standard of literature will also be improved, the students will have no difficulty in mastering the more important points of the subject in which they should be examined, instead of the minor ones. At present there exists a nice translation of Elphinstone’s History of India, besides a number of other histories containing the Hindu, Muhammadan, and English periods, and compiled by some of the ablest men of this country, such as Munahi Zukaullah, Professor of the Muir Central College, Allahabad. These works, or portions of them, can with advantage be introduced into the vernacular middle schools, of which the present standard of education evidently calls for improvement. Ques. 11.—Does the system of middle class vernacular examination stand in need of an improvement? What would, in your opinion, be the best plan for the examination of primary vernacular schools? Ans. 11.—I have no objection against the manner in which the vernacular middle class examination is at present conducted. But I would object to the mode in which the question papers are now set. If the papers set by various examiners were referred to a certain committee under the control and supervision of the Director of Public Instruction, in order that those papers may be reduced to a uniform standard as regards work and difficulty, it would surely further the objects of the examination. As regards primary schools, their examination had better be left to those who exercise an immediate supervision over them. I am averse to mustering the students of the various schools at a central point for the purposes of examination. I am also unable to support the system of awarding scholarships after the vernacular middle class examinations, for at the time when these scholarships are given the vernacular study is, in fact, at an end. The system of payment by results would therefore, be more appropriate. Scholarships should be given to those students only who may join the middle class after passing the primary examination, and who may thus prove themselves deserving of those scholarships. Ques. 12.—What sections of the people have generally derived benefit from these institutions? Are there any classes of the population that have not, or very little, availed themselves of this benefit? If so, to what causes may their failure to do so be attributed? Ans. 12.—Those classes of the people have, as far as I know, availed themselves of the benefit offered by vernacular schools who hold a rank between the lower and middle classes of the society. But the sons of husbandmen, of petty landholders, and of professional workmen, for whose education these schools 202

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were primarily designed, have comparatively kept aloof from them. The means of workmen and labourers are generally very limited. Their constant manual labour is scarcely sufficient for their very subsistence. The children, as soon as they are fit for any work, are at once employed in it. If they may not associate their children in their daily labours, it will doubtless be impossible for them to defray the additional expenditure of maintaining the children from their already insufficient earnings. There is no great difference between the conditions of ordinary cultivators of land and of those petty landholders who hold small tracts of land in common property, and cultivate those tracts themselves. Both of these classes are, generally speaking, men of quite limited means, who are not able to procure even the necessary implements of husbandry. It is, therefore, impossible for them to carry on their business of agriculture with any degree of success unless they bring over their whole families to their assistance. Separate works are allotted to different members of the familes. For example, the younger ones are employed in carer works requiring a lighter manual labour,—such as the guardian of the field against animals, the weeding of the crops, the direction of the course of water into certain beds, the grazing of the cattle, and so on. There are many trifling parts of the business which, if not left to little boys and girls will seriously retard the progress of it. These are the causes which unavoidably prevent their sending their little ones to schools for education. There are, however, some villages where the landholders or cultivators are comparatively more prosperous, and their circumstances can admit of their dispensing with the services of their children in agricultural business, or where the presence of a canal reduces the necessity of watering their fields. In such villages (provided the villages bordering on a canal are free from diseases) boys can be spared for education, and sons of the cultivators and landholders have, more or less, derived benefit from the schools. The greatest difficulty, however, is that the above named class of the people does not seem to appreciate education at all. They are unable to understand how education can be useful to them in their daily life, which is no better than that of an ordinary kuls. What fruit can we, under these circumstances, reap by establishing schools in villages where they are not wanted at all. In this very class those who are a little better off than mere kulis and follow a regular occupation by keeping a regular shop, such as the carpenter who constructs the ordinary village carts, their wheels, and other implements of husbandry, are tolerably able to read and write, and generally send their sons to Government or indigenous schools. But an itinerant workman, who goes from house to house to seek employment, never thinks of procuring education for his children. Ques. 13.—Do you think the number of boys now receiving instruction in these schools low in comparison with the population and state of the country? If so, how would you account for it? Ans. 13.—This question can briefly be replied in the affirmative, for a more extended system of education is not wanted by the country. But this answer is not 203

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quite sufficient,—it requires an explanation. It appears from official papers that 162,471 scholars were receiving education in 1881 in those schools of the North Western Provinces which were under the control and supervision of Government officers. Their comparison with the population of that part of the country cannot, owing to the special circumstances of the country, afford a just estimate as regards the working of this machinery. In India women are almost entirely precluded from education, while agricultural and labouring classes, that form by far the greatest portion of the population, are equally strangers to it. How to induce these classes to benefit from education is another question which leads us to a discussion of those circumstances which have combined in estranging them from education. To suggest measures for the removal of those obstacles, whether such measures be feasible or not, is a subject which has no connection with the working of the machinery set up for education. Moreover, that portion of the population which consists of men who are too old to be educated must not be taken into account for obvious reasons. To form, therefore, a correct estimate of the working of the machinery, with regard to the special circumstances of the country, it is necessary, in the first place, to exclude these four large sections of the population from the number. The degree of success of the scheme may then be judged by the number of the school-going boys of the classes that hold a position between the middle and lower ranks of society, and perhaps by the number of boys in a portion of the middle class too. If this be made the standard of judgment, I have no doubt but that the machinery will be found to be in as good working an order as can ever be expected in India. If it be desirable to increase its efficiency, the object can be secured, not by adding any part to the machine itself, but to place the persons who have hitherto been incapable of reaping any benefit from it in a position which may provide facilities to them in this respect. At present we have no means by which we may be able to judge of the usefulness of the machinery in the manner above indicated. Only the Census Report of 1871 could help us a little in this way. But I am sorry I could not have an access to the book here. The Secretary of the Commission also kindly tried to procure it for me, but without success. Ques. 14.—Can you suggest any improvement in the present system of tuitional fees? Ans. 14.—I have no objection to raise against the present system of levying the tuitional fees. But I must question the propriety of requiring the sons of zamindars and cultivators of land studying in vernacular schools to pay tuitional fees, when a separate education cess of one per cent of the Government revenue is already levied upon all zamindars, affecting as it does in its incidence all the classes connected with land. Although this argument may not be accepted as logically true, this immunity will nevertheless tend to swell the number of such boys in vernacular schools. Ques. 15.—What steps would it, in your opinion, be most advisable to take to give a wider extension to these schools, and to render them more efficient and popular?

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Ans. 15.—I do not think there is any necessity for increasing the number of these schools, except in special cases. Our endeavours should rather be confined to making the existing institutions more useful and popular, which can be brought about in the following manner:— 1st.—By reforming the courses of study and raising the standard of literature. 2ndly.—By appointing such persons to be teachers of the school as are popular and possess the confidence of the people residing in that locality. 3rdly.—By fixing their salaries on a standard sufficient to make them appreciate their appointment. 4thly.—By securing the co operation of respectable men in each pargana in the cause of education. If the present system of kalkabands were so re cast that each village in which a patwars resided might be provided with a vernacular primary school for the benefit of all the villages of the circle under the said patwars, it would give more regular appearance to the system, and would perhaps increase the number of the schools, if so desired. Ques. 16.—To what extent has the establishment of the Educational committees helped in the supervision and control of these schools, and how far has it contributed towards making them popular? Ques. 17.—Do you consider that any advantage is likely to result from extending the supervision of the Municipal committees and district officers? What would, in your opinion, be the most advisable way of accomplishing this end? Ques. 18.—Can you suggest any improvement in the existing financial arrangements relating to these institutions? Ans. 16, 17 & 18.—These three questions (16, 17, and 18) are so closely connected with one another as to require a collective answer. I have always been of opinion that the system of public instruction cannot progress satisfactorily until Native gentlemen of respectable position and influence be made to co-operate in the work. The co-operation of a Native gentleman who commands the respect and possesses the confidence of the people,—no matter whether he himself possesses any amount of learning and is capable of helping in educational matters,—is calculated to bring the whole weight of his influence and popularity in favour of a scheme with which he himself is connected, and is therefore likely to bear good fruit. I have always regarded the non-association of respectable Natives in the work of education as a great drawback and a great political mistake. A movement in this direction was made by the Talukdars of the Aligarh District in 1866. On the 10th May of that year they submitted a petition to the Local Government, a portion of which I beg to quote below as deserving the attention of the Commission:— “That while your petitioners pay for the expenses of education it is obviously a hardship that they should not be allowed to take any part in the management of the system or exercise any control over the disbursement of the funds. It is very mortifying to them to find that they are not consulted on any points connected therewith and that, notwithstanding

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their having to provide the funds they know nothing as to the manner and purposes in which those funds are expended. That your petitioners beg respectfully to submit their opinion that all the money which they contribute for education at the rate of 1 per cent on the jumma should together with the sum which the Government grants or may grant in future in and of the cause be separately funded under the designation of Educational Fund and applied solely for the benefit of the people of that district alone from which the contribution is raised, and to which it rightfully belongs, to the exclusion of all others. That a committee consisting of the Educational Officers and the district landholders and gentlemen presided over by the Collector of the District or the Commissioner of the Division should be formed for the general control and supervision of the system and for regulating the expenditure and all matters connected with the business of education should be left to the discretion of the committee so constituted. “That this committee should be required to frame a code of rules for the guidance of schools and should determine the amount to be granted annually for all the schools that may be existing or may hereafter be established in the [Illegible Text] the tahails and village of the district and allot separate funds for the maintenance of each school and that all those measures of the committee be officially laid before the Government and [Illegible Text] upon everywhere in the district after they shall have been sanctioned by Government.”

In 1872 I wrote a note in reference to the working of the committees which had been thus constituted, as the rules which regulated those committees had seriously paralysed their independence, and had thus defeated the original object. It will not be out of place to give here an extract from that note, as it bears directly upon the subject:— “Not long ago the deplorable condition into which education in India had fallen attracted the notice of some of the Native gentlemen of Aligarh. They considered the matter carefully, and determined to represent the case to Government. A petition was accordingly drawn up by them requesting that the Natives should be allowed to have a hand in the management of public instruction and that committees should be formed in each district. Mr. George Lawrence the Collector of the district lent his assistance in the cause and he deserves the thanks of the Native community. When the application came before the authorities of the Educational Department they were naturally offended and looked upon the movement as one tending to curtail their rights and authorities. The Honourable Mr. Drummond however, the then Lieutenant Governor, North Western Provinces, was determined to grant the petition and His Honour accordingly gave him sanction to the proposals directing a trial to be first made in the district of Aligarh and Etawah. The order was however not acted up to for a long time, till at last His Honour himself took notice of it and extended the order generally to all districts: the result was the present Educational committee in each district. It is much to be regretted however that the Native members of the said committees when they sit with Europeans and the educational authorities in the same room look more like thieves who have entered a gentleman’s house for theft than like bold advocates of an important cause. They are on the other hand looked upon by their European fellow members as men of the opposite party, to defeat whom is deemed by the educational authorities as well as by other European members as their right established by the laws of nature.

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Thus owing to the circumstances just noticed the committees have been able to do nothing to amend the political error before alluded to the management of public instruction still rests in the hands of the Government: the Committee can do nothing against the will of the Director of Public Instruction and they have no power to interfere in the management of affairs they are in fact about as useful as the same number of wax figures in Madame Tassaud’s exhibition. As long as this state of affairs lasts the members are of opinion that there is no hope of the village and tahsih schools being in any way beneficial to the Natives.”

The rules regulating the establishment and working of the Educational committees were, however, subsequently amended, and revised rules were issued on the 9th February 1877. But these two fell materially short in the main point of enlisting Native co-operation to any great extent, and the objects for which the establishment of the committees was desired were not attained. I feel persuaded that if the existing system were re-formed and re-cast in the following manner, the efficiency and popularity of the vernacular education would be considerably increased:— (1) The Collector may be deemed as head of the vernacular instruction of each district, and may be held to be in the same relation with the Director of Public Instruction in this respect which, in financial affairs, he holds with the Commissioner. This arrangement is likely to dispense with the necessity of the Inspectors of Schools. (2) The post of Deputy Inspector, who rarely commands any influence or respect in the district, should be abolished altogether, and that of a separate Native Deputy Collector be created for assisting the Collector in this additional work; the work of vernacular education being made a part of the functions in the same manner as other Deputy Collectors are put in charge of treasury. (3) The post of Sub-Deputy Inspector or Pargana Visitor may be retained, and may be made subordinate to that of the Deputy Collector so created, with a proper alteration in its denomination. (4) An Educational committee may be formed in each district, having for its members the most influential and respectable men of that district. (5) Municipal Commissioners may also be declared members of the Educational committee in each district. (6) The Deputy Collector mentioned above may be appointed Secretary to the said committee. (7) It may be incumbent on the said Deputy Collector to inspect personally, at least four times a year, all the vernacular schools in the district, to investigate the real condition of these schools, to report the results of his inspection and investigation to the committee, to prepare monthly and annual statistical returns and reports, and to use his personal influence in the promotion of education. (8) The Pargana Visitor may be required to inspect all the schools of his pargana at least four times a month, and to submit a report of each inspection to the Secretary of the said committee. 207

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(9) The Collectors and other Revenue officers may also inspect schools in the course of their periodical tours, and may communicate to the committee the information they may thus be able to gather regarding the working of these schools. They will, of course, have ample opportunity for this purpose, and the whole work of inspection, which is now devolved on Inspectors and is not, as a matter of course, satisfactorily carried on, will go on quite smoothly. (10) Each pargana may have its own Educational committee, consisting of the respectable men of that parganah, and having the Tahsildar of the parganah for its President and the Parganah Visitor for its Secretary. (11) The members of both the District and Parganah committees may be requested to pay occasional visits to schools within their respective jurisdictions, and to submit reports to their respective committees in connection with such visits. (12) The whole management of these vernacular schools,—such as the increase or reduction in the number of these schools, the selection of proper places for their establishment, the distribution of the schools according to the different languages (Hindi, Urdu, or Persian) taught in them, the construction and repairs of school houses, the appointment and dismissal of teachers the selection of the course of study on consultation with the Director of Public Instruction, the adoption of proper measures for the inducement of those classes that show an apathy towards education, and so on,—may rest with the committee, so that the members may take an interest in this important affair, and may feel that they have a substantial share in its management and control, and that their services can be really useful. (13) The incomes of these schools derived from the various sources, from the Imperial, Local Municipal or other Funds, may all be placed at the disposal of the committees which may themselves have to prepare their annual budgets after the manner of the Municipal committees, and may regularly submit those budgets to the Director of Public Instruction. (14) The savings effected by the abolition of Inspectorships and Deputy Inspectorships will be sufficient to meet the increased demand of appointing an additional Deputy Collector. This arrangement is certainly calculated to increase the amount of work in the office of the Director of Public Instruction. But this may be remedied by appointing an Assistant to the Director under the name of Inspector or under any other denomination. I feel convinced that these arrangements, if carried into effect, will place the educational system on a far better footing than it at present is and will, at the same time, involve no additional cost to Government. The above suggestions relate exclusively to vernacular schools. It should not be understood that I want to make English schools also subject to these committees. On the contrary, I am of opinion that any such attempt will prove prejudicial to the interests of the English schools, although they may be mere elementary ones. Ques. 19.—Are you of opinion that the present state of the Normal schools is satisfactory as regards their efficiency, or do you consider there is room for improvement? 208

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Ans. 19.—The present state of the Normal schools is not, in my opinion, much objectionable. The only defect that appears to me is that, instead of training the teachers in the mode of imparting instruction, they afford a regular instruction to the teachers like any other ordinary school. The standard of study in these schools should, moreover, be raised in the same proportion as that in vernacular schools, and a provision should be made by which the teachers of indigenous schools may also be admitted to them when so required. Ques. 20.—With reference to English schools for primary, middle, high, and collegiate education, do you consider that English education is essentially requisite for the interests of the country, and for the people in their daily affairs of life? If so, to what standard? Ans. 20.—About thirty years have now elapsed since the despatch of 1854. During this period the condition of India has undergone a considerable change. Railways have united distant provinces, and have facilitated intercourse to a great extent. Telegraphic lines have been extended all over the country, and have provided facilities for distant persons to talk with one another as if they were in the same room. These very things have infused a new life into commercial business, and have given a fresh impulse to every sort of enterprise. In 1854, when the above-named despatch was written, India was certainly in a condition which might justify our thinking that the acquisition of knowledge through the medium of the vernaculars of the country would be enough to meet our immediate wants. But now such is not the case. Vernacular education is no more regarded as sufficient for our daily affairs of life. It is only of use to us in our private and domestic affairs, and no higher degree of proficiency than what is acquired in primary and middle vernacular schools requisite for that purpose, nor is more wanted by the country. It is English education which is urgently needed by the country and by the people in their daily life. It will be useless to realise the truth of what I have said by any theoretical argument when we practically find so many proofs of it every day. We see that an ordinary shop keeper, who is neither himself acquainted with English nor has any English knowing person in his employment, feels it a serious hindrance in the progress of his business. Even the itinerant pedlars and boxwalas, who go from door to door selling their articles keenly feel the necessity of knowing at least the English names of their commodities, and of being able to tell their prices in English. A gentleman who visits a merchant’s or a chemist’s shop to make necessary purchases, but is neither himself acquainted with English nor is accompanied by a person knowing that language, feels his position as one of real perplexity. In consequence of the facilities afforded for travelling, respectable men are often under the necessity of sending and receiving telegraphic messages, and their ignorance of English proves a serious hardship to them. A few months ago a respectable Native gentleman sent his wife by railway from one stat on to another, telegraphing a relation of his at the latter station to be present at the railway station with a conveyance for the lady, who was of course a parda nashin. The message reached him in time but he was unhappily not acquainted with English. He was yet in search of an English 209

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knowing person who might explain to him the import of the communication, when the train reached the station and the lady was necessarily compelled to leave the carriage and to wait outside. The state of affairs has therefore been so altered during the last thirty years that a necessity for English education is as much felt as that for a vernacular one. The standard of matriculation would, in my opinion, answer the purposes above described. In these days the name of popular education can, in fact, most appropriately be applied to this very standard of English education. It is high time that Government, as well as the people, should exert to their utmost in extending this popular education, if I may be allowed so to call it. I trust that the observations I have made will not be construed into any desire on my part to suppress high education, or that I do not attach much importance to it. I shall show shortly how essentially necessary it is for the country. Ques. 21.—What amount of benefit has the country, in your opinion, derived from Government, private and Missionary institutions teaching European sciences and literature? Ans. 21.—Almost the whole amount of benefit derived by the country from English education may be attributed to Government and Ecclesiastical institutions. The latter have contributed no less than the former in affording the benefit of English education to the country. Some of the Missionary institutions rather possess a better staff of European teachers than that in Government institutions of the same status, owing to the fact that Missionary teachers are generally wont to offer their services in this charitable cause on lower salaries than what their attainments could justly claim. In the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, and the Panjab, English education has hither to made very little progress, and they stand in great need of primary and secondary education. It is indeed much to be regretted that private institutions in this country have taken very little part in the diffusion of English education, although it was their duty to take the lead in the matter. Ques. 22.—Would it be more beneficial to the country to diffuse a knowledge of Western arts and sciences through the medium of the vernaculars of the country, instead of doing so through the medium of English? Ans. 22.—In Vernacular and English primary and middle schools, the object of which is to impart instruction up to that standard only, and not to prepare scholars for a higher standard of education, the interests of the country will no doubt be furthered by teaching the Western sciences to the standard laid down for those institutions in vernacular. But in English elementary schools, which have been established with the object of serving as a stepping stone for higher education, the tuition of European sciences through the medium of the vernacular is calculated to ruin the cause of education. I confess I am the person who had first entertained the idea that the acquisition of the knowledge of European sciences through the medium of the vernaculars would be more beneficial to the country. I am the person who had found fault with Lord Macaulay’s Minute of 1835 for exposing the defects of oriental learning and recommending the study of Western science and literature, and had failed to 210

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consider whether the introduction of European sciences by means of the vernaculars would bring any advantage to the Native community. I did not confine my opinion to theory alone, but tried to put it into practice. I discussed the matter at various meetings wrote several pamphlets and articles on the subject, and sent memorials to Local and Supreme Governments. A Society, known by the name of “The Scientific Society, Aligarh,” was established for the very purpose, and it translated several scientific and historical works from the English language into the vernacular. But I could not help acknowledging the fallacy of my opinion at last. I was forced to accept the truth of what an eminent liberal statesman has said that “what the Indian of our day wanted, whether he was Hindu or Muhammadan, was some insight into the literature and science which were the life of his own time, and of the vigorous race which were the representative of all knowledge and all power to him.” I felt the soundness and sincerity of the policy adopted by Lord William Bentinck when he declared that “the great object” of the Government “ought to be the promotion of European literature and science among the nations of India.” The reasons which seem to favour the dissemination of European learning through the medium of the vernaculars are twofold, but they are quite groundless and fallacious. First, the idea that the instrumentality of the vernaculars will facilitate the propagation of Western sciences is in itself erroneous, as I will show presently. I may be allowed to say here that all European sciences are divided into two kinds—certain and uncertain. The former includes arithmetic, algebra, chemistry, &c., which require no great knowledge of the English language, and a person having but an imperfect acquaintance with English finds no great difficulty in learning them. I can adduce two living evidences in support of my statement. Pandit Bapu Deo Shastri, C.I.E., of Benares, and Munshi Zukaullah, Professor Muir Central College, Allahabad, have a very imperfect knowledge of English. They are unable to speak English. They cannot write a couple of lines in that language free from mistakes. But, notwithstanding this, they can read, understand, and teach the most advanced English works on science. As regards uncertain sciences, such as logic, philosophy, political economy, jurisprudence, &c., they are based on so abstract, intricate, and nice reasonings that they are, by causes to be shown presently, liable to lose much of their force if presented to the mind through the medium of a vernacular. The second idea which seems to suggest itself to us is that no country has ever advanced in any science until after that science has been rendered into the language of that country. But, this too is an erroneous conclusion. It has been divested of an important feature which may be said to be the very life of the argument. It could, in fact, be said with the greatest propriety that no country has ever advanced in any science until after that science has been rendered into the language which rules over the country. It is not the vernacular, but the English language which rules over India. No science can, therefore, be promoted in this country through the medium of the vernacular. History furnishes no precedent of 211

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a science being promoted among any people through the medium of a language which was not the language of the ruling class. I now come to those obstacles and causes which make the diffusion of European science through the medium of the vernaculars in this country a task of doubtful possibility, if not quite impossible. Works on this science can be furnished into the vernacular languages in no other way except by means of translations. Those who are familiar with translation work are well aware of the insurmountable difficulties that occur in rendering a scientific work into a vernacular, and in inventing and determining proper technical terms in that language. Whenever the same terms as used in the original language, are adopted for want of proper substitutes, the book forms a curious mixture of the two languages, and the reader can neither understand nor pronounce the strange words. When they are Arabicised with a slight change of form in order that they may look more harmonious with the Urdu language, they assume a curious guise and become equally unintelligible to Englishmen and Hindustanis. They rather seem to constitute the language of a strange creature. The equivalents for such terms are hunted out from Arabic or Sanskrit, although they may be quite appropriate as regards signification; it often happens that those equivalents have a second and additional meaning in those languages, and for this reason they are incapable of imparting the exact idea conveyed by the original words. The vast capacity of the Arabic and Sanskrit languages for the invention of new equivalents for those technical terms cannot be denied. But the task is one of extraordinary difficulty, and will require a long time, even if a separate academy like that in Paris were established for the purpose. History is a science which presents a comparatively less difficulty in being translated into a different language. But I am firmly convinced that vernacular translations of English histories will do anything but good to the country. The oriental literature is replete with exaggerations and metaphorical expressions which have obtained so firm a hold on every sort of writing in Asia, and have consequently come to be considered so common-place a thing that the very words and expressions have lost their whole force, and are no longer capable of making any impression on the human mind. For instance, if we utter the phrase Bádskâh i álijâh, the first part of it (Bádshâh) will no doubt convey the idea of a king; but the adjective álijáh, which have become totally void of force by constant misapplication, will necessarily fail to make any impression on the mind, not even so much as would have been produced by the English phrases Great King. In the same way in the phrases Bádshah i ádil and Bádsháh i zálim—the words adil and zálim are taken to be words of indifferent importance, and do not much affect the sense of the words to which they are attached. I can quote hundreds of instances like these. But this is not the case with English literature. The translation of history into the vernacular is therefore calculated to annihilate all those moral advantages which it is possible for a student to derive from its study in the English language; and the fact is that, as long as our community does not, by means of English education, become familiar with the exactness of thought

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and unlearn the looseness of expression, our language cannot be the means of high mental and moral training. The same remarks apply to the translation of works on moral science, which I am going to show by a few examples. Take, for instance, the word civilisation, the nearest rendering of which is tahzíb or sháyastagi; or take the words morals and character, of which akhláq and khaslat are perhaps the most appropriate translations respectively. But all these Urdu equivalents are ordinarily used in a sense different from that conveyed by the English words, and cannot therefore answer the purpose. The word utility, the sense of which I have often expressed by the words muf digi and faida mandi, but I am sure these terms are far from giving an exact idea of the signification of the word. Now, taking it for granted that European works on science have properly and exactly been translated into the vernacular, it still remains to be considered whether a science is promoted by means of the translations of a few of its textbooks. He who studies the text books of a science must also study, in addition to those books, various writings and opinions of ancient and modern authors in connection with that subject, if he is really desirous of qualifying himself in it. The absence of such writings, or the translations of such writings in his own language, will make his attainments but imperfect. But apart from this it should be borne in mind that knowledge has made, and it is still making, rapid and wonderful progress in this nineteenth century, and it is essentially necessary for those who are engaged in the acquisition of a science that they should keep themselves informed of all the results of modern investigations that appear from time to time in the shape of articles and reviews in the columns of newspapers, journals, and magazines. It is virtually impossible to provide a constant supply of vernacular translations of these great means of instruction and enlightenment. During the reigns of the Caliphs of Baghdâd, from Mansûr Dawâmkî down to the reign of his fourth successor, the greatest endeavour was made to translate scientific books into Arabic—a matter which involved enormous expense of money, although the scientific literature of those days was very limited. Notwithstanding all such endeavours, those translations were found to be very inadequate, and their scientific value cannot be compared with the works which the progress of modern science has produced. The fact is that science in Europe makes a progress more rapid than the greatest practicable agency for translations, which the present circumstances of India can bring into existence, and can keep pace with, and I am convinced that for a long time to come any attempt at imparting a knowledge of European sciences through the medium of vernacular translations will be fraught with evils which amount to no less than calamity to the cause of real education and enlightenment of India. Ques. 23.—Have all classes of the people benefited from the study of Western sciences and literature in Government or other institutions, and have the Muhammadans also derived this benefit as readily as the other communities? If not to what causes may their forbearance be attributed?

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Ans. 23.—Of all the sections of the Indian community the Muhammadans have derived the least benefit from European sciences and literature. It is evident, from the annual reports on public instruction, that in Government and Missionary schools and colleges, which may be regarded as the only means of disseminating Western science and literature in this country, the number of Muhammadans is extremely limited. To verify this statement by more obvious argument I had, in 1878, drawn up for submission to the Local Government the following statistical table for the twenty preceding years. This table conclusively shows the smallness of success which English education has had amongst Mussalmans:— Names of the University Degree

Total Number of Graduates

Number of Muhammadan Graduates

Doctor in Law Honors in Law Bachelor in Law Licentiates in Law Bachelor in Civil Engineering Licentiates in Civil Engineering Master in Arts Bachelor of Arts Doctor in Medicine Honors in Medicine Bachelor in Medicine Licentiates in Medicine and Surgery

6 4 705 235 36 51 326 1,343 4 2 58 385

None None. 8(a) 5(b) None None 5(b) 30 None None 1(a) 8(a)

TOTAL

3,155

57

(a) None from the North Western Provinces. (b) No Muhammadan has passed either in English or Science.

Now, taking the figures given in the “Memorandum on the Census of British India of 1871–72,” presented to Parliament, the population of Hindus in the provinces subject to the Calcutta University (Bengal Assam North Western Provinces, Ajmere, Oudh Panjab, and Central Provinces) is 90,484,547, and that of Muhammadans amounts to 35,679,138; in other words the number of Muhammadans is about ²⁄5ths of the Hindus. It would, therefore, be expected that the number of Muhammadan graduates would be about 3,262; but the table given above shows the number to be only 57, and the proportion is therefore a little less than 1⁄55. Turning to the calendar of the Rurbî Civil Engineering College, which gives instruction with a view to secure properly trained officers for the Public Works Department, the number of Muhammadans who have successfully passed the examinations is disproportionately small. From the year 1850 to 1876 the number of students who successfully passed through the Engineering class 214

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is 226, out of which only 3 are Muhammadans. The results of the Upper Subordinate Class Examination (which requires a knowledge of English) are equally unsatisfactory. Between the year 1848 and 1876 no less than 707 students passed the Upper Subordinate Class Examination but of them the number of Muhammadans is only 11. The effect of the above results appears in a much more unsatisfactory light when it is taken into consideration that the greater portion of the Hindu population consists of agriculturists and of persons employed in low occupations of life, whilst the same is not true of the Muhammadans who, being descended from the former rulers of the country, have inherited learning as the principal means of livelihood. Hence the figures above cited conclusively prove that, owing to some serious causes, English education has found no favour with the Mussalmans. I have myself earnestly endeavoured for years to trace the causes to which this shortcoming of the Muhammadans may be ascribed. And in 1871 my humble endeavours resulted in the formation of a committee, the object of which was to investigate the causes which prevented our community from taking advantage of the system established by Government and to suggest means by which education could be spread amongst them. As a means of receiving aid in their enquiries the committee offered three prizes for the best essays by educated Muhammadan gentlemen on the subject of Muhammadan education, and no less than thirty two essays were sent in. The views expressed in these essays were fully discussed at a large meeting of respectable and educated Mussalmans, and the committee arrived at the conclusion that Muhammadans had strong feelings to dislike to modern education, and that their antagonism to the Government educational system was not a mere matter of chance. This aversion of the Mussalman community is due to the fact that when in the reigns of the Caliphs of Baghdâd the Greek sciences of logic, philosophy, astronomy, and geography were translated into Arabic they were accepted by the whole Muhammadan world without hesitation, and, with slight mod fications and alterations they gradually found their way into the religious books of the Muhammadans, so that in course of time these sciences were identified with their very religion, and acquired a position by no means inferior to that of the sacred traditions of faith. A few spurious but well known foreign, as well as indigenous traditions, which referred to remote historical events, and to which time had lent a charm, were likewise adopted and accepted like other religious doctrines. European learning, which was founded on the results of modern investigations, differed widely in principle from these Asiaticised Greek dogmas, and the Muhammadans certainly believed that the philosophy and logic taught in the English language were at variance with the tenets of Islam, while the modern sciences of geography and astronomy were universally regarded, and are still regarded by many, as altogether incompatible with the Muhammadan religion. History was viewed in no better light, inasmuch as it differed from their adopted traditions. As regards literature it must be admitted that it is a subject which is always more or less connected with the religion of the nation to which it belongs, 215

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and, such being the case, the Muhammadans, as a matter of course viewed this branch of knowledge, too, in anything but a favourable light. Their antipathy was carried so far, indeed, that they began to look upon the study of English by a Mussalman as a little less than the embracing of Christianity and the result was that Muhammadans generally kept aloof from the advantages offered by Government institutions. There are still some Mussalmans who denounce the study of English in the severest terms, and those who pursue or endeavour to promote that study are positively pronounced to be Christians. But this prejudice has of late decreased to a great extent, and is not entertained by so large a port on of the Muhammadan community as formerly. This may be said to be the main cause of the abstention of the Muhammadans from the study of European science and literature. Ques. 24.—Can you suggest how the causes which may have hitherto operated in excluding the Muhammadans from this benefit might be removed? Ans. 24.—The very nature of the causes which have operated in excluding the Muhammadans from the benefit of English education makes it impossible for Government to bring about their removal Government could in no way interfere with, or make an attempt to expose the fallacy of, those views which the Muhammadans had rightly or wrongly believed to be their religious doctrines. There was no remedy but that some members of their own community might undertake the arduous task of impressing on the Muhammadans the advantages accruing from English education, and of proving by argument and reason that such education was in no way inconsistent with the tenets of their religion, and that the fanciful theories of Arabicised Greek science and philosophy, which the advance of modern science and enlightenment tended to subvert, had no connection with the doctrines of Islam. Numerous discouraging circumstances and serious social dangers lay in the path of those advanced Muhammadans who undertook the task, odious as it seemed to the detractors of modern civilisation among Muhammadans. The advocates of reform and enlightenment were sure to be made the object of furious and frantic abuse, and to be denounced as atheists, apostates and Nazarenes. But they were fully convinced that the Muhammadan nation could never be able to get rid of those illusive ideas and prejudices, until some members of their community prepared themselves to incur the odium which fanaticism and bigotry are always ready to offer to the advocates of enlightened reform. I was an humble participator in the endeavours of those who determined to devote themselves to this unpleasant task for the well being of their co-religionists. With this object a periodical, named the “Muhammadan Social Reformer,” was issued in which the more advanced Muhammadans from time to time wrote articles on the subject of education and social reform, and in spite of the vigorous opposition from the bigoted and conservative Muhammadans, made public speeches in various parts of Upper India to rouse the Muhammadans to make exertions to educate themselves and to release their duties as citizens. The advocates of the cause of reform and enlightenment had, of course, anticipated the opposition with which they had to contend before 216

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undertaking so momentous a task, and had prepared themselves for the worst consequences to their personal popularity among the common people. They did not mind the difficulties and obstacles which bigotry and ignorance placed in their way, but persevered in their endeavours; and I am glad to notice that my co-religionists have now begun to yield to reason and to acknowledge and amend their errors. The number of Muhammadan students in English-teaching institutions is now much greater than what it was ten years ago. The Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh has some 225 Muhammadan pupils at present, most of whom belong to good families, and have travelled from various parts of India and study European sciences and literature, along with their own religion, languages, and literature. The Mussalmans are now everywhere relaxing their undue prejudices, and reconciling themselves to modern thoughts and conditions of life. Time is no doubt a great reformer, but I think the endeavours above alluded to, which have been going on for the last twelve years, have in no small degree contributed to the present state of things. The remedy, therefore, lies in no hands but those of the Muhammadans themselves, and the evils can be removed by their efforts alone. Ques. 25.—In what proportion have elementary and high education progressed in the country? Ans. 25.—In Upper India i.e., the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, and the Panjab, English education has made very little progress, and has much room for improvement. But the proportion in which the various standards of education have hitherto progressed in the country is very satisfactory. Looking at the Report on Public Instruction in the North Western Provinces for 1880–81, we find the following number of scholars in those provinces receiving education on the 31st of March:— University education Secondary ” Primary ”

888 scholars 8,752 ” 205,903 ” 215,543

This shows the number of scholars receiving secondary education is about ten times the number of those receiving University education, and the number of those receiving primary education is about 232 times the number of the same. Combining the two lower grades of education together we find that the spread of elementary education bears to that of collegiate education a ratio of 242 to 1 nearly I am, therefore, not prepared to admit that the high education has outstripped elementary education in this country. Now, if we turn to the results of examinations, we find in the same report that 77 scholars had passed from colleges, 258 from high schools, and 24,001 from primary schools, in 1880–81. It will appear from these results that the various standards of education are not disproportionate. 217

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Q. 26.—Are the courses of study now in use in primary and middle schools and the manner in which the examinations are held, satisfactory and popular, and can they be regarded as fit criteria for regulating promotions to higher classes? A. 26.—Neither the courses of study, nor the systems of examination now in vogue, are suitable or satisfactory in my opinion. At present the aim of all primary and middle schools, whether Government or Missionary, is to train and prepare students for the higher grades of education. But the course of study adopted for the purposes of the middle class examination falls short of promoting that object. In primary and middle schools, which comprise the lower school classes as far upwards as the third school class, the subjects taught consist of English, Mathematics, Geography, and History, the last three of which are taught in vernacular and the examinations are also held in the languages in which the subjects are taught. After passing the middle class examination, the student enters the high school, which consists of the second and first (or Entrance) classes, where he is required to read every subject in the English language. The boy now finds himself unequal to the task so suddenly imposed upon him, and it is not unusual that he is obliged to remain for two years, instead of one, either in the second or in the Entrance class. This defect in the course of study, and in the mode of examination, generally occasions to the students the loss of a whole year of their lives, besides incurring an additional tuitional expenditure for that period. The experience acquired by my connection with the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College for the last seven years, has fully proved to me this defect in the course of study. And this was the reason to that the committee of the Directors of Instruction for that college deemed it fit to leave off the University course and to adopt another in its place in which every subject is taught in the English language in the middle and primary classes. This change, of course, has been attended with success, as was anticipated. Students finishing the course of the middle class have done very well in the second, as well as in the Entrance class. I hear that Mr. Nesfield, Inspector of Schools, Oudh, had also offered some objections against the present system of studies, and that the Director of Public Instruction, North Western Provinces, had asked the opinions of his subordinate officers in regard to them. But I do not know what those objections were, and to what points they did refer. Should the Commission deem it fit to call for the correspondence in question, it would furnish them with a valuable information, and aid them in arriving at a decision in regard to this point. Ques. 27.—What course would, in your opinion, be best calculated to secure the co-operation of private individuals and local corporations in the diffusion of knowledge and the enlightenment of the country? Ans. 27.—The object would, in my opinion, be best secured by extending the grant in aid system, and by placing it on a more satisfactory footing. If the present rules for grant in aid be revised and made more liberal, they will, I believe, not fail to commend themselves to the people, to stimulate and encourage private enterprise, and to lead to the formation of the local corporations which will co-operate with Government in enlightening their country. Such a step is, at least calculated 218

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to give a fresh impulse to Missionary enterprise, and to increase the number of Missionary institutions, which are, in my opinion, equally useful for the country. Ques. 28.—What effect, in your opinion, has the present state of high education in this country produced upon primary and secondary education, and upon the interests of the country in general? Ans. 28.—The extent of progress hitherto made by the country is, in my opinion, mainly due to that standard of education which is now denoted by the name of high education, provided it may deserve that name. This standard of education has, indeed done much good to the State. It has furnished Government with competent officers on low salaries, and it cannot for a moment be doubted that, in the absence of such education, Government would sustain a great pecuniary loss to ensure the present efficiency of administration. The amount of money expended by Government in this education has, in fact been applied in improving the efficiency of administration, which is equally complimentary to Government and to the country. Should the profit accrued to Government by sums expended in productive works be compared with the savings effected in the work of administration by a cheap supply of efficient officers the money applied to the promotion of this education will not prove the less profitable investment. This education has, moreover, made a wholesome effect on secondary and primary education. As these standards of education form a sort of ladder for persons to reach high education, the thing is in itself sufficient to magnify the importance of these standards in the eyes of the people. Persons of high attainments are not useful to themselves alone. They are like lamps which reflect light on all things surrounding them. The presence of well educated and enlightened persons has done much service in the enlightenment and reformation of this country. In the degree in which such persons are multiplying, the country is making strides towards civilisation, and ignorance and prejudice are disappearing. But it is to be regretted that the supply of such persons has not yet been equal to the demand. The country still stands in need of a large number of such persons. Ques. 29.—Please describe the measures which you would recommend should be adopted to enable the Native community “to secure that freedom and variety of education which is an essential condition in any sound and complete educational system,” so that “all the youth of the country” may not “be cast as it were, in the same Government educational mould.” Ans. 29.—The extent to which “freedom and variety” of education may be secured, depends in a great measure on the system adopted by the Universities of a country for awarding degrees of profciency in various branches of learning. We should now cast an eye on what the Universities of this country have done in this respect. I will, however, confine my remarks to the Calcutta University, which is the largest University in this country. This University confers degrees in Law, Engineering Medicine and Arts and every one is at liberty to select any one of these subjects he may like. The “freedom and variety” of education are, of course, secured to persons, inasmuch as they relate to these four different branches of 219

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learning. But the subject of Arts is itself a comprehensive subject, and calls earnestly for that “freedom and variety” which have not been granted to it, or have been granted to a very limited extent. The courses adopted by our University for examinations in Arts have been fixed in an imperfect imitation of the London University, and the result is that our graduates do not become adept in any single branch of the subject. I must, therefore, be opposed to the existing system. But, as this discussion relates to a subject which lies beyond the pale of the Commission’s enquiries, I think I had better not say anything more about it. I would only bring to the notice of the Commission the following extracts from the speech of His Excellency the Viceroy delivered at the Senate Hall on the occasion of the late Convocation of the Calcutta University, for these extracts contain valuable hints on the sort of education which is so much needed by the country, and which the present system of the University falls short of providing. His Excellency says, that “the first thing needed in education is thoroughness of knowledge, the mental powers can be better trained by knowing a few things thoroughly than by knowing many things superficially,” and again, that “more real mental training is to be derived from the thorough study of a single subject than from a skin-deep acquaintance with a hundred sciences.” I would however, briefly state my opinion to be that the greatest possible scope should be given by the University to the thorough cultivation and deep knowledge of those subjects which recommend themselves to the tastes genius, and mental proclivities of individual students. A thorough knowledge of the English language and literature should in every case be compulsory for a degree in Arts. But the candidate should be left at liberty to choose either one of the classical languages of Europe or Asia, or one comprehensive branch of knowledge, such as Mathematics, Physics, Natural Sciences. Moral Sciences, Ancient and Modern History, &c. This system, I believe would conduce to promote the cause of sound learning and original thought in India, and in time would produce authors and writers whose influence will be felt by the masses and become a part of the mental life of the nation. Ques. 30.—Do you regard the prevailing mode of instruction in English sciences and literature in any way detrimental to the interests of oriental literature? Ans. 30.—The excellent plan adopted by our Universities and followed by all colleges and schools—that of retaining the study of oriental languages as second languages and giving the students an option in regard to them—has saved those languages from being neglected on account of the progress of English education. A fit place has been accorded to them in the courses of study, so that a person can now obtain the highest degree of proficiency in any of these languages. It is possible for a person to secure the degree of M.A., not only in one of these languages but in several of them. But the arrangements recently made by the University in reference to the courses of study, which are to take effect from 1884 and in which the second language has been made optional in the A section of the B.A. Course, and has been omitted altogether in the B section of the same Course are undoubtedly calculated to ruin the cause of oriental languages. 220

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Ques. 31.—To what extent do you consider that Government should support primary and secondary education respectively, and to what extent collegiate education? Ans. 31.—As my personal opinion on this point is at variance with the public feeling, I may be allowed to give a sketch of both the views. I am personally of opinion that the duty of Government in relation to public instruction is not to provide education to the people, but to aid the people in procuring it for themselves. But the public feeling seems to differ widely from this view. The people base their argument on the fact that in India all matters affecting the public weal have always rested with Government. They see no reason why the education of the people, which is also a matter of public weal, should not rest with Government. After a full consideration of the question in all its bearings, I come to the conclusion that the native public cannot obtain suitable education unless the people take the entire management of their education into their own hands and that it is not possible for Government to adopt a system of education which may answer all purposes and satisfy the special wants of the various sections of the population. It would, therefore, be more beneficial to the country if Government should leave the entire management of their education to the people and withdraw its own interference. The public opinion, as I have just said, is not in favour of this view. They say that the time has not yet arrived which may warrant such withdrawal on the part of Government. A very able and intelligent Native gentleman, for whom I entertain sincere respect said to me some time ago that the idea that we should ourselves procure our education was an entire mistake, that the use of the word ourselves in any national sense with reference to the people of India was out of place, for he said that no nation could undertake any great work without the co-operation of all classes, high and low, whether in point of wealth or political and administrative power. He added that the higher order of political and administrative power in India was held by Government and its European officers, and that those who benefited most by commerce in India were also Europeans, and therefore they formed in reality the most important section of the Indian population. He said that whenever these officers had been requested to give some pecumary aid in the establishment of a college or school in this country for the benefit of the Natives, they had generally held aloof as if they had no concern with the thing at all. Apropos of this I may be allowed to relate an incident which has happened to myself. At the time when the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College was established Aligarh, I asked a European gentleman holding a high office under Government to grant some pecuniary aid to the institution. He replied that he was not bound to help us in the matter, that the institution was a child of ours and not his, and that he would rather be inclined to spurn it than to hug it with paternal affection. To do justice to public opinion, I confess it is not an easy matter for us to say that people ought to bear the burden of their education themselves. If we but consider the present state of India, we shall be forced to acknowledge that there are 221

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innumerable difficulties which threaten any such attempt on the part of the people with complete failure. As regards the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, and the Panjáb, I am of opinion that the existence of at least a high school, capable of imparting instruction up to the Entrance standard, is desirable in each district. In districts in which schools have not been established by local agencies, or by Missionaries, the Government is bound to bring one into existence, and as soon as a school of either of the above descriptions springs up in any of such districts, Government can safely close its own school after satisfying itself about the stability of the new institution and its efficiency for teaching up to the Entrance standard. I would, moreover, suggest that a college maintained at Allahabad entirely by the cost and under the guarantee of Government would suffice for the North Western Provinces and Oudh to all intents and purposes, and that a similar college established at Lahore would be enough for the educational requirements of the Panjab. But both these colleges should be capable of imparting the highest standard of education. These arrangements would dispense with the necessity of keeping any other college in the above-named provinces. Should local or Missionary corporations, however, desire to establish a college at any place in those provinces, Government ought to support such college by a liberal grant-in aid. I mean to say that there should be only one Government college in each province, and that all the rest, if any, may be aided ones. I must regard the Canning College at Lucknow and the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh as aided colleges, although the management of the former lies in the hands of Government instead of any local corporation. But it will be remembered that public feeling and opinion are opposed to all measures calculated to close any of the existing Government colleges or schools. The idea that Government desires to reduce and discourage high education in this country has occupied the minds of the majority of the people, although the speeches delivered by His Excellency the Viceroy on several occasions have contributed to lessen this impression among the more intelligent portion of the community, who have now come to believe that any attempt, if at all, to lower the standard of high education, will have none but financial grounds. However, the impression has not yet been entirely removed. Should Government happen to close any of the existing colleges, no matter how just and reasonable the grounds may be on which Government bases its action, it will be viewed by the people as a step to suppress high education. As regards Missionary institutions, in which the Holy Bible is taught along with secular books in a compulsory manner, my personal opinion is that the study of the Bible is in no way prejudicial to the Muhammadan religion. On the contrary, I am of opinion that the study of the Bible affords a valuable help in acquiring a knowledge of English literature. To persons anxious to obtain a knowledge of English or Greek literature, the study of the Holy Bible furnishes the same amount of help as the study of the Hebrew Bible furnishes to 222

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those who want to get an acquaintance with Hebrew literature, or the study of the Holy Kuran to those who are in search of a knowledge of Arabic. It must, therefore, be a foolish thing on the part of the Muhammadans to disapprove of Missionary institutions. But the general feeling among the Muhammadans is certainly adverse to my opinion, and the abolition of a Government institution in favour of a Missionary one will most probably be viewed with feelings of dissatisfaction, though I for one, am unable to see any reasonable ground for such dissatisfaction. In any case it will be proper for Government to ascertain the real state of public feeling before taking any step in this direction. There are many things which seem to present no difficulty theoretically, but it has often been found to be no easy task to put them into practice. It cannot for a moment be questioned that in colleges and schools which he under the control and supervision of Government officers, the introduction of religious study, no matter whether it may refer to Hindu, Muhammadan, Christian, or Jewish religion, will be repugnant to the avowed policy of the Government, and will spread discontent among the people. In places where there are only Missionary institutions, should any section of the population not like to get their children educated in those institutions, those people should establish a separate school or college for themselves, and Government should also grant some aid to such institutions, without entering into a discussion of the expediency of such institutions, when Missionary institutions already existed there. Government should, moreover, take care that district officers do not throw obstacles in the way of such local endeavours, and do not use their authority and influence against them as has been the case in some districts. By adopting such measures, Government would, in my opinion, not leave to the people any just ground for complaint. Ques. 32.—Is the existing grant in aid system in consonance with the suggestions you have made above, should effect be given to them? If not, in what manner and on what principle would you alter it so as to correspond? Ans. 32.—The existing grant in aid rules for the North Western Provinces, promulgated by Government Order No. 449A, dated 2nd June 1874, are, in my opinion, inadequate for the purpose in hand. One of the conditions on which aid is to be granted is that “the school as strengthened by the grant, will supply a distinct want, and that the educational requirements of the neighbourhood are not already sufficiently met by existing schools.” Now, the very establishment of a school or college by the public, mainly at their own cost, warrants the assumption that a necessity for it has really arisen, and that an aid from Government is merely required to swell the existing funds. As long as the above condition remains unaltered, the public cannot have any assurance that the colleges or schools they intend to establish will receive an aid from Government, and more especially in places where Missionary institutions already exist. Under such circumstances, they would rather be inclined to infer, by the absence of any other alternative, that the desire of the Government is to compel them to enter Missionary schools. This condition, therefore, requires to be annulled. 223

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A high school cannot be said to have an adequate staff, unless there be a European head master, graduates of a University for its subordinate masters, and three competent second language teachers for Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian, respectively. Such a school cannot be maintained by a less income than Rs. 900 per mensem. It now remains for us to see what amount of grant in-aid do the existing rules allot to such schools. The rules require that the average attendance of boys who learn English should not be “less than one for every Re 1–8 of the monthly grant.” It is therefore impossible for a school of the kind I have just described to expect an aid from Government that may amount to half its expenditure, unless that school undertakes to have an average attendance of at least three hundred English reading students. And this is simply tantamount to saying that no one should ever attempt to establish an efficient high school in the hope of receiving a suitable and from Government. No fixed scale of grant-in aid has been laid down for colleges. To regulate grants in aid by the number of students receiving instruction is, in my opinion, a wrong principle. The grants should not be regulated by the number of students, but by the quality of the instruction imparted. A better quality of instruction necessarily involves a higher expenditure. It is much better to impart a sound instruction to a limited number of scholars than to furnish a large number of students with an imperfect education. I would, therefore, suggest that the grant in aid should be regulated by the amount of the expenditure of the college or school for which such aid is solicated, and that such aid should in no case be less than half of the total expenditure of the institution. And when the people furnish the moiety, Government cannot justly enter into a discussion of the number of the students receiving instruction and of the average per head of the grant in aid. Ques. 33.—Would the existing scholarship system answer its purpose as well under the altered arrangements you have suggested? Ans. 33.—In the North Western Provinces and Oudh, Government scholarships are at present awarded to the best deserving of those scholars of Government and aided institutions who successfully pass the Middle Class, Entrance, and First Arts examinations, with a view to help them in prosecuting further studies. I could suggest no better method for awarding scholarships. It is a pity that the number of scholarships should have been considerably reduced, and it is essentially necessary that savings should be effected in other heads of expenditure to increase the number of scholarships. I am in favour of the system of scholarships, and can never bring myself to admit that scholarships are a sort of bribes for education. Scholarships are the best means of inducing students to continue their studies. Scholarships are particularly needed in India, and more especially for the Muhammadan community. They prove an essential help to those poor students whose circumstances make it impossible for them to continue their studies beyond a certain class. Most of these renowned and illustrious personages of ancient times who have made valuable additions to science, or have adorned literature with elegant works among Muhammadans as well as among other nations, could claim but a poor parentage. Great expectations may still be entertained of 224

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such persons in this direction. It is therefore absolutely necessary that a wider extension may be given to the system of scholarships. If I remember rightly, there still exists in England some provision for the help of those poor students who are known by the name of “Sizars,” but they are viewed with some degree of contempt by their more fortunate school fellows. The Managing Committee of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh have also adopted a mode for the maintenance of such “Sizars.” But they carry it out with so much secrecy that other students have not the least knowledge of the existence of such “Sizars” who thus escape the contempt with which they would otherwise have been viewed. This mode of assisting deserving students has been a great success. Q. 34.—Can the system of payment by results be, in your opinion, usefully applied to English schools? If so, in what way would you provide for its application to such schools? A. 34.—As regards English schools and colleges, the system of payment by results, i e , one in which cash payments are made, is not, in my opinion, advisable. The custom of presenting prize-books to students who have successfully passed their examinations is only another form of payment by results, and is, in my opinion, suited to all intents and purposes.

Answers by the HON. SYED AHMED KHAN BAHADUR, C. S. I., to certain of the Questions framed by the Commission. Ques. 37.—What effect do you think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education, and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combinations for local purposes? Ans. 37.—The immediate effect of the withdrawal of Government from the direct management (if the word includes pecuniary support) of schools and colleges, will be to reduce high education nearly to the point of death, but my personal opinion is, that it will subsequently revive spontaneously, and will then have a healthy life, and be self supporting. Ques. 39.—Does definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct occupy any place in the course of Government colleges and schools? Have you any suggestions to make on this subject? Ans. 39.—So far as I am aware, definite instruction in duty or the principles of moral conduct does not occupy a separate or prominent place in Government colleges and schools. Indeed, it is more than doubtful whether Government can take any definite steps towards imparting such instruction without treading upon religious ground. Only such educational institutions as are established by the Natives themselves can do much to improve the social and moral feelings of the students. At the same time I firmly believe that the influence of all high instruction in sciences and arts, and the 225

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influence of English literature in particular, go far to advance the cause of truth, morality, and sense of duty. If the instruction imparted in Government colleges fails to achieve this fully, it is because the subjects of instruction are multifarious, whilst the standard of efficiency in any individual subject is low. The Government system of education encourages a smattering of many subjects and a mastery of none, and the result is that it has not produced really great writers or leaders of thought whose names are likely to live, or whose influences will be felt by the nation. This is a great misfortune to the cause of moral and social progress. The purely native feeling is decidedly against multifariousness of study, if it means want of depth, and we have a Persian proverb— “Nim hakim [Illegible Text] Nim mulla [Illegible Text]. A half-doctor is a danger to life; A half priest a danger to faith. I have heard that the English poet Pope has composed a similar proverb in English.

Cross-examination of the HON’BLE SYED AHMED KHAN, C. S. I. By MR. DEIGHTON. Q. 1.—Would you kindly state whether, in your opinion, it is advisable that high schools should be placed under the control of Municipalities as has recently been ordered by the Government of the North-Western Provinces? If not, will you kindly state your reasons for disapproving of such an order? A. 1.—In my opinion Municipalities should have no control of the working of English teaching schools of any class. Government schools should remain under the control of the Director of Public Instruction, Missionary schools should be managed by Missionaries, and schools or colleges established by bodies of Native gentlemen should remain under their own control. In my opinion, neither the Municipalities, nor any Revenue or Magisterial officer connected with the administration of the district, should be allowed any power of interfering with Missionary schools or educational institutions established by bodies of Native gentlemen. By MR. SYED MAHMUD. Q. 1.—With reference to your 23rd answer, please state whether, in your opinion, religious prejudices are the only causes which have kept Muhammadans aloof from English education. Is there anything in their socio-political traditions which has the same effect? 226

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A. 1.—In my 23rd answer I have only touched upon the main cause. If all the causes to which the failure of the Muhammadans to avail themselves of the benefits of English education to an adequate extent is due were noticed, it would become a lengthy detail. It may be briefly stated that the causes which have kept the Muhammadans-aloof from English education may be traced to four sources— to their political traditions, social customs religious beliefs, and poverty. An insight into the political causes can be obtained by studying the history of the last two centuries, and especially by studying the well known work written by the Honourable the President of the Commission and named “Our Indian Mussalmans.” Briefly, I may say that the Muhammadan public was not opposed to the establishment of British rule in India, nor did the advent of British rule cause any political discontent among that people. In those days of anarchy and oppression, when the country was in want of a paramount power, the establishment of British supremacy was cordially welcomed by the whole Native community; and the Muhammadans also viewed this political change with feelings of satisfaction. But the subordinate political change which this transition naturally involved as a consequence, and which proved a great and unexpected blow to the condition of the Muhammadans, engendered in them a feeling of aversion against the British, and against all things relating to the British nation. For the same reason they conceived an aversion for the English language and for the sciences that were presented to them through the medium of that language. But this aversion is now declining in the same degree in which education is spreading among Muhammadans. The Muhammadans were proud of their socio-political position, and their keeping aloof from English education may in some measure be ascribed to the fact that the Government colleges and schools included among their pupils some of those whom the Muhammadans, with an undue pride and unreasonable self conceit and vanity, regarded with social contempt, and under this vain impression they did not think it worth their while to associate with persons whom they considered inferior to themselves in social position. The same vanity, self conceit, and prejudice of the Muhammadans led them to attach an undue importance to their own literature, metaphysics, philosophy, and logic, and in the same spirit they regarded the English literature and modern sciences as quite worthless, and productive of no mental and moral good. They did not tolerate those persons being called learned men who had acquired a respectable knowledge of European literature or science. They could never be brought to admit that sound and useful learning existed in any language except Arabic and Persian. They had given a peculiar form to moral philosophy, and had based it on religious principles which they believed to be infallible, and this circumstance had dispensed, as they thought, with the necessity of European science and literature. I still remember the days when in respectable families the study of English, with the object of obtaining a post in Government service or of securing any other lucrative employment, was considered highly discreditable. The prejudice has now, however, much slackened. The religious aspect of the question I have already described. The poverty of the Muhammadan community is only too obvious to require any comment. I am, 227

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however, of opinion that the above mentioned socio-political causes, though still extant, have been mitigated to a considerable extent, and the Muhammadans are gradually freeing themselves of old prejudices, and taking to the study of English literature and science. Q. 2.—What has been the result of the attitude of Muhammadans towards English education? A. 2.—The importance of a knowledge of English in this country cannot be questioned. The Government has justly rendered the possession of that knowledge indispensable to Natives who are placed in charge of high and responsible offices in executive and judicial administration, and the blessings of the British rule will no doubt be increased when Native subordinate officials who are to assist the English officers in the work of administration are acquainted with the English language. In the same manner, a knowledge of the English language is essential to those who engage in trade, or who adopt the legal or medical profession. The want of attention shown by the Muhammadans towards the study of English has unfortunately debarred them from these lucrative professions, and has consequently increased their poverty, depriving them at the same time of the benefit of other sorts of learning also. Q. 3.—Have any special measures been taken by the people or the Government for spreading English education among the Mussalmans? A. 3.—As far as I know, the Muhammadans have, during the last few years, established a few small schools in various places, but the course of study in such schools has been confined to instruction in Arabic and Persian literature and theology I know of no school established by the people for the diffusion of English learning among the Muhammadans except the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh. But I hear that a school has recently been established by Nakhuda Muhammad Ali Rogay at Bombay for the same object. The “Calcutta Madrasa,” established by the Government of Bengal long ago, does not meet the object satisfactorily. It neither imparts English education to an adequate standard, nor makes that education compulsory, and the result has been that some three hundred of the Muhammadan scholars reading in it have remained destitute of English education. In 1871 the Government of India passed a Resolution in which the attention of the Local Governments was invited to the subject of Muhammadan education. The Government of Bengal, too, established several schools for the benefit of the Muhammadans from the income of the Muhsin Endowment and Calcutta Madrasa Funds, but I hear that a considerable number of the students of these schools have not received the benefit of English education. Similar specific measures for the intellectual advancement of the Mussalman community were adopted by the Government of Madras during the administration of Lord Hobart. Small schools were also established in the North Western Provinces for the same purpose, but I am not aware of the effect which these schools had upon primary and secondary education. I can only say that the measure has produced no material effect upon high education among Muhammadans, or upon their social and moral condition. 228

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Q. 4.—Please state whether, in your opinion, Government should take any further special measures for the advancement of English education among Muhammadans? A. 4.—I am decidedly of opinion that the Mussalman community has no right to expect Government to adopt any denominational measure for them. The system of education established by Government is equally open to all sections of the population, and it cannot, and should not, show any partiality for a particular class or section. The failure of the Muhammadans to derive an adequate share of benefit from it is their own fault. They should now abide by the consequences of that failure, and must thank themselves for their backwardness in the race of progress. In consideration, however, of the exceptionally unfortunate condition of the Muhammadans and of their deplorable ignorance and poverty, Government would only be according an indulgence to them if it should be pleased to consider the subject of Muhammadan education as a special case, and in doing so the best plan for the Government would, in my opinion, be to use every endeavour to induce the influential and well to-do classes of the Muhammadans to establish schools and colleges for the intellectual and moral advancement of their co-religionists, to encourage and support the endeavours of such men by a more liberal and extended system of grant-in aid, and to cause such European officials as have hitherto viewed such affairs with discouraging coldness to take a more indulgent interest in them. The Muhammadans have undoubtedly a just and natural claim to all endowments which have been made by men of their own race expressly for the education of the Muhammadan community, and the disposal of some of which at present rests with Government. But I regret to say that I am unable to regard the uses to which those endowments are at present applied as calculated to do any substantial good. Q. 5.—With reference to a statement in your 31st answer, quoting the views of a friend as to the absence of sympathy among European officers towards native endeavours for establishing educational institutions, please state your own opinion on the subject, and also to what causes you attribute the circumstance? A. 5.—I agree in the views of my friend which I have quoted, and have therefore given in my 31st answer an example of what personally happened to me. At the same time, it is my opinion and belief that the Government and its high statesmen cordially desire our welfare and feel sympathy with us. But the majority of those subordinate European officers who have the administration in the mofussil in their hands, are careless of, and indifferent to, our education and enlightenment. There are, no doubt, some of them who go out of their way to show sympathy to us, and take a share in our endeavours by helping us in our work with both by money and by other means. Towards such English officers we naturally feel gratitude from the bottom of our hearts. But there are also some European officers, though they are few, who strongly feel that the spread of education and enlightenment among Natives, and especially among the Mussalmans, is contrary to political expediency for the British rule. This class of men dislike Natives educated in English, and regard them with anger and jealousy. Similarly, some officers of the Educational Department used to view the establishment of independent educational institutions 229

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with a jealous eye. But I am thankful to say that, at least in my part of the country, such is not the case at present. I have not made these remarks with reference to my experience in any particular part of my life, but generally, and I have based them on my experience ever since I first began to take an interest in the subject of education among my countrymen. The causes of the circumstances I have described are numerous, and some of them neither pleasant nor obvious. But I may briefly state that the great majority of English officers believe that their duty is to do only their official work, and that they are not called upon to take any trouble about other matters connected with the needs of the country. They do not come into social relations with Natives, and therefore they are seldom able to know the real and inner wants and needs of the Native population. Consequently, neither have they any occasion to become acquainted with the requirements of Natives, nor to feel sympathy with them. Thus, speaking generally, no real sympathy exists between European officers and the Natives—I mean such sympathy as exists between two friends. I think this very unfortunate, at least for my countrymen, but I wish to say plainly that the blame does not rest entirely with either the English officers or the Natives. I firmly believe that as soon as sincere friendly sympathy is established between Englishmen and Natives, schools and even colleges will begin to be established all over the country, and will cost Government no more than the grant-in-aid rules could easily allow. But I am sorry to confess that I do not think that much improvement in this respect can be expected for some years to come. Q. 6.—How far, in your opinion, can Government take any steps towards the education of Muhammadan girls, and with what chances of success? A. 6.—Before proceeding to answer the question, I beg leave to say that the general idea that Muhammadan ladies of respectable families are quite ignorant, is an entire mistake. A sort of indigenous education of a moderate degree prevails among them, and they study religious and moral books in Urdu and Persian, and in some instances in Arabic. Among my own relations there are ladies who can speak and understand Arabic very fairly, can read and teach Persian books on morality, and can write letters in Persian, and compose verses in their own language. But this is not a new or a rare thing. I myself read elementary Persian books with my mother, and received from her other moral and instructive lessons in my early youth, which are still fresh in my memory. In families of the better classes there have been ladies in comparatively recent times who possessed a high degree of ability. I remember a lady who belonged to the family of the famous Shah Abdul Aziz of Delhi, and who possessed a considerable amount of learning in Arabic books of religion, and used to preach religious and moral doctrines among her sex like a qualified and competent preacher. The poverty of the Muhammadans has been the chief cause of the decline of female education among them. It is still a custom among the well to-do and respectable families of Muhammadans to employ tutoresses (Ustánis or Mullanís) to get their girls instructed in the Holy Kurán, and in elementary theological books in the Urdu language. Sometimes a father or a brother or some other near kinsman teaches them to write letters in Urdu, and occasionally imparts to them instruction in Persian books. To qualify them to read and write telegraphic 230

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messages, some boys have taught English to their sisters sufficient for the purpose, and I know of two girls who can even write letters in English. I admit, however, that the general state of female education among Muhammadans is at present far from satisfactory; but at the same time, I am of opinion that Government cannot adopt any practical measure by which the respectable Muhammadans may be induced to send their daughters to Government schools for education. Nor can Government bring into existence a school on which the parents and guardians of girls may place perfect reliance. I cannot blame the Muhammadans for this disinclination towards Government girls’ schools, and I believe that even the greatest admirer of female education among European gentlemen will not impute blame to the Muhammadans if he is only acquainted with the state of those schools in this country. I have also seen a few of the girls’ schools in England. Were these institutions for a moment supposed to be just like those in India in every respect, would any English gentleman like to send his daughters for education to them? Certainly not. I am therefore decidedly of opinion that the efforts hitherto made by Government to provide education to Muhammadan girls have all been in vain, and have completely failed to produce any effect whatever upon the respectable families of the Muhammadans. Nor have the lower classes derived any benefit from them. The question of female education much resembles the question of the oriental philosopher who asked whether the egg or the hen was first created. Those who hold that women should be educated and civilised prior to men are greatly mistaken. The fact is that no satisfactory education can be provided for Muhammadan females until a large number of Muhammadan males receive a sound education. The present state of education among Muhammadan females is, in my opinion, enough for domestic happiness, considering the present social and economical condition of the life of the Muhammadans in India. What the Government at present ought to do is to concentrate its efforts in adopting measures for the education and enlightenment of Muhammadan boys. When the present generation of Muhammadan men is well educated and enlightened the circumstance will necessarily have a powerful, though indirect, effect on the enlightenment of Muhammadan women, for enlightened fathers brothers, and husbands will naturally be most anxious to educate their female relations There are even at this time many significant indications of this desire on the part of educated men a few instances of which I have already given. Any endeavours on the part of Government to introduce female education among Muhammadans will, under the present social circumstances, prove a complete failure, so far as respectable families are concerned, and, in my humble opinion, will probably produce mischievous results, and be a waste of money and energy. By MR. PEARSON. Q. 1.—Have you ever heard that school fees are sometimes paid by the teachers when Government officers use pressure to increase the collections beyond the rates to which the people are accustomed? A. 1.—Yes. I have heard so. 231

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Q. 2.—In your opinion, can the and genous schools of Northern India in which young children learn the elements of book keeping and arithmetic only, be improved by adding a course of general instruction? A. 2.—I think not. Q. 3.—Do you think that schools in which young children learn to read only a few pages of the Kurán, together with a little religious teaching, can be improved by adding a course of general instruction? A. 3.—I think not. You can neither introduce a general course, nor is it practicable to improve such schools in any way. Q. 4.—Please state if there is any system of indigenous schools for girls of the poorer classes in Northern India? A. 4.—There is no public system of instruction for girls of any kind in the North-West Provinces Girls are taught privately to read religious books and books on morals. Q. 5.—Where there is no desire for any kind of schools which might be established by the Department, is it worth while for Government to make efforts to induce the people to accept education? A. 5.—The Panjab and North-Western Provinces in this matter are on a par. Where there is no desire no schools can be established. But it you can remove the causes which prevent the existence of a desire for education, you should try to do so, and then the schools will be beneficial. Q. 6.—Where Government schools have been maintained for many years without results adequate to the expenditure incurred, should the attempt be abandoned, or is it better to persevere in hopes of a change in the popular sentiment? A. 6.—There is no use in continuing to maintain schools in such places. But you should not cease to endeavour to remove the causes which hinder the success of the schools. Q. 7.—Do you think that the working classes in India are competent to judge for themselves whether the education offered in departmental schools is suitable for their children? A. 7.—They have no time even to consider such a question. Q. 8.—What is your opinion of educational durbars, and similar agencies, for stimulating a desire for education? A. 8.—They are nothing but shows. By MR. LEE-WARNER. Q.—With reference to the remark of the able Native gentleman quoted in your answer to question 31 and your own comments on it, can you, from your own experience, mention any European station in India in which contributions are not made by Europeans towards the cost of some mission or other private school for Natives? A.—The question is complex, and as its form is negative, it implies that in every European station in India Europeans give contributions towards native 232

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education. I do not admit the fact implied in the question. The rest of the question relates to two separate matters.—first, Missionary schools, second, private schools established by Natives. I will answer each part of the question separately as they cannot both be answered together. To the first part my answer is that I know of no European station in which a Missionary school has been established by contribution and is not supported by Europeans. To the second part of the question my answer is that I am not, from personal knowledge, aware of any station where a Native school has been established and is supported by contribution from Europeans except our own Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh which receives only one European contribution now, as I will presently mention. There may, however, be a few places where individual Europeans have made donations or given small contributions towards the establishment of a school or college for Natives. To our Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh a few European noblemen and gentlemen,—prominent among them the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Spankie (late of the Allahabad High Court), the Earl of Northbrook, the Hon’ble Sir William Muir, the Hon’ble Sir John Strachey, Mr. Charles Elliott, C.S., His Excellency the Marquis of Ripon, and also Lord Stanley of Alderley, and two other English gentlemen of high position, who have no connection with this country at all,—have made liberal donations. The Earl of Lytton was the first who most generously gave to our college a handsome annual contribution which continued till His Lordship left this country. His Excellency the Marquis of Ripon likewise allows a munificent annual contribution to that college besides the liberal donation already mentioned. These, and a few others, are the European noblemen and gentlemen to whom I have alluded in my answer to a previous question as possessing the heartfelt feelings of gratitude of the Muhammadan community. But of the European officers of the station, although there have been many changes among them since the college has been established, no one ever gave a monthly or annual contribution to that college, nor has any of them, with one exception only, made any donation to it. The present local authorities, however, owing to their great personal kindness to me, are showing much sympathy towards that institution and are exerting themselves for its welfare, and this is gratefully and deeply appreciated by us. So that His Excellency the Marquis of Ripon is the only one among Europeans in India who gives to the Aligarh College an annual contribution. In other stations, like Saháranpur, Deoband, Agra, &c., where Natives have established small schools, European officers of the station, so far as I know, do not contribute towards the expenses of those schools. By MR. WARD. Q. 1.—With reference to the self supporting schools mentioned in answer 3, can you state what the usual rate of fee is? A. 1.—There is no fixed rate; it varies from 4 pice to 1 rupee according to the means of the pupil. 233

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Q. 2.—Is it the fact that Mussalman men of learning have scruples against making any profit from teaching? A. 2.—Those men who teach in the name of God think it unlawful to take money for teaching; but, besides that class, there are other learned men who take employ and receive salaries for teaching. Q. 3.—Can you assign any cause for the decrease in the number of indigenous schools mentioned in answer 4? A. 3.—When Government schools were established, people thought that greater worldly good would accrue to them by going to Government schools. Q. 4.—Then this cause dates back to Mr. Thomason’s time? A. 4.—In Mr. Thomason’s time the work of vernacular education was extended only to a few districts. Q. 5.—With reference to answer 7, do you think that the sell me of entrusting the direction of education to district committees is likely to further the utilisation of indigenous schools in the North-Western Provinces? A. 5.—Certainly. Q. 6.—Do you think it is likely to improve the character of the inspection and the trustworthiness of reports? A. 6.—Certainly, if the committees interest themselves in the matter. Q. 7.—Can you state what was the reply of the Government to the petition of the Aligarh zamindars quoted in answers 16, 17, 18? A. 7.—So far as I remember, the answer was that the local funds were not to be regarded as the property of the people of the district, but were to be spent at the discretion of the Local Government. Q. 8.—With reference to the incident mentioned in answer 31, is it the fact that in the prospectus which was issued regarding the Anglo-Vernacular College, stress was laid on the propriety of subscriptions being chiefly confined to the Mussalman community. A. 8.—When the prospectus of the college was originally published, the committee resolved by a large majority that it was essential that Englishmen should join with Muhammadans in the cause of education, and the committee also resolved that the English nation, who are our rulers, should be asked to share in the work. The third point which the committee had in their mind was that it would be contrary to political expediency to establish a college avowedly alienated from English sympathy. At the same time it was resolved that Muhammadans should ask Englishmen to contribute, but not Hindus, because it was regarded as a matter of shame that Hindus should be asked to subscribe to a separate college for Muhammadans. Q. 9.—Is it a fact that in establishing the Scientific Society of Aligarh you received considerable assistance, both in money and sympathy, from European gentlemen? A. 9.—I received none except from Mr. Bramly, who gave me Rs. 1,000, but said he had previously paid no attention to education.

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By P. RANGANADA MUDALIYAR, M.A. Q. 1.—You say in answer 7 that “the schools of classes (1) and (2) may easily be assimilated with the Government educational system.” Would the private individuals to whom schools of class (1) belong allow any Government interference? would these schools possess any degree of permanence? A. 1.—In my opinion they would allow interference, provided the course I have suggested is adopted. I have described how they can be made to possess permanence. Q. 2.—While I entirely concur with you as to the necessity of a fair knowledge of English for a thorough study of any particular branch of science, I should like to have an explanation from you as to how a knowledge of elementary principles of science is to be imparted to the masses except through the medium of the vernacular? A. 2.—Those who do not intend to study English afterwards must be taught through the medium of the vernacular. By THE REV. W. MILLER. Q. 1.—What public do you refer to when you say in your answer to question 31 that the public feeling is opposed to your own? A. 1.—I refer to the Native public. By MR. CROFT. Q. 1.—Efforts have from time to time been made to introduce the elements of Western science into the Arabic department of the Calcutta Madrasa, and, except as regards elementary arithmetic, these efforts have uniformly failed owing to the indifference or hostility of the pupils. Would you, therefore, having regard to the true interests of the Muhammadans, make the study of English and of Western science compulsory in the Arabic department of the Madrasa, or would you think it sufficient to encourage the study of English by appointing an English teacher, attendance at whose classes should be optional? A. 1.—In my opinion the Arabic department should be abolished. The system of English education should be continued, and Arabic made compulsory as a second language. The Madrasa then should be raised to the status of a college for Muhammadans only. Q. 2.—In the Madrasas of Hughli, Dacca, Rajshahye, and Chittagong, which are supported from the Mohsin Endowment, it was decided from the beginning that English teaching should be introduced whenever any considerable number of the pupils manifested a desire for it, and it has accordingly been now introduced into all those Madrasas—in Dacca up to the Entrance standard of the University, in other Madrasas to a lower standard. Do you think that provision sufficient, or would you make English a compulsory part of the course in all those Madrasas?

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A. 2.—My opinion is that, whenever in any Madrasa Arabic is taught, coupled with a little English, harm is done to both studies, and consequently to the pupils. Where there is no great desire for instruction in English, I would only establish a school teaching a little English, coupled with the study of Arabic or of the vernacular to a moderate standard. By DR. JEAN. Q. 1.—Are you of opinion that the practical rules and formulæ known by the name of “Gur” should, under such circumstances and for such purposes as stated in the answer to question 5 be taught in schools exclusive of, or rather together with, European methods of calculation? A. 1.—In the indigenous schools alluded to, the instruction imparted by means of “Gur” is sufficient for pupils educated in those schools and therefore the introduction of European methods would be superfluous. By THE HON. BABU BHUDEB MUKERJI. Q. 1.—Do you know the difference between the Nagri and Kaithi characters? A. 1.—I do not know. Q. 2.—Are you aware of any Government order under which Kaithi writing was abolished from the Patwari papers of the North-Western Provinces and Nagri substituted for it? A. 2.—I am not aware. Q. 3.—Do Natives of the North-Western Provinces who have received high education in English find it easy to get remunerative employment out of the Department of Public Instruction? A. 3.—It is impossible to answer that question briefly. Explanatory Question by THE PRESIDENT Q. 1.—You have said that the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of high education would, in the first place reduce those institutions nearly to the point of death. Is it a matter of fact that many such schools and colleges giving high education are at this moment flourishing in the hands of Missionaries and under private Native management as at Aligarh and elsewhere, without direct Government management? A. 1.—Yes. The withdrawal of Government from direct management as used in my answer was intended to include the withdrawal of all pecuniary aid. In that case high education would reach the point of death. But if aid is given, then we can establish many schools.

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Memorial from the Members of the Hardui Union Club in favour of Hindi. To THE PRESIDENT OF THE EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA HONOURABLE SIR, I. Heartily and cordially welcoming with sincere pleasure the news that an Educational Commission has been appointed by our benign Government in view to enquiring into the condition of education in India and principally on the points noted below, We, the undersigned, think ourselves justified in laying before the Commission our humble opinion with advertence to the improvement of primary education, and other topics connected therewith. The questions which occupy the attention of the Commission are— (1) How is the mass education (i.e.) the elementary education of the agricultural and other industrial classes of Indian carried on at present? Can it be improved, and if so, by what means? (2) Can it be made to exercise a wider influence so as to become a national thing in course of time? (3) How far should Government aid educational institutions, and can such institutions be made to support themselves in case the Government withdraws its aid? (4) What are the best means of promoting male and female education, so that it may practically help the higher education of Native children? II. In our humble opinion, to propagate education successfully among the masses of the people in India, and in fact in every country, great care should be taken in selecting the language to be adopted as the medium of instruction, and we think in this selection the consideration of the following points essentially necessary;—(1) the medium language ought to be one that best suits the wants and requirements of the people, (2) that assists them in their daily walk of life, (3) most materially and easily helps them in expressing their ideas, as well as in impressing them upon their minds, (4) affords material assistance in translations. Although many Persian and even Arabic words have been introduced into our language by the invasion of the Muhammadans, yet our mother tongue—we mean the language which our children first begin to speak—bears a closer affinity to Hindi than to Urdu. Our household members do not understand as properly when we speak before them in Urdu, which we are compelled to acquire in schools, we undergo a heavy task in reforming our language, changing it from Hindi into Urdu, for otherwise we cannot be educated. This is indeed a matter of regret for us and cannot possibly improve the mass education, not to say of making it a national thing. Without the help of the mother tongue the mass education cannot be improved, and our mothertongue is most decidedly Hindi. We therefore loudly appeal for its introduction 237

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in our schools, and we hope that our impartial and benign Government will take into consideration our appeal. Our own conviction is that no language can either be better appreciated by the people, or easily understood and acquired by them, than their own mother tongue. We need hardly say that it is the easiest language, and can be acquired and properly understood with very little difficulty. With these considerations we beg to recommend Hindi as the most proper and fit one to be selected as the medium of instruction in these provinces. Our recommendations will, no doubt, meet with strong opposition and many persons will advocate the introduction of Urdu as the medium of instruction. But it is very well known, and has to some extent been proved, that Urdu is not our mother tongue, which is a conglomeration of Persian and Hindi. Urdu is still unknown in nearly all the villages of these provinces where Hindi is universally spoken and easily understood. It is not time for us to say under what difficulty we labour, by the fact that all the court business is transacted in Urdu, the parties neither understand the judge, nor the latter the pleadings of the former, one thing is written, but quite a different meaning can be construed from it, cases are upset, right is made wrong, and vice versa. How annoying and perplexing it is to read Shekasta writing in Urdu and court business is generally transacted in Shekasta hand. Another reason for our rejecting Urdu is that in no language are there to be found so many immoral books as in Urdu, and it is very difficult for young and raw students to save themselves from the immoral effects of these books when they are perused by them. Education is the most effectual remedy for the preservation and improvement of a man’s morality, but if he is to study immoral books we mean love stories such as Gulbakaoh, &c., he is sure to lose his mind and will never be able to make real improvement. To be plainer, the effect of education will be lost upon him, may, it would produce a contrary effect, then we see no use of introducing Urdu. In Upper India, we mean in the Bengal Presidency, there are four large divisions— Bengal, Behar, North-Western Provinces and Oudh, and the Punjáb. In the former of the two their respective mother tongues are the medium of imparting primary education as well as they are the court languages, while in the latter two provinces Urdu is much encouraged and taught. Now if we compare the former two with the latter ones, we find Bengal and Behar far in advance of the latter as regards education and consequent civilization, union, and wealth, and this fully proves the problem that education can be successfully imparted by adopting our mother tongue, Hindi, as the medium of instruction. Why is it that the mass education is, we should say, unknown in these provinces; we do not lack perseverance, zeal, strength, energy and labour, then why are we not on an equal footing with Bengal and Behar? The only reason is that we are not properly educated. The medium of instruction selected for us being Urdu the mass of the people naturally turn away from learning it and consequently remain uneducated for the whole of their lives. Few words from us will suffice for the second question. It will no doubt, in course of time, become a national thing if our mother tongue Hindi is chosen. The Government for the present should not withdraw its aid because the country is unripe for self support, but in future, when local boards are constituted and the 238

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people understand the principles of local self government which the benign and liberal Government of Lord Ripon has proposed to teach us and has done much towards it, the Government can advantageously stop its support. But regard must be had that no improvement can be expected if Hindi is not encouraged. The Government has proposed that the members of the local boards to whom the management of schools is to be transferred are to be selected from the land owning classes of the district who have, as a rule, great taste for their mother tongue Hindi and are utterly unacquainted with Urdu, and under which circumstances it is certain that they will try their best to improve Hindi education. The Government has already done much for the improvement of our education by establishing schools everywhere, and if we do not appreciate it, the fault is ours. The only thing that will help us much is the selection of Hindi as second language. Previously it was at our discretion to choose any language we preferred, but since the issue of Resolution No. 1498A of 1878, we have been indirectly ordered not to read Hindi because it lays down that the possession of the middle class certificate is a sine quá non in getting an appointment, while there has been circulated another order that no man will get a certificate even if he may have passed the examination creditably if his second language is not Urdu. We would have appreciated these orders as a great boon, if we could derive more help from Urdu in learning English than from Hindi. But the reverse is the case. There is a vast difference in the ideas of Urdu and English scholars, while there is very little between those of Sanskrit and English ones, and thus the latter can assist us more in reading English than the former. The characters of Urdu are so akin to each other (in some the number and position of dots only make the difference) that it is very difficult to read the correct word at the first effort, while is no such thing in Hindi characters. It is very difficult to write in Urdu English words just as they are pronounced while we can do so in Nagri. Considerations like these highly induce us to recommend Hindi to be adopted as the medium of imparting education. In conclusion, we beg to state that it is our firm conviction that if Hindi be adopted as the medium of education in these provinces, an inherent love for education will rise in the hearts of men to be able to read their religious books, and to be free from the immoral effects of so many Urdu love stories. A love for union will follow, and peace and prosperty will reign everywhere, which is, we believe, the sole and main object of our human and benign Government in governing a people. Memorial from Meerut Association in favour of Hindi To THE HONOURABLE W. W. HUNTER, L.L.D., C.I.E., President of the Education Commission HONOURABLE SIR, The members of the Meerut Association beg to submit the following representation for the favourable consideration of the Commission. 239

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II. They feel very thankful to Government for its having taken up the question of diffusing education among the masses. That the only practical way of effecting this is to make the vernacular of the people the medium of instruction admits of no question. But unfortunately for the North-Western Provinces their vernacular, the Bhasha, or the spoken language, has been entirely ignored, and Urdu, an artificial language, has been forced upon them under the patronage of Government. To remove misconception on this point they embrace the favourable opportunity of urging the claims of the mother tongue of 26,569,074 Hindus of these provinces, with a view that the object of Government, which is the spread of primary education among the masses, especially when its diffusion is contemplated, may not be lost sight of by the continuation of the present injurious system. They now beg to lay before you the reasons to support their views as described below. 1. Urdu is not the vernacular of these provinces, and is only used by the official classes of the people on account of its being the court language, although there is no reason why Bhasha should not be compulsory in the official circles. Urdu cannot be intelligible to the masses owing to its being greatly mixed up with Persian and Arabic words, while the real vernacular, the Bhasha of these provinces, is the offspring of Sanskrit, once the spoken and written language of the people of the whole of this country. (As is evident from Beame, Trumpp, Rajendra Lal Mitra and other authorities on this subject.) 2. The masses of the people have not adopted Urdu, to foster which the Muhammadans and English rulers have made every possible effort. 3. To facilitate intercourse between the rulers and the ruled, Urdu was created during the Muhammadan rule, but it was never intended that it should displace the language which at that time flourished in private schools as freely as it does now. Urdu has as little penetrated into or influenced the masses as English has. All the apparent growth and vigour of Urdu may be attributed to the patronage of the late Muhammadan kings and the encouragement of the British Government. 4. The real vernacular of the North-Western Provinces is Hindi, which the Hindus speak, but Urdu is never spoken in their family circles. As the Deva Nágri characters are widely used in India, they should be equally used in books to be prescribed for the instruction of the masses in the North-Western Provinces. 5. The Deva Nágri characters, with some modifications, are used in other provinces of India, in all languages derived from Sanskrit, viz., Mahrathi, Gujrathi, Bengali, Kaythi, Hindi, Marwari, &c. 8. A beginner can learn Hindi more easily and rapidly than Urdu. 9. The whole of the Hindu community of the North Western Provinces and the Punjáb use and speak most commonly Bhasha. 10. The female members of Hindu families can learn only through the medium of Hindi as they are averse to read books written in Urdu, owing to religious prejudices. This instruction is as important and useful as that of the other sex. 11. A Hindu experiences more difficulty to learn the Arabic and Persian characters than a Muhammadan has to learn the Deva Nagri characters. The 240

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Muhammadans have no religious prejudices against learning the characters of the Hindus, but the Hindus are bound not to utter a single word of Persian or Arabic in their divine devotion. III. If however the retention of Urdu be considered absolutely necessary for the sake of the Muhammadan population the members of the Meerut Association most respectfully beg to urge that in any scheme which may be prescribed for the North Western Provinces, the education of the people through Deva Nagri characters should have at least equal claim if not greater than Urdu, especially where the majority are Hindu students. IV. Hindi is understood by the Punjabi, the Hindustani, the Bengali, the Mahrathi, the Gujrathi, the Sindhi, the Marwari, and by all nationalities of India, but Urdu is not. V. With a view that the above proposal be carried out, they beg to suggest that a rule be laid down, that in every primary school of the North-Western Provinces, Hindi, supplemented where found necessary by Urdu, should be the medium of instruction. In every inferior and superior zilla school, both Hindi and Sanskrit and the latter being their national classic, and all the Indian vernaculars being based upon it, should be taught as a compulsory second language to the Hindu boys, while the study of Persian or Arabic should remain an optional subject. VI. It may be said here that although Sanskrit is taught in some of the schools of the North Western Provinces, it is discouraging Sanskrit and Hindi when the students are to begin their education with Urdu and Persian and spend seven or eight of the best years of their life in learning those languages which are sufficient for their entrance into the University, they care very little to learn the optional language, Sanskrit, or to cultivate their mother tongue, the Hindi. VII. Unfortunately all the officers and subordinates of Public Instruction of these provinces who are totally ignorant of Sanskrit and not well versed in Hindi, are acquainted with Urdu and the foreign languages Persian and Arabic, on which this artificial language is based. Hence they have not yet been able to realize the necessity or the utility of giving instruction to the masses through their own vernacular. VIII. The native representative of the local Government of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh in the Commission being a Muhammadan, who can scarcely be said to be well acquainted with the habits, customs and manners of the Hindus, justice can hardly be done to the interest of the Hindu community unless a Hindu be deputed to represent the Hindu population. IX. In conclusion the members of the Meerut Association hope that their humble proposal which alone can supply the great educational want of the people of the North-Western Provinces will meet with that favourable consideration and attention of the Commission which it deserves, and will not be set at naught through the influence of the official classes, who alone, for the sake of their own ease, have been fostering an artificial language to the detriment of the real interests of the people. 241

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X. Lastly, they humbly beg to submit that a liberal education be imparted to the young men of these provinces through the medium of the English language, as has hitherto been the case, and that the standard of English education be not reduced. Any attempt to diffuse the learning of the West through the vernacular current in these provinces cannot be highly successful, as few books have been translated into vernacular expounding the sciences of the West, nor is it practicable to translate them all satisfactorily. The Association moreover is humbly of opinion that the diffusion of primary education, the desirability of which cannot for a moment be gainsaid, should be encouraged but not at the sacrifice and expense of a high liberal education, the benefits of which are incalculable. THE MEERUT ASSOCIATION ROOMS, The 30th June 1882 Memorial from the Inhabitants of the City and District of Cawnpore in favour of Hindi To THE HONOURABLE W. W. HUNTER, L.L.D., C.I.E., President of the Educational Commission HONOURABLE SIR, WE, the inhabitants of the city and district of Cawnpore in the North Western Provinces, having been encouraged by your invitation to assist the Education Commission, set under your Presidency, with our opinion as to the ways and means of promoting mass education in India, beg respectfully to offer our mite in the following lines— Among the numerous points affecting the Education question of India, ably handled by our brethren from other parts of the country, we will only distinguish those two that attract our attention, and bring to the particular notice of the Commission, as indispensably necessary for the practical development of the Indian mind, these are, viz.— 1 The communication of the refined thoughts and ideas of the civilized West 2 The medium suitable for such communication For the first point, we trust the Commission will be unanimous with us to recognise the growing sympathy of the people of India towards it, as a desire to study European character in general, simultaneously with the knowledge of the national history of the ruling race, the life history of a people who though young yet now stand first with those precious means of happiness which once the most ancient nation on earth bad only possessed, is being visible and more or less manifest in every Native society in India, whether Hindu or Muhammadan. Even the rough genius of humblest husbandmen in the remotest villages now a days show symptoms of some curiosity to learn a little of the modern history of Europe, if they can 242

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only afford for it without disturbing the means of their livelihood. In fact it is evident that that time has arrived when a permanent way of communication between the ignorant masses of India and the enlightened people of Europe is necessary, and must be opened and kept open forever for their mutual satisfaction. How this communication is to be opened—a question which constitutes the second point is now under consideration of the Commission—and to enlighten them therefore as to making a choice between the two candidates present, we will do but justice only if we recommend for the most useful popular and economical one as named in the third of the answers to the several queries we put to ourselves on this head. We will give here these questions seriatim with the unhesitating and clear answers they have naturally elicited. QUESTIONS 1 What is the proper means of conveyance of our thoughts and ideas to another? 2 What language is most conducive to convey foreign thoughts to a nation? 3 What is the mother tongue of Hindustan proper—Hindi or Urdu?

4 What is Urdu?

5 Can it be called a mother tongue?

ANSWERS

}

Language.

} Their mother tongue } Hindi

{

A mixture of Hindi and Persian languages made in the reign of the Muhammadans. In the same way as the English speaking people are now making in Bengal, a new mixture of “Bengali and English tongue,” in which a sentence of five is often made of three English and two Bengali words No, Sir, never!

When Urdu is not accepted as the mother tongue of Hindustan, it cannot at the same time be accepted as the easy, safe and cheap medium of communication of foreign thoughts among them, though it is occasionally used in limited circles by a very limited number of men of the educated class, and as such it possesses no merit whatever to supersede the claims of Hindi which is in fact the language of the masses of Hindustan. Having disposed of these points, we now embrace the opportunity of expressing in the same way our opinion on the merits of Hindi. In our schools either English or vernacular, the inconvenience which both the teachers and the boys as well now feel, in undergoing the tasteless toil of a double process of frequently explaining and understanding the meaning of words, once in Urdu and again in Hindi can be easily avoided by the retention of Hindi alone, and this even reducing and not increasing the expenses of teaching. Urdu being often subject to translations is not only expensive but also repulsive, as it never takes its root so easily in the boy’s mind as Hindi the mother tongue does. 243

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Under these circumstances, we conclude, Honourable Sir, with our firm conviction, that the Commission, considering the claims of Hindi superior to Urdu will decide the matter of selection in favor of the former, which is equally beneficial to both Hindu and Muhammadan for the same and one common cause, the cultivation of western skill and wisdom for enlightenment and happiness. An Address from the Members of the Deputation representing the Bharat Barsha National Association at Aligarh in favour of Hindi and professional training. To THE HONOURABLE W. W. HUNTER, I.L.D., C.S.I., C.I.E., President of the Education Commission SIR, We, members of the Bharat Barshia National Association of Aligarh, beg leave to approach you with this address in the hope that it may be accepted by you, and will receive due consideration from yourself and the other gentlemen who compose the present Educational Commission appointed by His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor General of India. As the object and aim of our association are to encourage education in general, we feel it our duty to lay before you and your colleagues a few suggestions on educational questions. The association was established here chiefly through the influence of Munshi Nawalkishore, proprietor of the Oudh Akhbar, the only daily Urdu newspaper in these provinces and it is in its contemplation, in consideration of the present state of funds at its disposal, to establish a library consisting of books on literature, history, science, and arts in the English, Urdu, Persian, Sanskrit and Hindi languages, and as Aligarh, through the indefatigable exertion of our venerable contryman the Hon’ble Syed Ahmed Khan promises to be a seat of learning, such a collection of books is calculated to confer immense benefits on the reading public, besides supplying a crying want of a suitable place for holding meetings for educational and social purposes. We are privately, but reliably, informed, that Sir Alfred Lyall our able and enlightened Lieutenant Governor, highly approves of this proposal and attempt, and has condescended to allow us to call the proposed library after his name, we are therefore going to christen it as “the Lyall Library.” We have also sanguine hopes and strong reasons to believe that our noble Government will grant us a plot of ground for the purpose of constructing a building on it in connection with this library. It is hoped that as our means increase further manifestation will be shown towards the encouragement and furtherance of education generally and high English education particularly. It is not a matter of common gratification to us to see that an eminent gentleman of your intellectual attainments and scholastic abilities, sound learning and deep erudition, has been appointed a President of this Commission; there could not be a better selection, and it is really charming to see the right man in the right place, 244

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so to speak. This fact emboldens us to come forward with a few suggestions on the question of English education In general, and primary education in particular, as the latter seems to be one of the principal objects of Government, and, in our humble thinking, a matter of vital importance to the national progress and growth of a people. The question is specially important to the inhabitants of these provinces, who have at present to labour under peculiar difficulties and disadvantages in this respect. It will be in vain to deny the fact that English education has made little or no progress worth the name in these parts, and that our brethren here are considerably backward in comparison with the inhabitants of the other provinces of India. This state of things no doubt is a deplorable one, but not therefore irremediable. It still lies in the power of those in authority who are real friends of our education, social progress and national improvement, to devise sound and salutary means for the amelioration of our condition, and in our humble opinion the adoption of a very simple method will secure this noble and grand object in view. Our children meet with insurmountable difficulties in the way of their education by reason of the introduction and prevalence of the Urdu language in the courts and public offices of the whole of the North-Western Provinces including Oudh and the Punjáb. In order to acquire a competent knowledge of Urdu and get a mastery over it, they have to learn Persian, and sometimes Arabic, as without this they are not considered to be thoroughly conversant with Urdu required for the performance of works in the said courts and offices. It is not in the power of men of ordinary intellect and average abilities to acquire more than one foreign language besides their own vernacular, but the existence of the Urdu language here makes the case otherwise with us. The best portion of a boy’s student life is taken up with the study of these languages, and the consequence is that their English education is altogether neglected. If the Urdu language be done away with and our own vernacular, the Hindi Bhasha be introduced in its place, our students will be able to learn it in a short time with comparative ease and greater facility than at present, and devote a greater portion of their time to the study of English. High education will make steady and rapid progress on a sound and firm basis, and the complaint that it had made no such progress hitherto will be nothing of the past. Primary education or education for the masses of the people is undoubtedly desirable, but the cause of high education should under no circumstances be allowed to suffer on that account, i.e., primary education should not be given at the expense of high education, which has already done much good in India. It has thoroughly changed the moral atmosphere of our country and taught people to know what they are. It has improved the tone of the subordinate judicial and executive services and of the Native Bar—a result highly satisfactory to ourselves and our noble rulers. We feel it our duty also to mention here that high education has not received that support and encouragement from Government which it ought to get. At present a sort of general education is given to our countrymen, and they are afterwards left to look out for themselves. There is scarcely any institution here where 245

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they can receive professional or technical education. There are three branches or departments in the public service in which educated Natives can hope to get lucrative appointments. The first is law, which includes:— A—The independent profession of pleaders and vakils. B—The subordinate judicial service. C—The subordinate executive service. The second is the medical profession, which includes the appointments of:— A—Assistant Surgeons. B—Native Doctors. C—Hospital Assistants. The third is the Engineering Department, which includes the posts of:— A—Executive and Assistant Engineers. B—Sub-Engineers. C—Overseers. D—Sub-Overseers. E Miscellaneous appointments in the Public Works Department. Now with regard to the first, we beg to say that only the Muir Central College at Allahabad is affiliated to the Calcutta University in law, and one institution in a whole province is totally inadequate to supply the wants of the people in this respect. Besides B. L. degrees are not recognised by the Hon’ble High Court in these provinces, and they have got a special test and examination of their own. With regard to the second, it is enough to point out that the Agra Medical School is the only institution where medicine is taught, but only hospital assistants come out of this school and the want remains still unsatisfied. As regards the third or last it is true that an Engineering College exists at present in Roorkee, but the greatest advantage derived there is by the military classes, only a limited number of Native students is admitted every year and there is no guarantee for more than three appointments as Assistant Engineers. The college is at such a distance that people think it a great hardship to go there and study for a number of years without any certainty of getting appointments in the Public Works Department. These are the stumbling blocks in the path of high education in these provinces, and some means must be devised to remove them in order to make the path smooth and easy. Primary education meant for the lower classes, to our thinking should be given to them through the medium of their own vernacular, which is unquestionably Hindi in these provinces. Such an education in a foreign dialect will not only prove to be disadvantageous but almost impracticable. Moreover, the masses of the people cannot devote much time to their studies and the acquirement of a foreign language. These remarks apply with equal force to the education of the females which also is not less important.

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In conclusion, we offer you our hearty thanks for giving us this opportunity of expressing our humble views on the grand educational question. An Address from the Managing Committee of the Kayastha Pathsala of Allahabad. TO THE HONOURABLE W. W. HUNTER, LL.D., C.I.E., President of the Education Commission SIR,—We the members of the managing committee of the Kayastha Pathsala, Allahabad, beg leave to offer you a respectful welcome to this institution. 2. A brief history of the pathsala will perhaps not be uninteresting to you, and with your permission we give it. It was established in 1873 by Moonshi Kalyprosad, a resident of Shahzadpur in this district, at his expense, and without any aid from Government. The contributions made by this public spirited gentleman from time to time for the support of this institution amounted to no less a sum than Rs. 1,59,000, and to this amount, donations from other gentlemen, interested in the objects of the pathsala, were added amounting to Rs. 10,000. The pathsala is now maintained to a considerable extent by the founder, and also from the income derived from villages, rents of houses, interests, &c. The financial position of the pathsala is now so assured that it may be fairly regarded as a self-supporting institution. 3. The original intention of the generous founder of the pathsala was to give primary instructions to the boys of his community, whose parents were either unable to give proper education to their children or could not, for some reason or other, avail themselves of the advantages and facilities afforded by Government institutions. But in course of time the scope of the pathsala was enlarged, and students from all classes of the people are now admitted, and are classified either as foundation boarders, aided students or day scholars. At the end of 1881 there were 118 pupils on the roll, of whom 25 were Brahmins, 69 Kayasths, 12 Khatries and 12 Vaisyas. From July 1878, the status of the pathsala was also raised to that of Anglo vernacular middle school. English, Persian, Urdu, Sanskrit and Nagri are the languages through the media of which instruction is imparted in the institution, but special attention is paid to the culture of the English. There are six annual scholarships of the monthly values of Rs. 180 to Rs. 4 which have been founded. A library containing upwards of 2,000 volumes in different languages is also attached to the school. 4. Believing that one of the most important of the educational results arrived at by Government is the development of self help among the people, and to foster an independence of national character, we have no doubt, Sir, that the spirit which has called forth the pathsala into existence will be appreciated by the Education Commission, and by no one more so than by yourself, its learned and accomplished President. We are firmly convinced that it is by the gradual recognition by

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our countrymen of this principle of self reliance, however sectional a character it may assume at the commencement, that the problem of national education can be truly solved, and it is gratifying to us, who set so great a stress upon the principle in question, to find that spontaneous efforts for the dissemination of knowledge are multiplying in India. 5. With this humble statement of facts and expressions of our opinion we conclude this address, thanking you heartily for the honour you have done to the Kayasth pathsala by your visit to day—a day which we can assure you, Sir, will be gratefully remembered as an important event in the history of this institution. ALLAHABAD KAYASTHA PATHSALA, The 15th August 1882 Memorial from the Pandits of Benares in favour of Hindi and Deva-Nágri Character. TO THE HONOURABLE W. W. HUNTER, LL.D., C.I.E., President of the Education Commission SIR.—We, the members of the Sabha of Benares Pandits, beg leave to approach your honour with the following lines, and hope to be excused for the trouble we have given you on this occasion by the presentation of this petition from our society:— We tender our heartfelt thanks to His Excellency the Viceroy who has set this. Education Commission abroach owing to some observed discrepancy in the present system of education as given in India. In addition to this, we are very glad to state that a man really learned, energetic, and a well wisher of our fellow countrymen like yourself has been appointed chair man of the said assemblage. We are sure and certain that the system of education in India will be in a much better condition after the necessary emendations in the manner in which it is given now a-days will have been duly observed as sanctioned by the Commission above referred to. As your honour is fast intent on the bettering of the system of education in this country, we hope you will be kind enough to listen to a single suggestion of ours which we have the honour of discussing in the following lines:— Sir, it is our only suggestion that if Deva Ngari characters be used in the courts of these provinces, instead of Urdu (no matter if the official forms of the courts be not a bit changed), we think it would prove much advantageous to the general public. As to the support of our opinion we beg to insert the following lines:— By the prevalence of Urdu characters in the courts of these provinces, we every day meet with such phrases that can be read in lots of different ways. Urdu characters may be compared to a fictitious law called kamdhenu () supposed to have had the property of producing anything the owner wanted, according to 248

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our Hindu Mythology, i.e., in other words Urdu characters are so delusive that various readings can be deduced from them, while Deva-Nágri characters are not such, and consequently nobody will be a loser, if they be used in the courts, for misrepresentations can have no grasp whatever on them. Secondly, Deva Nagri characters are such that the wording of any language can be correctly reproduced in it, and distinctly pronounced, and that there are a very few languages which answers this purpose. Besides these, the superiority of Hindi over Urdu has been fully demonstrated in a memorial presented to your honour by the body politic of Benares, through Babu Harrisha Chandraji with the main points of which we fully agree. In conclusion we hope you will kindly think over the matter with a due regard and I pass your just sentence on it, for it constitutes a great blessing to our fellow countrymen who would stand indebted to your honour over and above for this act of gratitude.

Answers to the Commission’s questions, prepared by BABU BIRESHWAR MITTRA, Pleader, High Court, North-Western Provinces Ques. 1.—Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on the subject of education in India, and in what province your experience has been gained? Ans. 1.—I was for some time a teacher in an aided school. I have served for a number of years as tutor to minor Rajas under the Bengal Court of Wards. I have been associated with the managing committee of the Bengalitolah Preparatory School at Benares for several years past. I have also had frequent opportunities of forming my opinion on educational matters by reason of the interest I took in the education of several of my relatives and friends. My experience has been gained mostly in the North-West. Ques. 2.—Do you think in your province the system of primary education has been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirements of the community? Can you suggest any improvements in the system of administration or in the course of instruction? Ans. 2.—(a) I do not think that in the North-West the system of primary education has been established on a permanent footing. The present system of halkabandi schools, founded for the purpose of giving elementary instruction of a uniform character, having reference only to geographical areas, takes no cognizance of special local requirements. Certain districts or portions of districts are more backward or more advanced than others in the cause of education. Moreover, every distinct geographical area has its special claims. A system therefore which is equally applicable everywhere is not capable of healthy development. 249

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(b) In my opinion the sound basis for imparting primary education can be no other than the indigenous system, which, if brought under proper discipline, and regulated by a more enlightened method, will be capable of better and mere extensive development than the primary (halkabandi) schools. The course of instruction pursued in schools of the latter description finds no favour with the people. I shall deal with this subject more fully in my answer to the 4th question. Ques. 3.—In your province, is primary instruction sought for by the people in general, or by particular classes only? Do any classes specially hold aloof from it, and if so, why? Are any classes practically excluded from it, and if so, from what causes? What is the attitude of the influential classes towards the extension of elementary knowledge to every class of society? Ans. 3.—Primary instruction, as given in the halkabandi schools, has hitherto been availed of only by those who have come in contact with the influence of facts brought into existence by the exigencies of the British rule. The sons of Government servants and of those who have directly or indirectly something to do with the English community attend these primary schools. Just in the same manner and to the same extent as the system of English (allopathic) method of medical treatment is adopted by the Natives, so are the advantages of this new system of instruction received by the people for whom these schools are chiefly meant. The lower castes have generally held aloof from the benefits of the primary schools, and might almost be said to have been practically excluded from this system of elementary instruction. The reasons are twofold:—(1) The rigorous discipline of the halkabandi schools; and (2) the peculiar circumstances of these people, who are for the most part poor, and who can ill afford to permit their children to attend schools at a time when their labours would be required at home or in the field. I may here suggest that the hours of attendance in institutions meant for the agricultural and the poorer classes of the people should be fixed with special reference to their habits and mode of life. The attitude of the influential classes in the North Western Provinces, with very few exceptions in the case of enlightened landlords is one of stolid indifference with reference to the extension of elementary knowledge to all classes of society. I would however, add that there is scarcely a boy in the higher or middle classes of society who has not received education in some shape or other. Ques. 4.—To what extent do indigenous schools exist in your province? How far are they a relic of an ancient village system? Can you describe the subjects and character of the instruction given in them and the system of discipline in vogue? What fees are taken from the scholars? From what classes are the masters of such schools generally selected and what are their qualifications? Have any arrangements been made for training or providing masters in such schools? Under what circumstances do you consider that indigenous schools can be turned to good account as part of a system of national education, and what is the best method to adopt for this purpose? Are the masters willing to accept State aid and to conform to the rules under which such aid is given? How far has the grant-in-aid system been extended to indigenous schools and can it be further extended? 250

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Ans. 4.—(a) Indigenous schools do exist in the North Western Provinces, but not fully up to the requirements of the people. The encroachments of schools founded on new fangled methods have affected injuriously those institutions existing as an old established system. (b),(c),(d), and (e). In the hierarchy of the ancient village system, the priest of every large village had the charge of the education of the sons of those who were under his spiritual guidance. The pathsalas set up by these gurus (as the village schoolmaster was called), were supported by the well to do classes out of regard for the priesthood, who, if they did not teach themselves, had the task performed by their relatives or friends. This state of things has partly given way to what might be designated as the primary school system; and it is only due to the conservative character of the Hindus that pathsalas do still exist. The system as it exists, however, possesses the capacity of expansion and development, not only in the sense of increase in the number of such institutions, but also in the method of instruction given. The fees taken by the gurus were partly paid in kind and partly in money. The quantity of grain or other edibles given, and the amount of money paid as tuition fees depended on the degree of competency of the parents or guardians of the pupils. There is no arrangement, judged from the modern standard, for the training of these gurus, but they are as a class brought up in these schools themselves and acquire a smattering of Sanskrit in pathsalas kept up for the purpose by the more learned of the priesthood. I might here mention the existence of indigenous schools for the purpose of given elementary instruction in the Sanskrit language and literature, and teaching the numerous kinds of pujas, sacrifices and ceremonies. (g) (h),(i), and ( j). The improvement of these institutions can best be secured by recognizing their importance as a system of national agency for giving elementary instruction, and by affording to the existing schools the advantages of State aid and inspection. The supervision of these schools may be advantageously made over to the district committees, who will be able to place them under proper local control. The gurus can certainly be made willing to receive aid from Government and to conform to the rules imposed upon them as the condition on which such aid is given. I would suggest the adoption of the following measures— (1) By way of taking a preliminary step, it is, in my opinion, advisable to take a list of all indigenous schools existing in the province. This can only be done with any degree of accuracy if the members of the local committee of public instruction could be persuaded to take a personal interest in the matter. (2) The indigenous school system could not be properly developed in accordance with approved methods of education, unless pecuniary aid be given by the Government. This will, moreover, have the effect of bringing the whole system under State control. State aid should take the form of a capitation allowance on the average attendance of scholars in each pathsala or muktab. (3) The indigenous schools must submit to the rules and orders of the Director of Public Instruction with respect to— 251

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(a) periodical inspection by educational officers or representatives of district board; (b) the selection of text-books; (c) periodical examinations, and; (d) submission of returns and maintenance of registers as enjoined by the Department; Any further interference with the working of the system will act prejudicially. (4) The standard of instruction must be confined to elementary education, viz., reading, writing, and arithmetic. (5) The appointment and dismissal of the village schoolmasters as well as all other matters of internal economy, should be left as far as possible in the hands of a body of resident Native gentlemen owning property or possessing local influence in the village and who have a personal interest in the well being of the schools. I would strongly recommend (a) the improvement of the status and material of the indigenous schools, (b) the gradual assimilation of the primary on balkabandi schools with the older system; and (c) the establishment of both on a footing which will ensure the benefits of elementary instruction being brought within the reach of the greatest possible number of the people. Ques. 5.—What opinion does your experience lead you to hold of the extent and value of home instruction? How far is a boy educated at home able to compete on equal terms, at examinations qualifying for the public service, with boys educated at school? Ans. 5.—(a) Home instruction is confined to well to do classes of society. Up to a certain standard boys can and do I am more readily and rapidly at home than in the schools. The reason is obvious. There is at home more pains bestowed by the teacher or the guardian in the teaching of one lad, than in the case of a schoolmaster having charge of the teaching of a whole class. The limit or standard up to which boys are and can be educated privately varies, and must continue to vary, according to the nature of education the head of the family has himself received or according to his means. But the highest limit that can be reached by “home education” is the middle school standard. (b) There are no examinations, that I am aware of, which qualify for the public service, unless the middle class examinations be meant in the question. Here, certainly, the previous discipline and examinations which boys brought up in schools have to undergo, and the healthy competition in the midst of which they are educated, render their chances of success far greater than that of boys educated privately. Ques. 6.—How far can the Government depend on private effort, aided or unaided, for the supply of elementary instruction in rural districts? Can you enumerate the private agencies which exist for promoting primary instruction? Ans. 6.—(a) I have already answered the first part of the question in stating my answer to the 3rd and 4th questions. 252

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(b) The only agency which exists for promoting primary instruction in rural districts is the village hierarchy, which gave rise to the indigenous school system. This is about the only agency that can be relied upon. Ques. 7.—How far, in your opinion, can funds assigned for primary education in rural districts be advantageously administered by district committees or local boards? What are the proper limits of the control to be exercised by such bodies? Ans. 7.—The funds assigned for primary education in rural districts should be administered by district committees or local boards, and devoted chiefly to the purpose of giving a capitation allowance on the average attendance of boys in the primary schools, or by providing these institutions with certificated schoolmasters. (b) The proper limits of control to be exercised by local committees or district boards should be the same as stated in the 3rd paragraph of my answer to clauses (g), (h), (i), and (j) of the 4th question. Ques. 8.—What classes of schools should, in your opinion, be entrusted to Municipal committees for support and management? Assuming that the provision of elementary instruction in towns is to be a charge against Municipal funds what security would you suggest against the possibility of Municipal committees failing to make sufficient provision? Ans. 8.—(a) A certain number of primary and middle class schools sufficient for the requirements of the population of the towns must be maintained by the Municipal committees. (b) A certain percentage of town duties should be specially appropriated for the purpose of supporting these educational institutions. Ques. 9.—Have you any suggestions to make on the system in force for providing teachers in primary schools? What is the present social status of village schoolmasters? Do they exert a beneficial influence among the villagers? Can you suggest measures, other than increase of pay, for improving their position? Ans. 9.—(a) The present system of Normal schools, as being the only machinery for providing teachers in primary schools, has, so far as my experience goes, worked satisfactorily. The only suggestion I have to make is that the curriculum of studies in these schools should embrace a little of classics (viz., Sanskrit and Arabic) in order to supply materials for a healthy development of vernacular literature. (b) The present social status of a village schoolmaster, though by no means inferior to that of a guru, is not generally recognised and acknowledged in villages, where the people, by reason of old standing prejudices, are more than ordinarily intolerant of reforms from without. (c) The influence which a teacher in the primary schools can exert among the villagers depends greatly on the caste to which he belongs, and to his address and intellectual acquirements. (d) The only measure I can think of (and I state it with great reluctance) is the appointment of schoolmasters of good caste, except in the case of institutions where the majority of scholars are other than those on whom the prejudices and traditional observances of the caste system exert little or no building influence. I will add that the possession of knowledge likely to be useful to the people among 253

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whom he is called upon to exercise the calling of a teacher will help the village schoolmaster in gaining popularity and influence in the village. Ques. 10.—What subjects of instruction, if introduced into primary schools, would make them more acceptable to the community at large, and especially to the agricultural classes? Should any special means be adopted for making the instruction in such subjects efficient? Ans. 10.—(a) Besides the elements of knowledge (the three R’s), lessons on improved method of agriculture would be both acceptable to the community and useful to the villagers. (b) I would suggest the publication of a book divided into two parts—one treating on agriculture, and the other on the relations which should exist between a landlord and his tenants. In order to create a desire for receiving instruction in those subjects, I would recommend that a copy of this book be given gratis to two or three of the best boys attending the village schools, indigenous or halkabandi. Ques. 11.—Is the vernacular recognised and taught in the schools of your province the dialect of the people? and if not, are the schools on that account less useful and popular? Ans. 11.—(a) The question of the vernacular is a very delicate one in the NorthWestern Provinces. The recognition of Urdu as the written and spoken language of the courts in this province has a direct influence on the vernacular. Undoubtedly the highest aim of an ordinary Hindu villager is to be able to recite and understand the Ramayana (or works of equal sanctity). But the language of the Ramayana is not the language which the Government recognises as the vernacular of the people, and the study of this language is becoming to be the least profitable. Here lies the difficulty. Spasmodic efforts have been made, but with little or no success, to overcome this difficulty by reconciling the forces arranged in favour of and against Hindi. The battle between Hindi and Urdu has been fought in Behar, and the victory was justly gained by the partisans of Hindi. The result is that Hindi is the written language of the courts in that province. The wealthy landlords in the several districts of Bebar appreciate thankfully the change. I can state this as a positive fact by reason of my acquaintance with gentlemen connected with the management of the richest estates there. The Maharajas of Bettiah, Dumraon, Durbhunga, and Hatwa are fully sensible of the advantages resulting from the Resolution of the late Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal in respect of Hindi being declared to be the written character of the courts. The same conditions which operated in favour of Hindi in Behar, exist in almost all the districts in the North-West, excepting perhaps the districts of Moradabad and Bareilly. I think I may safely state that Hindi is the written and spoken language of at least nine-tenths of the people who have occasion to come to the courts. It will be out of place here for me to recapitulate all the arguments which have been, and can reasonably be, adduced in favour of Hindi. I will satisfy myself by saying that the recognition of Urdu as the language of the courts is regarded by the people as a pure and simple survival of the old Moslem tyranny in India. How far the change of the language at present in use in the courts is feasible, however, for the whole of the North-West or in any 254

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portion of the province, I will not undertake to say, by reason of my predilection in favour of Hindi and prejudice against Urdu. The question of the form of the several written characters passing under the name of Hindi, is allied to the subject under consideration. Giving due weight to all arguments urged on both sides of the question, I consider that the Roman character could, with advantage to all parties concerned, be adopted as the written character of judicial proceedings and processes. The system of transliteration, on the well-laid and approved method of Dr. Hunter, can very easily be learnt. The plan I have the honor to recommend has, moreover, the manifest advantage of enabling European judicial officers to read the records of cases themselves, and how far this will materially help in the task of administering justice I will leave the Civilian Members of the Commission to represent and decide. So far as the interests of education are concerned, I must say that the adoption of this plan will leave the vernacular of the people of the North-West under normal conditions of growth, which is certainly impeded to an incalculable extent by the preference given by the Government to Urdu, very properly regarded as the language of Muhammadan foreigners in the country. I will take leave to add that the rapid, rich, and luxuriant growth of the vernacular literature in the adjacent province of Bengal, even after making due allowance to the circumstances of education having had the first start in that province, is greatly due to the fact that the real vernacular of the people there has not had to compete with any foreign element in point of use and profit. (b) I have mentioned above that efforts have been made to effect a compromise between the rival and opposing forces of Hindi and Urdu. The result of this compromise is that a number of books have been written in a language which is supposed to be the “language of the camp,” though not the real vernacular of the Hindus in this province. A degree of unpopularity attends the study of books which are not written in the language of the forefathers of the people. Ques. 12.—Is the system of payment by results suitable, in your opinion, for the promotion of education amongst a poor ignorant people? Ans. 12.—The system of payment by results is suitable for promotion of education amongst a poor and ignorant people. The great end in view, in the present state of “mass education” in the country, should be the extension of the benefits of elementary education to the largest possible number of the people. Ques. 13.—Have you any suggestion to make regarding the taking of fees in primary schools? Ans. 13.—The only change I would allow, with reference to the taking of fees in primary schools, is, that boys may be permitted to pay for their instruction in kind as well as in money. How far this will do for halkabandi schools I am unable to determine. I am certain, however, that the change will find favour with the people in the rural districts. Ques. 14.—Will you favour the Commission with your views—first, as to how the number of primary schools can be increased, and secondly, how they can be gradually rendered more efficient? 255

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Ans. 14.—In answer to this question I would refer to all that I have stated in answer to the 4th question. I am not quite sure whether the scheme of “compulsory education” is in advance of the period of history in which we find ourselves. I may, however, state that a great deal can be done towards the increase of schools intended for giving elementary instruction, and for rendering them efficient, by the district officers taking an increased interest in the development of primary—I may say mass—education in the country. If the zamindars could be impressed with the belief that they will receive certain considerations at the hands of the Government by helping in the cause of the education of their countrymen, good results will certainly ensue. Ques. 15.—Do you know of any instances in which Government educational institutions of the higher order have been closed or transferred to the management of local bodies as contemplated in paragraph 62 of the Despatch of 1854? And and what do you regard as the chief reasons why more effect has not been given to that provision? Ans. 15.—I am not aware of any instance in which a Government educational institution in this province was transferred to the management of a “local body.” The reason is that there are not “local bodies” who have expressed a desire for, or possess the capacity of, taking the management of such institutions. I do not think that the contents of paragraph 62 of the Educational Despatch of 1854 are known to the general public. Ques. 16.—Do you know of any cases in which a Government institution of the higher order might be closed or transferred to private bodies, with or without aid, without injury to education or to any interests which it is the duty of Government to protect? Ans. 16.—I am not aware of any instance in which a Government institution of the higher order could be closed without injury to the cause of education and national progress. So far as I am aware, ‘private bodies’ do not exist to whom the management of such institutions could be transferred. The state of things contemplated in this question might possibly exist in Bengal, but certainly not in the North-West. Ques. 17.—In the province with which you are acquainted, are any gentlemen able and ready to come forward and aid, even more extensively than heretofore, in the establishment of schools and colleges upon the grant in aid system? Ans. 17.—I do not think that in the North-West there are gentlemen who will aid in the establishment of colleges upon the grant-in aid system. With regard to schools, I will state my opinion in my answer to the 36th question. Ques. 18.—If the Government, or any local authority having control of public money, were to announce its determination to withdraw after a given term of years from the maintenance of any higher educational institution, what measures would be best adapted to stimulate private effort in the interim, so as to secure the maintenance of such institution on a private footing? Ans. 18.—Under the circumstances stated in the question, I would recommend that before the actual withdrawal of the State from the maintenance of a higher 256

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educational institution, such school or college should for a certain number of years be made over to a body of residents qualified for the purpose of taking the support and management of the institution into their hands, to be maintained by them on trial under Government supervision. If, after the expiration of the probationary period, it be found that such body of gentlemen can satisfactorily manage the institution, it might be transferred to their care and control. But no such school or college should be transferred without the guarantee of a permanent fund, which would yield an income of at least half the expenditure on which the institution could be maintained on an efficient footing. This fund should be entrusted to intelligent and respectable trustees from among the body of gentlemen charged with the management of such institution. Care should be taken that the principle of strict religious neutrality is duly observed, unless the institution be expressly intended for a class of people professing a certain religious system. Ques. 19.—Have you any remarks to offer on the principles of the grant-in aid system, or the details of its administration? Are the grants adequate in the case of (a) colleges, (b) boys’ schools, (c) girls’ schools, (d) Normal schools? Ans. 19.—(a) I would suggest that the observance of the rules on which grantsin-aid are given might be relaxed in favour of districts, or special classes of people, more than ordinarily backward in the cause of education. (b) There are certainly complaints with respect to the adequacy of grants in the case of girls’ schools. I would recommend that in the present state of female education in this country, the grants to girls’ schools should be on a more liberal scale than the Resolution of the Government on the subject of grants in aid will permit of. Ques. 20.—How far is the whole educational system, as at present administered, one of practical neutrality, i.e., one in which a school or a college has no advantage or disadvantage as regards Government aid and inspection from any religious principles that are taught or not taught in it? Ans. 20.—The whole educational system, as at present administered, is certainly one of practical neutrality with reference to religious principles which may or may not be taught in any school or college. I have not heard of any complaints made, even in the case of Missionary schools or colleges, where, notwithstanding the object with which they were established, secular education is given, which is the condition on which they receive State aid. Ques. 21.—What classes principally avail themselves of Government or aided schools and colleges for the education of their children? How far is the complaint well founded that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education? What is the rate of fees payable for higher education in your province, and do you consider it adequate? Ans. 21.—(a) The colleges and schools of the higher order are principally availed of by the middle class, who justly and reasonably look to the future advancement of their children by affording them the advantages of a liberal education. (b) The complaint that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for the education of their children is certainly a very general one. The reason for it, apart from the 257

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fact that the advantages of education are not fully appreciated by the rich, is to be found in there not being a more graduated scale of fees in colleges and schools. (c) I am not prepared to state accurately the rate of fees payable for “higher education” in this province. I believe that the scale of fees ranges within a minimum of eight annas and a maximum of three rupees. In the Missionary schools the boys pay less. In my opinion the scale of fees could be raised to a maximum of ten rupees, payable by the sons of rich parents. In Government colleges there might be a uniform scale of fees, the amount being regulated by the capacity of the college to impart instruction, and the advantages the State may have to offer to young men who have completed their college education. In the Presidency College of the Calcutta University all the students pay a fee of ten rupees in the arts classes. But the instructive staff of that college is immeasurably superior to the staff of any college in the North West, and then moreover, you have not similar advantages in the North West to offer to graduates with respect to State appointments. I beg leave to be allowed to add that the so called lecturers and professors in some of the Government colleges in this province are appointed on what cannot but be regarded as a “cheap and nasty” principle. While, on the one hand, I am strongly opposed to the supply of the benefits of the education given in colleges at cheap rates, I maintain, on the other, that sufficient consideration must be held out for charging high fees in those institutions. Ques. 22.—Can you adduce any instance of a proprietary school or college supported entirely by fees? Ans. 22.—I do not know of any instance of a proprietary school or college being supported entirely by fees in the North West, and maintained for the purpose of giving instruction to the Natives. Ques. 23.—Is it, in your opinion, possible for a non Government institution of the higher order to become influential and stable when in direct competition with a similar Government institution? If so, under what conditions do you consider that it might become so? Ans. 23.—It is possible for a non-Government institution of the higher order to become stable and influential, notwithstanding its being placed in competition with Government institutions. Take the Canning College at Lucknow for instance. It is a mistake to suppose that this college is availed of only by scholars living within the province of Oudh. I know of several cases of under graduates who have left the Government College at Benaros in order to prosecute their studies in that college. Provided that the college be richly supported and be able to maintain a good instructive staff like the principal and professors of the Conning College, a nonGovernment institution may be able to hold its own against Government Colleges. Ques. 24.—Is the cause of higher education in your province injured by any unhealthy competition? and if so, what remedy, if any, would you apply? Ans. 24.—The cause of higher education is to a certain extent injured by unhealthy competition. This “unhealthy competition” is to a great extent brought about by the existence of Missionary colleges, especially in places where similar 258

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Government institutions are provided. The greatest injury which these Missionary colleges cause to the interest of high education is by charging fees on a very low scale. I would suggest that no State aid be given to any higher educational institution in places where a similar institution is maintained by the Government. So far as the North West is concerned, cases must be very rare indeed, where in any town, however large, one college is not sufficient for the requirements of the people. I would also suggest that in every case in which State aid is given to any college, the aid should be given on the expressly stated condition that the scale of tuition fees payable by students in such aided institution shall under no circumstances be lower than that payable in Government colleges. Ques. 25.—Do educated Natives in your province readily find remunerative employment? Ans. 25.—In my opinion educated Natives do not “readily” find remunerative employment. So far as Government service is concerned, the amlah and heads of offices have a strong aversion to the employment of educated young men to serve under them. Then, again, notwithstanding the existence of such a large number of graduates from the colleges in North-Western Provinces and Oudh, you will find scarcely one in the subordinate executive service, or serving as head of an office establishment in the judicial, revenue, or any other departments of the public service. The recent circular with reference to the appointment of candidates to ministerial posts will have a salutary effect, so far as primary and middle class education are concerned. Until, however, a well digested and more comprehensive scheme for throwing open all the highly paid posts in the Government service to competition by educated Natives is put in operation, the present state of things will continue, so far as relates to the progress of high education in the province. It is not absolutely necessary to declare graduates or any special class of educated young men to be the only eligible candidates. But the scheme should be so laid as to operate against the intrusion of incompetent men into the ranks of the uncovenanted service. A move in this direction will be far more generally useful to the people than any scheme for appointing Natives to posts specially reserved for the covenanted civil service, which can but create unpleasant relations between the rulers and the ruled. At present the prevailing principle on which Natives are selected to fill well paid appointments falls, in most cases, very little short of rank favouritism. Power and responsibility in the hands of ill educated men will incur the danger of being grossly abused. The sooner, therefore, the influences of interest and ‘patronage’ in making appointments give way to a more enlightened and honourable system, the better for the cause of high education and the public service. Ques. 26.—Is the instruction imparted in secondary schools calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further with useful and practical information? Ans. 26.—The course of instruction adopted in secondary schools is fairly calculated to store the minds of scholars who may not pursue their studies any 259

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further, with useful and practical information. Any violent and radical change in the subjects of instruction will be in advance of the times, and inconsistent with the conservative and almost traditional theory of education. Text books for teaching the method of keeping accounts, short treatises on meteorology, and even science primers on the plan of the English school series, can with advantage be introduced into all middle class schools, and special prizes and scholarships or other rewards might be given for the encouragement of the study of, and proficiency in, those subjects. Ques. 27.—Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the entrance examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstance impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? Ans. 27.—I am certainly of opinion that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the University entrance examination in almost all schools teaching up to that standard. This circumstance certainly impairs the value of instruction received by scholars who do not extend their studies beyond the secondary stage of education. I would strongly advocate the wholesale separation of the middle-class schools intended for the purpose of giving secondary instruction from high class schools which are legitimately intended to serve as feeders to high educational institutions. I will refer more fully to this subject in my answer to the 47th question. Ques. 28.—Do you think that the number of pupils in secondary schools who present themselves for the University entrance examination is unduly large when compared with the requirements of the country? If you think so, what do you regard as the causes of this state of things, and what remedies would you suggest? Ans. 28.—In addition to what I have stated in my answer to the preceding question, I will only add that the number of pupils in secondary schools who present themselves for the University entrance examination is not large when compared to the requirements of the country, but certainly large when compared to the number of students who prosecute their studies further in a college. Ques. 29.—What system prevails in your province with reference to scholarship, and have you any remarks to make on the subject? Is the scholarship system impartially administered as between Government and aided schools? Ans. 29.—(a) There exists a chain of scholarships which will lead a deserving scholar from secondary intruction to the highest standard of education which colleges in this province have to offer. (b) I am unable to state whether the scholarship system is impartially administered as between Government and aided schools. I have heard no compaints on the subject, beyond what may be regarded as due to the maintenance of a more efficient teaching staff in the Government schools. Ques. 30.—Is Municipal support at present extended to grant in aid schools, whether belonging to Missionary or other bodies, and how far is this support likely to be permanent? 260

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Ans. 30.—So far as I am aware, municipal support is given to grant in aid schools, whether kept up by Missionaries or other bodies. In order to make this support permanent, a portion of the funds set apart for educational purposes might be devoted to giving aid to deserving middle class schools established within the limits of the Municipality. Ques. 31.—Does the University curriculum afford a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools, or are special Normal schools needed for the purpose? Ans. 31.—Speaking generally, I would say that the University curriculm of studies does give a sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools. In my opinion special Normal schools are not needed for the purpose. Ques. 32.—What is the system of school inspection pursued in your province? In what respect is it capable of improvement? Ans. 32.—The task of school inspection is for the most part confined to the educational authorities and not efficiently performed by them. It would be better if the co-operation of educated residents in towns and villages were secured to aid in this work. The members of the district boards might severally be entrusted with the inspection of schools which are situate within a convenient distance of their residence. Ques. 33.—Can you suggest any method of securing efficient voluntary agency in the work of inspection and examination? Ans. 33.—In addition to what I have stated in my answer to the preceding question, I would suggest that the privileges of inspecting and examining schools might advantageously be accorded to Government officers, pleaders and to educated men in general. Ques. 34.—How far do you consider the text books in use in all schools suitable? Ans. 34.—The text books in use in English schools are not, in my opinion well chosen. The old series of Readers known (if my memory serves me right) as “Bengal Readers” are far more suitable for Native youths. Ques. 35.—Are the present arrangements of the Education Department in regard to examinations or text books, or in any other way, such as unnecessarily interfere with the free development of private institutions? Do they in any wise tend to check the development of natural character and ability, or to interfere with the production of useful vernacular literature? Ans. 35.—I do not think that the present arrangement of the Education Department, with respect to examinations and text-books, unnecessarily interferes with the free development of private institutions. I am of opinion, however, that the language of text books (Hindi) not being the real vernacular of the people, the use of such books is detrimental to the healthy development of vernacular literature, properly so regarded. Ques. 36.—In a complete scheme of education for India what part can, in your opinion, be most effectively taken by the State and by other agencies? Ans. 36.—The State should, under the peculiar circumstances of the country, undertake the direct control and management of elementary and high education. It is to the manifest advantage of the State that a larger number of the people 261

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should be literate. It is equally advantageous to the State that there should be a body of men who will by imbibing ideas of Western science and learning, help in the task of civilising the country, and in bringing their countrymen to an intelligent appreciation of the blessings resulting from, and to sympathise with, the British rule. If the two extremities were secured, then, as a natural outcome, the institutions for giving secondary education will, by an irresistible force of circumstances, be cared for by other than Government agency. Ques. 37.—What effect do you think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education, and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes? Ans. 37.—The effect of the withdrawal by Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges will, under the present circumstances not only impair their efficiency, but affect injuriously the cause of education in this country. The immediate effect of such withdrawal will be that the task of education will be taken up very greatly by the several denominations of Christian Missionaries in India. The extensive increase in the number of Missionary colleges or schools which will inevitably ensue might not be deemed quite consistent with the principle of strict religious neutrality which the Government is so anxious to maintain. The present state of educational affairs in this province does not warrant the growth of a spirit of reliance “upon local exertions and combination for local purposes.” Ques. 38.—In the event of the Government withdrawing to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges, do you apprehend that the standard of instruction in any class of institutions would deteriorate? If you think so, what measures would you suggest in order to prevent this result? Ans. 38.—(a) I believe that the standard of instruction will deteriorate in colleges and high schools if Government were suddenly to withdraw from the direct management of those institutions. There will, in that case, not be the same class of teachers and professors in those institutions. (b) The cause of high education will suffer irreparably if Government were to withdraw from the control and support of colleges. The interests of secondary education will not be injured if Government were gradually to withdraw from the management of middle class schools, and transfer them to competent local bodies under State supervision. Ques. 39.—Does definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct occupy any place in the course of Government colleges and schools? Have you any suggestion to make on this subject? Ans. 39.—(a) Definite instructions “in duty and the principles of moral conduct” will be out of place in a collegiate institution. Nothing of the kind is done in Government schools. (b) I would suggest the introduction of such books as “the moral class book” into the curriculum of studies in schools. 262

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Ques. 40.—Are any steps taken for promoting the physical well being of students in the schools or colleges in your province? Have you any suggestions to make on the subject? Ans. 40.—(a) So far as I am aware, no steps are taken in the colleges and schools in this province for promoting the physical well being of the students. The only exceptions are in the cases of Muir Central College and the Benares College, where students are encouraged to play cricket, foot ball, &c. (b) I would propose that a certain allowance be made towards the furtherance of this object to every Government school or college. The care of this branch of instruction might be entrusted to a teacher who, by reason of his training and habits of life, is likely to take a personal interest in the physical well being of the students. Ques. 41.—Is there indigenous instruction for girls in the province with which you are acquainted, and if so, what is its character? Ans. 41.—There are no indigenous girls’ schools in this province that I know of Ques. 42.—What progress has been made by the Department in instituting schools for girls, and what is the character of the instruction imparted in them? What improvements can you suggest? Ans. 42.—(a) The progress made by the Educational Department in instituting schools for girls has been very little, compared to the actual requirements of the country. The Government schools that do exist for the education of girls give elementary instruction. I am not aware of the existence of any Government school teaching up to the standard of high or middle class schools for boys. The aided schools for the latter purpose are, if my information be correct, mostly meant for Christian girls. (b) I would suggest that in every district a certain number of Native gentlemen be appointed to form a committee for the spread of female education. Ques. 43.—Have you any remarks to make on the subject of mixed schools? Ans. 43.—Mixed schools are, and for years to come must continue to be, in advance of the ideas of the people with regard to female education and, generally speaking, repugnant to their social habits and customs. Ques. 44.—What is the best method of providing teachers for girls? Ans. 44.—The most feasible plan for providing teachers for girls’ schools will be to appoint Native Christian, Eurasian, and East Indian ladies for the purpose. There are Normal schools in Calcutta, where young ladies are trained as teachers, and whence a supply of efficient teachers can be obtained. Ques. 45.—Are the grants to girls’ schools larger in amount, and given on less onerous terms, than those to boys’ schools, and is the distinction sufficiently marked? Ans. 45.—I am unable to answer this question satisfactorily. In my opinion schools for girls should be far more liberally dealt with in the matter of grants in aid than schools for boys. Ques. 46.—In the promotion of female education, what share has already been taken by European ladies, and how far would it be possible to increase the interest which ladies might take in this cause? 263

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Ans. 46.—With honourable exceptions here and there, European ladies (unconnected with Missionary bodies) have taken no interest whatever in the promotion of female education in their province. Ladies connected with the Zenana Mission Society, and others whose husbands are Missionaries have exerted themselves in instituting girls’ schools, but such institutions are unfortunately attended only by girls of the lowest castes, who are persuaded to come by reason of the pecuniary inducements held out to them. I would suggest the adoption of the following measures:— (1) The appointment of ladies’ committees in every large town, or wherever possible, for the purpose of instituting, visiting, and examining girls’ schools. In the case of ladies who have to accompany their husbands into the interior of the districts, the task of inspection and examination of schools established in rural districts might be entrusted to them. A great deal of good could be done by European ladies having no connection with any religious society taking an active personal in the spread of female education. (2) The appointment of European ladies as honorary visitors of girls’ schools. Ques. 47.—What do you regard as the chief defects, other than any to which you have already referred, that experience has brought to light in the educational system as it has been hitherto administered? What suggestions have you to make for the remedy of such defects? Ans. 47.—I have to find fault with the system of instruction which prevails in the English schools in this country. Whether these schools be viewed as feeders for colleges or as institutions for the purpose of imparting secondary education, they have failed to achieve either of these objects, and the failure is, in my opinion, attributable to the method of instruction pursued in them. Let me explain myself. Take an ordinary institution like the Benares Collegiate School, with which I am most familiar, having been educated there. There are 9 or 10 classes which take students through a course of seven years’ study before they can hope to present themselves to the University entrance examination. This period of seven years, it may be stated, applies to the case of a boy of fair ability who takes a class at the end of each session. The result of this seven years’ study is, in my opinion, not commensurate with the time spent in a school. This accounts very greatly for the fact that a comparatively small number of undergraduates are successful in their University career. The whole curriculum of studies prescribed for the several classes of a Government school might be divided into two sections. (1) English language and literature, and (2) general subjects of instruction viz., history, geography, and mathematics. The method adopted for teaching boys “English” is to take them through a course of so called Readers, from the first of the series, which is a primer, to the most advanced, containing poetical and prose pieces from well known authors. The mode in which the boys are taught is, with the exception of three or four higher classes, this—Every sentence in the book is translated by the teacher into the vernacular, and this translation is committed to memory, parrot-like, by the pupils. In some cases, the teachers 264

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have translations of the text books ready, which is dictated to the boys and taken down in writing by them as each day’s lesson is set. This translation is repeated the next day after the reading of the lesson in English is over. I know of instances in which these translations are printed, and each boy provides himself with a copy of these books in order to save himself the irksome task of writing out the translation of each day’s lesson in English from the teacher’s dictation. Then, again, some of these Readers are most inartificially compiled, and not suited to the capacity of Native youths in whose hands they are placed. In one of the number of the series of Readers will be found such pieces as Hamlet’s Soliloquy, Adam’s Prayer from Milton, and others of a similar character. The boys are utterly incapable of understanding what they are made to read through, and I venture to submit that no efforts on the part of a translator, however accurate a scholar he may be, will enable a Native lad to comprehend and recognise the beauty of such highly artistic pieces of composition in the English language. We will now take English grammar. From a work which professes to teach the elementary rules within the compass of 10 or 12 pages to the elaborate work written by Professor Angus on the English tongue, there are several intermediate text books. In the lower forms, the boys have to repeat the definitions without in the least comprehending them; and the examiner at the end of the session is perfectly satisfied with what might be properly regarded as the test of memory rather than the boys’ understanding. Take an ordinary boy of the middle form, viz., the fifth class in a school consisting of 9 classes, and examine him in English grammar. Ask him to define an intransitive verb. He will give you readily the rigmarole definition of a verb in which the “action does not pass from the doer to the object.” Ask him to explain what he understands of this definition in his own words, either in English or in his own vernacular, and you will at once observe that the signification of the terms intransitive “action,” ‘doer,’ and ‘object,’ is one beyond his power of comprehension. The boy will give you the pluperfect tense, third person singular number of the verb “to write,” but ask him to make use of that word in composing an easy sentence, and the poor boy will be at his wits’ end. I hope I shall not be deemed guilty of exaggerating facts it I add that in most cases a boy brought up in one of these schools, begins to learn English grammar before he knows anything of the construction of his own language. History and geography are taught much in the same way. In the case of mathematics things are just a little better, but the same method of instruction is applied with more or less force in all branches of study. The reason for the anomalous state of things I complain of seems to me to be obvious. The rudimentary portion of a boy’s education must be imparted to him in his own vernacular, in the language in which he thinks. It seems to me to be mere waste of time and energy to seek to teach a boy general subjects of instruction in a language which he can only understand by means of translation into another language which is his mother tongue. The result of this method of instruction seems to be highly deplorable. A large number of boys have to leave 265

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these schools unable to prosecute their studies beyond a certain point, and they go away having acquired only a useless smattering of the English language. The best portion of their time has been frittered away, not in storing their mind with facts, which might properly be said to constitute the elements of real education, but in a vain endeavour to unlearn that which is most natural in order to seek to learn that which can only be learnt by a highly artificial process. They are thus neither prepared for receiving the benefits of University education, nor can they be said to have done much in the way of acquiring general knowledge of some practical value. One of the great principles to be observed in the art of teaching—in fact the most important principle—is to impart instruction in the manner in which the facts taught can be most easily conveyed to the comprehension of young minds. That which is readily understood will be easily and long retained. The solution of the problem, whether it is easier to suggest facts to a boy’s understanding in his own vernacular or in a foreign language admits of no difficulty. What I ask for is that the Department of Public Instruction and persons charged with the task of educating youths in this country, do once for all recognise the exact importance of the principle I have tried to elucidate. If the instruction sought to be imparted to the boys in classes teaching up to the standard of middle class schools, is to be of any real value and permanent advantage to them, whether in their after life in the world, or in their college career, I submit that the vehicle of instruction must be in the vernacular, so as to ensure the easy comprehension and retention of facts taught to them. For instance, you want to teach a lad of 10 or 11 years of age, and of average intelligence, the facts of Indian history. Now, if you teach him those facts in English, what do you do? You lead the youth, however gently, to dash from his mind impressions as they come uppermost in his own vernacular, in order that he should receive those very ideas in a form in which they were not naturally presented to his mind before. Repeat the same process and what happens—an idea pure and simple in itself is made complex in the course of its formation, before it is conveyed to the young mind in the shape you wish it to be received. It is not sufficient answer to say that a certain degree of success has been achieved by the English schools. A little observation and reflection will enable any unprejudiced person to perceive that if the facts constituting the average quantum of knowledge taught in these schools be remembered by the boys at all, the reproduction of the impressions of those facts will, in the case of those who have not the capacity to think in English, be in their vernacular. I may also add that only so much of the total quantity of facts taught will be remembered by them as the boys have learnt to understand and retain in their own language. I beg respectfully to commend the above observations to the serious consideration of the Education Commission. If the objections I have urged against the English school system be deemed valid, I would suggest the adoption of the following measures:— First—The enforcement of a uniform rule that the teaching of all subjects of general instruction shall be in the vernacular, in all institutions and classes 266

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educating up to the standard of the middle class schools. This will render necessary the abolition of all junior classes in English schools except the first two or three, to be kept up for the purpose of preparing boys for the University entrance examination. In all middle class schools English will be taught as a language. There will thus be no necessity for keeping in English schools more than a certain number of classes absolutely necessary for teaching the subjects required for matriculation. I would even go so far as to suggest that the rules of English grammar might, in the first instance, be taught to the boys in the vernacular, and when they are able to understand the construction of easy sentences, then they should be entrused with the study of English grammar in English. My idea is principally derived from the method of teaching Latin grammar and composition so generally adopted in the schools in England. English composition can very easily be learnt from text books written on the plan of Henry’s Series of Latin Books. The nearest approach to such text books have been made in this province by Mr. Stapley, and Babu Mathura Prasada Misra, but there is great room for improvement. Secondly—The separation of the English schools from the middle class schools throughout the country. In the former class of institutions general instruction will be given in English, a second language being taught at the option of the boys, whereas in the latter, general instruction will be given in the vernacular, English being treated as a second language. In that case, boys who have no ambition to enter on a college career will regard their education as completed as soon as they have reached the highest stage of knowledge attainable in the middle class schools. High education in the sense in which it is at present understood, must for years to come be given in English. Hence the necessity of maintaining English schools. These schools should not therefore be regarded as places for giving secondary instruction. Let them be rated at their real worth. Regard them as feeders for high education and nothing else. I would divide all educational institutions into three classes and define their objects thus:— 1st. Primary Schools.—The object of these schools is to impart elementary instruction (reading, writing and arithmetic) to the largest possible number of the people. 2nd. Middle Class Schools.—These might either be purely vernacular or Anglo vernacular, according as English is or is not taught in these schools. These institutions are chiefly intended for the bulk of the middle class. Here the standard of instruction given should be of such a character as to convey a knowledge of facts generally useful in all the practical concerns of life. 3rd. High Educational Institutions.—viz., all colleges teaching the subjects prescribed by the University and English schools kept up for the purpose of preparing young men to enter into the college. In my opinion both the college and the English school should be regarded as one institution. In places where Government maintains a college, the English school might be attached to such college, and the whole institution could be then supervised and controlled by one agency. This measure can be recommended on the ground of economy. 267

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The above three classes of institutions should be treated, as far as possible, as distinct systems of instruction. Ques. 48.—Is any part of the expenditure incurred by the Government on high education in your province unnecessary? Ans. 48.—The expenditure incurred by the North West Government in maintaining the three colleges at Agra, Allahabad and Benares (with its Sanskrit department) is necessary. But the expenditure incurred in giving grants for the support of private institutions teaching the University or college classes is certainly unnecessary and 11 cases in which these institutions are situate in those three towns or in adjacent places, the grant in aid has the effect of impairing the efficiency of the Government colleges, and of being prejudicial to the cause of high education in this province. Ques. 49.—Have Government institutions been set up in localities where places of instruction already existed, which might by grants in aid or other assistance adequately supply the educational wants of the people? Ans. 49.—I am not aware of any instance in which Government institutions have been set up in the North West in localities where places of instruction previously existed. What I would complain of is (vide my answer to the preceding question) the giving of State aid to private institutions set up in or near localities where Government institutions exist, and which adequately supply the educational wants of the people. Ques. 50.—Is there any foundation for the statement that officers of the Education Department take too exclusive an interest in higher education? Would beneficial results be obtained by introducing into the Department more men of practical training in the art of teaching and school management? Ans. 50.—It is not true that officers of the Educational Department take too exclusive an interest in higher education. I do not consider that there exists any necessity for introducing into the Department “more men of practical training in the art of teaching and school management.” The existing staff carry on the duties of teaching and school management satisfactorily. Ques. 51.—Is the system of pupil teachers or monitors in force in your province? If so, please state how it works. Ans. 51.—I am not aware of the existence of the system of pupil teachers or monitors in the Government institutions in the North West. The system might exist in schools established by Missionaries or other bodies, but I cannot state to what extent it exists, or how it works. Ques. 52.—Is there any tendency to raise primary into secondary schools unnecessarily or prematurely? Should measures be taken to check such a tendency? If so, what measures? Ans. 52.—(a) There is to a certain extent a tendency to prematurely raise primary into secondary schools. (b) Measures should be taken to check this tendency only in cases where the existing number of middle class schools is sufficient to meet the requirements of the people. 268

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(c) The most effective method of checking this tendency would be by withdrawing State aid. If that prove ineffectual, let matters alone. The raising of the status is due to normal and healthy causes. Ques. 53.—Should the rate of fees in any class of schools or colleges vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil? Ans. 53.—The rate of fees in all primary and secondary (or middle class) schools should vary according to the means of the parents or guardians of the pupil. In the colleges a uniform rate of tuition fees should, in my opinion, be maintained. Ques. 54.—Has the demand for high education in your province reached such a stage as to make the profession of teaching a profitable one? Have schools been opened by men of good position as a means of maintaining themselves? Ans. 54.—(a) The demand for high education in the North West has not reached such a stage as to make the profession of the teaching a remunerative one. (b) I am not aware of schools having been opened in this province by men of good position and education with the view of earning a livelihood. Ques. 55.—To what classes of institutions do you think that the system of assigning grants according to the results of periodical examinations should be applied? What do you regard as the chief conditions for making this system equitable and useful? Ans. 55.—The system of assigning grants according to the results of periodical examinations should be applied to middle-class schools only. The grant should be made with reference to both the number of students sent up for middle class examinations, and also to the number who actually pass. Ques. 56.—To what classes of institutions do you think that the system of assigning grants in aid of the salaries of certificated teachers can be best applied? Under what conditions do you regard this system as a good one? Ans. 56.—The system of assigning grants in aid of the salaries of certificated teachers can be best applied to (1) primary schools for boys, and (2) girls’ schools. The system should be brought into operation in—(1) cases in which certain districts or portion of districts are backward in the cause of education, and (2) in cases in which such institutions are established among the poorer classes of the people. Ques. 57.—To what proportion of the gross expense do you think that the grant in aid should amount under ordinary circumstances in the case of colleges and schools of all grades? Ans. 57.—Under ordinary circumstances the grant-in-aid should amount to half the gross expenses incurred in maintaining colleges and schools of all descriptions. But in the cases of primary schools in places backward in the cause of education, and in that of girls’ schools generally, the grant in aid might amount to a minimum of two thirds of the gross expenditure. Ques. 58.—What do you consider to be the maximum number of pupils that can be efficiently taught as a class by one instructor in the case of colleges and schools respectively? Ans. 58.—I consider that the maximum number of pupils that can be efficiently taught by one instructor may be as follows:— 269

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(1) In the case of primary schools—twenty. (2) In the case of secondary schools—thirty. (3) In the case of colleges where instruction is given by professors or lecturers— twenty-five. Ques. 59.—In your opinion, should fees in colleges be paid by the term or by the month? Ans. 59.—In my opinion fees in colleges should be taken by the month. Ques. 60.—Does a strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools? Ans. 60.—A strict interpretation of the principle of religious neutrality does not require the withdrawal of the Government from the direct management of colleges and schools. Whether the observance of the principle demands the withdrawal of State and from institutions where religious instruction is given may be regarded as an open question. Ques. 61.—Do you think that the institution of University professorships would have an important effect in improving the quality of high education? Ans. 61.—The institution of University professorships would certainly have an important effect in imparting a healthy tone to the character and quality of high education. But these professorships should be distributed among the different colleges affiliated to the Calcutta University. So far as the North-West is concerned there might be three professorships for the purpose of delivering lectures on three distinct branches of study, in the three Government Colleges at Agra, Allahabad, and Benares, in order to give a special character to each of those institutions. Suppose, for instance, the professorships of English language and literature to be attached to the Agra College, the professorship of science to Muir Central College, and that of mathematics to Benares, the result will be that undergraduates wishing to take honors in one or other of these subjects will attend the college where lectures are delivered by the University professor in the subject he has chosen. Ques. 62.—Is it desirable that promotions from class to class should depend, at any stage of school education, on the results of public examinations extending over the entire province? In what cases, if any, is it preferable that such promotions be left to the school authorities? Ans. 62.—Promotions from class to class should be left to the school authorities, with the exception of cases in which certain distinct stages of instruction are reached, to test which a uniform system of examination is provided for the whole province. Ques. 63.—Are there any arrangements between the colleges and schools of your province to prevent boys who are expelled from one institution, or who leave it improperly, from being received into another. What are the arrangements which you would suggest? Ans. 63.—(a) I believe that there are arrangements for preventing a boy expelled from one Government college or school from being received into another. But 270

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whether there are such arrangements in the case of schools kept up by Missionaries or other bodies I do not know. (b) The best plan would be not to admit a boy, who has previously been educated in one institution into another, unless he produces a certificate of character from the authorities of the former institution. No boy should be admitted into any institution without an enquiry being made into his character and antecedents. Ques. 64.—In the event of the Government withdrawing from the direct management of higher institutions generally, do you think it desirable that it should retain under direct management one college in each province as a model to other colleges, and if so, under what limitations or conditions? Ans. 64.—(a) It would be simply ruinous to the cause of high education in this province if Government were to withdraw from the maintenance of the existing colleges; should such withdrawal, however, be decided upon, it will be absolutely necessary to retain a model college for the province. (b) (1)—The model college should be located not necessarily at the head quarters of the province, but in the healthiest town in it. (2) Provision should be made for the “residence” of the undergraduates. If only one model college be retained in each province under the direct management of the Government, I would propose that the laws in force in the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge with regard to residence, discipline, keeping of terms, &c., be enforced in these provincial colleges, so far is the circumstances of the country will permit. (3) The provincial colleges should be richly endowed with scholarships. The number of these scholarships and the period for which they may be declared to be tenable, should (with the exception of scholarships given for proficiency in special subjects) be so regulated and fixed as to carry a deserving scholar through the whole of his University career. (4) The provincial colleges must maintain professorships for lecturing on all or most of the subjects of studies in which degrees are conferred by the University. Ques. 65.—How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B. A. standard? Ans. 65.—In all colleges teaching up to the B. A. standard none but European professors should be employed to lecture on English language and literature. Natives of high academical attainments, and who have attained reputation as successful teachers, may be appointed as professors of mathematics, science, &c. I would, however, object to the employment of graduates, who have not gained any experience in the art of teaching, as professors in colleges. Ques. 66.—Are European professors employed, or likely to be employed, in colleges under Native management? Ans. 66.—European professors are likely to be employed in colleges under Native management for the purpose of giving lectures in “English” only. Ques. 67.—Are the circumstances of any class of the population in your province (e.g., the Muhammadans) such as to require exceptional treatment in the 271

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matter of English education? To what are these circumstances due and how far have they been provided for? Ans. 67.—I do not think that the circumstances of any class of population in the North-West are so peculiar as to require exceptional treatment in the matter of English education. The Muhammadans occupy a solitary position in putting forward claims to “exceptional treatment.” They have a sentiment against attending colleges and schools where instruction is given on what they regard as an infidel system. This is sheer prejudice; and it is greatly to be regretted that eminent Muhammadans, taking stock of such a prejudice, trade thereon with the almost sinister motive of keeping their co-religionists socially aloof from the general body of the people with whom by reason of their strong religious antipathy, they feel an unreasonable abhorrence to associate. There is a plausible ground for East Indians and Eurasians objecting to send their children to institutions attended by Hindus; but the Muhammadans can have no pretext whatever. They enjoy already more than their legitimate share of the “loaves and fishes” of the Government service without receiving the benefits of English education. It is their own fault if they do not send their children to institutions founded for the education of all classes of the people. In my opinion, anything that tends to raise the belief that Government will countenance their prejudices is not only untenable on the grounds of strict observance of the principles of religious neutrality in the matter of education and justice to all classes of people under the British rule, without distinction of race or creed, but may be politically dangerous. The decaying remnants of the old Moslem hauteur towards the Hindus must die out. Ques. 68.—How far would Government be justified in withdrawing from any existing school or college in places where any class of the population objects to attend the only alternative institution on the ground of its religious teaching? Ans. 68.—In my opinion Government would not be justified in withdrawing from the maintenance of any existing college or school if the only alternative institution is objected to by the people on the ground of its religious teaching. Ques. 69.—Can schools and colleges under Native management compete successfully with corresponding institutions under European management? Ans. 69.—In the present state of education and civilisation in this country, schools and colleges under Native management cannot hope to compete, with any degree of success, with corresponding institutions maintained under direct European management. Ques. 70.—Are the conditions on which grants in aid are given in your province more onerous and complicated than necessary? Ans. 70.—I have no remarks to make on the system of grants-in-aid in addition to what I have already said in my answers to questions touching on that subject. BENARES, The 8th August, 1882

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MEMORIALS RELATING TO

THE N. W. PROVINCES EDUCATION COMMISSION. Answers to some of the Commission’s questions prepared by BABU KEDAR NATH PALODHI Ques. 1.—Please state what opportunities you have had of forming an opinion on the subject of education in India, and in what province your experience has been gained. Ans. 1.—I was teacher of mathematics, physical sciences, and English in the Benares Government College for about 17 years; superintendent of the Wards’ Institution, Benares, for about 18 years, and manager, and subsequently a member of the managing committee of the Bengalitola Preparatory School for many years. My experience is confined to the North-Western Provinces. Ques. 2.—Do you think that in your province the system of primary education has been placed on a sound basis, and is capable of development up to the requirements of the community? Can you suggest any improvements in the system of administration or in the course of instruction? Ans. 2.—I do not think the system of primary education in these provinces is calculated to meet the requirements of the community, and it is not therefore popular. Primary schools should be after the model of the indigenous schools. The subjects taught should be chiefly reading, writing, penmanship, and elementary arithmetic. The hours of attendance should be from 6 A.M. to 10 A.M., instead of from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. Discretion should be used in the choice of teachers. Ques. 5.—What opinion does your experience lead you to hold of the extent and value of home instruction? How far is a boy educated at home able to compete, on equal terms, at examinations qualifying for the public service, with boys educated at school? Ans. 5.—Home instruction, if conducted properly, is useful; but it can qualify boys for certain departments only of the public service. It is, besides, generally unfavourable to mental development. Ques. 9.—Have you any suggestions to make on the system in force for providing teachers in primary schools? What is the present social status of village schoolmasters? Do they exert a beneficial influence among the villagers? Can you suggest measures, other than increase of pay, for improving their position? Ans. 9.—If teachers of primary schools be chosen from the respectable classes of the community with due regard to their moral character, they will be respected by the villagers, and their influence over them will be beneficial. Ques. 11.—Is the vernacular recognised and taught in the schools of your province the dialect of the people; and, if not, are the schools on that account less useful and popular?

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Ans. 11.—The vernacular taught in the schools is not exactly the dialect of the people; but the schools are not on that account, the less useful or less popular. The dialects of the people of the different villages in the different parts of the country are so varied, that it is not possible to make the vernacular taught in schools quite agree with them, and it is neither necessary nor desirable to do so. Ques. 13.—Have you any suggestions to make regarding the taking of fees in primary schools? Ans. 13.—The fees charged in the primary schools should be sufficiently low to allow all classes of people to send their children to them. Ques. 14.—Will you favour the Commission with your views, first, as to how the number of primary schools can be increased, and secondly, how they can be gradually rendered more efficient? Ans. 14.—Primary schools may be increased in number by economy in the establishments, and in efficiency, by making the subjects of study really useful and practical. Ques. 16.—Do you know of any cases in which Government institutions of the higher order might be closed or transferred to private bodies, with or without aid, without injury to education or to any interests which it is the duty of Government to protect? Ans. 16.—In the present state of the native community, Government educational institutions of the higher order can neither be closed nor transferred to private bodies without considerable detriment to education. Ques. 20.—How far is the whole educational system, as at present administered, one of practical neutrality, i.e., one in which a school or a college has no advantage or disadvantage as regards Government aid and inspection from any religious principles that are taught or not taught in it? Ans. 20.—As regards Government aid and inspection, all schools and colleges receive equal attention. Ques. 21.—What classes principally avail themselves of Government or aided schools and colleges for the education of their children? How far is the complaint well founded that the wealthy classes do not pay enough for such education? What is the rate of fees payable for higher education in your province, and do you consider it adequate? Ans. 21.—The middle classes principally avail themselves of Government or aided schools and colleges for the education of their children. The wealther classes pay far less for the education of their children than the poorer classes, because their children attend schools only till they acquire enough of English to enable them to converse with Europeans, and read short letters in English. In these provinces the fees in the Government colleges vary from Rs. 2 to 5 a month according to different classes. In the Canning College and in Missionary institutions the fees are lower. The fees are rather too high for the poor and too low for the rich.

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Ques. 24.—Is the cause of higher education in your province injured by any unhealthy competition; and, if so, what remedy, if any, would you apply? Ans. 24.—As the credit of schools and colleges chiefly depends on the figures they cut at the University examinations, there is great temptation to cram the students and prepare them mechanically for the University examinations. Those institutions which do so have an advantage over those which discharge their duty conscientiously by trying to impart sound knowledge. Competition between institutions pursuing the opposite methods of teaching greatly injures the cause of education. Ques. 25.—Do educated Natives in your province readily find remunerative employment? Ans. 25.—Educated Natives find very great difficulty in securing remunerative employment. I know of an M. A. who was obliged to open a petty shop for his support. Except in the Education Department graduates cannot generally get employment. Ques. 26.—Is the instruction imparted in secondary schools calculated to store the minds of those who do not pursue their studies further with useful and practical information? Ans. 26.—The instruction imparted in secondary schools is not at all calculated to store the minds of the pupils with really useful and practical knowledge. It enables them to pass examinations, and this is its only use. Ques. 27.—Do you think there is any truth in the statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the entrance examination of the University? If so, are you of opinion that this circumstance impairs the practical value of the education in secondary schools for the requirements of ordinary life? Ans. 27.—The statement that the attention of teachers and pupils is unduly directed to the entrance examination of the University is, I am sorry to say, perfectly true. This circumstance of course impairs the intrinsic value of education. Ques. 28.—Do you think that the number of pupils in secondary schools, who present themselves for the University entrance examination is unduly large when compared with the requirements of the country? If you think so what do you regard as the cause of this state of things, and what remedies would you suggest? Ans. 28.—If the object of education is, as it should be, to prepare the pupils for the exigencies of after life and not only for employment as teachers and clerks the number is not unduly large. If this be the object, the curriculum of studies requires remodelling. Ques. 29.—What system prevails in your province with reference to scholarships, and have you any remarks to make on the subject? Is the scholarship system impartially administered as between Government and aided schools? Ans. 29.—Scholarships, in the North Western Provinces, are awarded to students who pass the University examinations in the first division only. This is not sufficiently encouraging. The scholarship system is impartially administered.

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Ques. 33.—Can you suggest any method of securing efficient voluntary agency in the work of inspection and examination? Ans. 33.—Local committees, such as existed before, consisting of Europeans and educated Natives, may be appointed. Ques. 34.—How far do you consider the text books in use in all schools suitable? Ans. 34.—The text books in English are generally good, but the vernacular ones require improvement. Ques. 36.—In a complete scheme of education for India what parts can, in your opinion, be most effectively taken by the State and by other agencies? Ans. 36.—The time has not yet arrived when Government can conscientiously withdraw itself from educational matters. It must patiently bear the trouble half a century more. Ques. 37.—What effect do you think that the withdrawal of Government to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges would have upon the spread of education, and the growth of a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes? Ans. 37.—The withdrawal of Government from the direct management of educational institutions of any kind will certainly nip education in the bud. Ques. 38.—In the event of the Government withdrawing to a large extent from the direct management of schools or colleges do you apprehend that the standard of instruction in any class of institutions would deteriorate? If you think so, what measures would you suggest in order to prevent this result? Ans. 38.—The standard of instruction will certainly deteriorate. If Government is anxious to withdraw itself from the virtuous but onerous task of managing directly or indirectly educational institutions, it must proceed slowly and cautiously, preparing the Native aristocracy for taking its place. Ques. 40.—Are any steps taken for promoting the physical well being of students in the schools or colleges in your province? Have you any suggestions to make on the subject? Ans. 40.—The physical well being of students deserves great attention, but no systematic step has as yet been taken in these provinces. In some of the colleges and schools manly sports are encouraged, but not sufficiently. In every college and school the pupils should have, compulsorily, European manly games and gymnastics for a couple of hours. Ques. 46.—In the promotion of female education, what share has already been taken by European ladies, and how far would it be possible to increase the interest which ladies might take in this cause? Ans. 46.—Missionary ladies take a prominent part in female education, but their motives are suspected. It is quite natural to expect this. It is possible to increase the interest taken by them to any extent by proper encouragement. Ques. 47.—What do you regard as the chief defects, other than any to which you have already referred, that experience has brought to light in the educational system as it has hitherto been administered? What suggestions have you to make for the remedy of such defects? 276

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[MISSING TEXT] ment one college in each province as a model to other colleges, and, if so, under what limitations or conditions? Ans. 64.—If Government is determined to give up the direct management of higher institutions generally, it is certainly desirable that it should retain under direct management one college in each province as a model to other colleges. Ques. 65.—How far do you consider it necessary for European professors to be employed in colleges educating up to the B. A. standard? Ans. 65.—In colleges educating up to the B.A. standard, professors of English should invariably be Englishmen, and professors of physical science, Europeans. Professors of mathematics should be Natives, and professors of other branches, either Europeans or Natives. Ques. 66.—Are European professors employed, or likely to be employed, in colleges under Native management? Ans. 66.—There are European professors in the Canning College only. Except for teaching English to advanced pupils, European professors are not likely to be appointed. Ques. 67.—Are the circumstances of any class of the population in your province (e.g., the Muhammadans) such as to require exceptional treatment in the matter of English education? To what are these circumstances due, and how far have they been provided for? Ans. 67.—The circumstances of no class of the population of these provinces require exceptional treatment in the matter of English education. The Muhammadans having been able to secure easily the higher and lucrative posts under Government without knowing English, did not care for English education. Now, finding some difficulty in securing them, they do not scruple to send their children to colleges and schools. An account of the Kayesth Pathshálá Allahabad, read at a meeting held on the 27th March, 1882, under the presidency of Sir Robert Stuart, Knight, Chief Justice of the High Court, North Western Provinces 1. This institution owes its origin to the learned and public spirited Munshi Kali Prasad a resident of Shahzadpur in the district of Allahabad and a leading member of the Oudh Bar. The object which the gentleman had originally in view was to provide primary and practical education for such boys of his own caste (Kayasths) whose parents from some cause or other were unable to give proper education to their children or to avail themselves of the training afforded by Government or other schools in some large station in the neighbourhood. To carry out this benevolent and noble intent on he founded this institution in 1873 at his own expense under the designation of the Kayastha Páthshálá. The contributions which he made from time to time for its support in cash and property now amount in value to more than Rs. 1,40,000 while those from other persons amount to nearly Rs. 10,000. Thus the funds out of which the costs of maintaining the institution are defrayed amount to a little more than Rs. 1,50,000.

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2. From the date of its establishment in 1873 up to June 1878 the status of the institution was that of a primary school and in July 1878 it was raised to that of an Anglo vernacular middle school. 3. The management of the páthshálá is vested in a governing body and a committee of management consisting of certain native gentlemen at the head of whom is Munshi Hanuman Prasad a leading pleader of the High Court of Judicature for the North Western Provinces. 4. Connected with the school is a boarding house intended for the accommodation of certain students which contains at present 18 foundationers and two boarders. Three of the teachers belonging to the school staff remain day and night within the páthshálá compound to look after the boarders. As a reward for this extra work, they get board and lodging free from the páthshálá. 5. Exclusive of other servants and those belonging to the boarding establishments the school staff consists of one head master and eight teachers. 6. There are four classes of students in the páthshálá— 1st.—The foundationers who are entirely supported by the páthshálá. 2nd.—The boarders who pay their expenses and live under the superintendence of the páthshálá. 3rd.—The aided students who get scholarships and necessary books from the institution; and 4th.—The day-scholars who pay their tuition fees. The following is the number of each class of students— Foundationers Boarders Aided students Day scholars TOTAL

18 2 37 61 118

The following statement shows the number of students according to their castes— 1 2 3

[ILLEGIBLE TEXT]

{

Brahmins Kayasthas Rajputs Kathis [Illegible Text]

63 0 12

}

TOTAL

25 81 12 118

The average daily attendance is 82 per cent. and no student is admitted into the school whose age exceeds 15 years.

Note by PROFESSOR RAJ KUMAR SARVADHIKARI I—On the Vernacular of the country—Hindi is the dialect of the people of Oudh, but the vernacular recognised and taught in the schools is Urdu. Urdu is the

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dialect of the Muhammadan inhabitants and Hindi of the Hindus. The proportion of Hindus to Muhammadans in this province is ten to one. Almost all the Hindus speak Hindi, and Urdu is a foreign tongue to them. In the districts very few people understand Urdu. No paper written in Urdu can be read by more than ten out of a hundred in the interior. The assistance of a munshi is called to read even the most ordinary letter written in Urdu. This farrogo of bad Arabic and Persian, which is known as Urdu, and which is so much favored and encouraged, was formed, says an eminent comparative philologist, among the motley soldiers composed of various races “suddenly gathered by the command of a Chengiz Khan or Timur like billows heaving and swelling at the call of a thunder-storm.” Judged by its grammatical structure, Urdu is a daughter of modernised Sanskrit. Its grammatical and formal elements are Hindi, but its body is formed from Arabic roots and Persian words inland with those of Sanskrit derivation. Its origin is comparatively of modern date. It was in the reign of Shahjahan that it assumed a visible shape. The Afghan conquerors, unable to express their thoughts in the language of the country to the Natives, carried on their intercourse with the people and conversed with their Indian wives and children in that composite dialect known as Urdu. With one exception, the vowel sounds of the language having no visible representation in its alphabet are expressed by diacritical marks which are often omitted in writing. Every one is aware how very difficult it is to read this language of consonants; how a series of letters uninterrupted by a vowel may convey many different meanings, and how the sense could be misconstrued by designing men, should it serve their purpose to do so. This in itself is a sufficient reason why its use should be discontinued in all legal documents, where on the interpretation of one word might depend the fate of families and the destiny of a kingdom. It boasts of no classics. It has no literature worth the name. The few books it has are either full of coarse love fables or the ridiculous stories of horrible jins and frightful ghosts.

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“One drawback to the success of village schools in this district (Unao),” says the inspector of schools, “is that the predominant vernacular of the inhabitants is Hindi rather than Urdu. The number of Brahmans and other high caste Hindus in the Unao district is unusually large. Their sympathies are for Hindi literature, while the court character or language, which is consequently the more useful of the two, is Urdu. Thus their literary tastes are not well in harmony with their material interests.” These remarks apply not only to the Unao district but to all the districts in the province. “The literary tastes of the people are not in harmony with their material interests.” Urdu is not the dialect of the people, but still they are obliged to study it simply because it has been aptly called a “bread earning” language. It is a mistake to encourage its cultivation.

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If you ask a man whether he would like to teach his son Urdu or Hindi, the invariable answer would be that he would prefer Urdu to Hindi. If the reason be asked for this unnatural preference his answer is that Urdu being the official language, the language of the courts the acquisition of it will be useful in transacting business, however useless it may be for the ordinary intercourse of life. If Urdu ceases to be the court language to day, it will cease to be cultivated to morrow, and no one will ever think of learning it.

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It has often been urged that Hindi in the Nágri character cannot be written so fast as Urdu. The Nágri character is said to be “too slow, too stiff, and too elaborate for the wants of the present day.” This objection does not seem to us to be of much weight. Practice gives facility, and I know by experience that Hindi in the Nágri character can be written as easily and as quickly as any other language. Let a trial be given to Hindi, and I am very much mistaken if within a short period from the time of its introduction it does not answer all the purposes of the courts of the united provinces, and supply all the “literary wants of the present day.” It should never be forgotten that all the immortal works of Sanskrit literature were written in the Nágri character, and surely volumes upon volumes would never have been written by the same author had the Nágri character really been “so slow and stiff” as it is represented to be. II—On Girls’ Schools—The number of primary girls schools, aided and unaided, in Oudh, teaching vernacular up to the 31st March, 1881, my be shown as follows:— Government Aided Unaided

49 15 5

The number of pupils attending them was 1,682 This will show that as regards numbers a decided improvement has been made within the last 15 years. In 1867 there were only six schools and 83 pupils in the province. It is a matter of regret, however, that there was a reduction from 65 to 64 schools in 1876, to 59 in 1880, and to 49 in 1881. The schools which have been closed were, I am informed, “not only rather expensive but decidedly inefficient.” About one fifth of the students are Hindus and four fifths Muhammadans, the former being chiefly from the working classes, and the latter from the middle and more respectable classes. Half the students on the rolls on 31st March, 1881, were in the alphabet class.

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“The teachers themselves,” the inspector of schools says “are very ignorant and have as little taste for arithmetic (and I may add for reading and writing) as their pupils.” The progress made by the girls may be best described in the words of Mr. Nesfeld, the Inspector of Schools. “The great majority of the girls who attend these schools, whether Government, aided, or unaided, acquire only the merest rudiments of learning, and are as absolutely ignorant a few months after they have left school as if they had never been to school at all. About one half of the girls never advance beyond reading and copying easy words and writing numbers up to 100. One-third get as far as reading in a fashion, easy sentences and copying the same, and perhaps may learn to add and subtract numbers of four digits. About one-fourth of the girls go as far as reading through a dozen pages of a very simple book and writing to dictation, mostly with many mis spellings, a line or two of the lesson read, to which they may add a little power to multiply and divide in simple arithmetic. It is only a very select few who ever get to reading and writing with an approach to fluency and to working in the compound rules. The number who can read and write to dictation a passage unseen before is very small.” It is apparent from this, that the character of the instruction imparted in these schools is extremely unsatisfactory and requires improvement. It is an admitted fact that the country cannot be regenerated without female education, so long as the ladies of India do not share with their husbands the pleasures of the intellect, there is little chance for India regaining the eminent position she occupied in ancient times in the scale of nations. It requires no demonstration to show that female education is one of the essential elements of national progress. The Government should not only establish schools and colleges for the education of one half of the nation, but should also adopt speedy measures by which the other half may be equally benefited. Government has up to this time pursued no systematic plan for giving education to females. The object cannot be attained by establishing a few schools alone. The higher classes of the Native community, Brahmins and Chattris and Kayeths would never consent to send their daughters to these schools. The higher classes keep aloof from these schools, and it is no wonder therefore that they have borne no fruit. We often hear it said that the time has not yet arrived for introducing into this province female education in any shape whatever. I should like to know when the time would come. Those who object to any attempt being made at present for improving the females of the province should remember that the instruction which is given in the boys schools in Oudh will never produce any beneficial results till an active effort is made to communicate knowledge to the females of the province. In my humble opinion, simultaneous action should be taken for educating the boys and girls of Oudh. It should always be borne in mind that light and darkness can never live together. Hindu society is so constituted, and females take so important a part in all its concerns that, educate the men as you will, no permanent improvement of the social order can be effected unless the impulse come from within. The movement must be simultaneous, while you educate the men, you should also educate

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the women, or else all plans for reforming Hindu society will prove abortive. Those who are cognisant of the mystery of the Hindu zenana will bear me out in saying how very difficult it is for an educated member of the Hindu community to carry out any plans of improvement which the females disapprove of, and how many noble projects have failed for want of cordial support from the Hindu ladies. It is necessary that the Government should think seriously of this matter for another reason. We often have to deplore a growing tendency among the educated young men either to betake themselves to evil courses or give themselves up to despair and despondency, because they do not find at home that cultivation of the intellect and the feelings, and that intelligence and taste which have become almost the necessary conditions of their mental existence. They seek a refined gratification of their intellectual æsthetic faculties anywhere but at home. It may easily be fancied what this will lead to, and unless timely measures be taken to prevent it, the evil will, I am afraid, become incurable. With regard to the question as to who should defray the expenses, whether Government should take upon itself the whole burden, I would submit that wherever society is in so backward a state that it would not provide for itself any proper institutions for education, Government should undertake the task, should give the education gratis, and definy all the necessary expenses. I know many arguments may be advanced against this plan but I venture here to quote the following words of the great thinker who has exercised the deepest and the widest influence on the present generation in support of my views.—“Instruction, when it is really such, does not enervate, but strengthens as well as enlarges the active faculties, in whatever manner acquired, its effect on the mind is favourable to the spirit of independence, and when, unless bad gratuitously, it would not be had at all, help in this form has the opposite tendency to that which in so many other cases makes it objectionable, it is help towards doing without help.” Wherever aided schools are established, the grants to girls’ schools should in all cases be larger in amount and given on less onerous terms than those to boys’ schools. The tendency at present is to make the grant-in-aid rules rigorous and strict, and the consequence is that those who subscribe to set up a school feel discouraged, and in no long time the grants are withdrawn and the schools are abolished. Girls’ schools require fostering care, but no such care, I am afraid, is bestowed upon them. The educational authorities evidently do not consider it incumbent upon them to encourage the growth of girls’ schools. Difficulties and obstacles, disappointments and failures, there must be, but that is no reason why the work of female education should be given up as hopeless. We must hope against hope. If persistent efforts be made and the work be not performed in a perfunctory manner, I firmly believe that great improvement will soon be visible in this direction. Girls’ schools constituted on the same principle as boys’ schools cannot attract the girls of high caste Hindus. They may do very well for the girls of the working classes, but high-caste people would never send their girls to these schools. 282

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Female education in this country will never make any progress merely by establishing schools and summoning pupils to attend them. This system cannot succeed here. The maulvies of Lucknow informed the Director of Public Instruction for Oudh, nearly fifteen years ago, “that the only possible way of reaching the more respectable families is by sending teachers to the zenanas.” It is curious to observe how people would not understand such a simple fact as this. We are often apt to forget the lessons which history has taught us. Human beings are not abstract or universal but historical human beings, already shaped and made what they are by human society. Great mistakes are made by not taking into account the accumulated influence of past generations. If Hindus have certain prejudices in this matter, these should be respected and means should be found to remove them. Instead of doing this, the Government officers, as soon as they establish a few schools, expect to find its benches filled by the daughters of all the respectable families in the neighbourhood. If they do not find their expectations fulfilled they begin to cavil and despair of success, and do not for a moment waste their time in thinking that among savages alone the past has no influence over the present, and that among all civilized nations the social phenomena must be determined by their past history. Indian ladies, I repeat, can be educated by no other means than by sending female teachers to the zenana. If well trained high caste females be sent as teachers to the zenana, who would on no account mix up religion with the instruction they would impart, I have not the slightest doubt that female education would make rapid progress. At present female teachers properly qualified for the task cannot be obtained. It will be necessary therefore to establish female Normal schools throughout the cauntry to train high caste females for the work. There will be no difficulty in getting, on a small stipend, elderly Brahmin and Chattri or other high-caste widows to become students to qualify themselves to be zenana teachers. Care should be taken that the teachers appointed, for some time at least, be none but high caste females, as they alone are respected in Hindu families. There should be a central Normal school of a high order in each province, superintended by a well-educated European mistress. The education in the Normal schools should comprise a sound knowledge of the vernaculars, a good acquaintance with English and all branches of useful knowledge, all kinds of needle work, music and drawing. Instruction to be imparted through the vernaculars and afterwards through the English language. The greatest efforts should be made to inculcate habits of cleanliness and for the neat and tidy arrangement of a house. Domestic economy to form a particular matter of instruction. The term for training to be averaged at five years, but not to be less than three years. In the promotion of female education, the share which has hitherto been taken by European ladies of the different zenana missions is very little if anything. As far as my experience goes, these ladies, educated as they are, are not properly qualified to undertake the task of educating our females. In the first place they are looked upon with suspicion, and most people believe that their main object 283

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is to inculcate the principles of their own religion into the tender minds of young Hindu females. If there be the least suspicion of this kind, then whatever they teach is received with a large amount of incredulity, and once the teacher fails to inspire implicit confidence in her, her most strenuous efforts to impart instruction are of no avail. European ladies are not fit to teach the rudiments of knowledge to Native ladies. In the elementary stage of instruction, therefore, they cannot afford much assistance. Their knowledge of the vernaculars is so imperfect that it is not possible for them to be good teachers of Native females. In the higher stages of education their assistance may be of real benefit. But if they mix up religion with the instruction they impart, no Hindu gentleman would ever allow his wives and sisters and daughters to be placed under their care. The instruction they impart should be secular. It will be mere waste of money to subsidise the zenana missions. I am of opinion that Normal schools of a high order should be established to provide teachers for girls. The next question is what should the Government teach them? Indian girls are married at an early age, and they cannot therefore be taught much in the school room. Very few girls would attend the school after the age of 10. If the system of sending teachers to the zenana, however, be adopted, Hindu females may be persuaded to carry on their studies to an advanced age, and means may thus be easily found to give them an education worth the name. What are we to teach them? Owing to the absence of any recognised principles on this subject, a great deal of time, expense, and labour may go for nothing. The ultimate end of education is to secure happiness, and to attain that end we should put our ladies in the way of developing all the active faculties of their minds. They should be taught to find sources of inexhaustible interest in all that surround them, “in the objects of nature, the achievements of art, the imaginations of poetry, incidents of history, the ways of men past and present and their future prospects.” Teach them the principles of science and how they are applied in practice. Take hold of their imagination by showing them the wonderful productions of art, and make them learn how to wield the powers of nature to their benefit. Instruct them in music and the ornamental arts, and then mark what result is produced in a few years. I am very much mistaken if the knowledge which is thus communicated does not revolutionise all their thoughts and feelings, vitalise all our social institutions, and thereby elevate Hindu character and regenerate Hindu society. I would entreat the educational officers never to be satisfied by giving the girls a mere smattering of geography and history, or teaching them how to con a few fables of a story book selected at trandom from a mass of rubbish. This does more mischief than good, as they are taught in his way to have an access to those abominable books with which the vernacular literature abounds. The importance of teaching English to our females cannot be overrated, as its vivifying influence alone can draw their attention to their own defects, and furnish them with the keys to the wide domains of every department of human knowledge.

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III.—The Grant in aid system.—The introduction of a system of grants in aid under which the efforts of private individuals and of local committees would be stimulated and encouraged by pecuniary grants from Government in consideration of a good secular education being afforded in the aided schools, was one of the main objects contemplated in the Education Despatch of 1854. It was in view of the impossibility of Government alone doing all that must be done to provide adequate means for the education of the Natives of India that the grant in aid system was elaborated and developed by the Despatch of 1854, “and it is to the wider extension of this system, especially in connection with high and middle education, that the Government look to set free funds which may then be made applicable to the promotion of the education of the masses.” The Government of India has declared its intention of following the lines of policy contained in the Despatch of 1854, and is desirous of giving full effect to the principles upon which that policy is based. It is absolutely necessary, therefore, to examine into the general results of the operation of the grant in aid system which is expected to stimulate independent effort in the establishment of schools and thus afford pecuniary relief to Government. It has been justly said that a mere critical review or analysis of the returns and reports of the different provinces would fail to impart a thoroughly satisfactory knowledge of the actual state of things in the districts, and that there are many points which only an acquaintance with local circumstances can adequately estimate or explain. There are great many things in the back-ground which never come to the knowledge of the educational authorities. The managers of the aided schools are charged with “ill management, minute peculation, and petty frauds,” and the governors of the different provinces deplore the state of society which allows persons notoriously to commit these frauds without fear of loss of character. Proceedings also were instituted in criminal courts against secretaries of aided schools. It has been publicly said that the grant-in-aid system, as it is administered at present, encourages and conceals dishonesty and fraud in the managers of schools to an extent which is extremely demoralising. Thus fault is found with the present administration of the grant-in-aid system. But no one cares to look below the surface of things, and to scrutinise the efficiency of the machinery that has been set on foot to carry out the grant-in-aid policy of the Government. The abuses of aided schools have been described and decried ad nauseam; but unless the rules upon which grants are given be radically amended, there is very slight hope of these abuses being rooted out and the resources of the State being set free for a wider extension of the present educational system. The abuses of aided schools have thus been formulated:— 1. Inefficiency of the local committee of management. 2. Inefficiency of the teaching staff. 3. Delays of payment of teachers’ salaries. 4. Uncertainty of tenure. 5. Fraud and oppression.

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Complaint is general that the committees appointed under the grant-in aid rules for the local management of schools have not realised the expectations of those who framed that system. These commitees have signally failed in exercising an efficient control over the schools under their charge. They are incapable of originating plans of improvement or of remedying defects of management. It has been authoritatively stated that these committees do not perform their legitimate functions and obligations with anything like efficiency, and it is no wonder therefore that the grant in aid schools are not in a state of vigorous health, with the exception of some few schools exceptionally situated and circumstanced, all of them are in a sickly condition and drag on a miserable existence. In Bengal there has been an overhauling for several years of a large number of aided schools which have been declared to be “inefficient and incapable of improvement.” The large margin of inefficient schools or as it is called in official language the “inefficient margin,” clearly points to the fact that the grant in-aid system is not working well and that a radical change of system is urgently called for, year after year we hear it said that grants are withdrawn from a large number of old “inefficient schools,” and that these grants are given to “new schools” which are struggling into existence. Inspectors have been repeatedly reminded that a grant in aid is not a “benefice” to be held by a school irrespectively of its merits or success. There has been a wholesale cancelling of grants, because these aided schools signally failed to satisfy the grant-in aid conditions. The teaching staff of these aided schools is described as incompetent and worthless. Good men of sterling worth cannot be induced to join these schools. The success of a school depends more upon good teachers than upon its committee of management. “I have been a teacher myself,” said the late Mr. Woodrow, “and I am a member of several school committees, but my experience tells me that a committee of management does most good when it interferes the least. The wisest exercise of its functions is to get good teachers, to treat them well and to pay them regularly. It is looking for an impossibility to expect good results if the teachers are in arrears of pay or are inefficient men. The efficiency of teachers is a sine quá non of success. The true remedy therefore is the appointment of the best teachers available.” “Ninety-nine out of a hundred of the abuses,” says one of the most experienced of the inspectors of schools, “will disappear if we can once secure the appointment of competent teachers. To do this, however, is not so easy as may appear at first sight. The real difficulty lies in the paucity of good teachers.” No good teachers will join or continue to remain in aided schools unless they are well paid and have good prospects. To pay them well requires ample funds, and the aided schools cannot afford to pay good teachers. “Many aided schools in the country,” says the Director of Public Instruction of Bengal, “find it difficult, even with the help of a grant, to make both ends meet.” How is it possible, then, to maintain a competent staff of teachers and thus to ensure the permanent success of a school? Various expedients are resorted to, and the managing committees are continually warned that the grants would be withdrawn if all qualified masters are employed. The maintenance of an efficient staff, they are distinctly told, is the only condition the 286

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fulfilment of which will entitle to the continuance of the grant. But all to no purpose “A competent staff of teachers” is a very rare commodity, and simple adjurations unaccompanied by a distinct promise of substantial benefits will not be able to secure it. “The low standard of English middle schools,” said Sir George Campbell, “arises from the deficiency of the teaching staff. The Director remarks that schools of this class are very popular, and it must be added that in general they are also very worthless. “The teaching which they give is in no sense education, and can scarcely even be called instruction. Its prominent feature is the attempt made by untrained masters, themselves very imperfectly acquainted with English, to impart a smattering of English to boys who have never studied their own vernacular, and have never been grounded in any useful branches of learning.” The complaints made from the North-West are more serious. “The loss of 125 schools and 6,629 pupils with a saving to the Government of Rs. 43,550,” says Mr. Kempson, the late Director of Public Instruction, “needs some explanation. A comparison with the summary of 1875–76 discloses the points where the shears have been applied. The grants-in-aid were withdrawn from 75 Anglo vernacular schools of the middle class, from 37 vernacular schools for boys, and from 17 vernacular schools for girls. Even under the most careful inspection there was always a feeling of uncertainty as to whether the teachers received their share of pay from the subscription funds, or whether the free entries in the accounts were boná fide transactions. The teachers dare not complain, because if the school was closed they lost their living, and they preferred a false affidavit to ruining themselves or compromising the tabsildar or other people by whose influence the schools were established. It is to the credit of the èleves of our schools and colleges that they were always unwilling to accept those teacherships, but the consequence was that inferior men had to be put in, and hence the instruction was rarely satisfactory.” In no branch of the Educational Department, said the late Lieutenant-Governor, “could retrenchments have been more justly made than in the large class of institutions known as aided schools. It was notorious that the smattering of English which many of the (so called) Angle vernacular schools imparted was worse than useless from an educational point of view.” It will thus be seen that the Bengal Government and the North West Government are at one with regard to the efficiency of the teaching staff of the aided schools. One of the inspectors, after a careful examination of the aided high schools of one of the most important divisions of the North West, reports that “the failure was signal. The classes are below the average and the teaching defective. The teachers in some of the schools are willing and industrious, but wanting in experience.” I have summarised his remarks. It will thus be seen what urgent necessity exists for using greater exertions to raise the character and improve the instruction of these schools. If we read carefully the reports submitted by the district committees and the local boards, we are struck with the fact that almost all the aided schools have been suffering greatly from the absence of a competent staff of teachers. I will attempt to give a brief summary of some of these reports on this head. 287

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There is undoubtedly a great call for better paid teachers. The committee was addressed last year by the inspector of the circle as to the feasibility of increasing the pay of the teachers and the consequent closing of a certain number of schools so as not to exceed the budget grant and the committee were of opinion that some 20 schools could be closed during the year. At present it is impossible to induce good men to become teachers. In dismissing one teacher for inefficiency it is quite certain that his successor will be equally as bad and thus one is led almost to despair of any improvement (Agra) As there has always been a difficulty in getting efficient teachers the number of schools has been reduced from 147 to 125 and new rates of pay have been introduced. Even with the increased rates of pay it is very hard to get competent teachers. There is none to be found in the district itself and very few outsiders are attracted (Cawnpore). Several schools were closed for months for want of qualified persons to take their teacherships. The majority of the leathers were dismissed on the score of incompetency some for repeated absence and others for disobedience of orders and misconduct. The chief blot in these schools was that the teachers thought that the number of boys on the rolls was the only test of their efficiency (Allahabad).

It is needless to multiply these extracts. Some of these remarks apply not only to aided schools, but also to Government schools in the interior, when the want of good teachers is thus severely felt even in Government schools. With their manifold advantages, how keenly the aided schools, which do not enjoy the hundredth part of the privileges of the Government institutions, feel the absence of an efficient staff of teachers can be more easily imagined than described. The evil complained of in the smaller schools is intensified in the high schools and collegiate institutions. Any one who takes the trouble to read the annual educational reports will at once perceive that the high schools and colleges are all suffering from this incurable chronic disease in the shape of incompetent teachers, or sullen and grumbling masters, who, if not conscientious, will do more harm than ignorant and inefficient men. Such is the actual state of affairs in the aided schools. It would be unjust to say that all this mischief has been done by the people. That they are quite ready and willing to come forward and aid in the establishment of schools upon the grant in-aid system is apparent from the facts and figures submitted to Government year after year by the different Directors of Public Instruction. ‘The most encouraging feature in the educational history of the year 1878–79 says His Honor the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal “is that the contributions from private sources to the total cost of education has exceeded the Government grant a result to which as the Director observes the experience of the last few years has steadily pointed. The departmental figures show that out of a total expenditure on education of Rs. 15,15,000 the Government contribution amounted to Rs. 21,72,000 while the people paid Rs. 23,73,000 their contributions in the previous year having been Rs. 21,43,000. During the year 1879–80 the proportion of the Government expenditure has been still further reduced—namely, from 47¼ per cent, to 46 per cent. Of the cost of collegiate education the Government share has fallen from 52½ to 51⅔ per cent., in secondary education, the Government share has fallen from 30 to 34½ per cent, and in primary education from 28½ to 25½ per cent. These figures refer only to those colleges and schools which receive

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aid from the State. If the maintenance of unaided institutions be taken into account, the proportion of the Government expenditure to the total cost will be very much less.”

The figures are no less satisfactory in the returns of the North West Provinces. Excluding the cost of special and technical instruction in which the Government share is naturally much higher, we find that the Government expenditure has been in 1880–81, Rs. 4,92,557, while the contribution from private sources amounted to Rs. 11,05,906. This shows that the people are all stirring and the demand for education is great. The contributions from the people could be doubled and trebled, if only the feelings of the people were consulted and a spirit of independence were fostered. There is a blot, however, in the present administration of the grant in and system, which mars their best efforts and damps their enthusiasm. That the grant in aid system has failed to achieve the success which it deserves is not the fault of the great principle laid down in the Education Despatch, but is due to the retrograde action of the Education Department, and the hard and inelastic rules framed by it. The superstructure does not correspond to the design. The framers of the system intended that it should spread in an ever widening circle, and that the educational scheme of the whole country should be organised and systematised; that all private agencies should be utilised and that a spirit of independence should be encouraged and fostered. The machinery that has been set on foot for bringing about those ends has been found wanting, and, unless timely measures are taken to remedy the present state of affairs, the objects contemplated by the Education Despatch will be entirely defeated. Before I venture to make suggestions for the improvement of the present administration, I should wish to show in what light the efforts of the people to establish schools on the grant in aid system is viewed by the educational authorities. The origin of a grant-in-aid school is thus described “some of the leading men of a village are seized with the desire of a middle class school. They consult the deputy inspector, who advises them as to the necessary scale of establishment and the amount of aid for which they should apply. Some enthusiasm is aroused. A committee is formed, a subscription list is circulated, and teachers appointed. All goes well for a year or two, when dissensions arise among the members of the committee. A party breaks off and their subscriptions cease. The pay of the teachers falls into arrears and the head master, seeing no hope of realizing it, resigns his appointment. An inferior man takes his place, well knowing the precarious state of his salary. Dissatisfaction with the school increases, pupils leave and their fees with them, the secretary no longer makes those advances by which he had endeavoured to satisfy the teachers and to keep the school going, and finally the deputy inspector or the inspector learns something of the state of affairs and comes down suddenly on the school. If it is found, as it is not seldom found, that the accounts of the school have been inaccurately represented to the inspector, the grant is withdrawn. From schools, aided under conditions similar to these, grants are being continually withdrawn.” This is a one-sided picture. The

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only impression one gets from it is that the originators of these schools are wanting in public spirit, that they are a set of lazy, indolent, dishonest persons who are utterly incapable of administering public funds. The enthusiasm which the people evinced and the efforts which they made are of no value whatever “The effort,” says another Director of Public Instruction, “was unwillingly sustained or fraudulently counterfeited.” Such enthusiasm should be repressed and such effort should be discouraged! This is surely not fostering independent effort! I should be the last person to deny that the local committees are not perfection. Faillings they have, but most of these failings arise from ignorance of the idiosyncracies of the educational officers under whom the schools are placed, and should therefore be tolerated. Instead of displaying tact in smoothing down differences and endeavouring with gentleness to correct whatever venial failings the managers may show, the inspectors try to exact to the letter the rigorous terms of the grant in aid rules, and by their constant and harrassing interference disgust the real friends of the school, and the consequence is the subscriptions are discontinued, the grant is withdrawn, the school disappears, and “the independent effort of the people is seldom revived.” The fact is these aided schools are looked upon by the educational authorities as excrescences which as to be removed, and the sooner the better. “It is easy to trace,” said Sir George Campbell, “the causes of the decline both in the numbers of the middle schools and in the character of the instruction given in them; but it is more difficult to suggest a remedy.” His Honour believed that the true causes of the decline of the aided schools had been fully traced. He was not aware that the real cause had not been discovered and that it was for this reason that an effective remedy was difficult to be found. The fact of the matter is the Government grants are placed on an eleemosynary basis, the members of the managing committees are treated as recipients of Government charity, and the aided schools are looked upon as charity schools. They are the pariahs of the Education Department and are looked down upon with contempt.

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The infection has spread from the department to the outside public, and the very name of a “subscription school” moves a provoking smile. Those who can beg for “aid” are, like Hindu outcastes, the lowest of the low.

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I once asked a friend who was maintaining a school out of his slender means why he did not apply for a Government grant. His answer was “I shall not be able to bear their scornful conduct and their constant and harassing interference.” “But you cannot get good teachers, and there may be a thousand and one accidents by which the school may suffer a grievous loss.” “Well, I must abolish the school, but I would not take Government aid. You know the feeling of our people on the 290

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subject.” Yes, I know very well the feeling of our people on the subject. They would have nothing to do with charity schools, for the support of which they pay their own money, and are considered into the bargain as recipients of charity, doled out by Government officials, They are looked upon as persons whose first business in life is to defraud Government. Everything they do in connection with the school is looked upon with suspicion. If any plans for improvement are submitted and an increased grant is applied for, these are viewed as ingenious contrivances or flimsy pretexts for extorting Government money under false pretences. The managers of the aided schools are like the alms men at a Sraddha (the feast of the dead), or like the beggars of the street, who, if they tease and trouble you, can be prosecuted under the Vagrant Act. “These local committees,” says an inspector of schools, “constituted as they are of the most influential gentlemen of the place, are no doubt as good representative bodies as can be produced under the circumstances, but however liberal as private individuals the members may be in contributing from their private resources for the support of the schools, there seems to be no call yet felt by them to supervise educational administration in their public capacity.” These “influential gentlemen” suffer their names to be retained on the committee, but can it be wondered at that they do not take an active interest in the management of the schools? No respectable person would ever serve on a committee in which every member is reckoned as an almsman and a beggar. The aided schools are not within the charmed Government circle, they are outside its limits, they must look on with envy and admiration upon the favoured group within, and if any crumbs of bread, any wipings of the hand, are thrown out to them, they must raise a chorus of applause and be grateful for the benefaction they receive. Thus it will be seen that the present grant-in aid system has a repressive influence on independent effort, and the results which are expected to flow from it will never be attained if the present system be pursued. The aided schools may drag on their miserable existence for a short time and then disappear. Fresh schools will be started and fresh grants will be given to them, and after a time they will share the fate of their predecessors. The educational authorities seem to be under the impression that if the funds set apart for grants-in-aid are distributed during the year, if old grants are withdrawn and new grants are given, so as to show that a fixed sum of money is placed on an eleemosynary basis, if the retrenchment shears are actively employed and a large saving is shown in this ill fated grant-in aid allotment—their work is done, and they are entitled to the thanks of the Government and the gratitude of the Native public. I have attempted to show that the working of the present grant-in-aid system is unsatisfactory, and that it does not possess within it those elements of expansiveness will out which no real pecuniary relief could be afforded to Government, and the character of the education given cannot be materially improved. The suggestion of a remedy does not seem to me to be very difficult. The solution of the difficulty, to my mind, lies in a nut shell. All the Government institutions and all the aided schools and colleges—more especially those which possess 291

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within them elements of permanent success, the permanency of whose income, I mean, can be counted upon—should be made parts of the same system, links of the same chain. The stigma that now attaches to “subscription schools” will be removed and there will be no occasion then for the contemptuous remarks that are now made with regard to these schools. The aided schools and colleges which now exist, instead of being isolated and stationary, will become organised and progressive, and their permanency and extended usefulness will be secured. The educational authorities, instead of looking upon them as morbid outgrowths, will look upon them as young plants having vigorous life in them, watered from the same founts a head as the Government institutions, and entitled to the same fostering care as those schools and colleges which are supported entirely by Government. Let them not be considered as aliens, but the children of the same soil, which will grow with the growth of the department. On the one hand, we have schools and colleges which look to Government entirely for their means of support, and on the other hand we have institutions which pay the greater part of their own expenses, and only ask the Government to take care of them in time of trouble and distress. Some of the children of the father are entirely dependent upon him for support, while others can earn their own livelihood and only look to him for aid when they are laid up by sickness or have unforeseen contingencies to meet. Paternal care, according to our Hindu notions, should be equally extended to all the children. The aided institutions are the “earning” members of a Hindu joint-family, and if they are denied a greater, they should at least have an equal share of happiness and comforts with those who do not earn anything, but are entirely dependent upon the managing head of the house community. If the whole educational scheme of the country be systematised if the aided institutions be considered as parts of one and the same organisation, and if thus the grant in aid system be so shaped as really to stimulate independent effort, solid pecuniary relief will be afforded to the Government of India, the country will be studded with aided institutions on the grant-in aid system, and the contemplated development of primary education will not be a work of the distant future. What I venture to suggest is that Government schools and colleges and the aided institutions—especially those whose income is permanent should be placed on the same footing, and that the system of transfer and pensions should be equally applicable to both classes of institutions. If this be once done, the development of the grant-in aid system will be so rapid, so many private individuals and public bodies will gladly come forward to take advantage of the system, that in no long time Government will be entirely relieved of the dead burden which is now weighing upon it in supporting the State schools and colleges. Note by PRAN NATH PANDIT, Third Master, Canning College 1. I have been a teacher in the Canning College for the last 15 years and have always taken an interest in the diffusion of education and enlightenment among my Hindu and Muhammadan countrymen in Lucknow. I am intimately connected 292

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with the Jalsa i-Tahzib and Rafab i Am Committee. Besides contributing largely to the Morasila Cashmir on social questions, I started a miscellany, called Mitatu l Hind for the enlightenment of the native public and have hitherto maintained it in a respectable order. My experience has been gained mostly in Oudh. 2. The native community of this province consists of so many different elements that one and the same course of instruction will not do for all. Then, again, the requirements of city and town communities differ very much from those of village or rural communities. I know not what form local self-government is to take in Oudh. Much of the education of the province will depend on the particular form of self government. The whole vernacular education of the province should be handed over to our district and Municipal committees and local boards provided they be according to the Resolution of the Government of India on local self-government. The services of the deputy inspectors may be dispensed with, and those of the kanungos, to be hereafter appointed may be utilised instead. Rai Durga Parshad may be appointed their head in educational matters. Geometry, geography, and history should be eliminated from the course of village schools, and small books on practical agriculture and the preparation of village papers and maps be substituted. Whereever there is a patwari there ought to be a village school and every patwari should be an ex-officio superintendent of that school. In towns and cities local boards and Municipalities should be required to meet the wants of the people in educational matters. 3. Instruction is rather forced upon the village community. It is sought for by Bengalis, Kayaths, Khatris, Baniyas, and Brahmans. Muhammadans especially hold aloof from it, for they consider English education inconsistent with their religion, and even vernacular education given in our schools is supposed to be tainted with infidelity. Their luxurious habits produce indolence and their religious doctrines and traditions make them blind to their real interest in this world. They will not apply themselves to anything requiring great exertion. They cannot compete with the Hindus under the present system of education. They have an aptitude for learning languages, history, logic, and medicine. They can even get up different theories in mathematics, but they invariably break down in the practical part of it. Race pride alone prevents Eurasians and poor Europeans from availing themselves of instruction in Government schools. I do not know whether “Influential classes” includes Europeans or applies solely to Natives. Race and caste prejudices makes the Natives averse to giving even elementary knowledge to every class of society. They think that knowledge is intended simply for the upper classes and that by extending it to the lower classes knowledge itself is degraded. 4. Wherever there are Kayaths, Baniyas, and Muhammadans, there is an indigenous school of some kind or other. In villages as well as in town and cities they are now supplanted by Government schools. The Bampas and Mahajans pay no great attention to Hindi literature. They find the ancient village system of teaching arithmetical tables and various practical rules and formulæ called “Gur” by heart answer their purpose very well. This enables them to settle their mercantile and other daily accounts verbally and without the help of pen and paper. These 293

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are purely Hindu indigenous schools. Besides the above, there are Muhammadan and mixed schools too. By mixed schools I do not mean schools where boys and girls read together, as in America, but where Hindu and Muhammadan boys study Persian literature together. They are now being deserted for English schools, but formerly the education given directly in Persian and indirectly in Urdu was much more efficient and advanced than the present standard of middle class. Elementary books containing moral lessons in prose and poetry were taught to beginners, a few rules of arithmetic, important to men in their daily life, were sometimes included in the study of such schools. There are also schools of private individuals giving gratuitous instruction to people simply for the public benefit. The great name of some Sanskrit Pandit or Arabic Maulvie attracts a large number of pupils from distant parts of the country. They impart instruction in Sanskrit and Arabic to a most advanced standard and teach the highest branches of literature and philosophy. Some indigenous schools are established by private funds or charitable endowments. Muhammadans and Cashmiri Pandits of Lucknow have had such institutions, where a number of teachers are entertained and students are not only gratuitously taught, but some provision is occasionally made for their maintenance also. Religious instruction is the main object of such schools, The Martimere School, too, comes under the same category, but its usefulness is now restricted to Europeans and Eurasians only. The fees charged in most schools vary from one anna to one rupee, but the teachers get presents in money and articles of food on various occasions. Muhammadans teach Arabic and Persian; Brahmins, Sanskrit, Hindi and verbal arithmetic, and Kayaths teach bookkeeping or written accounts in Persian. They are very well qualified in the subjects they profess to teach. There is no system for training or providing masters in such schools. To further the objects of primary and middle education in vernacular the indigenous schools can easily be utilized as a part of the educational system— (1) by allowing them the freedom of retaining their own languages and subjects, (2) by adding a little arithmetic, history, and geography to their existing subjects of study, (3) by inducing them to submit to inspection by educational officers, (4) by requiring the teachers to submit short monthly returns showing the number of students and other necessary particulars. No attempt should be made to displace any of the exisiting teachers, as the prosperity of these schools entirely depends upon their personal influence and character. But schools giving religious instruction alone cannot be thus utilised. Most of the teachers will be found willing to accept State aid and to conform to the rules under which such aid is given, if the existing rules be a little modified in their favor. 294

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5. Very few boys educated at home only can have any pretension to liberal education. But though intellectually inferior to school taught boys, they are superior in moral character. At examinations qualifying for the public service they have little chance of success against boys educated at school. But when home instruction is combined with school education the result is admirable. Most of our successful students have had this advantage. 6. Unless self-government is made a reality and members of local boards, &c, begin to take an intelligent interest in mass education, the withdrawal of Government agency is sure to make the whole thing fall back to its primitive state. Influential Natives do not like to give nor are the masses willing to receive education, however elementary it may be. 7. The present social status of village schoolmasters mostly depends on their pay. Teachers trying to assist the villagers in sundry ways exercise a beneficial influence among them but when they set themselves up as little “hákims,” enforcing the attendance of boys and payment of schooling fees simply by the aid of the tahsíldar, then they are feared not simply by the boys but by their parents too. It is not an easy matter to get good schoolmasters, but if local bodies be allowed a voice in their selection, and the teachers themselves have better prospects, the whole thing may be much improved. To improve their position, let a definite number of patwaris and kanúngos in each district be yearly recruited from their ranks. 8. The agricultural classes are decidedly opposed to all sorts of instruction. They think that their children are taken away from field labor or attendance on cattle. The experiment of night schools in some villages might be tried. The only instruction acceptable to villagers is what will enable them to have, not ultimately, but immediately, two meals a day instead of one. School study is supposed to unfit boys for hard field labor. What they require is practical instruction in agricultural and mechanical arts in the open air. They want industrial schools. Give the poor little boys something in the shape of wages for the work they do, and they will all flock to such schools. 9. Both in Urdu and Hindi the book language is generally different from the actual vernacular of the masses. In primary schools much time and energy are wasted in teaching such a language. Books for primary instruction in the real vernacular of this province are much needed. The difference between Urdu and Hindi in primary schools should not be that of language, but of characters simply. 10. The principle of forcing education upon poor villagers and at the same time charging fees for it is quite unintelligible to me. This is quite disagreeable to the people, and is one of the reasons why primary instruction is not yet acceptable to poor rural communities. The tahsíldar is sometimes requested to enforce payment of fees from almost starving people, sometimes the ill paid village teacher has to make up the account from his own small pay. The headman of each village already pays for the education of his village boys at the rate of one per cent as educational cess. During the Viceroyalty of Lord Lytton, when local Governments wanted to make reductions in the Education Department, it raised the rate of fees and hundreds of schools ceased to exist simply on that account. 295

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11. There is no use of increasing the number of primary schools at present. I have already given my views as to how the existing schools may gradually be rendered more efficient. 12. There is no fixed scale of grant-in-aid laid down for colleges. For English schools grants in aid are regulated by the number of students receiving instruction. The rules require that the average attendance of boys who learn English should not be less than one for every Rs. 1-8 of the monthly grant. Missionaries with cheap agencies avail themselves of the above rule. But under the present state of conditions no Native, however enterprising, can expect to keep up an English school in an efficient state under this rule. If the Government wants educated Natives to come forward to establish high schools, the grants should not be regulated by the number of students, but by the quality of the instruction imparted. A better quality of instruction necessarily involves a higher expenditure. It is much better to impart sound instruction to a limited number than to furnish a large number of students with an imperfect education. I should therefore suggest that the grant-in-aid be regulated by the amount of expenditure of the school for which such aid is solicited. 13. On the whole, the Government could not be more neutral than it is. The religious prejudices of all Indian communities are more or less breaking down in proportion to the Western light they receive. Even mission schools are now found to be full of Hindu and Muhammadan boys. The danger is to be met with in another direction. There is a growing cry of moral looseness against school boys. 14. If by secondary school be meant middle school, the present course neither stores the mind with useful and practical information nor does it prepare boys for the entrance examination of the University. The course of study and the mode of examination both are defective. Should the Commission call for the correspondence between Mr. Nesfield and the Director of Public Instruction on the subject in question, it will give them valuable information in regard to this point. 15. In our schools I cannot say whether our attention is unduly directed to the entrance examination, but stuffing little boys with Sanskrit and Persian in our branch school looks very much like it. If the time were altogether given to English and vernacular, time and energy would both be more usefully economized. In our anxiety for a few boys in the first arts we force hundreds of boys to give up their easy vernacular for much more difficult languages which are of no practical good to them in their struggle for livelihood—nay, more than this, they do not know sufficiently of their vernacular even for ordinary requirements. 16. The University curriculum does not afford sufficient training for teachers in secondary schools. If funds afford, a special Normal school will become very useful for training teachers. In the absence of such schools a system of apprenticeship under good teachers may answer the purpose nearly as well. 17. The present system of school inspection in Oudh is more costly than effective. The kanúngos will be a cheaper agency than deputy inspectors, who are altogether a foreign element in the village school system. As each post-office is also a savings bank so each kanungo in this tour of inspection of village papers 296

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may as well inspect village schools. As the kanungo is very intimately connected with the several village communities in his circuit, he will be able to look after village schools much better. The co-operation of Native gentlemen also should be secured. Some education I officers look upon this co-operation as a curtailment of their powers just as some executive officers seem to dread the inauguration or extension of local self government. 18. The middle class Anglo vernacular examination greatly interferes with the further progress of our boys. Let purely vernacular schools alone compete for the middle examination. In the latter case it will help to produce a useful vernacular literature. 19. Excluding Bengal Proper and Bombay, the cause of English education would for some time suffer in India. But as out of evil God brings out some good, so a spirit of reliance upon local exertions and combination for local purposes is sure to be the result under the fostering care of a liberal Government that offers local self government to India. 20. Definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct does not occupy a separate or prominent place in Government schools and colleges. Government can hardly take any definite steps towards imparting such instruction without treading upon religious ground. Only such institutions as are established by the Natives themselves can do much to improve the social and moral feelings of students. The influence of English literature and higher instruction in arts and sciences also goes far to advance the cause of morality and sense of duty. 21. No steps worthy of mention are taken for promoting the physical well being of students in Oudh. We look to Municipal and district committees for the encouragement of physical exercise among students. 22. Only some of our youths having themselves received the benefits of English education have commenced to teach vernacular, and sometimes a little of English too, to their young female relations. But there is no system in all this. Each individual follows his own whim, and that too for a short time only. As all classes of respectable Native females are pardanashin, it is not easy for any one to ascertain the extent of progress they make. Among Cashmiri pandits all girls can read and write Hindi very freely. Though our vernacular is Urdu there are very few of our females that can read Urdu books. They read a few Sanskrit religious books and can recite Sanskrit slokas without understanding their meaning. Among Muhammadans some females read the Koran, others Urdu translations of some religious works in Arabic, and some, though very few, compose even Urdu verses. This sort of indigenous instruction is found only in the upper strata of Hindu and Muhammadan society. Mothers teach their daughters sewing and cooking, and elder sisters or cousins teach a little of the first two R’s to their younger cousins before marriage, after which event it all rests with the taste of their husbands. 23. The Department of Education always assists the zenana missions in establishing schools for girls. Where there are no zenana missions it assists and encourages Natives in establishing such schools, and under encouraging conditions it establishes small Government schools too. A little of the three R’s and 297

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something of needle-work is all that is taught in such schools. Our females and their male relations have their own peculiar notions of morality and respectability. None of the above schools have ever enlisted the sympathy of Native gentry nor commanded their respect. The schools are filled generally by low born girls of a degraded class, or by poverty-stricken famished girls, or some of very doubtful social position are attracted to such schools by pecuniary inducements. Enlightened Natives find themselves altogether powerless in the matter of female education. Young husbands can do much towards educating their wives, and when these enlightened wives become mothers, their children are sure to be wiser and better in every way. Then alone can there be a systematic female education in India. 24. If “mixed schools” mean institutions where boys and girls are instructed together, it would be sheer madness to start such a school for the Natives of India. 25. To steal a march on native prejudices, respectable Saidanis (wives of Sayyids) for Muhammadan girls, and Brahmin widows of good moral character should be selected as teachers for Hindu girls. We require a normal school to train such teachers. 26. Yes, the terms are less onerous, because strictness in the case of girls’ schools would be worse than useless. 27. Female education in India under the British Government owes almost everything to European and American ladies. The name of Miss Carpenter is remembered by us with gratitude. Lady Phear and a number of other distinguished ladies did their best in promoting the cause of female education in India. To increase the interest which ladies might take in this cause, let our gracious Empress confer the orders of the Indian Empire on some ladies that especially distinguished themselves in this direction, and let the services of others be otherwise recognized by conferring lesser honours on them. Instead of trying to enter the Parliament and the Senate house or otherwise to have equal privileges with the stronger sex, Western ladies would thus find a scope for the exercise of their energies in India. 28. More care ought to be exercised in the selection of teachers. Men that have given sufficient proof of good character and can command the respect and attention of pupils should be preferred to raw youths fresh from their college studies. Hitherto, anybody producing an University certificate is taken in, no matter whether he has any aptitude for giving instruction or not. 29. In Oudh we have two highly paid officers, an inspector and an assistant inspector. As under the new arrangements much of the work of inspection is likely to be taken away from them, their services may be otherwise utilised. The Punjab University has already given certificates of proficiency to many oriental scholars in Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit. They may now be employed at much smaller pay. In colleges native professors like Babu Lachmi Shankar in the Benares College, and Maulvi Zakaulla in the Allahabad College, may be substituted for Europeans to teach the science course.

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30. Higher education is generally more cared for than primary and secondary education. The department would no doubt gain much by having more men of practical training in the art of teaching and school management. 31. Yes. Under the supervision of able and experienced teachers the system works well. I was myself for some time a pupil teacher. 32. If Boards of Examiners that thoroughly understand their work and command the confidence of the people be appointed by the Department of Education, this system may be applied to all classes of aided institutions. They should be judged, not by results of examinations each year, but by results extending over a period of some five or six years. Attendance, discipline, and popularity of an institution are not to be overlooked. A distinction ought to be made between Missionary institutions and those established by the people, for the latter cannot compete with the former on equal terms. 33. If the examinations be well supervised and the results be altogether aboveboard, it does not matter whether the teachers be certificated or not. I do not see anything particularly good in this system under any conditions whatsoever. 34. The aid should in no case be less than half of the total expenditure of the institution. 36. If Europeans of superior qualifications be thus attracted to India to fill the several chairs of Indian Universities, the cause of high education cannot but improve. It is impossible for really able men to remain anywhere without improving all those that come in contact with them. 37. From the entrance class upward promotion from class to class should depend upon the results of University examinations as hithertofore. In primary and middle schools it is preferable that such promotions be left to the school authorities. 38. Where there is already a well conducted aided college like our Cunning College in Oudh it is unnecessary for the Government to have a Government institution too, unless required by the wants of the province. Where it is found necessary to have one Government college as a model, it should not compete with private or aided institutions by charging smaller or even equal fees, nor should a distinction be made in conferring scholarships and Government situations. 39. The circumstances of the Muhammadans still require a somewhat exceptional treatment in the matter of English education in Lucknow. These circumstances are due chiefly to change of government religious bigotry and luxurious and loose habits of life. Their aversion to English education is now declining. The liberal minded members of the Rafah-i-Am Committee are trying their best to invite the attention of their co-religionists in Lucknow to the advantages of English education. As an undue pride, self conceit and vanity were supposed to prevent the children of the Muhammadan aristocracy of Lucknow from reading in schools which included among their pupils boys of inferior social position, the Cunning college committee has made provisions for that feeling by opening a special class for the children of the Lucknow nobility and Oudh landed aristocracy.

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ANNEXURE. A Memorandum on the Education of the Sons of Landlords, by UDAY PRATAP SINGH, Raja of Bhinga, Oudh. A SUITABLE institution, with the comforts of a home and the advantages of mixing in good society, is an all important want for the sons of the landed aristocracy of Oudh and of the contiguous provinces. The education imparted in Government schools and colleges does not meet the requirements of the case, it being unfitted to prepare young men in general, and the sons of the upper class in particular, for the faithful discharge of the duties which may devolve on them in after life. Under the present system a man who attains notoriety by dabbling in newspapers and heaping volumes of abuse on the devoted head of any person who has the misfortune to differ from him in opinion is considered a grant in intellect and a model of manliness. As it is not desirable to bring the sons of this class up to this high stage of culture, a system better than the existing one is a necessity. The sons of noblemen, like all other classes of Her Majesty’s subjects, should be taught to represent their grievances, and stand up for their rights in a respectful and straightforward manner, but measures should be taken to make them peaceful citizens rather than noisy agitators. It is a well known fact that the Wards’ institutions which have been organised from time to time, have egregiously failed in effecting the good they were intended to bring about. It is instructive to note the causes of their failure. The complaints generally raised against these institutions are, 1st, the inmates have had both their morals and manners corrupted, 2nd, their intellectual improvement has scarcely been secured, 3rd they have not been taught to manage their estates with efficiency. In defence of these institutions it may be said that these young men would have been in a worse predicament if such institutions had not existed. The fact, however, is this:—These young men, deprived of the home training calculated, to some extent, to prepare them for their work as landlords, are brought in contact with such influences of city life as rob them of their simplicity and leave them deteriorated in manners and debauched in morals. The conclusion from all this is not that education itself is demoralising but that wrong systems of education should be avoided. A system of education based on correct principles is sure to benefit those brought under its influence. The failure of these Wards institutions is, therefore, an argument in favour of their displacement by an institution better organised than they were. No stress should be laid on what is commonly urged against the expediency of communicating English education to the sons of the landlords. The exclusion of English education under present circumstances is tantamount to the exclusion of all which deserves the name of education. The object of every good system of education should be to expand the mind and influence the heart by means of the advanced thought of the age and these intellectual riches are treasured up only in the languages of Europe, and if these languages be excluded, 300

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then the object is completely defeated. Till the languages of this country are enriched by the transference of such thought to them, in their weakness, they cannot, without such adventitious help, possibly meet the requirements of a liberal education. Why should our countrymen object to borrow from the rich information stored up in the English language? The history of the world cannot point out a period when all the nations of the world were equally enlightened at the same time, or when any one nation was so rich in the glories of culture that it did not stand in need of borrowing from the intellectual treasures of other nations. The English language, which is admittedly one of the most powerfully expressive languages at present spoken, and is fast becoming a universal language, owes its richness mainly to the wealth which it has so unstintingly borrowed from other languages, both living and dead. The oriental languages made great progress in ancient times, but they unhappily came to a stand still, and while they have continued stationary, the English language has been keeping pace with the strides of intellectual development. Hence the poverty of the one and the richness of the other. The English language has taken centuries of culture under the guidance of the master minds of England to raise itself to its present stage of sturdiness, and the Indian languages must pass through the same refining and recuperative courses of training to arrive at the same stage of perfection, and, till they do not do so we must have recourse to the English tongue for that excellence of mental culture which they in their present state fail to secure. The necessity of having a well-organised boarding institution for the sons of noblemen will appear when we take into consideration the fact that they, like the other classes of Her Majesty’s subjects in India, are in a transition state, which we have no guarantee will culminate in good, and, therefore, unless suitable steps be opportunely taken, no one can predict what evils may not follow. In a political point of view also the education of the rising generation of landlords would be an advantage, inasmuch as it would enable them to appreciate the benefits of British rule, to introduce needed improvements and reforms into their estates, and to promote the welfare of the country by adding to the enlightenment and comforts of their dependants and tenants. The disaffection and discontent resulting from disappointment in the case of educated Natives running in a body after the loaves and fishes of the public service, would not of course appear in their case Nay, this feeling would diminish considerably in the country at large in consequence of the numerous employments sure to be thrown open for such place hunters by educated landlords. Education in such an institution should be religious, moral, intellectual, æsthetic, and physical— (i)

Some provision should be made for the religious instruction of the pupils. Both Hindu and Muhammadan pupils should be intelligently and dogmatically taught the principles of their respective faiths by pious Pandits and Maulvis. Boys must be instructed in the religions of 301

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(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v)

their forefathers, and nothing should be done or said to shake their faith therein, while it would be left to their option in after life to mould their religious convictions as they like. Thus, for the religious instruction of the Mussulman youths the two Maulvis hereinafter mentioned will have to be of the two sects, one to teach the Shias, and the other the Sunnis. So also there will have to be employed two Pandits to teach the tenets of the two Vedas—namely, the Sam Veda Samhita of Kauthumi School with the Gobbda Grihiyá Sutrá, and the Shukla Ejur Veda Samhita of the Madhenyani School with the Kátiyam Grihiyá Sutrá. No instruction has been prospectively provided for the other two Vedic sections and for the dissenting branches of the two above-mentioned Vedas, because the Hindus of this part of the country are, as a rule, followers of the above two said schools of the two Vedas. Other suitable religious instruction may be imparted to those alumns to whom the above books are prohibited by the laws of Mánu; but for the sons of “The Twice Born” (i.e., the sons of Brahmans and Kahatryas) no other books will be found more useful than those already named. Moral education should be imparted through the medium of some treatise on the practical rules of morality, illustrated by examples taken from the lives of great and good men and women in any age or of any country. A book of this kind can be easily compiled if no such be already forthcoming. In imparting intellectual education care should be taken to discipline the mind, as well as to convey useful information, and its value should be determined, not by the number of books taught, but by the amount and quality of information imparted and digested. Æsthetic culture should be secured, and the pupils taught to appreciate and make progress in the fine arts so that each of them may be furnished with a fund of refined enjoyment fitted to counteract all tendency to pleasures of a demoralising stamp. It is a well known fact that the characters of persons are often ruined more on account of their want of such sources of refining and mind-elevating pleasures than on account of a natural proclivity to vice. The necessity then of teaching ethics is at once apparent. Intellectual education should be coupled with physical education, and gymnastic exercises should be resorted to by the pupils for the purpose of counteracting the wear and tear of mental labour.

As to the location of such an institution, a retired place or one free from the bustle and demoralising influences of city life should be selected; and a suitable building consisting of dormitories bath rooms, and three or four big class rooms, around a central hall, with a commodious drawing room attached, should be raised along with apartments for the resident teachers and room for billiards. Outside the main buildings there should be a line of small dining rooms for 302

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Hindu boarders and a dining hall for Muhammadans, stables out-houses &c. We might at first have the nucleus of a building to be enlarged and expanded as occasion may demand and the proposition suggests itself that the landlords themselves would in all probability readily come forward with substantial donation towards the funds required for raising the building were they only certain the Government favoured their enterprise. There are many suitable buildings which Government could be asked to place temporarily at the disposal of the institution at the onset. The staff of the institution should consist of a Superintendent of Rs. 400 per mensem, two senior masters of Rs. 200 each; and two junior masters of Rs. 100 each; besides two Pandits and two Maulvis on Rs. 25 each—the whole expenditure, including Rs. 100 for medical aid and about Rs. 100 for contingencies not to exceed Rs. 400 a month. If the institution secured about fifty pupils paying according to the incomes of their respective estates that is, at the rate of about Rs. 40 per head on an average, its income would more than cover its expenses. In selecting teachers care should be taken to exclude men who are disaffected towards Government for personal reasons, and who may sow the seeds of discontent among the pupils and thereby defeat one of the great objects of the institution, namely, the promotion of loyalty in aristocratic circles. Persons well educated, well behaved, of unimpeachable character and respectability, able not only to read, write, and speak English with accuracy and eloquence, but especially to pronounce English words according to the usages of good society, ought to be appointed. The programme of studies should consist of good reading books, small elementary treatises on health, agriculture, political economy, geography, grammar arithmetic, land measuring history, and letter writing, with a compendium on good manners—and on this latter head Chesterfield’s Advice to his Son may be read with advantage. For advanced pupils, such books as Bentham a Theory of Legislation; Spencer a Sociology; Mill a Treatise on Representative Government, Subjection of Women, and Liberty, together with Fawcett a Political Economy, and standard works on history may be selected. Some ideas of the laws of the land, civil and criminal, should also be given to all classes of pupils. If pupils, after having finished the course evince a desire to go up for the University Examinations, they may take up the course taught in the colleges to one of which the institution may be affiliated. The institution ought to be separate from the other educational establishments at work, because the sons of the upper class are likely in tender years to be corrupted by a free intercourse with city gamins. There can, of course, be no serious objection to richer boys associating with poorer ones in the class room when their character is to some extent formed. It will on the contrary, do them good to compete with pupils of all classes for University honours on an equal footing. As to the routine of business for the pupils, the following directions will suffice:—Pupils should rise at six, walk or ride one hour, have athletic exercises 303

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between seven and eight, bathe and breakfast between eight and nine, attend classes between 9 A.M. and 1 P.M., spend the interval till 3 P.M. in relaxation and in light reading lunch to be partaken of during this latter interval. Lessons in drawing and in music should be given between 3 and 4 P.M., and exercises in elocution and composition till 5 P.M. Walking and riding between 5 and 6 P.M. On their return they would have an hour for dinner, after which they would repair to the drawing room, where the Superintendent would in a pleasant manner invite them to instructive conversation on the biographies of great men, living and dead, politics etiquette, &c. In this way false ideas would be eradicated from out of the minds of students and correct ones substituted in their stead. Retiring hours 10 P.M. The hours must, of course, change with the seasons. Each of the pupils should have no more than five servants, including a groom, and no pupil should be allowed to have a private tutor to tempt him to idleness. Among miscellaneous things to be taught great attention should be paid to the rules of etiquette to enable them to move in high circles, both amongst Europeans and their own countrymen, to the approved mode of keeping accounts, managing establishments, and distributing work amongst subordinates. Pupils should be taught to have more confidence in European officers, who are likely to be disinterested councillors, than in their own illiterate underlings, who have none but interested motives to subserve. They should be encouraged between vacation times to enlarge their minds by visiting places of interest. Corporal punishment, which has a most deteriorating effect on the mind, and by a frequency of its administration makes the receiver shameless ought not to be inflicted except in extreme cases of flagrancy. The boys must be taught to value, above all measure, their individual self-respect, so that they may be heartily ashamed at all times of doing anything which is wrong mean, or vile. It may be said that the reluctance of the aristocracy to send their sons for education would stand in the way of the success of such an institution. But experience amply shows that they would gladly send their sons if they were made aware of the deep interest taken by the authorities in schemes having for their object the proper education of their sons. Should the inducement of the well wishers of the people fail to impress on their minds the great advantages of education, then compulsory measures recommend themselves, and decidedly a law, which will make education compulsory among the higher classes, will be acceptable to them who have the welfare of their country at heart.

Addendum to the Evidence of RAJA UDAY PERTAP SINGH, Raja of Bhinga. I find it necessary to alter my answer to question No. 68, which I find I have misconstrued. My answer accordingly is—that it would be prejudicial to high 304

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education for Government, under any circumstances, to withdraw its aid; especially so, if it were to close its own institutions and leave the work to another where the people object to send their children on account of its religious teaching. I would now beg to make the following suggestions:— That, after having passed a successful examination in the subjects prescribed, the alumni be encouraged, by the offer of prizes and scholarships, to follow a course of reading which will improve their general knowledge and enlarge their minds with advanced ideas and thoughts. As matters unfortunately now stand, students, on leaving their schools and colleges, seldom try to add to the stock of their acquirements. With the view to meet the difficulties set forth in my answer to question No. 67, regarding Kshatriya youths, I would point out that some especial encouragement should be given to the said youths; and that such men as try to promote their education should have a ready support from Government. I submit the following questions for the consideration of the Education Commission:— What proportion do Kshatriya boys undergoing education in the schools and colleges bear to the students of other castes? And likewise, in Government and other public offices, what is the ratio of Kshatriya employés to others? In conclusion, I beg to reiterate my opinion more clearly, that, whatever be the standard of education in schools and colleges, the acquirement of the English language should be of leading importance. Apart from all the advantages which a knowledge of it is calculated to give, it is in every way probable that English will one day become the vernacular of the country.

Note 1. I have not taken into account such indigenous schools which taught the Kurân only. But there were indigenous schools which taught secular books along with the Kuran. In such schools it was customary to read the Kurán in the earlier part of the day, and secular books in the afternoon.

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The University and Vernacular Education.

The vernacular department of the University was not worked very satisfactorily. Telugu, Tamil and Mahratta were taught only superficially. The main object, however, which the Government had in view was to raise up a class of good vernacular linguists, who, by the attainment of a thorough and critical knowledge of their own language, might as teachers in schools, or as the writers or translators of useful books, be enabled to render their acquirements available to their countrymen, and in the words of the Court of Directors, “communicate to the native literature and to the minds of the native community that improved spirit which it is to be hoped they will themselves have imbibed from the influence of European ideas and sentiments.” This object, however, was not realized, though a considerable portion of the time assigned to the vernacular studies was devoted to translation from and into English, and a prize was awarded each year for the vernacular exposition of a portion of a standard English author. The great difficulty was to secure competent vernacular teachers who were at the same time possessed of a sufficient knowledge of English. The appointment of a vernacular superintendent was proposed with a view to introduce an improved system of vernacular instruction and the establishment of a training class for vernacular teachers. Among the duties proposed for the vernacular superintendent was the preparation and supervision of translations of approved English works into the vernacular languages, and of the publication of an improved series of vernacular books. The University Board, however, were fully sensible of the poverty of vernacular literature and they pointed out to Government the difficulty of translating satisfactorily scientific and philosophic works. “In truth, only those English works,” they reported, “which deal in simple narrative, in which little occasion arises for the use of abstract terms, which relate palpable occurrences, sometimes surprising; sometimes interesting to the feelings, sometimes ludicrous, appear to admit of efficient translations. At all events such are the only works which, in translation, are attractive. They are such as amuse the idle hour, and delight children 306

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until their minds become more highly cultivated. But they are not the kind of class books through which it is desired to communicate substantial knowledge.” Under these circumstances, it appeared to the Board that the course to be encouraged was that of “a full and free exposition, rather than a translation, of all the subject matter contained in any English work, by the assistance of, or entirely by, such natives as have attained a full comprehension of the subject matter, and also a proficiency in the English language.” It would not be out of place here to draw attention to an important scheme drawn up by Lord Auckland on the subject of the preparation of vernacular class books. It was proposed by him, as far back as in 1839, that the Governments of the different Presidencies should “co-operate through the bodies charged with the control of public instruction under their superintendence, in the common object of aiding the preparation of any useful and comprehensive set of class books, to be afterwards rendered into the vernacular tongues of the several Provinces.” The practical outcome of this scheme was, however, very disappointing. It was only in 1866 that the subject of female education came under the serious consideration of Government, though previous to that year the several Missions had taken practical steps towards the establishment of elementary schools for girls. The subject, of course, naturally, for many years past, engaged the attention of educated natives, but, omitting the establishment of a few schools, in which elementary instruction was conveyed to girls of a tender age by male teachers, the result had been rather in words than in acts. A stimulus was afforded to female education by a visit from Miss Carpenter, whose philanthropic exertions in England to improve the more neglected sections of the community were well-known. At several meetings in which this lady took part, the following points were debated: (1) whether the time had arrived for Government to take a direct share in female education, and (2) if so, what is the direct work which it is advisable Government should undertake. In the discussions, very conflicting views were put forward. It appeared, however, that the general feeling was that Government should, at any rate, not do more than establish a Normal School for training female teachers. Even action, to this extent, which was what Miss Carpenter advocated, was not taken till after sometime owing to the heavy expenditure involved. The educational Department, however, set about collecting, as far as possible reliable information regarding girls studying in schools unconnected with the Department. On the 31st March 1868, there were 6,510 girls under instruction in schools connected with the Educational Department. The statistics received from non-departmental schools—which were mostly under Mission management— shewed 4,295 girls under instruction, of which number 399 were returned as Europeans and Eurasians, 2,420 as Native Christians, 1,365 as Hindus, 29 Muhammadans and 82 others. The larger proportion of Native Christians than Hindus is noteworthy. Out of the 4,295 only 700 were entered as learning English. The total number of girls that received instruction in the Madras Presidency in 1868 may be taken as exceeding 10,500. The figures, however, were considered to be more or less inaccurate. Speaking of the nature of instruction imparted to the girls, the Director of Public Instruction remarked:—“In almost all cases the instruction conveyed was of a very 307

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elementary stamp; and in too many instances, I fear the teaching is productive of no permanent effect beyond rendering the pupils better disposed towards female education, and so paving the way for the instruction of a succeeding generation.” Omitting Madras and Tinnevelly, where female education was most extended, the districts which showed the largest attendance were Malabar and Tanjore. It is right to notice here the efforts that the Maharajah of Vizianagrara made to encourage female education on his estates. In 1868 he established a school at Vizianagram for Rajpoot and Brahman girls, at an annual cost of about 12,000 Rupees. The school though unconnected with the Department was under Government inspection. In an order, dated 26th November, 1868, His Excellency the Governor made the following remark:— “The Government of Madras have frequently acknowledged the enlightened and liberal spirit in which the Maharajah of Vizianagrara fulfils the responsible obligations of his position as a great landed proprietor, and they now receive with the greatest satisfaction this further evidence of the Maharajah’s desire to promote the welfare of his countrymen, as shewn in the practical and generous aid which he has given to the cause of female education in India.” In 1868 the Government of India was pleased to assign, as an experimental measure, an annual sum of Rs. 12,000 for five years, for the support of a Government Female Normal School at each of the three Presidency Towns. The Hindu community were required to make provision for a few stipends and the guarantee of money for stipends was made conditional upon Hindu caste females being alone admitted to this school. At first there was some difficulty experienced in securing pupils but this difficulty was overcome gradually. The school was formally opened in December 1870, with Miss Bain, now Mrs. Brander, as the first Superintendent. Mrs. Brander, as first Superintendent of the Female Normal School, and afterwards as Inspectress of Girls’ Schools, has contributed no mean share to the development of female education in this Presidency. At the close of 1870–71 the number of girls’ schools in the Presidency was returned as 138 of which 91 had middle departments and one a high department and the number of pupils was 10,185. According to the census of 1871, of the Native Christian females of school going age only 1 out of 10, and of Hindu females only 1 out of 509, had received any education. But of a population of 1,880,720 Muhammadans, very few girls had received instruction in schools. During the decade ending March 31st, 1881, some desirable progress was made in Female Education. The number of girls receiving instruction rose, during this period, from 10,185 to 32,355. Of High schools for girls there were at the close of 1881 eight with 38 pupils, while of Middle schools there were twenty-five English and seven Vernacular with 316 and 58 pupils, respectively. In his report of 1880–81, Mr. H. B. Grigg, the Director of Public Instruction, expressed his strong conviction that for progress in Female Education there were essential (a) Normal Schools, (b) Government agency. The following extract from his Report on Elementary Education shews the extent of elementary education for girls in 1880–81:— “So far little has been done by Government directly for the education of girls, but about ten years ago a Normal school was established at Madras for the education of teachers for

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native Girls’ schools, but it has become in great measure a high school for East Indians and Europeans, and during its existence has only educated 60 Hindu and native Christian teachers. Some five or six years ago the Government undertook the charge of a few elementary schools for girls which had been established by some Local Fund Boards and Municipalities. With one or two exceptions they are all doing fair work, but are mostly in a very elementary condition. Only four of these twelve schools are situated in towns of any importance. In addition to the Girls’ schools maintained by Government, there were in 1879–80 ten Girls’ schools maintained by Municipalities and thirteen by Local Fund Boards. But although the Government have done as yet little by direct action for female education, they have aided liberally private enterprise, but as yet with the exception of the towns of Madras and Tinnevelly, Rajahmundry and Cocanada, private effort has not been very successful. But at the same time there are but few large towns in the Presidency in which a mission society is not offering facilities for female education, and in many cases of late, more especially, the education of the girls of the higher caste. In Tinnevelly, in particular, in pursuance of the policy inaugurated by Mr. Lash of the Church Missionary Society, who developed the Sarah Tucker female training school into an institution mainly for the training of girls of the respectable classes, who would be suitable for teachers in caste schools, between two and three thousand girls are studying in small elementary schools, maintained by the Church Missionary Society in different parts of the district, mostly under the management of a trained mistress assisted by her husband. The Sarah Tucker institution turned out in 1879–80 no less than 35 school-mistresses of the second and third grades. Mistresses educated in this institution are in demand through the Tamil districts, both in mission and secular schools, but it is difficult to induce them to take service far from their houses, except at comparatively speaking high salaries. To supply the demand for female teachers in the central Tamil districts, a training school is about to be opened at Trichinopoly, under the auspices of the S. P. G. Society. There is a Normal Class attached to the Free Church Female Christian Institution, Madras, which produces some five or six teachers annually to the first, second, and third grades; and in the Northern Circars I understand that the agents of the Church Missionary Society have in contemplation the establishment of a Normal Class or school in connection with their boarding institution for girls at Masulipatam. In most parts of the Presidency there is a general desire for the elementary education of young girls springing up, and this desire is being stimulated by the action of Municipalities; but until the supply of trained female teachers is adequate to the demand, the progress of female education cannot be very rapid. In many Girls’ Schools, and some of them the most important in the Presidency, viz., the Maharaja of Vizianagaram Schools at Madras and at Rajamundry, the teaching and management are practically entrusted to male teachers, and some of them are admirably managed, especially the Maharaja’s School at Rajamundry, But the employment of male teachers has the great disadvantage of checking the tendency of permitting girls to remain at school after they have come to a marriageable age. Still male agency is not suddenly to be discarded, and years must elapse before native female teachers of sufficient age, standing and character are available for the charge of important institutions for the education of girls. Owing to the system of early marriage, and the risks to female life in this country, the proportion of female teaching power produced each year, which will not be ultimately available for teaching, is very large.”

In 1880, the Secretary of State sanctioned the appointment of an Inspectress of Girls’ Schools on a salary of Rs. 400, rising by biennial increments of Rs. 20 to Rs. 500. This appointment was rendered necessary not only in the 309

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interests of female education generally, but also to relieve the Inspector of the Presidency Division, whose work, including the inspection of upwards of fifty Girls’ schools, had become too heavy for one officer to perform efficiently. It was also hoped that by the aid of such an official some of the difficulties in the way of promoting the education of ladies of zenanas and their daughters might be removed, especially as several influential native gentlemen had expressed a strong desire for such instruction. Mrs. Isabel Brander, who was nominated to the newly-created post, assumed charge of her office on the 3rd June 1880. Mr. Grigg, writing in 1881 of her work, said:—“The deep interest which she takes in the cause of female education, the efficient manner in which she has been discharging her inspectorial duties, and the sympathy she is eliciting among a section of the Madras Native community in the important branch of educational activity entrusted to her care, fully justify the creationof the appointment, and will, I trust, in time warrant the extension of the sphere of her usefulness.” The successful career of Mrs. Brander as an educational officer for the past 15 years shews that the above expectations have been more than realized. At first she was in charge of the Girls’ schools in the town of Madras, and after sometime the Girls’ schools in the Nellore and Chinglepnt Districts were transferred to her. The Teachers’ certificate examinations were found in some respects very inappropriate tests for girls in secondary schools and hence Col. Macdonald in 1870 proposed the institution of an examination styled the Higher Examination for Women, which was to be on a level with the Matriculation Examination. This examination was first held in 1881 and was abolished in 1892. During the twelve years it was in existence it did a great deal to stimulate the secondary education of girls in the Presidency. Moral Training in Colleges.

The remarks of the Commission on the subject of moral training—a subject to which considerable attention has of late been given by the Government of India and the local Governments are of special interest and value. The Report says:— “The subject of moral training in colleges is replete with difficulties—difficulties, however, that are mainly practical. For there is no difference of opinion as to moral training being as necessary as intellectual or physical training, and no dissent from the principle that a system in which moral training was wholly neglected would be unworthy of the name of education. Nor, again, is there any difference of opinion as to the moral value of the love of law and order, of the respect for superiors, of the obedience, regularity and attendance to duty which every well-conducted college is calculated to promote. All these have, by the nearly universal consent of the witnesses, done a great deal to elevate the moral tone and improve the daily practice of the great bulk of those who have been trained in the colleges of India. The degree in which different colleges have exerted a moral influence of this kind is probably as various as the degree of success that has attended the intellectual training given in them and has doubtless been different in all colleges at different times, depending as it does so largely on the character and personal influence of the Principal and Professors who may form the staff at any given period. So far all the witnesses, and probably all 310

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intelligent men, are substantially agreed. Difficulties begin when the question is raised whether good can be dune by distinct moral teaching, over and above the moral supervision which all admit to be good and useful, and which all desire to see made more thorough than it is at present. In colleges supported by Missionary Societies, in the Anglo-Muhammadan College, Aligarh, and in at least one other college under native management, the attempt has been made to give such moral teaching on the basis of religion. In Government colleges there has been no attempt at direct moral teaching. In them, entire reliance has, as a rule, been placed on such moral supervision as can be exerted during college hours, and on such opportunities for indirect moral lessons as are afforded by the study of the ordinary text-books and by the occurrences of ordinary academic life. Religious education, and the possibility of connecting it with Government colleges, we shall consider separately. The present point is the possibility or wisdom of introducing distinct moral teaching in places where there is no religious instruction. The question that was put to bring out the views of our witnesses on the point stood thus:—“Does definite instruction in duty and the principles of moral conduct occupy any place in the course of Government colleges and schools? Have you any suggestions to make on this subject?” None of the witnesses raised any objection in principle to such instruction being given. A considerable number held that there is no need for such instruction, and two of these, the Principals of Government colleges in Bombay and Madras, held that no good result can flow from devoting a distinct portion of time to the teaching of duty and the principles of moral conduct. Some also held that the practical difficulties in the way of introducing moral instruction into Government colleges are so great that it is expedient to leave matters as they are. The great majority, however, of the witnesses that dealt with the question at all, expressed a strong desire that definite moral instruction should form part of the college course. . . . . . A review of the evidence seems to show that moral instruction may be introduced into the course of Government colleges without objection any where, and in some Provinces with strong moral approval. Those who wish definite moral instruction to be introduced generally advocate the teaching of some moral text-book. No one, however, has pointed to any text-book that he is prepared to recommend for immediate introduction. . . . . . In all colleges, and under all courses of instruction, the most effective moral training consists in inculcating habits of order, diligence, truthfulness, and due self-respect combined with submission to authority, all of which lessons a good teacher finds useful opportunities of imparting. The formation of such habits is promoted by the study of the lives and actions of great men, such as the student finds in the course of his English reading; and, it may also be hoped, by the silent influence upon his character of constant intercourse with teachers, whom he is able to regard with respect and affection. Nor, again, is there reason to believe that collegiate education of the present type has any injurious effect upon the life and character of the students. On the contrary, the nearly unanimous testimony of those who have had the best opportunities of observing goes to shew that in integrity, in self-respect, in stability of purpose, 311

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and generally in those solid qualities which constitute an honourable and useful character, the University graduate is generally superior to those who have not employed the advantages which college training confers.”

APPENDIX J. MISSIONARY EDUCATION. DANISH MISSION. The Danish Missionaries arrived in Madras in the early part of the year 1717, when, according to the Proceedings Book of the Madras Government, Monday, 27th May, “the President lays before the Board a paper of proposals delivered him by Mr. Grundler, one of the Danish missionaries lately arrived from Tranquebar, for erecting two Charity schools in this city. It is agreed that liberty be sriven for erecting two Charity schools—one for Portuguese in the English town, and another for Malabars in the Black Town.” Thus the first public effort to educate the “Malabar” or Tamil people was at the handsof missionaries. The pyal schools had received no State or Municipal recognition. When these schools were established, the factors and other residents of Madras disapproved of the teachers being foreigners, and repeated prote its were made to the Home Authorities. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge replied that no Englishman could be persuaded to go out. In 1746 English was employed as the language of the mission, being introduced by the missionary Geister. This was not effected without opposition on the part of the other German and Danish missionaries. However, not long after this the German language was forgotten, and the missionaries themselves becoame Anglicised, founding the well-known families of the Kohlhoffs, Breithaupts, Pæzolds, Pohles, and others. Emulating the activity of Ziogenbalgand his colleagues the Company established in 1717 a school for native children at Cuddalore. This was the beginning of the great system of Anglo-Vernacular education maintained under the patronage of Government in this Presidency. Mr. Ord had confined his labours to English children. The second schoolmaster whose name survives was named Radewitz, who was for many years the teacher of the Portuguese school established by Ziegenbalg in the Fort. He died in 1732. The Malabar, or native school, opened by Ziegenbalg, or under his direction, soon ceased to exist, for there was no pnblic appreciation of the value of education, and the natives held aloof from the school because of its Christian character. When the Missionary Schnltze settled in Madras in 1726, here-opened this school, and, under his energetic direction, it soon filled with scholars, and was the origin of the present Vepery Anglo-Vernacnlar school, which has enjoyed an almost continuous existence ever since the original school 312

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was first located in Black Town. The different schools thus founded were maintained for many years entirely from funds provided by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. Established in 1699 during the reign of William III. for the purpose of spreading Christian Knowledge, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge very soon found itself engaged in semi-missionary operations. To allow purely mission work to be carried on without interfering with the true work of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, its founders established in 1701 a new Society that for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and from that day to this the two Societies have worked hand-in-hand, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel providing missionaries, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge helping them with schools and furnishing books. One of the first objects of the Society’s concern has always been to promote the education of the young by liberally communicating its resources for the benefit of charity schools. In or about 1711 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge heard of the labonrs and requirements of the Tranquebar mission and sent them money, a printing press, paper, and other stores. In 1714 Ziegenbalg went to Europe for the purpose of promoting the cause he had engaged in He was presented to the King of Denmark at Stralsund; and on visiting England was admitted to the presence of George I. by whom he was warmly encouraged. The bishops and the public received him with much cordiality; and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in particular treated him with distinction, and aided him with presents of money, books, paper, and similar stores. After an absence of nearly two years, Ziegenbalg re-landed at Madras in August 1716. Here with the assistance of the Rev. William Stevenson, the garrison chaplain, schools were soon established at Madras and at Cnddalore. The latter of these places Ziegenbalg occasionally visited; it was here, too, that eventnally he died in February 1719 at the early age of 36. Mr. Stevenson went home. His schools fell off, and were finally closed Under these circumstances, in 1726, Schnltze resolved to remove to Madras. The Christian Knowledge Society approved of the under-taking and gave the necessary aid to promote it; the garrison chaplain entered into his views; the Governor and Council were enlisted in his favour: and under these favourable auspices Sohultze established in Black Town a house pnrchased in 1728 expressly for the use of the mission. In 1734 Mr. Schultze informed the Society that in a recent visit of Mr. Sartorious to Fort St. David, the Governor of that station had expressed his willingness to co-operate in the establishment of a mission in the neighbourhood. The Society immediately authorized Mr. Schultze to take the necessary steps for the execution of this plan; and to prove their readiness to promote the full efficiency of their new missions, sent at the same time a munificent contribution towards the erection of a church and two schools at Madras. The amount of money sent out by this Society in the 313

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years 1736 and 1737 was £3,200, which liberality enabled the missionaries to establish themselves effectually at Cuddalore, to which place Sartorius and Geister now removed. In 1746 the French under La Bourdonnais bombarded Madras; and having compelled Fort St. George to capitulate, they levelled a great part of Black Town for the purpose of improving the defences. Up to that time Black Town extended right across the esplanade to the Fort wall. In fact the burial ground, now remembered only by the monument to the daughter of Governor Yale still standing on the monument esplanade, was then in the heart of Black Town, and the best houses were those nearest the fort. Among them was the German mission-house, which was thus destroyed. The church was converted into a magazine. Mr. Fabracius removed to Pulicat, then a Dutch settlement, where he and his converts were well received. While Dnpleix was in possession of Madras and he believed the English could never return, he gave permission to a wealthy Armenian Roman Catholic merchant to build a church and mission buildings at Vepery on land which he assigned for the purpose. It was on the site of the present Vepery Charch, and, in fact, was the building which served as the Vepery Church until the present building was erected. When the English regained Madras, the Armenian merchant and the Catholics generally were held to be intriguing with the French at Pondicherry. The Vepery premises were therefore confiscated by Government. In 1752 the local Government presented them to the Protestant mission. In November 1760 Count Lally besieged Madras; and Mr. Fabricius at Vepery was a second time exposed to the dangers and difficulties incident to such a state of things. Before he could obtain protection from the French officers, the native cavalry which accompanied the force had plundered him and his colleague Breithaupt of nearly all they possessed. The risk incurred by remaining amidst such scenes of violence induced the missionaries to remove, as on the former occasion, to Pulicat, where, though accompanied by a crowd of destitute and helpless followers, they were again most hospitably received by the Dutch. In February 1761. Madras having been relieved and the siege raised, the missionaries returned to Vepery. The year 1761 was also made remarkable by the establishment of the first printing-press in Madras. It was found at Pondicherry when that place was captured The Government presented it to the mission, which thereupon set up the printing-press at Vepery which still remains one of the most perfect in this Presidency. In the year 1784 the Christian Knowledge Society having heard of the valuable institution in Bengal for the education in Christian principles of the children of English fathers by native mothers, voted a sum of £50 annually for the maintenance of a schoolmaster at Madras, who should be required to give instruction to that class of children. In 1786 Government made another step by aiding the foundation of the Military Female Orphan Asylum. The buildings were presented to the Asylum Committee by the Nawab of the Carnatic who purchased them for the purpose at a cost of Rupees 80,000. The Missionary Gerické was the first Superintendent. The institution was highly successful, and led two years afterwards to the foundation of the Military Male Orphan Asylum. The opening of 314

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the latter marked an era in the history of elementary education not only in Madras, but throughout the world. Its first Superintendent was the famous Dr. Bell, whose interest in education was so great that he served without a salary, so that funds might be provided for the improvement of the school. Want of means to provide for the great number of applicants for admission, combined with the fact that there were no competent teachers that could be engaged to assist him, led Dr. Bell to invent what has since been known as the monitorial system of education. Known at first as Dr. Bell’s or the Madras system, it at once revealed how education could be both efficient and inexpensive, and thus became the basis of all modern progress in elementary education. What are known as the Lancasterian, Pestalozzian, Glasgow, monitorial, and pupil-teacher systems have all grown out of this, and every public elementary school in England is now conducted on one or other modification or the Madras system. About the same time Mr. Sullivan, then Resident at Tanjore, invited Swartz to accompany him in the capacity of an interpreter on a visit to the Maravar country. At Ramnad, Mr. Sullivan acquainted Swartz with a plan he had devised for instructing the natives, and establishing schools in every province. This plan was that a seminary should be established at Tanjore, undor the missionary’s personal supervision, for the education of schoolmasters, who should afterwards be located in the several villages of the country at the expense of the petty princes. The Raja of Ramnad was spoken with on the subject, and thought “it would be an excellent plan,” wishing “there were such schools in every village.” His minister also approved it, and the Raja gave a written promise to settle a monthly sum, afterwards fixed at 24 pagodas to be paid to the school. At Sivaganga also the local ruler approved of the plan, and promised to give a village for the support of a schoolmaster. He subsequently gave two villages. The Governor of Madras and the Nawab of Arcot were next written to, and both highly commended the plan. The Raja of Tanjore promised 40 pagodas a month for the support of the school to be established in or near the fort. These provincial schools answered exceedingly well. In those at Tanjord and Kumbakonam there were already 40 scholars; while in the Tamil school at Tanjore there were 99 boys, of whom 35 were charity boys maintained and clothed by the mission. Two English schoolmasters were employed for the provincial schools, and four masters were engaged for the Tamil school. By the will of Mr. Gericke, who died in 1803, it appears that an English Orphan Asylum for children not eligible for the Millitary Asylums had existed in connexion with the Vepery Mission for many years previously. This orphanage was probably the origin of the present Civil Orphan Asylums. The school continued to flourish, and in 1793 the Raja of Tanjore sent his son and successor Sarbhoji to be educated there under the Missionary Gericke. Sarbhoji remained in the school from 1793 to 1797. Meanwhile the printing-press had not flourished, and in 1810 it had to be closed because there were no meaus of paying the workmen, although there were ample stores of paper, type, &c. This was the more to be regretted, because from the first the profits had been destined for the support of schools. Later the press was reorganised. This was owing to the 315

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establishment in 1815 of the District Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge which relieved the missionaries of the care of secular matters and infused new vigour into the whole work. Madras education is much indebted to the zealous work of this little known but very useful body. At Tinnevelly Mr. Hough reported that he had, under the auspices of the Society, established nine schools, in which were educated 283 children, the total annual expense amounting to only 357 rupees. In 1815 a change of organization was made. It had for some time been felt that the Christian Knowledge Society, from the nature of its constitution and its peculiar objects and principles, laboured under several disadvantages in its attempts to conduct so extensive a missionary establishment; and in the year 1825 the Society’s missions were by mutual agreement transferred to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, a District Committee of which was established in Madras iu the year 1826. The terms on which this transfer was made appear to have been understood as follows:—That the Christian Knowledge Society should continue to maintain those missionaries, who, from their having been for some years in their service, could not with propriety be unceremoniously transferred to another Society; that it should retain its right to the property purchased and acquired in the several missions during its administrations of their affairs; and tint by means of its press at Vepery and its grants of books, stationery, &c., it should maintain or supply schools for the education of the natives; and thus by furnishing them with European knowledge it should facilitate the operations of the sister Society, which henceforth undertook the whole management and direction of the missions. From this time, therefore, the history of the missions belongs to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The press was still managed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and became each year more successful. The paper, presses, English type, ink, binding materials, &c., were supplied from England at great expense, while the types for the several eastern languages were cut and founded in the establishment itself. The benefits derivable to the natives from this institution were great and various. Elementary school books in a variety of languages were supplied most liberally to the several missions: the money proceeds of the establishment, after payment of the workmen, went to form a fund called the “Native Education Fund” dedicated, as its name imports, solely to the maintenance of native schools in various parts of the Madras Presidency. Under the direction of the Committee, the Vepery Grammar School was repeatedly enlarged, and became, till the establishment of the Free Church Mission, the chief educational agency in Madras. There were also two “Charity schools,” for the Christian children, boys and girls, of Vepery, and, lastly, schools where native children of both sexes were taught without charge. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge were thus the pioneers of female education. The proportion of female scholars at Vepery at this time is especially striking; being 654 to 4,290 boys, or 1 girl for every 6½ boys. Bishop Corrie’s school was opened as the “Madras Grammar School” on the 1st July 1836, under the advice of Bishop Corrie and with the aid of the Christian Knowledge Society. 316

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THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. In 1805 the London Missionary Society commenced its work in Madras. The labours of the missionaries at Serampore had drawn the attention of the Society to India, and, as soon as there was any liberty of entrance, a missionary was sent to Madras, and he at once opened a school. From that day to this the London Mission has honourably distinguished itself in education. In recent years it has not aimed at academical distinction, but its schools are efficient and popular, and the central institution in Armenian street was for several years a leading institution in Madras. It has, however, been recently closed.

THE WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. The Wesleyan Mission commenced operations in Madras in 1819 when Messrs. Squance, Lynch, and Close came from Ceylon to establish a mission there. In Ceylon schools had formed a most important part of the mission work, and have continued to flourish there from that day to this. In 1819 when the Madras mission opened, the Society maintained no less than 87 schools in Ceylon, attended by 5,014 children, of whom many were girls. Probably no other mission to the east ever maintained so perfect a school system as that which existed in Ceylon. The great institution at Jaffna was in after-years a sort of University, from which issued large numbers of Native Christians, who have since risen to eminence in both Ceylon and Southern India. It was to be expected, therefore, that schools should form an important part of the early work of the Wesleyan Mission in Madras Before the Society had been a year in Madras it had established two schools, one at Rayapet and the other in Black Town. The former was the origin of the present Rayapet College, which has enjoyed a continuous existence, though not always in the same premises, from that day to this, and is, therefore, only second to the Vepery Anglo-Vernacular school in point of age. In 1823 two new schools were opened at Negapatam. No other missionary body established schools for a long period after the London and Wesleyan Missionary Societies were in the field. Attention may be turned here to the operations of the State in connection with education. The Protestant mission, conducted successively by Messrs. Ziegenbalg, Gerické, Kiernander, and Swartz, under the patronage, as has been seen, of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, had opened schools at Madras, Cuddalore, Tanjore and Trichinopoly, in which they instructed the natives, and in aid of which they obtained occasional grants from the local Governments, and permission from the Court of Directors to receive from the Society in England various supplies free of freight. In 1787 the Court of Directors authorised a permanent annual grant towards the support of three schools which had been established with the sanction of the respective Rajas at Tanjore, Ramnad and Sivaganga, of 250 pagodas each. These schools were under the direction of Mr. Swartz. The Court further directed that a similar allowance should be granted to any other schools which might be opened for the same purpose. According to 317

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the books of establishment, the charge on this account was for two Protestant schools at Tanjore and Kumbakonam Rupees 4,200 per annum, together with a pension or allowance to Mr Kolhoop, a retired teacher, of Rupees 420, making a total of Rupees 4,620 per annum. In 1824 the widow Swartz enjoyed a pension from the British Government of two pagodas per month at Negapatam, and an unmarried woman of the same name a monthly allowance of one fanam. In January 1812 a Sunday School was established at St. Thomas’ Mount, at the suggestion and under the direction of the Military Chaplain at that cantonment, and by the voluntary contributions of several Europeans at the Presidency. The object of this school was to afford elementary instruction on the Lancasterian plan to the half-caste and native children of the military and others resident there. The object as well as the plan of tuition being highly approved of by the Government, an endowment of 300 pagodas per annum was granted from the 1st January 1812.

THE SCOTTISH MISSIONS. The Scottish Mission entered the field in April 1837 the date on which Mr. Anderson opened his school. This was an era in the history of Madras education, and it is necessary to note here the progress of what was first known as the mission of the Church of Scotland and afterwards as the Free Church Mission. This educational agency was one of the last to come into the field, but mainly owing to the great energy and ability of two missionaries, the Revs. John Anderson and William Miller, has grown to be one of the most important in the Presidency. In June 1835 the Rev. Messrs. Bowie and Lawrie, Scotch Chaplains, had established at Madras the St. Andrew’s school; and, after collecting funds from friends in the Presidency, they had applied to the Church of Scotland for a missionary, with the view to the establishment of an institution like that commenced at Calcutta by Dr. Duff in 1830. In response to this invitation the Rev. J. Anderson was sent from Scotland in 1836. He proce eded first to Calcutta in order to observe the modes of instruction and discipline at Dr. Duff’s institution at that city. After a short stay there he came to Madras in February 1837, and at once set to work. St. Andrew’s school was carried on near a house, in St. Andrew’s Church, Poonamallee Road. Mr. Anderson urged its removal into the city, with a view to benefit more effectually the dense native community. A suitable two-storied house was hired in Armenian street; and here, on April 3, 1837, he began his labours with 59 Hindu boys and young men. In January 1839, Mr. Johnstone came to assist Mr. Anderson. His arrival was the sisrnal for an extension of the work, and a branch school was opened at Conjeeveram, in May 1839, with eleven pupils. Mr. Frederick Cooper, Company’s Medical Officer at Nellore, had established, some years before, a school for Telugn and English, and having intimated a desire to connect it with the mission, Mr. Anderson went to Nellore to judge how far it would be advisable to accept the proposal. This led to the annexation of the Nellore school and property to the Mission in August. In this year the mission made yet another step. In 1841 a school was established at Triplicane. Mr. Anderson was invited by 318

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Mr. W. A. Morehead, then Judge at Chingleput, to supply a teacher to the school which he had induced the natives of the place to set up. This led to the adoption of Chingleput as a new branch station. Up to this time the mission had been connected with the Established Church of Scotland, but in 1843 when the Free Church seceded on the question of patronage and State interference, all the Indian missionaries joined the seceding Free Church, and carried with them, after an amicable discussion, the whole of the mission work. It is, therefore, only from 1843 that the Free Church dates, although there was no break in the continuity of the mission. By the end of 1843 the schools had altogether recovered, and their numbers exceeded those of any former year. In February 1845 the Established Church of Scotland re-opened their own mission with a large school, the origin of the institution now on the North Beach, with branch institutions at Vellore and Arkonam. This soon became full of scholars without in any way diminishing the number at Anderson’s school, so that the cause of education was again benefitted. In 1853 Mr. Johnstone died, and similarly in 1855 Mr. Anderson. From that time a great declension fell upon the mission. None could be found to tread in the steps of the founders of the mission. Many took up the task, but the climate and the magnitude of the labours involved caused the retirement of one after another till it was difficult to get any to succeed them. Matters continued unsettled till the arrival of the Rev. W. Miller in 1863.

APPENDIX K. PACHAIYAPPA’S SCHOOLS. The founding of Pachniyappa’s schools marks indeed an era in the history of Madras education, is it was the first example of intelligent natives of various castes combining to aid the cause of popular instruction. Pachaiyappa, in whose name these institutions are founded, was a wealthy Hindu, who, dying in the last, century, left one lakh of pagodas by his will for the establishment of charities, chiefly of a religions character, but in part dedicated to objects of general benevolence. The Advocate-General, Sir Herbert Campton, having discovered that these charities were totally unperformed, and that the funds were spoliated by the successive executors of his will, filed an information in the Supreme Court, and obtained a general decree against the party finally liable for an account of the fund, to be paid with accumulated interest—amounting for many lákhs of rupees—and also for the performance of the charities. On the whole there were finally collected to the credit of the charities nearly eight lakhs of rupees. A scheme was prepared, whereby, in due accordance with the provisions of the will, and without trenching upon any specific religious or benevolent charities mentioned in the will, it was proposed that all the accumulated sums beyond one lakh of pagodas (that is, upwards of four lakhs of rupees with all accumulating interest) should be devoted 319

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to educational establishments in various parts of the Presidency, and particularly at Madras. The scheme provided all details for the quality, localities, subjects of instruction, and governance of these institutions; and they were all finally incorporated in a decree of the Court. After some years directions were given, under Lord Elphinstone’s Government, for the Board of Revenne making such orders as were necessary to carry out the decree of the Supreme Court and the wishes of the Court of Directors. A body of Hindu Trustees was formed and a school in Black Town was established in January 1842, for affording gratuitous education to the poorer classes of the native community in the elementary branches of English literature and science, coupled with instruction in Tamil and Telugu. The High school of the Mudras University was then in its infancy, and, as according to the rules of that institution, no boy was eligible for admission who could not read English with some fluency, the want of a school of this primary nature was urgently felt by the rich as well as the poor. Further, as the education was imparted gratis, according to the fundamental rules of the institution, the sphere of its usefulness became wider and wider, till its numerical strength surpassed all expectation, and the trustees found themselves necessitated, though unwillingly, to restrict the rapid influx of pupils, and to refuse to listen to pressing demands for admission A small monthly fee then began to be levied from each pupil. It was the original intention of the trustees to establish a few schools in the provinces contemporaneously with the central institution in the Presidency; but circumstances deterred them from engaging in the task. The central school was, therefore, first established and conducted under their immediate supervision. Emboldened by its success, a branch school was then opened at Conjeeveram in the year 1846, on a limited scale, to be extended in case it should work to their satisfaction. There were, in 1855, 64 boys studying in the new school, which imparted instruction in English, Tamil, and Telugu. The branch school at Chidambaram was opened in the year 1850. The number of scholars on the rolls of the institution at the end of 1854 was 65. About the same time that the central institution was established in Black Town an endowment was founded in the high school of the Madras University, with a view of providing education in the higher branches of literature and science to lads in poor circumstances, and deserving of encouragement. Those that enjoyed the benefit of this endowment were divided into two classes, called Pachaiyappa’s Free and Endowed Scholars; the former had their school fee paid from the endowment, and the latter were in receipt of monthly stipends. The Trustees also gave great aid to certain vernacular institutions established in and about Madras. These institutions are founded on systematic principles, and afford to the young useful instruction in Tamil and Telugu, in some instances combined with Sanskrit. The foundation-stone of the fine hall of this institution was laid by Mr. George Norton, Advocate-General and patron of these educational charities, in the midst of a vast concourse of the native inhabitants of Madras, on the 2nd October 1846. In 1850 the building was formally opened by Sir Henry Pottinger and the central institution was moved into it. From 1858 pupils have been appearing for the Matriculation Examination from this institution. In 1880 it was raised 320

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to the rank of a second-grade college, and in 1889 it was affiliated to the University up to the B. A. Degree examination. In 1846 the Pachaiyappa Trustees took over the charities of another rich native named Govindu Nayakar. In 1856 scholarships were given in this benefactor’s name at Pachaiyappa’s schools, and later on a separate primary school was opened from the same funds. The new institution was called “Govindu Nayakar’s Primary School,” and was opened in 1864. In the year 1869 a third school of equal importance was established by means of a bequest from C. Srinivasa Pillai, who had been for several years President of Pachaiyappa’s charities. This school which was chiefly intended for the education of Hindu girls has recently been transferred to the National Indian Association. In 1872, the Trustees received another benefaction of Rupees 20,000 from one Ponnambala Pillai, and with it a Sanscrit school was established at Chidambaram in 1874. The last and the most valuable bequest was that of P. T. Lee Chengalraya Nayakar, which enabled the Trustees in 1886 to develop the short-hand class formed in 1884 as a tentative measure in connexion with Pachaiyappa’s College, into a regular Commercial High school bearing the name of Chengalraya Nayakar. Over 150 students were learning Commercial subjects in 1892.

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THE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION BILL. [On 16th March 1911, Mr. Gokhale, in asking for leave in the Imperial Legislative Council to introduce a Bill to make better provision for the extension of elementary education in India, spoke as follows:—]

My Lord, I rise to ask for leave to introduce a Bill to make better provision for the extension of elementary education throughout India. Hon’ble Members will recollect that about this time last year, the Council considered a resolution which I had ventured to submit to its judgment, recommending that elementary education should gradually be made compulsory and free throughout the country, and that a mixed Commission of officials and non-officials should be appointed to frame definite proposals. In the debate, which ensued on the occasion, fifteen Members, including the Home Member, the Home Secretary and the DirectorGeneral of Education, took part. There was then no separate portfolio of Education, and educational interests rubbed shoulders with jails and the police, in the all-comprehensive charge of the Home Department. In the end, on an assurance being given by the Home Member that the whole question would be carefully examined by the Government, the resolution was withdrawn. Twelve months, my Lord, have elapsed since then, and the progress which the question has made during the interval has not been altogether disappointing. In one important particular, indeed, events have moved faster than I had ventured to hope or suggest. One of the proposals urged by me on the Government last year was that Education should, to begin with, have a separate Secretary, and that eventually there should be a separate Member for Education in the Governor General’s Executive Council. The Government however, have given us at one bound a full-fledged 322

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Department of Education, and the Hon’ble Mr. Butler has already been placed in charge of it. My Lord, the Hon’ble Member’s appointment to the new office has been received with general satisfaction, and it is recognised on all sides that he brings to his task a reputation for great practical capacity. What I value, however, even more than his practical capacity, is the fact that the Indian sun has not dried the Hon’ble Member and that he has not yet shed those enthusiasms with which perhaps we all start in life, and without which no high task for the improvement of humanity has ever been undertaken. I think, my Lord, the creation of a separate portfolio for Education brings us sensibly nearer the time when elementary education shall be universal throughout India. That there is a strong demand for this in the country—a demand, moreover, daily growing stronger—may be gathered from the fact that, since last year’s debate, the question has been kept well to the fore by the Indian Press, and that last December resolutions in favour of compulsory and free primary education were passed not only by the Indian National Congress at Allahabad, but also by the Moslem League, which held its sittings at Nagpur. On the Government side, too, the declaration made in the House of Commons last July by the Under-Secretary of State for India that one of the objects of the creation of the new Education Department was to spread education throughout the country, the significant language employed by Your Lordship on the subject of education in your reply to the Congress address at the beginning of this year, and the Educational Conference, summoned by the Hon’ble Mr. Butler last month at Allahabad—all point to the fact that the Government are alive to the necessity of moving faster and that it will not be long before vigorous measures are taken in hand to ensure a more rapid spread of mass education in the land. The present thus is a singularly favourable juncture for submitting to the Council and the country the desirability of a forward move, such as my Bill proposes, and I earnestly trust the Council will not withhold from me the leave I ask to introduce the Bill. My Lord, I expect the Government have now concluded their examination of my proposals of last year, and perhaps the Hon’ble Member will tell us to-day what conclusions have been arrived at. The part of the scheme to which I attached the greatest importance was that relating to the gradual introduction of the principle of compulsion into the system of elementary education in the country and that part is now embodied in the Bill which I wish to introduce to-day. My Lord, an American legislator, addressing his countrymen more than half a century ago, once said that if he had the Archangel’s trumpet, the blast of which could startle the living of all nations, he would sound it in their ears and say: ‘Educate your children-educate all your children, educate every one of your children. The deep wisdom and passionate humanity of this aspiration is now generally recognised, and in almost every civilised country, the State to-day accepts the education of the children as a primary duty resting upon it. Even if the advantages of an elementary education be put no higher than a capacity to read and write, its universal diffusion is a matter of prime importance, for literacy is better than illiteracy any day, and the banishment of a whole people’s illiteracy is no mean achievement. But elementary education for the mass of the people means something more than 323

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a mere capacity to read and write. It means for them a keener enjoyment of life and a more refined standard of living. It means the greater moral and economic efficiency of the individual. It means a higher level of intelligence for the whole community generally. He who reckons these advantages lightly may as well doubt the value of light or fresh air in the economy of human health. I think it is not unfair to say that one important test of the solicitude of a Government for the true well-being of its people is the extent to which, and the manner in which, it seeks to discharge its duty in the matter of mass education. And judged by this test, the Government of this country must wake up to its responsibilities much more than it has hitherto done, before it can take its proper place among the civilised Governments of the world. Whether we consider the extent of literacy among the population, or the proportion of those actually at school, or the system of education adopted, or the amount of money expended, on primary education, India is far, far behind other civilised countries. Take literacy. While in India, according to the figures of the census of 1901, less than 6 per cent. of the whole population could read and write, even in Russia, the most backward of European countries educationally, the proportion of literates at the last census was about 25 per cent., while in many European countries, as also the United States of America, and Canada and Australia, almost the entire population is now able to read and write. As regards attendance at school, I think it will be well to quote once more the statistics which I mentioned in moving my resolution of last year. They are as follows:—‘In the United States of America, 21 per cent. of the whole population is receiving elementary education; in Canada, in Australia, in Switzerland, and in Great Britain and Ireland, the proportion ranges from 20 to 17 per cent.; in Germany, in Austria-Hungary, in Norway and in the Netherlands the proportion is from 17 to 15 per cent.; in France it is slightly above 14 per cent.; in Sweden it is 14 per cent.; in Denmark it is 13 per cent.; in Belgium it is 12 per cent.; in Japan it is 11 per cent.; in Italy, Greece and Spain it ranges between 8 and 9 per cent.; in Portugal and Russia it is between 4 and 5 per cent.; whereas in British India it is only 1·9 per cent.’ Turning next to the systems of education adopted in different countries, we find that while in most of them elementary education is both compulsory and free, and in a few, though the principle of compulsion is not strictly enforced or has not yet been introduced, it is either wholly or for the most part gratuitous, in India alone it is neither compulsory nor free. Thus in Great Britain and Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and Japan, it is both compulsory and free, the period of compulsion being generally six years, though in some of the American States it is now as long as nine years. In Holland, elementary education is campulsory, but not free. In Spain, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Servia and Rumania, it is free, and, in theory, compulsory, though compulsion is not strictly enforced. In Turkey, too, it is free and nominally compulsory, and in Russia, though compulsion has not yet been introduced, it is for the most part gratuitous. Lastly, if we take the expenditure on elementary education in different countries per head of the population, even allowing for 324

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different money values in different countries, we find that India is simply nowhere in the comparison. The expenditure per head of the population is highest in the United States, being no less than 16s.; in Switzerland, it is 13s. 8d. per head; in Australia, 11s. 3d.; in England and Wales, 10s.; in Canada, 9s. 9d.; in Scotland, 9s. 7½d.; in Germany, 6s. 10d.; in Ireland, 6s. 5d.; in the Netherlands, 6s. 4½d.; in Sweden, 5s. 7d.; in Belgium, 5s. 4d.; in Norway, 5s. 1d.; in France, 4s. 10d.; in Austria, 3s. 1½d.; in Spain, 1s. 10d.; in Italy, 1s. 7½d.; in Servia and Japan, 1s. 2d.; in Russia, 7½d.; while, in India, it is barely one penny. My Lord, it may be urged, and with some show of reason, that as mass education is essentially a Western idea and India has not been under Western influences for more than a century, it is not fair to compare the progress made by her with the achievements of Western nations in that field. I am not sure that there is really much in this view, for even in most Western countries, mass education is a comparatively recent development, and even in the East, we have before us the example of Japan, which came under influence of the West less than half a century ago, and has already successfully adopted a system of universal education. Assuming, however, for the sake of argument, that it is not fair to compare India with Western countries in this matter, no such objection can, I believe, be urged against a comparison of Indian progress with that made in the Philippines, or Ceylon, or Baroda. The Philippines came under American rule only thirteen years ago; it cannot be said that in natural intelligence or desire for education, the Philipinos are superior to the people of India; and yet the progress in mass education made in the Islands during this short period had been so great that it constitutes a remarkable tribute to the energy and enthusiasm of American ideals. Under Spanish rule, there was no system of popular education in the Philippines. As soon as the Islands passed into the possession of the United States, a regular programme of primary education came to be planned and has been steadily adhered to. The aim is to make primary education universal. Instruction is free, and the education authorities advise compulsion, though no compulsory law has yet been enacted. So great, however, is the enthusiasm that has been aroused in the matter that many Municipalities have introduced compulsion by local ordinances. And though there is room for doubt if the ordinances are strictly legal, no question has been raised, and the people are acquiescing cheerfully in their enforcement. How rapidly things are advancing in the Philippines may be judged by the fact that in five years—from 1903 to 1908—the number of pupils attending school more than doubled itself, having risen from 150,000 to 360,000. The proportion of children receiving instruction to the whole population of the Islands is now nearly 6 per cent., as against 2 in British India. The conditions of Ceylon approximate closely to those of Southern India, and the fact that it is directly administered by England as a Crown Colony need not make any difference in its favour. In regard to mass education, however, Ceylon is far ahead to-day of India. Elementary instruction in Ceylon is imparted by two classes of schools, Government and Aided, the Government schools covering about one-third, and the Aided schools two-thirds of the area. In Government 325

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schools, a system of compulsory attendance has long been in force, the defaulting parent being brought by the teacher before a Village Tribunal, who can inflict small fines. In 1901, a Committee was appointed by the Government to advise what steps should be taken to extend primary education in the Island and the Committee strongly recommended ‘that Government should take steps to compel parents to five their children a good vernacular education.’ Again, in 1905, a Commission was appointed to make further enquiries into the matter, and the recommendations of this body were accepted in the main by the Colonial Secretary. These recommendations were: (1) that attendance at school should be compulsory for boys during a period of six years in areas proclaimed by the Governor; (2) that no fees should be charged; (3) that girls’ education should be pushed on vigorously; (4) that District and Divisional Committees should be constituted to look after the education of children in their areas; and (5) that the Road Tax should be handed over to these bodies to form the nucleus of an Education Fund. Action was first taken under the new scheme in 1908, when 16 Districts were proclaimed by the Governor; and the official report for 1909 thus speaks of its working: ‘There has been no difficulty so far, and there seems to be every reason to hope that none of the difficulties, which were anticipated by some of the managers of aided schools, will arise. It is hoped that in the course of the present year, it will be brought into working order in all the Districts.’ In 1909 the total number of pupils, attending primary schools in Ceylon, was 237,000 which gives a proportion of 6·6 per cent. to the whole population of the Island. Within the borders of India itself, the Maharaja of Baroda has set an example of enthusiasm in the cause of education, for [Illegible Text] is entitled to the lasting gratitude of the people of the country. His Highness began his first experiment in the matter of introducing compulsory and free education into his State eighteen years ago in ten villages of the Amreli Taluka. After watching the experiment for eight years, it was extended to the whole taluka in 1901, and finally, in 1906, primary education was made compulsory and free throughout the State for boys between the ages of 6 and 12, and for girls between the ages of 6 and 10. The agelimit for girls has since been raised from 10 to 11. The last two Education Reports of the State explain with considerable fullness the working of the measure, and furnish most interesting reading. In 1909, the total number of pupils at school was 165,000, which gives a proportion of 8·6 per cent. to the total population of the State. Taking the children of school-going age, we find that 79·6 per cent. of boys of such age were at school, as against 21·5 per cent. in British India; while the percentage of girls was 47·6, as against our 4 per cent. only. The total expenditure on primary schools in Baroda in 1909 was about 7½ lakhs of rupees, which gives a proportion of about 6½d. per head of the population, as against one penny in British India. The population of Baroda is drawn from the same classes as that of the adjoining British territories, and every day that passes sees the subjects of the Gaekwar outstanding more and more British subjects in the surrounding districts. My Lord, if the history of elementary education throughout the world establishes one fact more clearly than another, it is this, that without a resort to 326

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compulsion no State can ensure a general diffusion of education among its people. England, with her strong love of individualism, stood out against the principle of compulsion for as long as she could, but she had to give way in the end all the same. And when the Act of 1870, which introduced compulsion into England and Wales, was under discussion, Mr. Gladstone made a frank admission in the matter in language which I would like to quote to this Council. ‘Well, sir,’ said he, ‘there is another principle and undoubtedly of the gravest character, which I can even now hardly hope—though I do hope after all that we had seen—is accepted on the other side of the House—I mean the principle that compulsion must be applied in some effective manner to the promotion of education. I freely and frankly own that it was not without an effort that I myself accepted it. I deeply regret the necessity. I think that it is a scandal and a shame to the country that in the midst of our, as we think, advanced civilisation, and undoubtedly of our enormous wealth, we should at this time of day be obliged to entertain this principle of compulsion. Nevertheless, we have arrived deliberately at the conclusion that it must be entertained, and I do not hesitate to say that, being entertained, it ought to be entertained with every consideration, with every desire of avoiding haste and precipitancy, but in a manner that shall render it effectual . . . .’ A Royal Commission, appointed in 1836 to report on the working of the measure adopted to make attendance at school compulsory in England and Wales, bore ungrudging testimony to the great effect which compulsion had produced on school attendance. ‘It is to compulsion,’ they wrote, ‘that the increase of the numbers on the roll is largely attributable. Among the witnesses before us, Mr. Stewart appears to stand alone in his opinion that, provided the required accommodation had been furnished, the result would have been much the same if attendance had not been obligatory. But to estimate fairly the influence, which compulsion has had upon the great increase in the number of children attending school, we must speak of it under the three heads into which its operation may be divided. There is, first, the direct influence of compulsion. This is exerted over parents, who are indifferent to the moral and intellectual welfare of their children, who are very eager to obtain what advantage they can from their children’s earnings, but who never look beyond But, secondly, compulsion exercises an indirect influence. Many parents are apathetic, yield weakly to their children’s wish not to go to school . . . But they are keenly alive to the disgrace of being brought before a Magistrate, the fear of which supplies a stimulus sufficient to make them do their duty in this respect. In addition, the existence of a compulsory law has considerably affected public opinion and has done much to secure a larger school attendance by making people recognise that the State regards them as neglecting their duty, if their children remain uneducated. The Ceylon Commission of 1905, in dealing with the question whether attendance at school should be made compulsory, expressed themselves as follows:—‘With the exception of one or two districts of the Island, little good will be done by any system which does not enforce compulsory attendance. The Dutch, who had an extensive and successful system of Vernacular schools throughout the portions of the Island which were under their rule, found it 327

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necessary to enforce attendance by fines, and did so regularly. Parents, throughout a large portion of the Island, exercise very little control over their children, and will leave them to do as they like in the matter of school attendance. The result is that, where there is no compulsion, boys attend very irregularly and leave school very early. That compulsory attendance is desirable we have no doubt. My Lord, primary education has rested on a voluntary basis in this country for more than half a century, and what is the extent of the progress it has made during the time? For answer one has to look at the single fact that seven children out of eight are yet allowed to grow up in ignorance and darkness, and four villages out of five are without a school. During the last six or seven years, the pace has been slightly more accelerated than before, but, even so, how extremely slow it is, may be seen from what Mr. Orange says of it in the last quinquennial report, issued two years ago:—But the rate of increase for the last twenty-five years or for the last five is more slow than when compared with the distance that has to be travelled before primary education can be universally diffused. If the number of boys at school continued to increase even at the rate of increase that has taken place in the last five years, and even if there was no increase in population, even then several generations would still elapse before all the boys of school age were in school. My Lord, I respectfully submit that this state of things must be remedied; that India must follow in the wake of other civilized countries in the matter, if her children are to enjoy anything like the advantages which the people of those countries enjoy in the race of life; that a beginning at least should now be made in the direction of compulsion; and that the aim should be to cover the whole field in the lifetime of a generation. When England introduced compulsion in 1870, about 43 per cent. of her children of school-going age were at school, and ten years sufficed for her to bring all her children to school. When Japan took up compulsion, about 28 per cent. of her school-going population was at school, and Japan covered the whole field in about twenty years. Our difficulties are undoubtedly greater than those of any other country, and our progress, even with the principle of compulsion introduced, is bound to be slower. But if a beginning is made at once and we resolutely press forward towards the goal, the difficulties, great as they are, will vanish before long, and the rest of the journey will be comparatively simple and easy. My Lord, it is urged by those who are opposed to the introduction of compulsion in this country that though the Gaekwar, as an Indian Prince, could force compulsion on his subjects without serious opposition, the British Government, as a foreign Government, cannot afford to risk the unpopularity which the measure will entail. Personally I do not think that the fear which lies behind this view is justified, because the Government in Ceylon is as much a foreign Government as that in India, and in Ceylon the authorities have not shrunk from the introduction of compulsion. But to meet this objection, I am quite willing that the first steps in the direction of compulsion should be taken by our Local Bodies, which reproduce in British territory conditions similar to those which obtain in Feudatory States. And even here I am willing that the first experiment should be made in carefully selected and advanced areas only. When the public mind is 328

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familiarised with the idea of compulsion, the Government may take the succeeding steps without any hesitation or misgiving. In view, also, of the special difficulties, likely to be experienced in extending the principle of compulsion at once to girls, I am willing that, to begin with, it should be applied to boys only, though I share the opinion that the education of girls is with us even a greater necessity than that of boys, and I look forward to the time when compulsion will be extended to all children alike of either sex. To prevent injudicious zeal on the part of Local Bodies, even in so good a cause as the spread of elementary education, I am willing that ample powers of control should be retained by the Provincial and Imperial Governments in their own hands. What I earnestly and emphatically insist on, however, is that no more time should now be lost in making a beginning in this all-important matter. My Lord, I now come to the Bill, which I hope the Council will let me introduce to-day, and I ask the indulgence of the Council while I explain briefly its main provisions. The Bill, I may state at once, has been framed with a strict regard to the limitations of the position, to which I have already referred. It is a purely premissive Bill, and it merely proposes to empower Municipalities and District Boards, under certain circumstances, to introduce compulsion within their areas, in the first instance, in the case of boys, and later, when the time is ripe, in the case of girls. Before a Local Body aspires to avail itself of the powers contemplated by the Bill, it will have to fulfil such conditions as the Government of India may by rule lay down as regards the extent to which education is already diffused within its area. Last year, in moving my resolution on this subject, I urged that where one-third of the boys of school-going age were already at school, the question of introducing compulsion might be taken up for consideration by the Local Body. I think this is a fair limit, but if the Government of India so choose they might impose a higher limit. In practice, a limit of 33 per cent. will exclude for several years to come all District Boards, and bring within the range only a few of the more advanced Municipalities in the larger towns in the different Provinces. Moreover, a Local Body, even when it satisfies the limit laid down by the Government of India, can come under the Bill only after obtaining previously the sanction of the Local Government. I submit, my Lord, that these are ample safeguards to prevent any ill-considered or precipitate action on the part of a Local Body. Then the Bill provides for a compulsory period of school attendance of four years only. Most countries have a period of six years, and even Ceylon and Baroda provide six years; Italy, which began with three, and Japan, which began with four years, have also raised their period to six years. But considering that the burden of additional expenditure involved will in many cases be the principal determining factor in this matter, I am content to begin with a compulsory period of four years only. The next point to which I would invite the attention of the Council is that the Bill makes ample provision for exemption from compulsory attendance on reasonable grounds, such as sickness, domestic necessity or the seasonal needs of agriculture. A parent may also claim exemption for his child on the ground that there is no school within a reasonable distance from his residence, to which 329

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he can send the child without exposing him to religious instruction to which he objects; and a distance of one mile is laid down as a reasonable distance. This, however, is a matter of detail, which, perhaps, may better be left to Local Governments. When a Local Body comes under the Bill, the responsibility is thrown upon it to provide suitable school accommodation for the children within its area, in accordance with standards which may be laid down by the Education Department of the Local Government. On the question of fees, while I am of opinion that where attendance is made compulsory, instruction should be gratuitous, the Bill provides for gratuitous instruction only in the case of those children whose parents are extremely poor, not earning more than Rs. 10 a month, all above that line being required to pay or not in the discretion of the Local Body. This is obviously a compromise, rendered necessary by the opposition offered by so many Local Governments to the proposal of abolishing fees in primary schools, on the ground that it means an unnecessary sacrifice of a necessary and useful income. Coming to the machinery for working the compulsory provisions, the Bill provides for the creation of special school attendance committees, whose duty it will be to make careful enquiries and prepare and maintain lists of children who should be at school within their respective areas, and take whatever steps may be necessary to ensure the attendance of children at school, including the putting into operation of the penal clauses of the Bill against defaulting parents. The penal provisions, it will be seen, are necessarily light. To ensure the object of the Bill being fulfilled, the employment of child labour below the age of ten is prohibited, and penalty is provided for any infringement of the provision. Lastly, it is provided that the Government of India should lay down by rule the proportion in which the heavy cost of compulsory education should be divided between the Local Government and the Local Body concerned, it being assumed that the Supreme Government will place additional resources at the disposal of the Local Government, to enable it to defray its share, the Local Body being on its side empowered to levy a special Education. Rate, if unnecessary, to meet its share of the expenditure. It is obvious that the whole working of this Bill must depend in the first instance upon the share, which the Government is prepared to bear, of the cost of compulsory education, wherever it is introduced. I find that in England the Parliamentary grant covers about two-thirds of the total expenditure on elementary schools. In Scotland it amounts to more than that proportion, whereas in Ireland it meets practically the whole cost. I think we are entitled to ask that in India at least two thirds of the new expenditure should be borne by the State. This, my Lord, is briefly the whole of my Bill. It is a small and humble attempt to suggest the first steps of a journey, which is bound to prove long and tedious, but which must be performed, if the mass of our people are to emerge from their present condition. It is not intended that all parts of the Bill should be equally indispensable to the scheme, and no one will be more ready than myself to undertake any revision that may be found to be necessary in the light of helpful criticism. My Lord, if I am so fortunate as to receive from the Council the leave I ask at its hands, it will probably be a year before the Bill comes up here again for its further 330

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stages. Meanwhile, its consideration will be transferred from this Council to the country, and all sections of the community will have ample opportunities to scrutinise its provisions with care. My Lord, this question of a universal diffusion of education in India depends, almost more than any other question, on the hearty and sympathetic co-operation of the Government and the leaders of the people. The Government must, in the first instance, adopt definitely the policy of such diffusion as its own, and it must, secondly, not grudge to find the bulk of the money, which will be required for it, as Governments in most other civilised countries are doing. And this is what we are entitled to ask at the hands of the Government in the name of justice, for the honour of the Government itself, and in the highest interests of popular well-being. The leaders of the people, on their side, must bring to this task high enthusiasm, which will not be chilled by difficulties, courage, which will not shrink from encountering unpopularity, if need be, and readiness to make sacrifices, whether of money or time or energy, which the cause may require. I think, my Lord, if this Bill passes into law, the educated classes of the country will be on their trial. It is my earnest hope that neither they nor the Government will fail to rise to the requirements of this essentially modest and cautious measure. My Lord, one great need of the situation, which I have ventured again and again to point out in this Council for several years past, is that the Government should enable us to feel that, though largely foreign in personnel, it is national in spirit and sentiment; and this it can only do by undertaking towards the people of India all those responsibilities, which national Governments in other countries undertake towards their people. We, too, in our turn, must accept the Government as a national Government, giving it that sense of security which national Governments are entitled to claim, and utilising the peace and, order, which it has established, for the moral and material advancement of our people. And of all the great national tasks which lie before the country, and in which the Government and the people can co-operate to the advantage of both, none is greater than this task of promoting the universal diffusion of education in the land, bringing by its means a ray of light, a touch of refinement, a glow of hope into lives that sadly need them all. The work, I have already said, is bound to be slow, but that only means that it must be taken in hand at once. If a beginning is made without further delay, if both the Government and the people persevere with the task in the right spirit, the whole problem may be solved before another generation rises to take our place. If this happens, the next generation will enter upon its own special work with a strength which will be its own security of success. As for us, it will be enough to have laboured for such an end—laboured even when the end is not in sight. For, my Lord, I think there is not only profound humility but also profound wisdom in the faith which says:— ‘I do not ask to see that distant scene: One step enough for me.’ [Replying to the criticisms which were offered to his motion for leave to introduce the Bill, Mr. Gokhale spoke as follows:—] 331

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Sir, I have surely no reason to be dissatisfied with the reception which the Bill has met with at the hands of the Members of the Council. No man has the right to expect—and I certainly did not expect that any proposals that he brings forward on a subject of such importance would be accepted by a body like this Council without any criticism; and if I rise, Sir, just now, to speak a second time, it is for two reasons. In the first place, I wish to express my sense of obligation to the Hon’ble Mr. Butler personally, and to the Government of India generally, for the attitude they have adopted towards this Bill. The attitude is no doubt cautious but it is not unfriendly, and it certainly goes as far as I had ventured to expect—I had not expected that it would go further than that. The second reason why I wish to say a few words before this debate is brought to a close is that I want to clear certain misconceptions to which expression has been given to-day, about some of the provisions of the Bill, as also about my object in bringing the Bill forward. Sir, as I pointed out in the course of the remarks with which I asked for leave to introduce this Bill, if there is one fact established more clearly than another in the history of primary education, it is this, that, without compulsion, there can be no universal diffusion of education. You may shake your heads—anybody can shake his head—and say that the time for compulsion has not come; that we shall try the experiment on a voluntary basis; that we shall wait for some time; that we shall achieve here what nobody else has achieved elsewhere. Anybody may say this, but, as sure as we are here, as sure as we are discussing this question in this Council to-day, I say that everybody will in the end recognise that without compulsion it is impossible to secure the universal diffusion of education throughout the country. That being so, the only effective and proper course is to suggest that the Government should introduce compulsion. And if the Government of India had not been beset with its peculiar difficulties, I should have urged it to take up this question and introduce compulsion on its own account. But, as I have already observed, there are several considerations which render such a course difficult, if not impossible. And since that cannot be, I am content to proceed on other lines and to try a measure, such as I have brought forward to-day. Sir, my Hon’ble friend Mr, Dadabhoy says that District Officers hold a very strong position on District Boards, and therefore, if this Bill is allowed to become law, District Officers, who may find no difficulty in getting the sanction of the Local Government, may use their position on the Boards to introduce compulsion. If this really happens, I say at once that I shall rejoice, because it will really mean that the Government will be accepting its own responsibility and introducing compulsion. I do want the Government to introduce compulsion if only it will do so; but as the Government will not do it, we have got to see what else we can do, and that is why I want this Bill. Sir, as far as I have been able to gather from to-day’s discussion, hardship is apprehended in regard to three matters in carrying out the provisions of this Bill. The first is that District Boards, which are largely under official influence, might introduce compulsion, though the people may not be prepared for it. But I have already pointed out that the Government of India will first of all lay down the 332

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standard which must be satisfied by any local body before it introduces the principle of compulsion. I myself have suggested a limit of 33 per cent., but as the matter has been left to the Government of India, I think, if ever this Bill becomes law, that they are likely to adopt a higher limit than 33 per cent. of the schoolgoing population being at school. And a limit of even 33 per cent., not only now but; for several years to come, will not be satisfied by any District Board. It will no doubt be satisfied by several Municipalities, but that is another matter. Therefore I do not think that the fear expressed about hasty action by District Boards is well-founded. If after the country has been familiarised with the idea of compulsion for some time, District Boards also follow in the wake of Municipalities, I do not think that there would be any reason to regret such a development. Then, Sir, a great deal has been said about the hardship which may be caused by empowering these bodies to levy a special education cess. My friends who have spoken have ignored the fact that the cess, when levied, is to be levied by the local bodies, and that it will require the sanction of the Local Government before it is levied. Those who say that the local bodies might consist of idealists and might be hasty in their action stand on a different footing from those who object to any special cess at all. To the former, I think it is a sufficient answer to point out that there is the Local Government to check idealism if there is any tendency in that direction. But there are those who object to any cess at all, and they have strongly urged today that it would be a calamity, a disaster, if any cess is ever levied in order that primary education might be made compulsory. Sir, I am unable to accept this opinion. On the other hand, I feel strongly that, if primary education is ever to be compulsory, local bodies will have to bear a fairly large share of the burden which it will impose. This is the case in all countries where the system of compulsory education prevails; and those friends of mine who object to the levy of a cess might as well object to compulsory education and be done with it. I admire, Sir, my Hon’ble friend Mr. Dadabhoy’s candour and consistency. Mr. Dadabhoy is against the levy of a local cess which may have to be imposed in order that the children of poor people may be educated. Mr. Dadabhoy the other day proposed that the excise-duty on cotton goods should be done away with, not on the ground that its burden falls on the consumers who are the poorest of the poor, but because the amount, if added to the profits of the mill industry, will mean a better return for the mill-owners. Mr. Dadabhoy also wants unrestricted hours for factory labour, for that means better dividends for capitalists. He is consistent all through; but his consistency need not appeal to this Council; and I think an attitude like his will hardly commend itself to those who wish well to the masses of the people. Sir, my fear is that, if this Bill ever becomes law, our financial difficulties will then only begin. It is not the cess that will constitute the real difficulty; it is the share that will have to be borne by the Government. The bulk of the money has to be found by the Finance Department of the Government of India, and I fear in the Hon’ble Sir Guy Fleetwood Wilson (I am sorry he is not in his place—I should have liked to say this in his presence) we shall probably find a dragon in the path. However, we shall have to agitate in this matter as in other matters, and I think an 333

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important lever has now been put into our hands by the Government by the creation of the new Education Department. Surely the Education Member must have something to do, and if he is to do anything, they must give him money to spend. I think that that will be our lever, and if we use the lever properly, the Government will find the money we want in the end. There is no reason why we should not entertain this hope. That it is what every civilized Government is doing for its own people, and that is what we are entitled to expect from our Government. The third fear expressed is about extending compulsion to girls at the present stage. Sir, I have already expressly stated that the intention is that the education of girls should for the present continue on a voluntary basis, though I certainly hope that before long the necessity of putting that education on the same footing as that of boys will be recognized, and the Bill only takes powers for that time when it comes. Remember that Baroda has compulsion even to-day for girls as well as boys. My Hon’ble friend Sir Sassoon David says that the time for compulsion has not yet come. Will he tell us when the time for compulsion arrives? Will he tell us how and why it has arrived in Baroda and not in British territory? Will he tell us how it has arrived in Ceylon and not in British territory? Will he tell us why, when the Philippino Municipalities have introduced compulsion, our own Municipalities should not? Of course, if you merely assert that the time has not arrived and stop there, it is not possible to argue with you. The Hon’ble Mr. Butler declines to accept my analogies and says that the state of things in this country is different to what it is elsewhere; and as regards Baroda, he says that it is governed autocratically and that makes a great difference. Western countries will not do, because they are governed democratically! Baroda will not do, because it is governed autocratically! I suppose the Hon’ble Member will not be satisfied unless I produce the analogy of a country, governed bureaucratically; and as there is no other country governed as India is, he is safe in insisting on such an analogy, and I must say I give it up. Sir, I will now address only two words in conclusion—one to the Government and the other to my non-official calleagues, and then resume my seat. To the Government I will merely put this question: Are you content to lag behind Baroda? Every day that passes, while Baroda has a system of compulsory education, and we have not—every day that passes like that, material is produced which will go to build up a judgment against you; and I am quite sure the conscience of the Government will, before long, be roused to this question. You may say what you like in defence of the existing situation; but you are bound to realize that you cannot lag behind Baroda, and I am convinced that the question of compulsion is for us now only a question of time. To my non-official colleagues I will say this: if we are not prepared to bear a cess for educating the children of the mass of our own people, if we are not prepared to make sacrifices for so great an object, if we expect the money to drop from somewhere—and remember, even if the Government raise it by additional taxation, after all it is we who shall pay it—we may as well cease talking about improving the lot of the mass of the people. Sir, if we want our country to advance, there is only one way, and that is that the mass of the people in this country must be raised to a higher level. This can only be achieved 334

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by the spread of education, which in its turn requires a large expenditure of money. And a reasonable part of this money must be raised locally, as is being done in other countries, or else we may leave the matter well alone. Sir, I do not wish to say anything more. I once again beg to express my obligations to the Hon’ble Mr. Butler and to the Government for the attitude they have adopted towards this Bill, and I am also most grateful to those Hon’ble Members who have accorded this measure their cordial support. My Lord, I will now say a few words by way of reply to the observations which have been made by several Members on this resolution. At the outset, I would express my thanks to the Hon’ble the Home Member for the assurance that he gave at the end of his speech that the Government would consider carefully the proposals laid by me before the Council to-day. I wish I could feel the same degree of satisfaction in regard to certain other parts of his speech, notably in regard to what he said about a Commission going up and down the country, inviting suggestions from all and sundry as to what should be done by Government in this matter. I must also say that I was somewhat surprised to hear that the suggestions which I have placed before the Council appeared to be altogether new to the Hon’ble Member. My Lord, when I suggested the appointment of a Commission I naturally also meant that the Government should take some interest in the matter; and if they took some interest in it, they would not start a Commission with a mere blank sheet of paper before asking it to go up and down the country inviting suggestions. The Government would then start the Commission, as is invariably done in such cases, with definite instructions, and definite questions would then be framed on which opinions would be invited from the public. As regards the statement of the Hon’ble Member that my suggestions were new, it only emphasizes what I have been insisting on in the Council for several years, namely, that education should be made over to a separate Member of this Council. Education is one of twenty other Departments with which the Hon’ble Member has to deal and it is not to be expected that he will pursue educational matters with the same diligence and the same watchfulness with which they are pursued in other countries, notably in America, where they try to follow what is being done throughout the world every year in regard to education. If things had stood where they were left by the Hon’ble Sir Harvey Adamson, I should have thought that Government had adopted towards my resolution an attitude which was, on the whole, not unfriendly. But the remarks made by the Hon’ble Sir H. Stuart appear to me to be uncompromisingly hostile. I speak subject to correction because the Hon’ble Member had quite finished his Binomial Theorem when the bell rang and the time allowed for the examination was over. I can therefore confine myself only to what he actually said, and that portion did not sound as at all friendly to my motion. I must notice three observations that he made. The first was in connection with my humble self. I see that the Hon’ble Member has been studying some of my past utterances. That is a matter from which I should perhaps derive some satisfaction. I must say, however that he has not been reading my speeches correctly. He has no justification for saying that I have now taken up a position which is 335

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inconsistent with the position I had taken up before. It is true that three years ago I urged that Government should begin in this matter by making primary education free, and then proceed to make it compulsory. The aim always has been to have it free and compulsory. Three years ago I urged the abolition of fees first because Government had then plenty of money, with which they hardly knew what to do. As Government was then inclined to be favourable to that idea—and as to that I have only to refer to the Government Resolution issued at that time to make clear what their attitude was in the matter—I thought that was the line of least resistance. But throughout my aim has been to work steadily towards compulsion. The financial position, however, has changed. When new taxes have just been added, I cannot very well suggest to this Council that primary education should be made free straight off. I therefore have changed my track a bit, and, instead of beginning with the abolition of fees, I ask for the introduction of the principle of compulsion, which has always been an integral part of my scheme. I do not see that there is any inconsistency in that. If the Government abolish fees to-day, no one will rejoice more than I. There was another observation made by the Hon’ble Member which was slightly more serious. He said that I had expressed myself in a manner that was ungenerous towards Sir Arundel Arundel about three years ago in this Council. Now, my Lord, a reference to the debates of that time will shew that this description of what I then said is not justified. What happened was this:—In March 1906, when the Budget Statement was under discussion I urged that primary education should be made free. There was a large surplus, in fact, as I have said, Government did not know what to do with their money. Sir Arundel Arundel, who was then the Home Member and therefore in charge of education, in his reply described my suggestion as a large order. He no doubt expressed the same kind of sympathy with my object that the Finance Member lavished on us while he was putting on us new taxes. He said the object was very good and the Government would keep it steadily in view as a distant peak which some day they might be able to reach, but for the present they had to crawl along the plain. Within six months, however, Government issued a Resolution practically recommending free education to Local Governments. It was not a circular letter merely asking what Local Governments thought. It was more; the whole tone of it shows that it was practically a recommendation that was made. Of course they asked as a matter of courtesy, what the Local Governments thought of the matter but the whole document reads as if the Government of India had made up their minds on the subject. The next year’s Financial Statement contained a remark which was quoted by the Hon’ble Mr. Dadabhoy to the effect that if the Secretary of State’s orders were received in the course of the year, primary education would be made free and funds would be made available. Therefore, from the position which Sir A. Arundel took in March to the position in November there was a tremendous advance. I noted that fact in March following and I used it as an argument that education should be in charge of a separate Member who would take a special interest in it, audit should not be one of 20 other Departments over which the Home Member presided. I think the present system under which Education has 336

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to rub shoulders with Jails, Police and other Departments in charge of the Home Member, is one that is distinctly prejudicial to the interests of Education. The third point that I must notice in Sir H. Stuart’s remarks is about his calculations as to the cost of my scheme. My Lord, there is a saying that the worst enemy of the good is the best. I proposed some humble advance; the Hon’ble Member straightway wants us to go to the farthest point possible and then frightens the Council by calculations based on that. He may as well have said, ‘if education is to be free why not adopt the system that prevails in America? Then the cost will be 30 or even 40 crores. If you want to make a proposal look, I won’t say, ridiculous, but I will say queer in the eyes of people, then I have no objection to that method. But I should not have expected that from one with the sympathies which Sir H. Stuart is known to have in this matter. My Lord, I now come to what fell from the Hon’ble Mr. Orange in a speech to which we listened with great pleasure and sincere admiration. I have no quarrel with his position; I know his heart is practically with us in this matter, but he has to be practical and to cut his coat according to his cloth. He has to consider his resources and is strictly limited by them. One friendly warning he gave me which I am prepared to take in the spirit in which I am inclined to think it was offered, namely, that I should not complicate a consideration of this question by a reference to extraneous questions, such as railway finance, taxation of jute, etc. Now I can assure the Hon’ble Member that I did not introduce those matters in any wanton spirit. As a matter of fact unless you show that there are resources, the first difficulty that is pressed upon you is this. It is all very well to suggest such schemes, but where is the money to come from? If however you suggest measures for finding the required money, you are straightway told that you are introducing, extraneous matters and interfering with vested interests. There was one point in the Hon’ble Mr. Orange’s speech in regard to which I throw the main responsibility on Government. The Hon’ble Member said that the great difficulty was about the provision of sufficient accommodation by local bodies. That is true. He quoted from a report of the Government of Bombay which said that 100,000 children were seeking admission but had no accommodation. But why is this so? Why have not local bodies been required to provide accommodation? I quoted this morning one of the recommendations of the Commission appointed in Lord Ripon’s time. The Commission had distinctly recommended that legislation should be resorted to in order to promote the extension of primary education; by that the Commission means that powers should be taken by Government to require local bodies to provide accommodation. That was 25 years ago, but the recommendation has been allowed to remain a dead letter. No action has so far been taken on it and now we are confronted with this difficulty. Certain objections were raised to-day by the Hon’ble Mr. Chitnavis and the Hon’ble Mr. Majid to the principle of compulsion. They both thought compulsion was undesirable because if all children were sent to school it would be difficult to get labour. In answer to that I respectfully recommend to them a perusal of the debates in the House of Commons, when the Education Act of 1870 was passed; they will find them in the volumes of Hansard. Such 337

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objections have always been urged, but as I said this morning the mass of people do not live in order to supply labour to those who wish to prosper on it. I think it is the elementary right of every child that it should receive at least the rudiments of education. Mr. Majid referred to the religious difficulty; as regards that I am in sympathy with him. That is a matter for the Commission to consider, if one is appointed. Nothing of course should be done which would go against the religious prejudices of any community. As regards special taxation, well, I do not share the fears expressed. If Government take up this matter in the spirit in which I should like them to do it, I do not think there would be any necessity for special taxation. I do not think we should accept Sir H. Stuart’s calculations. I do not really think that the cost will be more than 4 or 5 crores, even if education is provided for the whole of the male population; and the burden that would fall upon the State would not be very heavy. As regards the children of poorer classes becoming gentlemen, if they are educated, that is an argument which I had better leave alone. My Lord, I think the whole discussion has established two things: first, the necessity for an inquiry has been clearly established. There is the point to which the Hon’ble Mr. Orange has referred, namely, requiring local bodies to provide accommodation. The Hon’ble Mr. Quin has told the Councils of the opposition of villagers to education, and other members have expressed other views. Even the official members are not agreed in this matter. Therefore, I think, the necessity for an inquiry is clearly established. I may remind the Council that when the Commission of 1882 was appointed, 25 years had elapsed since the educational policy had been laid down by the Despatch of 1854, and that lapse of time was considered sufficient to justify an inquiry. Twenty-five years have again elapsed since then, and therefore, I think the time has come when Government should direct a fresh inquiry into this question. If the Government will go so far as to say they will make an inquiry into the state of primary education—how far the policy recommended by the Commission of 1882 has been carried out and what new measures it will be desirable to take—that will substantially meet the requirements of the situation. My Lord, the second point that I think has been established, is the absolute necessity of strengthening the position of Education among the Departments of the Government of India. Sir H. Stuart quoted from my evidence before the Decentralization Commission and referred to a superficial inconsistency. He says I advocate to-day that Education should be made a divided head instead of a Provincial head, but that before the Decentralization Commission I had said there should be no divided heads. That is true on the surface, but that is not fair; for you must take my scheme submitted to the Decentralization Commission as a whole. If you do so, then you will find that there need be no divided heads, for I have advocated a large measure of financial independence of Local Government and under that scheme Local Governments will be able to find the money. But as long as the present excessive centralization continues, the Government of India must take the responsibility of finding money upon themselves so that the money should be forthcoming. If the Government of India become directly responsible for the spread of Education in the country, then I am quite sure that more money 338

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will be spent. Under existing arrangements, if the Government of India are able to spare any money for education, they make small grants spasmodically to Local Governments for the purpose. What is needed however is a large programme constantly kept in view and steadily carried out, and this can only be secured if education is a direct concern of the Government of India. [On the 18th March 1912, Mr. Gokhale, in moving that the Bill to make better provision for the extension of elementary education be referred to a Select Committee consisting of the Hon’ble Mr. Syed Ali Imam, the Hon’ble Sir Harcourt Butler, the Horible Mr. Mazhar-ul-Haque, the Hon’ble Nawab Saiyid Muhammad, the Hon’ble Babu Bhupendranath Basu, the Hon’ble Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, the Hon’ble Mr. Gates, the Hon’ble Sir James Meston, the Hon’ble Rao Bahadur R. N. Mudholkar, the Hon’ble Mr. Sharp, the Hon’ble Mr. Lyon, the Hon’ble Mr. Carr, the Hon’ble Mr. Arthur, the Hon’ble Khan Bahadur Mian Muhammad Shafi and the mover, spoke as follows:—] My Lord, it is two years to-day since the Council was invited in its very first session after the introduction of the recent reforms to consider a recommendation to the Governor-General in Council that a beginning should now 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 should be appointed to frame definite proposals. After a lengthy debate, the motion was by leave withdrawn, but the principal suggestions formulated on the occasion were subsequently embodied in a Bill which was introduced in this Council about this time last year. A year has since elapsed, and during the interval, all sides—the Government and the public, officials and non-officials, members of all classes and creeds—have had time to examine the provisions of the Bill. I think the promoters of the measure are entitled to regard with the utmost satisfaction the reception which the Bill has met with in the country; for, my Lord, it is no exaggeration to say that no measure of our time has received such weighty, such enthusiastic, such overwhelming public support as the Bill now before the Council. My Lord, it has been made abundantly clear in the course of the discussions that have taken place during the year that most men of light and leading in the country—men distinguished in every walk of life, in learning, in professions, in business, in public affairs, in patriotic or philanthropic endeavour—are on the side of the Bill. The Indian National Congress, the most representative body of educated opinion in India, has strongly supported the measure, and Provincial Conferences held in the different Provinces have also done the same. The Moslem League, whose claim to speak in the name of the great community which it represents is not disputed even by officials, accorded only a fortnight ago its cordial support to the Bill; and most of its branches throughout the country have also expressed their approval. Most of the local bodies consulted by Provincial Governments, as also the Senate of the Madras University, which was the only University Senate consulted, have expressed themselves in favour of the measure. Public meetings 339

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held in nearly every important town throughout the country have adopted resolutions in its support, and numerous special meetings of backward communities, several caste conferences and some missionary organisations have done the same. Then, my Lord, the Indian Press in the country with hardly an exception has with striking unanimity ranged itself on the side of the Bill, and what is even more significant, nearly half the Anglo-Indian Press, the Indian Daily News in Calcutta, the Times of India in Bombay, and the Madras Mail and the Madras Times in Madras, have also extended to it their valuable support. Last, my Lord, but not least, I must mention the important deputation—headed by no less a man than Lord Courtney—that waited last year on the Secretary of State and presented to him a memorial signed among others by some very distinguished men in England in support of this Bill. I venture to think that the ultimate success of a measure which has received such widespread, such influential, public support, is practically assured. The main opposition to this Bill has come from official quarters with which I will deal later. Here and there a few non-officials have also struck a note of dissent. But, my Lord, considering the far-reaching character of the issues involved in the measure, and considering also how the human mind is constituted, it is not to be wonder at that there has been this slight dissent; the wonder rather is that there should be this vast volume of public opinion in support of the measure The non-official critics of the Bill may roughly be divided into three classes. To the first class belong those very few men—so few indeed that they may be counted on one’s fingers—who have rendered distinguished services in the past either to the country as a whole or to their own community, whose claim to be heard with respect on such questions is undisputed, and who, though not against free and compulsory education in the abstract, consider that the introduction of such a system in India at the present stage of the country’s progress, even with such safeguards as are provided in the Bill, is not desirable. My Lord, these elders, whose minds have been cast in the mould of a previous generation, have not the elasticity to advance with the advancing requirements of the country, and we have got to face their disapproval of the present Bill with reluctance and regret. In the wake of these few elders follow a number of younger men who unquestionably accept their lead in all matters, and who therefore withhold their support from the present Bill. The second class consists of those who cannot understand either the necessity of the value of mass education, to whom the dignity of man is an incomprehensible idea, and who regard the poorer classes of the country as made solely to serve those who are above them. My Lord, these men hold these views, because they know no better, but their opposition to this Bill is perfectly intelligible. In the third class come those who are against this Bill because the bulk of officials are understood to be against it. They are against this Bill either because the officials have so much to give or else because they are so constituted that official favour is to them as the breath of their nostrils and an official frown is a heavy misfortune, and because they think nothing of bartering the birthright of our common humanity for something even less substantial than the proverbial mess of pottage. These, my Lord, are the three classes that are against this Bill. Taking all the non-official 340

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opponents of the Bill together, I think that their number does not exceed five per cent. at the outside of those who have expressed any opinion on the Bill. My Lord, special weight necessarily attaches first to the opinions of Local Governments, and next to those of local bodies in regard to this Bill. Turning first to the local bodies, I regret that the opinions of all such bodies were not either ascertained or have not been forwarded to the Government of India. In view of the fact that, if the Bill became law, the initiative in regard to its working would have to come from local bodies, it was of the utmost importance to know what the local bodies had to say of the Bill. The Government of Madras is the only Government that has deemed it to be its duty to invite the opinions of all Municipalities and District Boards in the Province, and some of the District Boards have in their turn invited the opinions of the Taluka Boards under them. The opinions thus elicited are appended to the letter of the Madras Government, and they afford overwhelming and incontestable evidence of the local bodies in Madras being strongly in favour of the Bill and being ready to avail themselves of its provisions if enacted into law. Of 61 Municipalities whose opinions have been recorded, 55 are in favour of the Bill. Of 24 District Boards, 20 are in favour. In addition, the opinions of 39 Taluka Boards have been ascertained, and they are one and all in favour of the Bill. The next Government in whose papers we find mention of a large number of local bodies in this connection is the Government of the Punjab, unfortunately educationally the most backward Province in the whole country. Here we find that 60 Municipalities are mentioned by name, and of those 32 are in favour and 28 against In addition, the Deputy Commissioner of Umballa wrote (the local bodies in Umballa are not included among these 60): ‘The consensus of opinion appears to be strongly in favour of the principle of compulsion; the only Municipal Committee which does not favour compulsion was the Municipal Committee of Jagadhri.’ The Deputy Commissioner of Hissar wrote; ‘All the Municipalities of this District, as well as the District Board, have expressed themselves in favour of the Bill.’ The Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepore wrote, ‘I have consulted the District Board and the Municipalities in this district; they all consider the Bill fair, and are in favour of its being passed into law.’ Nineteen District Boards are mentioned in the papers, of whom 6 are in favour of compulsion and 13 against. Considering the extremely backward condition of primary education in rural Punjab, this is not surprising. Turning next to Bengal, we find mention made in the reports of local officers of about 25 Municipalities, of whom 19 are in favour and 6 against. Also there is mention of two District Boards, of whom one is in favour and one against. There is no mention of the remaining local bodies in the Bengal papers In Eastern Bengal and Assam papers, we find 4 Municipalities mentioned, of whom 3 are in favour: also 6 District Boards, of whom 5 are in favour. For Burma the opinions of 16 Municipalities are given, of whom 9 are in favour. The letter of the Bombay Government mentions no local body, but the opinion of the Bombay Corporation was circulated among the members here only two days ago. However, in the report of the Commissioner of the Central Division which accompanies the letter, there is 341

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mention made of 6 Municipalities in that Division, all in favour. And we know for a fact that most of the Municipalities and a great many of the District Boards in Bombay are in favour of this Bill. In the papers belonging to the United Provinces, only 2 small Municipalities are mentioned, both in favour. Here also we know from the newspapers that most of the Municipalities and a large number of the District Boards are in favour of this Bill. The Central Provinces papers mention only two local bodies—the Municipality of Nagpur and District Board of Nagpur—of both which bodies my friend behind me is President. Both these bodies are in favour of the Bill. There are besides memoranda from five individual members of different local bodies, of whom four are in favour. Turning to what are known as the Presidency Municipalities, namely, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Rangoon, we find that Calcutta and Madras are strongly in favour of the Bill. Rangoon declines to express an opinion on the ground that it does not want to be saddled with any expenditure connected with elementary education. The Municipality of Bombay, while in favour of free and compulsory education, and while also in favour of the ultimate introduction of compulsory education throughout the country, is unable to approve the special method which is advocated in the Bill, namely, that the initiative should be left to local bodies. But, my Lord, those who know the singular position which the Bombay Municipal Corporation occupies in regard to expenditure on elementary education will at once understand why that body has taken up that attitude. Under an agreement, which is now embodied in an Act of the local legislature, the Bombay Corporation has undertaken to bear the entire cost of primary education within municipal limits in Bombay on condition of being relieved of police charges, the only qualification being that if ever the Government introduces compulsory education in the country and requires the Bombay Corporation to introduce compulsion within its area, the Corporation should receive financial assistance from the Government similar to what other local bodies would receive. The plain financial interest of the Bombay Corporation therefore is not in leaving the initiative to local bodies but in the initiative coming from the Government, and it is no surprise that the Corporation of Bombay is unable to approve of a method which leaves the initiative to local bodies. Before passing from this point, I would respectfully warn the Hon’ble Member in charge of Education against leaning on the opinion of the Bombay Corporation for support, for that Corporation, in addition to being in favour of the principle of free and compulsory education, wants the cost of it to come out of Imperial Funds! Turning next to the opinions of Local Governments, I would like first of all to present to the Council a brief analysis of the official opinions that have been sent up by the various Local Governments. Among these papers there are altogether 234 official opinions recorded; of them 90 are in favour of the Bill. Sixty-five of the 234 officials are Indian officials, and of them 39 support the Bill, some of them being very high officials, such as High Court Judges, District Magistrates, District Judges, and so forth. Of the English officials, there are 169

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opinions recorded, of which 51 are in favour—a minority no doubt, but still a very respectable minority. Before proceeding further, I think I had better explain what I mean by a person being in favour of the principle of the Bill so as to prevent misapprehension of the language which I am employing. My Lord, the principle of the Bill is to introduce compulsion at once in selected areas. Not all over the country, but in selected areas; not at some remote time, but at once. To make a beginning at once in selected areas, the initiative being left to local bodies—that is the fundamental idea of the Bill. All else is a matter of detail. Some of the details are important, others unimportant. The question of a local education rate, the question whether education is to be absolutely free, or free for poor people only, the proportion of cost which the Government is to bear—all these are important matters, but matters of detail capable of adjustment when the final settlement of the scheme takes place. Now, all those who are in favour of the fundamental part of the Bill, I claim to be in favour of the Bill for my present purpose; all those, on the other hand, who cannot assent to it, against the Bill. Now, in Madras, the opinions of no European officials are given, the only exception being that of two European High Court Judges, who are both in favour of the Bill. In Bombay, out of 19 European officials consulted, 8 are in favour, one of them being the Director of Public Instruction, and 2 being Inspectors of Schools for the Presidency proper (the 3rd Inspector, an Indian, being also in favour), 2 Commissioners of Divisions out of 3 in the Presidency proper, and 3 Collectors. In Bengal, out of 21 European officers consulted, 4 are in favour, all being District Magistrates. In Eastern Bengal and Assam, out of 21, 2 are in favour, both being District Magistrates. In the United Provinces out of 38 officers consulted, 6 are in favour, 1 of them being a High Court Judge, 1 a Commissioner, and 4 Collectors. In the Punjab, out of 38 European officers consulted, no less than 20 are in favour of the Bill—the largest proportion of European officers in favour of the Bill thus, strangely enough, coming from the Punjab. Among these 20, there is 1 Financial Commissioner, 1 Commissioner, 9 Deputy Commissioners, 5 Divisional Judges, 3 District Judges and 1 Sub-Divisional Officer. In the Central Provinces, only 4 official opinions are given, out of which 2 are in favour, both being Commissioners of Divisions. On the whole, my Lord, I claim that a very respectable minority of European officials is in favour of the measure. The officials who are opposed to this Bill may roughly be divided into three classes. First come a few Rip Van Winkles who appear to be sublimely unconscious as to what is going on not only in the rest of the world, but in India itself. To this class also belong a few cynics who do not understand the value of mass education, and who naively ask what good mass education has done anywhere. I was astonished to find among this class an Inspector of Schools in Madras. The very least that a kind Government can do for him is to transfer him to some more congenial Department, say, the Department of Forests. To the second class belong those who see in a wide diffusion of elementary education a real danger to British rule; also those who are against mass education, because they are against all popular progress, and who imagine in their shortsightedness that every 343

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step gained by the people is one lost by them. In the third class—and I am glad to say the bulk of the official opionions recorded belong to this class—are those who accept the necessity and the importance of mass education, who accept the policy which has been repeatedly laid down by the Government of India during a period of more than 60 years, but who do not recognise the necessity of compulsion at the present moment. They think that a great part of the educational field has to be covered on a voluntary basis, that compulsion would be inexpedient, and would lead to hardship, to discontent, and to danger. Some of them object to this measure on educational or on financial grounds. The outstanding feature of the official opposition to the Bill is however the fact that every Local Government that was consulted on this Bill has gone against the measure, and that makes it necessary that we should examine the opinions of Local Government and the objections raised by them in some detail. The only Local Government that comes very near to supporting the principle of the Bill is the Government of Madras. Not that that Government does not regard the Bill as objectionable or argue against it. What distinguishes it, however, from the other Local Governments is that it does not ignore the strength of the case in favour of the Bill, and that it does not argue as though the heavens would fall if the Bill were pussed into law. After urging several objections against the Bill the Madras Government says at the close of its letter that if the Government of India were disposed to accept this Bill, it would like it to be confined for the present to municipal areas only. The answer to that is that it would be entirely in the hands of the Government of India and the Local Governments to so confine it for the present. The Government of India could lay down such a proportion of school attendance to the total school-going population as a necessary preliminary test to be satisfied before compulsion is introduced, that thereby only Municipalities and not District Boards could for the present come under the Bill. Moreover, if any rural area wanted to try the measure, the Local Government could withhold its sanction. This opinion of the Madras Government, again, is the opinion of three members out of four. The fourth member, the late Mr. Krishnasawmy Iyer, one of the most brilliant men of our day, a man whose untimely death had made a gap in the ranks of public workers in the country, which it will take long to fill, has written a masterly minute of dissent, giving his whole-hearted support to the Bill and demolishing the objections urged by his colleagues against the measure. The next Local Government that comes, in a grudging manner and in spite of itself, to a conclusion not wholly dissimilar to that of the Madras Government is the Administration of the Central Provinces. After exhausting everything that can possibly be said against the Bill, that Government says in the end that if the Government of India wanted to try the Bill, it might be tried in a few selected municipal areas only. Only it does not want a general Act of this Council for the whole country, but it would like an amendment to be undertaken of the various Provincial Municipal Acts for the purpose; and it would lay down a condition, that only those Municipalities should be allowed to introduce compulsion which are prepared to bear the whole cost of compulsion themselves! Now, my Lord, if the object we have in view can be attained by 344

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amending Provincial Local Self-government Acts, I for one have no objection whatever. All I want is that local bodies should have the power to introduce compulsion, where a certain condition of things has been reached, under the control and with the assistance of Local Governments. But I do not understand why the Central Provinces Government should lay down that condition that local bodies, wanting to introduce compulsion, should bear the entire cost themselves. I can understand a Local Government saying that it cannot finance any scheme of compulsion out of its own resources. But I cannot understand why the Central Provinces Adminstration should try to impose such a condition unless it be to punish those Municipalities which show special keenness for education in their areas. I am quite sure that that was not the meaning of the Local Government, and therefore I must frankly say I do not understand why this condition has been laid down. The Government of Bengal sees no objection per se to the principle of compulsory elementary education, only it thinks that, considering the apathy of the people at the present moment, compulsion is not suitable. Moreover, it says, that if it is called upon to introduce compulsion in the near future, it will not be able to find the money out of Provincial revenues and that it would be forced to look to the Government of India for assistance. The Governments of Eastern Bengal and the Punjab oppose the Bill merely on general grounds, the letter of the Government of Eastern Bengal being almost perfunctory in its treatment of the subject. The letter of the United Provinces Government is a document that might have been written with some excuse 20 years ago. I cannot understand how a Provincial Government, at the beginning of the 20th century, can put forth arguments such as are contained in the letter of the acting Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces. The Government of Burma opposes the Bill on grounds the very reverse of those on which other Local Governments oppose it. Other Local Governments oppose the Bill because there is not a sufficient advance made in the field of elementary education in their Provinces; but the Government of Burma opposes the Bill because there is already a sufficiently large advance of elementary education in that Province! The last Government that I would mention in this connection is the Government of Bombay. My Lord, this Government is the strongest opponent of the Bill, and I feel bound to say—though it hurts my provincial pride to have to say so—that the very vehemence with which this Government argues the case against the Bill is calculated to defeat its own purpose, and that the terms of impatience in which its letter is couched, while not adding to the weight to the argument, only suggests a feeling of resentment that any non-official should have ventured to encroach on a province which it regards as an official monopoly. My Lord, it will be convenient to deal with the objections, which have been raised by the several Local Governments, all together. Before doing so, however, I think I should state briefly again to the Council the case for the Bill, so that members should see the grounds for and against the Bill side by side before them. My Lord, the policy of the Government of India in this matter, as I have already observed, is now a fixed one. The Government of India have accepted in the most solemn and explicit manner the responsibility for mass education in this country. The 345

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Educational Despatch of 1854, the Education Commission’s Report of 1882, with the Resolution of the Government of India thereon, and the Resolution of Lord Curzon’s Government of 1904, all speak with one voice on this point, namely, that the education of the masses is a sacred responsibility resting upon the Government of India. When we, however, come to consider the extent of the field which has so far been covered, I feel bound to say that the progress made is distinctly disappointing. Taking the figures for 1901, the beginning of this century, and that means after 50 years of educational effort, the number of boys at school in this country was only about 32 lakhs, and the number of girls only a little over 5 lakhs. Taking only 10 per cent.—not 15 per cent. as they take in the West and as they do in official publications, even in India, taking only a modest 10 per cent.—as the proportion of the total population that should be at school, I find that in 1901 only about 27 per cent. of the boys and about 4½ per cent. of the girls that should have been at school were at school? During the last ten years, elementary education has no doubt been pushed on with special vigour and the rate of progress has been much faster. Even so, what is the position to-day? From a statement which was published by the Education Department the other day, I find that the number of boys at school has risen during these ten years from 32 lakhs to a little under 40 lakhs, and the number of girls from 5 lakhs to a little under 7 lakhs. Taking the new census figures of our population, this gives us for boys a proportion of 31 per cent. and for girls 5¾ per cent. Taking the proportion of total school attendance to the total population of the country, we find that the percentage was only 1·6 ten years ago, and it is now no more than 1·9. My Lord, all the Local Governments have stated that we must adhere to the present voluntary basis for extending primary education, and the Bombay Government professes itself to be very well pleased with the rate at which it is moving in the matter. A small calculation will show how long it will take for every boy and every girl of school-going age to be at school at the present rate. I have stated just now that during the last ten years the number of boys at school has risen from 32 to 40 lakhs, or a total increase in ten years of 7½ lakhs, and the number of girls has risen from 5 to under 7 lakhs, or an increase of about 1¾ lakhs. This gives us an annual increase for boys of 75,000 and for girls of 17,000. Now, assuming that there is no increase of population in future—absolutely no increase of population—an obviously impossible assumption—even then at the present rate a simple arithmetical calculation will show that 115 years will be required for every boy and 665 years for every girl of school-going age to be at school! Even in Bombay, where things are slightly more advanced, it will take at least 75 years for every boy of school-going age between 6 and 10 years of age to be at school. Well might Mr. Orange, the late Director-General of Education, who was in this Council two years ago, exclaim:— If the number of boys at school continued to increase, even at the rate of increase that has taken place in the last five years, and there was no increase in population, several generations would still elapse before all the boys of school-going age were at school.

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And well might my late lamented friend Mr. Krishnaswamy Iyer of Madras, after a similar examination of the figures for that Presidency, observe in terms of sorrow:— ‘The voluntary method of persuasion must be condemned as a hopeless failure.’ My Lord, this then is the position. The Government of India are committed to a policy of mass education, and the rate at which we have been going for the last 60 years is hopelessly slow. Even at the accelerated pace of the last ten years, it will take enormously long periods for every boy and every girl to be at school. Moreover, this does not take into account the natural and necessary increases of population in the country. What then is to be done? Are we going to content ourselves with experiments of our own only, experiments which can only prolong the reign of ignorance in the country? My Lord, India must profit by the example and by the experience of other civilised countries. And other civilized countries have come to only one conclusion in this matter, and that is that the State must resort to compulsion in order to secure universal education for the people. Most of the Western civilized countries have accepted this, and I have already given to the Council, when introducing this Bill, statistics showing what progress they have made under a system of compulsory education, and how India compares with them. There are also the examples nearer India, of which I have spoken—examples of the Philippines, of Ceylon and of Baroda—which are of the utmost importance, and the mere assertion that their circumstances are different from those of British India cannot dispose of them. Of course no two cases can be exactly alike. But what you must show is that their circumstances are so different that what has succeeded in their case will not succeed in ours. And till you show this, we are entitled to say that the experiment which has succeeded elsewhere should also be tried in India. I do not see what difference there is between the population of Ceylon and the population of the Southern Presidency or between the population of Baroda and the population of British Gujarat. Therefore, those who argue that these analogies will not do on the score that the circumstances are different, will have to establish the difference they speak of and not merely content themselves with the assertion that the cases are different. Morever, I will mention to-day another instance—an instance which I was not able to mention last year because I had no definite information then on the subject—that of a most interesting experiment that has been recently tried with success in another Native State in India. It is a State in the Bombay Presidency and the experiment has been made under the very eye of the Bombay Government, not by the Chief, but by a British officer appointed by the Government as Administrator during the minority of the Chief— I refer to the State of Sangli. That State has a population of a little over 2 lakhs. Captain Burke, the Administrator who was at the head of the State for 6 or 7 years, found that the average school-attendance was very low in the State, being only about 2 per cent. of the population. At the end of 1907, he issued orders throughout the State making elementary education both free and compulsory under certain conditions. He, however, approached the problem from another standpoint. He laid down that at least 4 per cent. of the total population, that is, twice the 347

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percentage for British India, must be at school. He ordered schools to be opened in every village with a population of 400 and above, and his orders to the village officials were that where the attendance at school exceeded 4 per cent. there was to be no compulsion, but if it was lower than 4 per cent, compulsion was to be applied, not only in the case of boys but also in the case of girls! The age limits for boys were aid down to be between 7 and 12, and for girls between 7 and 10, and the responsibility was thrown on the village officials to ensure at least a 4 per cent. attendance, the Education Department of the State inspecting the work with care and vigilance. And in less than three years, as a result of these orders, the number of children at school doubled itself. In 1967, only about 5,000 children in a population of little over 2 lakhs were at school; in 1910, 10,000 children were at school, the number of schools too had largely increased; but while these most gratifying results were being obtained, hardly any one outside the State knew anything about what was going on. Those who speak of the opposition which might be encountered from the mass of the people themselves if compulsion is introduced, those who urge that there might be trouble, might well take note of the fact that in this State of Sangli compulsion was introduced not in advanced but in the most backward areas, not by the Chief, but by the British officer, and the experiment has proved so successful and has been so quietly carried out that very few outside the State have even heard of it. I therefore contend that we, in British India, might also have recourse to compulsion with great advantage. I for one shall rejoice if the British Government of the country takes its courage into both hands and comes forward boldly to introduce compulsion throughout the country for both boys and girls—the whole field to be covered in a certain number of years. But since that cannot be, and if anyone has any doubt in the matter that doubt will be dissipated by a reference to the official opinions received on the present Bill, the only alternative is for local bodies to be empowered to take the initiative, and introduce compulsion with the sanction and under the control of the Local Government. Local bodies, however, cannot take the initiative, unless there is legislation to empower them, and that is the reason why this Bill has been introduced. Whether this object is gained by enacting a special law for the whole country or by an amendment of the old Local Self-Government Acts of the different Provinces is a minor matter. The great thing is to make a beginning in introducing compulsion. Once a beginning is made, the public mind in the country will be rapidly familiarised with the idea of compulsion, and it will then not take more than 20 years at the outside to have a system of universal education in the country in full operation. As apprehensions are entertained in official and other quarters as to how compulsion will be regarded by the people, it is necessary to proceed cautiously; hence the proposal that the experiment should first be tried in selected areas only. Again there is fairly general opinion among those who have given any thought to the subject that for compulsion to be successfully applied in British India, there should be among the people a fair spread of elementary education, so that they may be in a position to appreciate its benefits. For that reason our proposal is that no local body should take up the question of compulsion unless at 348

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least 33 per cent. of the school-going population within its area is already at school. And in the Bill the power to lay down this proportion or any other proportion is left to the Government of India, so that if they deem it necessary they might prescribe a higher proportion. Moreover, no local body under the Bill can introduce compulsion without obtaining the previous sanction of the Local Government. To begin with, compulsion is contemplated only for boys, though power is taken to extend it, in due course, to girls; and I do hope that whenever it comes, it will be so extended to girls. The cost of the scheme is to be shared between local bodies and the Local Governments in a reasonable proportion, which, in my opinion, should be one-third for local bodies and two-thirds for Local Governments, the actual proportion, however, being laid down by the Government of India, and additional funds being placed by the Supreme Government at the disposal of Provincial Governments for meeting the Government share of the cost. The Bill proposes to exempt very poor people from the payment of fees as a matter of right, and in all cases local bodies, which are empowered to levy a special education rate, if necessary, will be at liberty to remit fees altogether. The responsibility for providing adequate school accommodation is thrown on local bodies, who will also have to arrange for a reasonable enforcement of compulsion. The curriculum must be approved by the Education Department of the Local Government, and finally, following the example of the compulsory acts of other countries, provision is made for absence from school for reasonable excuses and penalties provided for wilful absence without reasonable excuse. This, my Lord, is the Bill, and this is the case for the Bill. I will now proceed to consider the more important objections which the different Local Governments have urged against this Bill, as also those that have been urged by some nonofficial critics. I will dismiss with very few words the objection that a spread of mass education in British India involves danger to British rule. My Lord, I do not believe that there would be any such danger. My own belief is that it is rather the other way, that there will be danger, not from the spread of education, but from the withholding of education. But, my Lord, even if there is a possible element of danger in the spread of education, it is the clear duty of the British Government to face that danger and to go on with a faithful discharge of their responsibility. I do not think that any sane Englishman will urge that the people of this country should pay the price of perpetual ignorance for even such advantages as the most enthusiastic supporter of British rule may claim for it. Leaving therefore that objection aside, there are seven objections to which I would like briefly to refer. The first objection is to compulsion itself. The second objection is urged on educational grounds. The third is on the score of the scheme. The fourth is on account of alleged financial inequality and injustice in which the scheme would result. These four are official objections. Then there are three non-official objections. The first is to the levy of a special educational rate; the second to the levy of fees from parents whose income is not below Rs. 10 a month; and the third is the Muhammadan objection that the provisions of the Bill may be used to compel Moslem children to learn non-Moslem languages. I will answer these objections 349

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briefly one by one. The principal argument of those who are against compulsion is that there is plenty of room yet for work on a voluntary basis; that schools are filled as soon as they are opened, thus showing that the need of the situation is more schools and not compulsion; and that in any case till persuasion is exhausted, it is not desirable to go in for compulsion. Now, my Lord, this statement is not a complete statement of the case. It is quite true that in cetain places, as soon as schools are opened, they are filled. But there is also ample official evidence to show that in many areas schools have had to be shut down because children would not come. We find a statement to this effect in the United Provinces official papers. Mr. Maynard of the Punjab, in a most thoughtful opinion recorded on the Bill, says:— ‘It will very frequently be found that a perfectly genuine demand for a school on the part of a zealous minority does not guarantee an attendance after the school is provided, and it is occasionally necessary to close for this reason schools which have been opened on too sanguine a forecast.’ In Bengal and Eastern Bengal also several zamindars have complained that though they opened free schools on their estates, it was found difficult to get boys to attend them, because of the great apathy among the people. The real fact is that there are two factors, as Mr. Orange has stated in the last quinquonnial report on education, that cause the smallness of school attendance. One is undoubtedly the want of schools. But the other is the apathy of parents, even where schools exist. ‘The apathy of the populace,’ says Mr. Orange, ‘towards primary education is often mentioned and does undoubtedly operate as a cause which keeps school attendance low.’ He admits this, though he himself would like to push on education for the present on a voluntary basis only. Now, the remedy for this state of things must also be two-fold. First of all local bodies must be required to provide the necessary educational facilities for children that should be at school—school-houses, teachers, etc. That is one part of compulsion. Then they must be empowered to require parents to send their children to school—that would be the second part of compulsion. Now, my Lord, this Bill advocates both sides of this two-fold compulsion. It not merely requires parents in the areas where the Bill may be introduced to send their children to school, it also throws a definite responsibility on local bodies coming under the Bill to provide the necessary school accommodation and other facilities for the education of all the children within their area. Then it is said that compulsion would cause hardship, would cause discontent, and would prove dangerous. Well, the experience of other countries and as also in our own does not justify this view; and in any case, even if there is some discontent, that has got to be faced in view of the great interests that are involved in this matter. It is argued by some that the poorer people will be exposed to the exactions of a low-paid agency if compulsion is introduced. I think the fears on this subject are absurdly exaggerated. But if the people are so weak as to succumb easily to such exactions, the only way in which they can be strengthened is by spreading education among them and by enabling them to take better care of themselves. Those who object to the Bill on educational grounds urge that it is undesirable to extend the kind of education that is at present given in primary schools, for it 350

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is worse than useless. Most of the teachers are not trained teachers, the school buildings are unfit for holding classes in, and therefore until these defects are moved, until there is a sufficient supply of trained teachers forthcoming, until ample decent school accomodation is available, the question of extension should wait. My Lord, those who raise these objections ignore what is the primary purpose of mass education. The primary purpose of mass education is to banish illiteracy from the land. The quality of education is a matter of importance that comes only after illiteracy has been banished. Now, the primary purpose being to banish illiteracy, teachers who could teach a simple curriculum of the 3 R’s, and houses hired by or voluntarily placed by owners at the disposal of school authorities, must do for the present. In Japan, when they began compulsion, they held classes in the verandahs of private houses. I think what was not beneath the dignity of Japan need not be beneath the dignity of this country. Of course I do not depreciate the value and importance of trained teachers and decent school-houses; but I say that we cannot wait till all these defects are first put right before taking up the question of banishing illiteracy from the land. Let that work be resolutely taken in hand, and as we go along let us try to secure for the country better teachers and better school-houses. The third objection to the Bill is on the score of cost. My Lord, a lot of wild criticism has been indulged in by the opponents of the Bill on this point. Nobody denies that the cost of a compulsory scheme is bound to be large. But all sorts of fantastic estimates have been brought forward to discredit the scheme in the eyes of those who can be misled by such tactics. I think the calculation of cost is a fairly simple one. The Bill is intended to apply in the first instance to boys only, and we will therefore for the present take the cost for boys. Taking 10 per cent. of the total male population as the number of boys between the ages of 6 and 10, and taking the male population at about 125 millions, according to the latest census, we find that the number of boys that should be at school is about 12½ millions. Of these, about 4 millions are already at school. That leaves about 8½ millions to be brought to school. Now, Mr. Orange, the Director General of Education, in a note which he prepared for the Government, took the average cost of education per boy at Rs. 5, the present average cost is less than Rs. 4; the highest is in Bombay where it is Rs. 6-8 and everywhere else it is less than Rs. 4. These figures are given in the Quinquennial Report of Mr. Orange. Mr. Orange takes Rs. 5 per head, and I am willing to take that figure. Now, Rs. 5 per head, for 8½ millions of boys amounts to about 4¼ crores per year, or, say, 4½ crores per year. I propose that this cost should be divided between the Government and the local bodies in the proportion of two-thirds and one-third; that is, the Government should find 3 crores and local bodies the remaining 1½ crores. This again will be worked up to in ten years. If we have to find this money in ten years, it means a continuous increase of about 30 lakhs in our annual expenditure on primary education. Allowing another crore for pushing on education on a voluntary basis for girls, to be reached in ten years, means another 10 lakhs a year, or a continuous annual addition of 40 lakhs of rupees in all. Now, I do not think that this is too much for the Government to find. 351

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My Lord, I have given some attention to the question of our finance for some years, and I do not think that an addition of 40 lakhs every year is really beyond the power of the Government of India. Moreover, even if it be proposed that the whole of these 4 crores should be raised straight off, that all boys should be brought to school compulsorily at once, and that a crore of rupees more should be spent on the education of girls—assuming that these four crores have to be found straight off, an addition of 2 per cent. to our customs will solve the problem. Our customs-revenue is about ten crores this year with the duty standing at 5 per cent.; about 2 per cent. more will bring us the required 4 crores. Now, there is no special merit in having our customs-duty at 5 per cent., and they might as well stand at 7 per cent. without causing any serious hardship to anybody. There was a time when they stood at 10 per cent. in this country, and at the present moment they are at 8 per cent. in Egypt. I do not think therefore that there are really any very insuperable difficulties in the way of the scheme on the score of cost. Then, it is said that a scheme like this, a permissive-scheme, which allows areas to come under compulsion one by one, is bound to result in serious financial injustice and inequality as regards the assistance received from Government by different local areas. Now, my Lord, I feel bound to say that this is one of the flimsiest arguments that have been urged against the scheme which we are considering. If anybody proposed as a permanent arrangement that elementary education in certain parts of the country should be on a compulsory basis and in certain others on a voluntary basis, and if the areas that were on a compulsory basis got more from Government than the areas that were on a voluntary basis, there would be some force in the contention that different areas were being differently treated. But the arrangement that I propose is clearly transitional; in the end every part of the country is to rest on a compulsory basis and would share equally in the allotment made by Government. In a transitional stage, provided the same terms are equally open to all, I do not see where the injustice or inequality comes in. If a local body feels aggrieved that some other local body gets more than itself from Government, the remedy is in its own hands. All that it has got to do is to go in for compulsion itself. Those who object to the proposed scheme on the score that it would lead to financial inequality and injustice might object at once to the principle of introducing compulsion gradually, area by area. For how are we to proceed area by area, unless those areas that introduce compulsion first get also at the same time larger-assistance from the Government? Moreover, is there absolute equality even at present in all matters? Even now, on a voluntary basis, the Government, in many parts of the country, bears about one-third of the cost of primary education, with the result that those areas that spend more get more from the Government, and those that spend less get less. Is that equal? Again, take the question of sanitary grants. Under the existing arrangements, those local bodies that go in for the construction of sanitary projects get a certain grant from the Government. Now, if the local bodies that do not take in hand such projects were to complain of injustice, because others that do are assisted 352

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by Government, their complaint would be perfectly ridiculous, and yet it is the same kind of complaint that is urged against the scheme of the Bill. I do not think that any weight need really be attached to the objection on the score of financial injustice and inequality when it is remembered that such inequality can only be a passing, transitional stage. It is said that under the Bill, advanced areas and communities would be benefited at the expense of the less advanced. That argument is based on a complete misapprehension of the scheme. No one has ever suggested, or can possibly suggest, that any money should be taken out of existing expenditure on primary education for its extension on a compulsory basis. No one can also possibly wish to curtail future increases in the allotments to education on a voluntary basis. The expenditure for introducing compulsion is to come out of additional revenues partly raised locally and partly raised specially by the Government of India. The Government of India’s funds will have necessarily to pass through the Local Governments, since education is a Provincial charge. But that does not mean that Provincial Governments will have to curtail their present or future expenditure on a voluntary basis to finance any scheme of compulsion. My Lord, I have so far dealt with the four principal official objections against the Bill. I will now refer very briefly to the three non-official arguments which I have mentioned. The first argument is that while there is no objection to compulsion itself, the levy of a special education rate, where it would be necessary, would be most objectionable. Well, my Lord, I must say to that, that if we merely want compulsion, but are not prepared to make any sacrifices for the benefits that would accrue from it to the mass of our people, the sooner we give up talking about securing universal education, the better. The practice of the whole civilized world points out that a part of the burden must be borne by the local bodies. There is only one exception, as far as I am aware, and that is Ireland, where almost the entire cost of elementary education comes from the Imperial Exchequer. They have given this special treatment to Ireland because for a long time Ireland has complained of being treated with great financial injustice under the arrangement that has been in existence since the Act of Union was passed more than a century ago. If we take the whole of the United Kingdom, we find that the local bodies there bear on the whole about a third of the total cost. It is the same in France. And in other countries, the local proportion is still larger. I cannot therefore see how anybody can reasonably urge that the whole cost of compulsion should be borne by the Central Government. The next objection urged in some non-official quarters is that if you make education compulsory, it must be made free and the Bill does not make it free for all. I frankly confess that the proposal embodied in the Bill on this point was intended to conciliate official opinion. My own personal view always was that, where education was made compulsory, it should also be made free. Two years ago, when I placed my Resolution on this subject before this Council, I urged that view in explicit terms: In framing the Bill, however, I was anxious to go as far as possible to conciliate official opinion, and I therefore put in the provision that no fees should be charged in the case of those whose incomes were below Rs. 10 a 353

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month, and that above that limit the matter should be left to the discretion of local bodies. Well, my Lord, I must frankly admit that I have failed in my object. Official opinion has not been conciliated; and I do not see why I should allow room for a division in our own ranks by adhering to this provision. I shall therefore be glad to go back to my original proposal in this matter that, where education is compulsory, it should also be free. Lastly, my Lord, a word about the Muhammadan objection. I believe I need not say that there never was any intention that the compulsory clauses of the Bill should be utilized to compel Moslem boys to learn non-Moslem languages. However, to remove all misapprehension on this point, I am perfectly willing that where 25 children speaking a particular language attend a school, provision should be made for teaching those children in that language; and further, where the number is less than that, it should be left to the community itself to say whether the children should come under the compulsory clauses of the Bill or not. I have discussed this matter with several leading Muhammadan gentlemen and I understand that this would meet their view. My Lord, I have now dealt with all principal objections urged against the Bill. I cannot understand why there should be all this vehement opposition in certain quarters to a measure so modest in its scope and so permissive in its character. No local body is compelled to come under this Bill, that wants to keep out of it. Any Local Government that wants to prevent compulsion being introduced in any particular area, can prevent it by withholding its sanction to its introduction. And, lastly, the supreme control of the Government of India is retained at the initial stage by the provision that it is the Government of India that should lay down the proportion of school-going children at school which must be satisfied before any local body can take up the question of compulsion. I cannot see how such a Bill can do harm in any locality. I would only invite the attention of the Council to the fact that at least a. hundred Municipalities, more or less important, are willing to-day to try the experiment in their areas if this Bill is passed, and I do not see why these Municipalities should not be permitted to make the experiment. Of course the whole thing hinges on whether the Government of India are prepared to find a good part of the cost. That is, in fact, the real crux of the question, and whether the Bill is accepted or thrown out, it is perfectly clear that no large extension of elementary education is possible in the country, unless the Government of India come forward with generous financial assistance. I would therefore like to make a special appeal to the Hon’ble Member in charge of education on this occasion. My Lord, the Hon’ble Member knows that no one has acclaimed more enthusiastically than myself the creation of the Education Department, and I am sure every one will admit ungrudgingly that during the year and a half that the Department has been in existence, it has already amply justified its existence by the large grants, recurring and non-recurring that it has succeeded in seeming both for education and sanitation in this country. We are sincerely grateful to the Government of India for these grants. And, my Lord, in view of the conversation with Your Excellency which was mentioned by the Finance Member the other 354

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day, I think we are justified in expecting that in succeeding years these grants will grow in more and more, and not less. Well so far I believe we are all at one with the Department, I would like to say something more to the Hon’ble Member, My Lord, I know that the fate of my Bill is sealed. Now, there are obvious disadvantages attaching to a private Bill. Why not introduce a Government measure after the ground has been cleared by the rejection of this Bill? Why not—I put it to the Hon’ble Member—introduce a Government measure? It is quite true that there is room for progress on a voluntary basis. Let the Local Governments who are so anxious to keep education on a voluntary basis be required to push on its spread as vigorously as possible on a voluntary basis. And let the Government of India in the Education Department take up the question of pushing it on a compulsory basis, as its own special charge. I would like to put it to the Hon’ble Member, is he content merely to take grants from the Finance Department and distribute them among the various Local Governments and then look on, or is he not anxious, as I think it is his duty to take a hand in the game himself? If he is, then I suggest that there should be a division of functions such as I have described between the Provincial Governments and the Government of India. The progress of education on a voluntary basis should be left to the Provincial Governments. They do not want compulsion. They all prefer to push it on a voluntary basis. Let us then leave that work to them; let the Government of India, with its wider outlook and its larger resources, come forward, and profiting by the example of other civilized countries, provide for the gradual introduction of compulsion in this country. Let the Government take up the question of compulsion themselves, then they will be able to provide all the safeguards that they deem necessary. Let them frame a Bill free from all the blemishes which have been discovered in mine, and let them carry it through the Council. And let them, at the same time, announce a generous policy of substantial assistance to local bodies in carrying out the provisions of the measure. My Lord, let this be done, and let the burden of all future extensions be shared between the Government and the local bodies in the proportion of two-thirds and one-third. I would recommend that both for voluntary and compulsory extensions—I mean Provincial Governments should bear two-thirds of the cost of all future extensions of elementary education on a voluntary basis, and the Government of India, two-thirds of the cost of compulsion. Then, my Lord, elementary education will advance in this country with truly rapid strides, and the Hon’ble Member in charge of the Education Department will, under Your Excellency, write his name large on the memory of a grateful people. My Lord, I have done. No one is so simple as to imagine that a system of universal education will necessarily mean an end to all our ills, or that it will open out to us a new heaven and a new earth. Men and women will still continue to struggle with their imperfections and life will still be a scene of injustice and suffering, of selfishness and strife. Poverty will not be banished because illiteracy has been removed, and the need for patriotic or philanthropic work will not grow any the less. But with the diffusion of universal education the mass of our countrymen will have a better chance in life. With universal education there will be 355

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hope of better success for all efforts, official or non-official, for the amelioration of the people—their social progress, their moral improvement, their economic well-being. I think, my Lord, with universal education the mass of the people will be better able to take care of themselves against the exactions of unscrupulous moneylenders or against the abuses of official anthority by petty men in power. My Lord, with 94 per cent. of our countrymen sunk in ignorance, how can the advantages of sanitation or thrift be properly appreciated, and how can the industrial efficiency of the worker be improved? With 94 per cent. of the people unable to read or write, how can the evil of superstition be effectively combated, and how can the general level of life in the country be raised? My Lord, His Majesty the King-Emperor, in delivering his message of hope to the people of this country before he left Calcutta, was pleased to say: ‘And it is my wish too that the homes of my Indian subjects may be brightened and their labour sweetened by the spread of knowledge, with what follows in its train—a higher level of thought, of comfort, and of health.’ No nobler words were ever uttered. May we not hope that the servants of His Majesty in this country will keep these words constantly before their minds and will so discharge the responsibility which they impose that future generations in this country will be enabled to turn to His Majesty’s declaration with the same fervent and reverent gratitude with which the people of Japan recall their Emperor’s famous rescript of 1872? 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. I know too well the story of the preliminary efforts that were required even in England, before the Act of 1870 was passed, either to complain or to feel depressed. Moreover, I have always felt and have often said that we, of the present generation in 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. We must be content to accept cheerfully the place that has been allotted to us in our onward march. This Bill, thrown out to-day, will come back again and again, till on the stepping-stones of its dead selves, a measure ultimately rises which will spread the light of knowledge throughout the land. It may be that this anticipation will not come true. It may be that our efforts may not conduce even indirectly to the promotion of the great cause which we all have at heart and that they may turn out after all to be nothing better than the mere ploughing of the sands of the sea-shore But, my Lord, whatever fate awaits our labours, one thing is clear. We shall be entitled to feel that we have done our duty, and, where the call of duty is clear, it is better even to labour and fail than not to labour at all. [Replying on the debate which ensued, Mr. Gokhale spoke as follow:—] Sir, it only remains for me now to reply to the speeches which have been made in opposition to the motion that I have submitted to the Council. I will first say a few words about my friends, Sir Gangadhar Chitnavis and Nawab Abdul Majid. I really do not complain of the view which these two friends have expressed. Frankly, they do not believe in mass education, and in that they are not singular. There are men belonging to their class in other countries—in 356

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Western countries—who also have the same distrust of mass education. If my friends had the courage of their convictions, if they were prepared to push their views to their logical conclusion, they would propose the abolition of mass education. But they will not do that, for they are discreet in their generation. But, Sir, I would like to know one thing from the Hon’ble Sir Gangadhar Chitnavis, if he will be so good as to enlighten us on that point. The two local bodies of which my friend is President, namely, the Nagpur Municipality and the Nagpur District Board, have both supported this Bill. Now, was he or was be not present at the meetings of these bodies when the Bill came up for consideration? And if he was, did he protest against the resolutions? And if not, is the difference in his attitude due to the difference between the popular atmosphere of those meetings and the predominantly official atmosphere that we have in this Council? The Hon’ble Sir Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis: I was present at the two meetings of the Municipal Committee and of the District Council, but the way in which those resolutions were made and the safeguards with which they have been hedged round will show how enthusiastically people received this measure. And I told them— The President: I cannot allow the Hon’ble Member to make a speech. He must sit down and let the Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale continue his remarks without interruption. The Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale: Well, that suffices for my point. The Hon’ble Member was present and the resolutions were in favour of the principle of the Bill. You may put it any way you like, but the resolutions did favour the principle of my Bill. And the motion before the Council asks for nothing more. All it says is, approve the principle of the Bill and send it to a Select Committee in order that its provisions may be carefully examined. If the Hon’ble Member did not protest against those resolutions, if he allowed those reslutions in favour of the Bill to be passed there without his protest, I cannot understand how he can now oppose this motion that the Bill should go to a Select Committee, My Hon’ble friend, the Malik Sahib, has opposed the motion so gently that I shall show my gratitude by not controverting his views. My Hon’ble friend, the Maharaja of Burdwan, has also expressed himself in such a guarded way that I prefer to look upon his speech as more in favour of the motion than against it. He is in any case not going to vote against the motion; therefore, I will not say anything more as regards his attitude. I now come to the Hon’ble Mr. Dadabhoy. I must say that my friend’s position is absolutely incomprehensible to me. The other day I congratulated my friend on his conversion to official views in the matter of our complaint that the grant to irrigation was not always fully expended. The official plea has always been that, owing to scarcity of labour, the money allotted cannot always be spent. I congratulated my friend on his conversion to official views in that matter, because the complaint which was made on this subject the other day by the Hon’ble Mr. Mudholkar, and in which Mr. Dadabhoy could not agree, was precisely the complaint which my friend had himself been making in years past. To-day I will go a little 357

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further and congratulate my friend not only on his conversion to official views but on his conversion to the very manner of expressing those views. The Hon’ble Mr. Dadabhoy: Will you allow me a personal explanation? The President: I think the Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale is entitled to continue his speech without constant interruptions. Every member belonging to the Indian portion of the Council has made a speech, and I think the Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale is entitled, except for very strong reasons, to proceed without interruption. The Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale: Official members, when they oppose a non-official motion, first express plenty of sympathy with an object. Sometimes the sympathy is really most valuable; sometimes it is only intended to soothe our susceptibilities. But in any case sympathy is generally expressed before a motion is resisted. My Hon’ble friend has also begun to give us sympathy while opposing our resolutions. But, Sir, official sympathy has a practical value because it often means increased grants. I do not know, however, what we can do with the sympathy which the Hon’ble Member offers us. In fact, Sir, I must say that it is a source of no small embarrassment to us, because official opponents can point to that sympathy and say: ‘Here is a member who is in sympathy with you, and yet who deems it his duty to oppose your motion.’ The less, therefore, that we have of such expressions of sympathy from my Hon’ble friend in future the better, for we certainly should prefer his opposition pure and simple. Sir, two years ago I moved in this Council a Resolution on the subject of free and compulsory education. That Resolution recommended that a beginning should be made in the direction of making elementary education free and compulsory. There was no ambiguity about the terms. I definitely suggested that a beginning should be made. The Hon’ble Mr. Dadabhoy then made a speech in support, the very first sentence of which was: ‘My Lord, I cordially support this Resolution.’ He cordially supported my Resolution recommending that a beginning should be made in the direction of making elementary education free and compulsory, And we argued strongly about the necessity of introducing compulsion. The Hon’ble Member said: ‘And if the propriety of the Government action in fixing the age at which children can begin manual work in the interests of the physical development of the nation be admitted, equally, if not even more, proper will the Government policy be in compelling children to attend school up to a certain age in the higher interests of their mental and moral development. It is a balancing of advantages and disadvantages, and the advantage would appear to be in favour of compulsory education.’ Then again, Sir, last year, when I introduced the present Bill, what was it that the Hon’ble Member said? (Mr. Dadabhoy: Hear, hear.) Mr. Gokhale: “You may cheer now, but you won’t cheer at the end. My Hon’ble friend thus referred to the Bill which is now before the Council, the Bill which I propose should now go to a Select Committee: ‘Prima fasie,’ said, ‘the Bill deserves support. A close examination of the provisions (not merely a superficial glance at them but a close examination such as my friend always bestows on every subject) will show that the general principle of the Bill is sound.’ He thus said that a close examination of the Bill had convinced him at that time that the general principle of the Bill was 358

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sound. Sir, to-day we are only considering, as my friend the Hon’ble Mr. Mazharul Haque has already pointed out, the general principle of the Bill. The place for considering the details is the Select Committee. Those who are in favour of the general principle of the Bill are, in my opinion, bound to support this motion for referring the Bill to a Select Committee. If my friend is in favour of the general principle of the Bill I cannot understand how he opposes the motion. The Hon’ble Mr. Dadabhoy: Forgive me, Sir, but in fairness to myself I must request you to permit me to tender a personal explanation. The President: Are you rising to a point of order? The Hon’ble Mr. Dadabhoy: No, Sir, I want to explain my position. The President: Order, order. The Hon’ble Member had ample opportunity to explain his position at the time when he was speaking. The Hon’ble Mr. Gokhate is now fully entitled to proceed with his speech without interruption. The Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale: Sir, I must also point out that I am confining myself to quotations entirely. The Council is in a position to judge if I am properly representing or not the Hon’ble Member. I am quoting his words exactly as they are in these proceedings. Sir, more than that, since the Hon’ble Member himself made an indirect reference to the subject yesterday, I may mention that only ten days ago my Hon’ble friend had assured me that he would not only support my motion, but would strongly support it. He is of course entitled to change his views, but a man who has been as long as my friend has been in public life and who had examined the provisions of my Bill carefully last year and had expressed the views hedid last year and the year before is certainly expected to show some consistency. The Hon’ble Mr. Dadabhoy: Will you allow me, Sir. The President: The Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale is fully entitled to make these remarks. He is making quotations from books to which we all have access, and I must request the Hon’ble Member to allow him to proceed without interruption. The Hon’ble Mr. Gokhale: May I point out to the Hon’ble Member that there is always a disadvantage attaching to a person speaking before another. If the Hon’ble. Member gets an opportunity of speaking after me, he will be entitled to say whatever he chooses, without being interrupted by me. He, moreover, can explain himself in the columns of the Press, if he likes. Well I will now pass on from Mr. Dadabhoy and say a few words with reference to the remarks made by the Hon’ble Mr. Shafi. A large part of the Hon’ble Member’s speech was devoted to a condemnation of the principle of compulsion, and, after the manner in which the Hon’ble Member in charge of the Education Department practically accepted the desirability of compulsion, I do not think I need say much about that part of his case. After all when the Hon’ble Member in charge of Education, speaking in the name of the Government, says what he did on the subject of compulsion, if a private member takes a different view, that is comparatively a small matter. The Hon’ble Member is of opinion that, unless a person is absolutely and entirely in favour of every single clause of a Bill, he cannot be regarded as a supporter of the Bill. Now, Sir, as my friend the Hon’ble Mr. Haque has already pointed out, we are only considering the principle of the Bill 359

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to day, and I have already explained that, when I said that certain persons were in favour of the Bill. [Illegible] only meant that they were only in favour of the principle of the Bill. It should be remembered that a Bill is not like a law of the Medes and of the Persians or like Athene issuing from the head of Jove clad in full armour. A Bill is a series of proposals tentatively put forward before the public. Certain parts are fundamental and they cannot be allowed; but certain other parts are only tentatively put forward, and are liable to be revised in the light of such public criticism as is brought to bear upon them. If you take the view that he alone can be called a supporter who accepts every single clause of a Bill as first drafted, then no measure that was ever introduced in this world can be said to have been supported largely by the public. The Hon’ble Member also said that one result of my Bill would be that the areas that were more advanced would derive additional advantage and the areas that were more backward would be pushed still further back. This objection has also been urged by some other members. I have already pointed out that the objection is based on a complete misapprehension of my scheme such as it is. I do not want that the Provincial Governments should reduce in any way the expenditure that they are already incurring on the primary education of backward areas. And I do not for a moment suggest that further grants for primary education in backward areas on a voluntary scale should be reduced. But what I want is that, if certain local bodies want to go in for compulsion and are prepared to find a part of the cost, the Imperial Government, out of their own Exchequer, should come forward to the assistance of these bodies and provide the rest of the cost that would be required. If these local bodies do not go in for a compulsory scheme, the Government of India would probably be devoting its surplus revenues to various other purposes, such as to the reduction of debt and a number of other objects with which we are familiar. What I say, therefore, is that without touching the revenues of Provincial Governments, if any local body wanted to go in for compulsion and raised a part of the cost, the Government of India should come forward and supplement that cost out of their own Exchequer, I do not see how this would constitute any disadvantage to the backward areas which in their turn would also be benefited by the arrangement. I will now come to the remarks of the Hon’ble Member in charge of Education. I hope the Hon’ble Member will permit me to say that it was with the utmost satisfaction that I listened to the concluding portion of his speech—not the controversial part, with which I will presently deal, but the concluding portion of his speech. That portion really is what matters to us, because it lays down the future policy of the Goverment of India so far as primary education is concerned. Sir, as I listened to those warm and enthusiastic words which fell from the Hon’ble Member, I could not help feeling what a great thing it would have been for the country if, instead of being an official, the Hon’ble Member had been a non-official and if we could have had an opportunity of placing ourselves under his banner and spreading the gospel of the necessity of mass education throughout the country under his lead. Sir, I think that portion of his speech will give great satisfaction 360

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throughout the country, even to those who are convinced that we should lose no more time in making a beginning in the direction of making elementary education free and compulsory; because, taken with the opening words of his speech, it goes much further than any pronouncement on the part of Government has previously done. The Hon’ble Member stated at the beginning that no one would rejoice more than himself if primary education became free and compulsory in the country, and that it was the policy of the Government to so work that that desirable consummation should be brought about. That commits the Government of India, first, to an approval of the principle of free and compulsory education, and, secondly, to so conduct their educational operations that the time for making education free and compulsory would be hastened and not indefinitely put off. That, taken with the determination announced at the close of the speech, amounts to a practical promise that sooner than many of us imagine, the State will help us to reach the goal which we have before our eyes, the goal of free and compulsory education. Sir, I will now deal with the principal points in the Hon’ble Member’s speech. I am personally grateful to him, as also to the Hon’ble Mr. Sharp, for the terms of appreciation in which they have spoken of my humble efforts in this matter; but I did not quite understand what the Hon’ble Member meant by observing that, while he was prepared to appreciate what I had been doing, he was somewhat disappointed to find that I did not equally appreciate what the officials had been doing. If he spoke of his Department, he knows that there is no warmer appreciator of the efforts of that Department than myself. If, however, he spoke of the officials generally, he cannot surely expect me to be grateful even to those officials who are against mass education itself. As regards a number of officials who are really striving to push on mass education, of course we all appreciate their efforts: but appreciating efforts of that kind is one thing and expressing disappointment at the pace at which we are moving is another thing. Without intending to cast any reflection on those officials who are doing what they can under the existing system to push on primary education, I think it is perfectly permissible to say that the pace at which we are going is very unsatisfactory. In fact, that is what the Hon’ble Member himself said yesterday, and that is all I have said. Sir, the Hon’ble Member referred to what I had said about the letter of the Bombay Government, and he asked the Council to remember that the head of the Bombay Government was Sir George Clarke; and he seemed to imply that I had cast some sort of reflection on Sir George Clarke. It is not necessary that I should say to this Council that I have always entertained the warmest admiration for Sir George Clarke, both personally for his remarkable qualties of head and heart, and also for the great services that he has rendered to the Bomby Presidency in many fields. But this is not a question of Sir George Clarke personally; it is a question of the letter which the Bombay Government as Provincial Government has addressed to the Government of India; and I did mean yesterday, and I do say to-day, that even a great Provincial Government might show some courtesy to those who have the misfortune to differ from its views. I will give only one quotation to this Council. 361

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Speaking about a proposal that fees should be remitted and that free education should be introduced, the Bombay Government says: ‘Such a policy would be regarded as a triumph by a few persons who have shown no understanding of educational questions.’ Now, Sir, I understood the Hon’ble Member in charge of Education yesterday to favour free education. Many members here have also got up and said that they would like to have free education. Some of the officers belonging to the different Provincial Governments have expressed the view that education should be made free before it is made compulsory. But more than all, only five years ago the Government of India addressed a circular letter to all Local Governments advocating that fees should be abolished and that free education should be introduced, I therefore respectfully pass on this description of the Bombay Government of those who favour free education to the Hon’ble Member and to the Government of India! Sir, the Hon’ble Member asked, who were they who were in favour of this Bill? Now, that is a very easy way of disposing of all those who are inconveniently ranged on the other side. Those who are in favour of the Bill may be divided into two classes, namely, those who belong to the educated classes, and those who belong to the backward communities. Now, you can discredit the support given by these two sections in two separate ways. The Central Provinces Government, for instance, says that the members of the educated classes might be in favour; but what does it cost them to be in favour? The question does not really concern them, and mere heroic resolutions in favour of this proposal do not really count for much. On the other hand, if members of backward communities assemble and express themselves in favour, the argument is used, what do they understand of the Bill? They have not the intelligence to understand what would be the effects of the Bill. My Hon’ble friend Mr. Mudholkar reminds me that only a short time ago a meeting of 2,500 Mahars, that is, one of the most depressed classes on our side, was held in Berar and passed a resolution in favour of this Bill. If you ask me if every member of that body understood what the Bill was, I could not answer that question in the affirmative; but they must have had a fairly general idea that the Bill was intended to make education compulsory, and that under it their children would be compelled to go to school so that they might derive the benefits of education. The analogy of the three tailors of Tooley Street could in my opinion be applied far more to the persons opposed to the Bill than to those who are in favour of the Bill. Now, Sir, I come to my examples from different countries. The Hon’ble Member said, before dealing with these analogies, that there are differences in this country, of caste, differences of script, differences of language. But that only means that we have a bigger problem than elsewhere. It does not mean that we cannot tackle the problem successfully. What are these differences to do with the question of compulsion? You have got primary schools just now to teach different scripts, and different languages and for different communities; all that is necessary is to increase their schools and introduces compulsion in regard to attending them. 362

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The Hon’ble Member, speaking of the case of England, said that in England compulsory education and compulsory attendance came six and ten years after the compulsory provision of educational facilities. Will my Hon’ble friend allow me to say that that statement is not correct? The Act of 1870, which required the compulsory provision of educational facilities, at the same time empowered local authorities to frame bye-laws, whereby the attendance of children could be secured compulsorily at school. Of course it was a purely permissive provision, which some local auhorities used and some did not. But that is precisely what this Bill proposes to do. In 1876, the next step was taken when the responsibility was thrown on the parents to send their children compulsorily to school, and the whole fabric was ultimately completed in the year 1380, when local authorities were compelled to frame by-laws. But the Act of 1870 was in many respects similar to the Bill which I have laid before the Council, because this Bill on the one side empowers local bodies to introduce compulsion and on the other throws the responsibility on them to provide the necessary educational facilities, The Hon’ble Member has told the Council that in Japan it is persuasion and not compulsion that has produced the present results. An answer to that was given this morning in the course of the debate, that persuasion there has succeeded because there is compulsion behind it to fall back upon. All that we want is that we too should have compulsion to fall back upon and our persuasion also will then succeed much more than it can do at present. Then, Sir, as regards the question of the Philippines. The Hon’ble Member said that there was no State law of compulsion in the Philippines. That is quite true, but that is exactly what I myself had stated last year. This is what I had said: Under Spanish rule there was no system of popular education in the Philippines. As soon as the Islands passed into the possession of the United States, they drew up a regular programme of expenditure which has been systematically adhered to The aim is to make primary education universal and the educational authorities advice compulsion though no compulsory law has yet been enacted. In the matter of education many Municipalities have introduced compulsion by local ordinances.

That is my point. Of course, these local ordinances have been held by some to be illegal; they have been framed under powers that were conferred on local bodies by the Spanish Government. That, however, is a separate matter. It is significant that nobody has come forward on the side of the people to question the validity of these local ordinances. Coming to Ceylon, the Hon’ble Member said that 60 per cent. of the population of Ceylon were Buddhists. What has religion got to do with the question of compulsion? If you mean to say that there are no castes among the Buddhists, and therefore the difficulty is less, I say there are no castes among the Muhammadans of this country, and yet what have you done to introduce compulsory education among the 100 per cent. of the Muhammadans of this country? Finally, I come to the question of Baroda. The Hon’ble Member quoted figures which largely go against him. In the first place, he said that even according 363

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to the last census the percentage of literacy in Baroda was only 17 for the male population while the percentage in a British district—Broach—was 24. This is quite true; but that only helps me, for it shows that Baroda resorted to compulsion even before that State was as advanced as the neighbouring British territory in the matter of the spread of education. We have been told again and again that there must be a certain general diffusion of education before you can take in hand compulsion and I accepted with some reluctance a percentage of 33 as the proportion of children of school-going age who should be at school before compulsion could be introduced. Here, however, we find in Baroda, even when education was much more backward than it is in the surrounding British, territories, the State took up compulsion—a point distinctly in my favour, and not against me. Then, Sir, compulsory education was introduced in Baroda only five years ago. Surely my Hon’ble friend does not expect that the illiteracy of those who were beyond the school-going age five years ago would be touched by the compulsory education introduced during the last five years. The bulk of the population had passed beyond that stage five years ago, and of course they all come into the census figures of illiterates. But let us wait for another ten years and then we shall see a great difference if the British Government, continues—as I hope it will not—on its present voluntary basis and the Baroda Government on its compulsory basis. Then, Sir, the Hon’ble Member gave some figures for Broach. Well, I accept those figures—6·9 of the total population being at school in the whole district of Broach. But the Hon’ble Member should compare likes with likes. Broach is the most advanced district of the five districts which constitute Guzarat. If the Hon’ble Member takes that district, he should also take the most advanced division in the Baroda State for comparison. Else the camparison will not be fair. If you take the most advanced division in Baroda, which is, I find, the Navsari Division, the percentage of those who are at school to the total population is nearly 13 as against 6·8 for Broach—about double. So those figures after all really do not help the Hon’ble Member very much. The Hon’ble Member says that the percentage of attendance in Baroda to the total population is 8·5. I have got with me the report for 1911, which is recent enough, and I find there that the proportion for the whole State of those who are in primary schools is 9·5 and not 8·5: 8·5 is the attendance in village schools only. The proportion of all who are receiving primary education is 9 5. I will show the report to the Hon’ble Member afterwards if he likes; I have got it here with me. In your most advanced district in British territories—Broach—it is 6·8. Already this makes a difference. If you allow things to go on like this, will it take long for the British Government to lag behind Baroda—a contingency which, I am very glad to see, the Hon’ble Member regards with horror? Then, Sir, the Hon’ble Member relied on the support of the Bombay Corporation. Let me warn him again that he is leaning on a broken reed indeed. The Bombay Corporation is not only in favour of the principle of free and compulsory education, but it would like to throw the whole cost, or nearly the whole cost, on Imperial revenues. Is the Hon’ble Member prepared to accept that? Let him part 364

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company with the Bombay Corporation while there is yet time. He also spoke of the Malabar District Board’s opinion that it is better to improve education than to go in for universal education. Who proposes universal education straight off? We propose that we should only make a beginning in the direction of compulsory education and gradually advance, in the course of 10, 15 or 20 years. All the objections that are based on the assumption that we propose to go in straight for universal education are based on a misapprehension and therefore need not be considered any further. In this connection I would like to notice one remark which fell from the Hon’ble Mr. Sharp about the banishment of illiteracy. I am not so simple as to imagine that if you introduce compulsion in a few areas you will banish illiteracy straightway from the whole land. But the problem is a vast one; let us take it in hand at once and make a beginning, that is what I say. Unless you make a beginning at once, the prospect is not very cheering. Sir, one of the most important points raised in this discussion—it has been urged by several members—is this—first have schools, first have trained teachers and then propose that education should be made compulsory. Now, those who will go through the parliamentary discussions of 1870 will find in the volumes of Hansard that the same arguments were urged in England when the Act of 1870 was proposed. Where are the teachers? Where are the school-houses? That was what was urged against that measure. But I would like to ask what is really meant by this objection. If you call upon a local body merely to build schools, if you call upon either Local Governments or local bodies merely to have trained teachers without saying where they are to work, do you think anybody would take such a proposal seriously. Not unless you gave the local bodies at the same time the power to compel attendance. If a school is built or hired, local bodies should have the power to fill the school at once. They cannot build a school and then, with doors thrown open, wait for any stray children to walk in. You must give them the power to compel attendance simultaneously. That is what the English Act of 1870 did. It compelled local authorities to provide school accommodation. But at the same time it empowered them to compel attendance at school, no doubt in a permissive way, as this Bill does. What I say is, that the two things must go hand in hand; you cannot urge that one thing should come before the other. It is the same thing about teachers: you must be satisfied with untrained teachers for a time. After all, too much has been made of trained teachers; not that I depreciate the value of trained teachers, but for the purpose of giving the most elementary type of education—for imparting a knowledge of the R’s—I think even untrained teachers are not as useless as they are depicted. Most of the Indian members in this Council received their primary education under untrained teachers. The Hon’ble Mr. Sharp said that he had visited thousands of primary schools: Sir, we have learnt in primary schools. We have experience from the inside of these schools. How did we receive our primary education? I remember how I did it. We used to squat on the floor with a wooden board in front of us covered with red powder and a piece of stick to write letters with. Well, we have done fairly well in life after all, though we received our primary education in that way under untrained 365

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teachers. It is a question of removing illiteracy first of all. And here I should like to quote an important authority—the authority of the Bombay Government. Two years ago, Sir George Clarke—I think it was in his Convocation speech—took the same line that the Hon’ble Member in charge of Education took yesterday and the Hon’ble Mr. Sharp did to-day. ‘You must first have trained teachers; the quality of education must be raised; you must have proper school-houses, and so on.’ Last year however, he came round to the other view. A Resolution was issued by the Bombay Government (I do not know whether my friend the Hon’ble Mr. Enthoven was then Secretary in the Education Department in Bombay) on the spread of primary education in rural areas. And what does that Resolution say? It gives up the insistence on trained teachers and good school-houses, and it proposes to place primary education on an indigenous, aided basis in rural areas, giving grants to untrained teachers and allowing them to teach as well as they can, the curriculum of course being under the control of the Department. Now, this is precisely what we want all over the country to begin with. First establish at once these lower primary schools, then go on, as you have funds, improving the standards, bringing in trained teachers, and having better school-houses. And for God’s sake do not wait for your trained teachers, for your decent school-houses, till you take up the question of removing illiteracy from the land in hand. That is really the whole of my contention. I wish now to turn to the question of cost, and will only deal very briefly with it. The Hon’ble Member said he would like to take Rs. 10 as the figure per head. I meet him there with official authority. Mr. Orange—no amateur—in charge of Education before the Department was created—Director-General of Education— in an estimate that he prepared, not for a discussion in this Council, but for the Government, took Rs. 5 as the average cost per head: the Hon’ble Mr. Sharp will correct me if I am wrong; I know he cannot, because he knows that I am right. Mr. Orange took Rs. 5 per head. I think that that estimate holds the field and any mere vague statements that it might be more than this, that it might be 6 or 7 or 10 rupees, we are not bound to accept till the Hon’ble Member challenges the estimate of Mr. Orange and proves it to be an underestimate. And if we take Rs. 5 per head, the figures I have given are quite correct. Sir, I have already dealt with the argument that if compulsion is introduced in advanced areas, the spread of education in backward areas will suffer. I should deplore any action that could produce such a result; but I am sure there is no real foundation for the fear. How can any one imagine that those who want to see free and compulsory education all over the country would be a party to any scheme which would retard, instead of promoting, education in backward areas? Sir, there is one more point and I shall have done. The Hon’ble Member spoke yesterday of the desirability of such questions being dealt with by Local Legislative Councils. I have no objection to that. If Local Legislatures will take up this question and empower local bodies within their limits to introduce compulsion, I have no objection. Only I hope that that will not absolve the Government of India from the responsibility of finding the money, because it is essential that the 366

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Government share of the cost of compulsion should come out of the Exchequer of the Government of India, no matter what the estimate is. Sir, to those who profess to be appalled by the amount of money that will be required, I will mention only one act. The military expenditure of this country—owing to the exigencies of the State—I will not enter just now into its justification or otherwise—has risen in 35 years from 16 crores to about 31 crores of rupees—an increase of 15 crores a year. It was 16 crores at the end of Lord Ripon’s administration; it is nearly 31 crores now. If our military expenditure could be increased by 15 crores like this because the State thought it necessary to find the money, the spread of education, which is surely just as important as the defence of the country, has also a similar claim on Government revenues, whatever amount is actually required. And I am quite sure the State will be able to find the money, if the Government of India do not try to throw the responsibility on Local Governments.

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11 APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS. VOL XX: MINUTES OF EVIDENCE RELATING THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TAKEN AT DELHI, CALCUTTA, MADRAS, BOMBAY AND LONDON (1915), 46–55, 119–129, 138–143

REV. C. F. ANDREWS, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Written statement relating to the Educational Service. 82,920. (1) I regard a separation of University from School inspection work as ultimately necessary under modern conditions. University life in India has now advanced beyond the crude, elementary stage. Residential teaching Universities are being formed. University professorships are being founded. Post graduate research work is coming to the front. The whole situation is altered from the earlier days when a teacher’s work could be interchanged with inspection work and vice versa. Our modern Indian Universities are offering increasingly wide and important careers to those who are engaged in teaching. The Education services themselves must change with the changed conditions. Unfortunately the only important change hitherto (the division into Imperial and Provincial services) has been in a reactionary direction. There appear to me two ways of meeting the changed conditions:— (a) A reconstruction of the Education Services on a new basis. Instead of the old “Imperial” and “Provincial” Services there might be a “University Service” and a “School Inspection Service.” (b) An abolition of the “Service” system altogether within the University sphere. Pay, etc., should be allotted to the post, not to the person. The person shall be free to make his own movements in his own profession, and not be bound by Service Regulations. (2) The objection to (a) would come from those who regard the Directorship of Public Instruction as the goal of the Service. They would regard a purely University career as leading away from, and not up to, the highest posts. The objection is valid, if the Directorship were the only end in view. But new posts are now being 368

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made in the Universities themselves, such as University Professorships, carrying with them high remuneration. These would be the goal of a “University Service.” [I would gladly outline a scheme for a “University Service” if it would help the work of the Commission to consider it. I am perfectly certain if its prospects were made clear, and it was put forward as a career in itself, it would attract a far more scholarly type of men than those who are now being recruited.] (3) Personally, however, I shall look forward with more hope to (b) than to (a). The ultimate question to be faced, on the University side, is the position of the Government Colleges themselves, for which recruitment takes place. The history of these is, that they were established as “Model Colleges” in the early days, when no high standard of College efficiency had been attained by any existing institution. The University, then, was a mere examining body: the College was the teaching body. Now the situation has markedly changed. The Universities are rapidly becoming teaching bodies and all new Universities are being founded on that basis. Even an old examining University like Calcutta has so remodelled itself in the past two years that it has created, I believe, 15 University Professorships and has now a body of 1,000 post-graduate students, attached to the University rather than to the separate Colleges. The individual Colleges have also had a remarkable development. The criterion of efficiency has stepped from that of mere employment of up to date apparatus to that of acquiring a living College spirit through touch with religious or national or civic movements of the country. One College may have lakhs of money spent on it and be dead: another College may be impecunious but living. The test of life in University matters is in touch with living movements. (4) These two factors (the change in the University and the change in the College spirit) have tended to drive the Government Colleges into a backwater. They have struggled bravely, and even nobly, to get back into the open stream; but they are crippled and hampered by the present service conditions. The crude division of ‘Imperial’ and ‘Provincial’ has been a permanent grievance, canvassed by every Indian student. The temptation to seek inspectorships, outside the University, has prevented a whole-hearted absorption in the life of the University itself. The rules and regulations of the ‘services’ have impeded the healthy growth of the Government Colleges themselves as self, organising institutions in close touch with the community. Personally I look forward hopefully to the day when these Colleges will be let loose from the safe harbour of Government patronage and direction and launched upon the rising tide of civic life. The air there will be found much bracing and invigorating than that which now surrounds them. They would be supported largely by local and provincial patriotism and the public would have a deep interest in their welfare. If Government Colleges were placed at last in the hand of the community the funds released might be used for University development. Government would be able to foster this to-day, as it fostered College development in earlier times. It would thus come once more into the van of progress. (5) If asked therefore to choose between (a) and (b) I should prefer (b). In that case, so long as the Government Colleges still remained entirely under State 369

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control, the only change that would be needed would be to attach pay, etc., to each College post, and recruit for the post itself. Those on ‘Service’ pay might have the option of continuing as they were, or of changing to ‘Staff’ pay. Gradually the ‘Staff’ pay system would become universal, as old ‘Service’ claims died out. Then, if the Government Colleges were at last ‘nationalised,’ there would be no cumbrous ‘Service’ conditions to overcome. This then is my main proposition: Either.—The creation of a ‘University Service’ and the abolition of the distinction of ‘Imperial’ and ‘Provincial’ in this sphere; Or.—The abolition of the present ‘Service’ conditions altogether in Government University appointments. Of the two alternatives I prefer the latter, as more in keeping with the trend of modern University life in India. (6) I regard this University question as by far the most important which the Commission has to settle with regard to Education. In spite of the most lavish expenditure of State money (it is computed, for instance, that a student in a Government College costs the State sixteen times as much as a student in a State-aided College) the Government Colleges are now keeping in touch with the new spirit of the age. The men who are being recruited are, with certain noable exceptions, markedly inferior to those who came out in the past, and they have no enthusiasm for the present Service. Men of the highest ability prefer to stay at home, on a miserable pittance, as Assistant Lecturers in an English University and refuse to come out to India on treble the pay. Really first class men, Indians and English alike, are offering almost daily for educational work, on barely a living wage, in State-aided or Private Colleges; but three or four times the amount of pay will not induce them to take posts in a Government College. This state of things cannot go on much longer without a terrible disaster; for an enlightened Government cannot afford to lose touch with the progressive elements of higher education and fall back on mere wealth and past prestige.

REV. C. F. ANDREWS, called and examined. 82,921. (Chairman.) The witness said he had been for nine years on the staff of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, which had 212 students, and the Principal of which was Mr. Rudra. The staff numbered 19, eight being Europeans and the rest Indians. Before coming to India he had been about six years at Cambridge University. For some time he was engaged in Mission work in East London, and then went back to take up education work at Pembroke College. Outside St. Stephen’s College he had had no experience of educational work in India except that gained from a little University work and inspection work. He had only actually visited officially one College, but he had seen a great many colleges in India privately. St. Stephen’s College was a Missionary College receiving a grant-in-aid from the State, the grant being given on account of efficiency and the College having a free hand in its use. 82,922. The witness said his main position was that the Inspectorate in the Educational Services should be separate from the Professoriate. Most of his remarks 370

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in the written statement dealt with the Professorial side, which was the only side he was acquainted with. His scheme was to abolish the present system altogether and to recruit to particular posts on contract terms. The post might carry pensions according to length of service. The scheme was practically that which existed now outside Government Colleges. The staff at St. Stephen’s College was probably more permanent than the staff of most colleges, and quite as permanent as a Government college staff, but it might be that in some outside Colleges many officers would not stay to qualify for pension. The witness attached some importance to keeping a man on as Professor, as his experience was extremely valuable, but he also attached importance to the infusion of new elements into the College. Under a system of recruitment for post rather than for a service there would be much greater elasticity than at present. 82,923. The witness objected very strongly to the present system of cold weather Professorships, because there was a danger that in the long run it would prevent the recruitment of really good men who might rise to posts that were open to them, and it closed the posts to men who were already in the country. As a temporary measure it might have a certain value, but educationally it was bad. The system he proposed could be established in a Government College as the Universities expanded and as University teaching reached a higher level. A free atmosphere of competition on the whole was a stimulus to education greater than that obtained by bringing a man out who gradually rose from one scale of pay to another without being free to choose his own post. It was certainly in the interests of the College to put a man into a post for which he was trained, and naturally if he had not the qualifications he would not obtain a post. The fact that each post in a College required more and more a specialised training was a partial result of the advance of education and would encourage men to specialise. At present there was no very strong spur to a man to gain higher educational qualities. If the posts were all open to free competition a man who wished to compete would make himself educationally efficient by specialising in his spare time and vacations. The whole of the Professorial chairs should be open to competition. It was quite true that even under the present system men could not get into a College unless they had qualified, but there was a danger of stagnation which would be avoided by a freer atmosphere of competition. Now there was a danger of Government Colleges getting out of the living current of public life and of education becoming stagnant. 82,924. He could not conceive of a Government College being in the position of St. Stephen’s College in which eight European Professors were under an Indian Principal. 82,925. There were a number of ways in which Government Colleges were falling behind, though they were struggling very hard. A great deal of money was being put into them to keep them up to the level of the best private Colleges, but they had not the living spirit of the private Colleges. A College like Fergusson College in Poona was a living College compared with a Government College, which gradually became formal. He hoped by free competition to bring the Government Colleges into the flow of the tide rather than into a back-water. 371

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82,926. The witness said he did not consider an Indian Principal was an absolute necessity, but there ought to be the possibility of such a Principal of every College. As far as he knew, at present there was not even the possibility of an Indian Principal being appointed in any Government College. Dr. J. C. Bose of Calcutta was a most distinguished man, but he did not think he would ever be allowed, under any circumstances, to become Principal of a Government College. He did not know whether there was any legal obstacle, but he did not think there had ever been an Indian Principal. He did not attach importance to the maintenance of a European element as such in the College staff. His own experience showed him that very often an Indian was able to give the Western idea of education better than an Englishman, just as in England very often an Englishman was able to teach French better than a Frenchman. 82,927. The witness admitted that those who came to the Missionary Colleges were in rather a different category from those who entered the Education Service, as they were manned by men who were inspired with the idea of a great Missionary purpose; but apart from Missionary methods the free spirit and atmosphere of a Mission or private college was an attraction, which men, generally speaking, did not find in a Government College. They were not under the conditions of a definite service and were able to change their posts or go elsewhere. He would much rather have high qualities in individuals than a very compli [Illegible Text] For education to attain a high [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] be, to a great extent, dependent upon the personality of educators and their living spirit. The tendency of a service was rather to formalise. 82,928. (Sir Murray Hammick.) The witness admitted he had heard of cases of men who had come out into private Colleges and afterwards endeavoured to get into Government service. He did not for a moment say that men were happier in private Colleges. There were always men in private Colleges who were ready to apply for appointments in Government Colleges, but he thought there were a great number of men who were not anxious to get into Government employ. 82,929. It was not his proposal to abolish Government Colleges altogether, but to nationalise them. The College should remain and grow as a college, but it should come more and more under other control than that of Government. The Government should look forward to the time when Government Colleges would no longer exist as such, but become local Colleges supported by local subscriptions and governed by local comittees, and in every sense expressing the spirit of the place. As to the means by which this could be brought about, he did not wish to go into detail but simply to make his main proposition that recruitment should be for posts rather than for a Service. That was one step forward to nationalisation. The new-comers would not necessarily be Government officers. They would probably be Government officers as long as Government paid them, but as the College gradually became more and more self-supporting, and Government paid less and the locality more, each of the posts would come more and more under the control of those who were supporting the College. He asked the Commission to recommend the abolishing of the Service because he believed that would lead on to what he ultimately wished for. 372

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82,930. With regard to the remark in the written statement that a student in a Government College costs the Government sixteen times as much as a student in a State-aided College, the witness said that had been told him by the Principal of one of the leading Colleges in the Punjab, but he could not give any statistics to support the statement. 82,931. The remark in the written statement that the men now being recruited were, with certain exceptions, markedly inferior to those who came out in the past, was, the witness said, based on his own personal knowledge of Government Educational officers; it referred entirely to Northern India, and not to the South. He had been looking at the qualifications in the last three or four years of each man who had come out into the Service, and he thought if they were compared with those of the men who came out ten years ago it would be found that the statement was not much of an exaggeration, if any. He did not agree that the men who were now coming out were quite suitable for the positions they held; he thought there was a distinct decline in Northern India. He had been told that it was the easiest possible thing to get the very highest men to come as Assistant Lecturers to the Universities in England in posts which might lead on to Professorships at £150 a year and they would go on for years at that rate and yet those men would not come out to India. 82,932. (Mr. Abdur Rahim.) The witness said Mr. Rudra had been Principal of St. Stephen’s College for about eight years, and the whole of the administrative work had been done by him very satisfactorily. Both the Principal and the Vice-Principal were Indians and did the whole of the administrative work of the College. The fact of an Indian being at the head of a College assisted to bring the whole staff more into harmony with the students. The relations between the Professors and the students in Missionary and private Colleges stood on a different footing from those in Government Colleges, and he believed the unsatisfactory relationships in Government Colleges were due chiefly to the present division into the Imperial and Provincial Services. Students recognised the injustice of cases like Mr. J. C. Bose and others. Where there was division or grievance amongst a staff, that division or grievance would be found amongst students also. The unity of a staff was the most vital element in the unity of the College, and that was one of his very strongest objections to the division of the Service into inferior and superior branches. He could not understand how it had gone on so long. 82,933. (Mr. Macdonald.) The witness said that when he was in England last year he found the Indian Educational Service was looked down upon at Cambridge University, where it was said that it had not the standing that it used to have. He had heard that it was considered no very great educational honour to be a Professor at an Indian University now, and that appeared to be the general feeling, with certain great exceptions. Under the present circumstances of University and College education in India there was nothing, except Missionary enthusiam, to bring a good man to India. Recently he had been anxious to obtain a first-rate man for the Educational Service, a man who was well versed in games and in every way suited for educational work. He wrote and made the suggestion and 373

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received a letter from the young man saying that he had been strongly advised not to join the Service by one of the very highest officers in the Punjab and one of the reasons put forward was that it was inadvisable to mix with the students. That state of things would not be changed so long as the body of Professors formed a service. He knew of no University or College in the whole world based on the system adopted in Indian Government Universities and Colleges. 82,934. With reference to the scheme he had put forward he failed to see any difference between it and the ordinary operations of English Colleges and Scotch Colleges. His point was that the College itself should be a self-supporting body ultimately, and that the Government grants should not be given in the form of payment for certain chairs, but should be spent by the University or College authorities as was done in the ordinary English Universities and Colleges. When a chair was vacant the appointment should not be made by a Director of Public Instruction or a Local Government, but by a qualified Senate or committee belonging to the College. From that, in the course of time, further transformation would take place in the natural way. 82,935. (Mr. Fisher.) With regard to the qualities required in a Professor of an Indian College, the witness said that the work being more or less analogous to English Public School work he wanted the Public Schoolmaster type of man, but the University Professor type was also required. The standard today was higher than when he first came out and was rising. The higher stages of education, such as M.A. classes, were largely growing, and he believed there were over one thousand M.A. students in Calcutta at the present time. The qualities of a good public Schoolmaster were mostly required in the first two Intermediate classes, and in the higher classes there was every chance for a man with University qualifications making a very deep impression on the students and also himself rising to University Professorships. University Professorships were now coming in like a flood, and there would be a very large number in the course of the next ten years. His idea was to make these posts the goal of the Professoriate. For a senior Mathematical post in a University he should require in the applicant, first, the highest University qualifications, and secondly, character, sympathy, athletics, and the power of mixing with students. For the post of teacher of English in the Intermediate classes of the first and second year he should put, first, character, sympathy, athletics, and the power of mixing with students; and the higher academic qualifications second. Every College trying to work up a decent standard was specialising far more than in the past, and the endeavour was being made as much as possible to make the teachers in the Intermediate classes specialise in that direction and teachers in the B.A. classes to be specialists in their own work. In other words, the College posts were gradually grouping themselves into two groups, a more advanced and a less advanced, and the F.A., as far as he could see, would always remain until the age of admission had advanced to the public school stage. 82,936. He was not prepared at present to recommend that appointment to chairs should be by Senates of the existing Universities; ultimately he should look forward to their being appointed by a College body itself under certain powers 374

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of veto. His ultimate idea was a University largely supported by local funds and to some extent controlled by the community, somewhat on the analogy of a civic University in London. One College at Lahore was entirely supported by the enthusiasm of a religious community, and there were colleges supported by the enthusiasm of a local community, of which he thought the Agra College was an example. He hoped, also, that the Government College at Lahore would evoke the enthusiasm of the Province and especially of the city in which it was placed. He also hoped civic enthusiasm would be shown for the University. He wished the Government to take up the University stage, and work wholly in that direction, as it did so splendidly in connection with the College stage fifty years ago. The Government ought to be the pioneer in University progress, leaving College progress more and more in the hands of the people. He did not think there was any chance of University affairs at present being under civic control, but the time was ripe for civic control of Colleges. 82,937. (Mr. Sly.) The witness said he had not had experience of the inside teaching in other Colleges, but he had a good deal of knowledge of the staff and of the ideals of private colleges. His ultimate aim was to free Colleges from Government control and to make Government the pioneer of University progress, provide funds to allow the Universities to expand and create posts. As Government created model colleges fifty years ago, so he hoped it would create free Universities in the future. 82,938. The witness admitted that freedom of Government control over Colleges depended on secondary education being good; if that was on the right lines it might be assumed that College education would continue on right lines. He had considered the effect of the present condition of secondary education on his proposals, but he did not see its bearing on the subject. If statistics showed that the Government Colleges were substantially more successful in the percentage of students that took degrees than private Colleges that fact might slightly modify the criticism he had made of Government Colleges, but he thought the figures would probably be the other way. His own experience in the Punjab was that a very large number of University scholarships, to take one point, came from private Colleges. 82,939. With regard to the interchange of Professors and Inspectors, the witness said he had known of cases of Professors who told him they desired to go into the Inspectorate line. 82,940. The witness said that in computing the cost of a student in a private College and a Government College he would accept the statistics given in the “Quinquennial Review of Education.” His own figures only dealt with the cost to the Stage not the cost of the whole education. One of the greatest Colleges in Lahore at one time was only getting a grant from the Stage sufficient to pay one Junior Professor in the College. Under his policy Government, when it gave up the Colleges, would very largely reduce its expenditure and throw the burden on local contributions. 82,941. (Mr. Gokhale.) The witness said that he had no experience of any difficulties ever having arisen from European Professors working under an Indian 375

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Principal. The spectacle of Englishmen loyally working under an Indian Principal naturally gave the College a certain advantage over Colleges where Englishmen occupied a position of superiority and Indians a position of inferiority. He thought the students liked the position of Europeans working under an Indian and respected it; and it made them happier. There was also a school attached to St. Stephen’s College, the head of the school being an Indian, and the teachers under him Europeans, and no friction of any kind occurred. 82,942. He had met Indians who had imbibed the Western spirit as much as it was desirable they should do; he did not want Indians to be Anglicised altogether, but to imbibe whatever was best in the West and apply that best to Eastern conditions. For that purpose he thought an Indian who had imbibed the Western spirit would have certain advantages over an Englishman to whom the East was more or less new, as he would be able to interpret the West to Indians better than a European, other things being equal. In a College the staff and students ought to be united in harmony and sympathy, for the College to do its best work. If there were any irritating distinctions, or too much thought was directed towards pay and prospect, and the students did not feel that the Professors sympathised with their progress, the work was seriously hampered. 82,943. The witness believed the difficulties in the way of English Professors exercising the same influence as they used to do were increasing every year. It would not now do for European Professors merely to take part in sports; it was necessary for the students to feel that their best interests were the first consideration. 82,944. The great evil at present was the division into Provincial and Imperial Services, but there would be a still further advantage if the Service itself was abolished in the University. 82,945. If that disadvantage was taken away from the Government Colleges they would do better work than they were doing to-day. 82,946. (Mr. Chaubal.) The witness said civic enthusiasm was not sufficiently advanced to enable Colleges in the near future to be self-supporting, but that enthusiasm would grow every year. He could imagine that Government was occasionally asked to take over civic Colleges on account of communities wishing to get rid of the burden owing to the weakness of civic patriotism. 82,947. (Sir Theodore Morison.) The witness admitted that civic patriotism had shown itself rather weak. He instanced the Agra and Bareilly Colleges as Government Colleges which were handed over to a municipal body of trustees, but did not know sufficient about them to say whether they were encouraging examples. The principle, however, was right. It was much more difficult in India to encourage a civic spirit than a religious or sectarian spirit, but the civic spirit was growing and if encouraged by Government would grow still further. Because up to the present Indian self-government had not been a success, that was no reason why it should be abolished. He had not gone into the method by which Government Colleges might be nationalised, because he did not think that came under the present enquiry. He pleaded for nationalisation as a policy but could not go into details as to how it should be carried out. 376

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82,948. (Lord Ronaldshay.) The witness said, other things being equal an Indian Professor who had acquired the Western spirit would probably be more successful in instructing Indian students than an English Professor; but he did not deduce from that that St. Stephen’s College would be a more efficient educational institution if for the present eight European Professors eight Indian Professors were substituted. He did not, however, contemplate the eight European Professors remaining there in perpetuity. At present the College required what European Professors only could give, for example, athletics. The European element was very necessary if the right Europeans were obtained. 82,949. With regard to qualified English Professors coming out to India imbued with a zeal for educational work, the witness said he knew of a certain Professor who had definitely given up a Government College in order to take service with a private college on a mere pittance, because he felt he had more freedom for selfexpression. There were men with a sympathy for the country apart from missionary or religious zeal. The observation in the written statement that really first-class men, English and Indians, were offering themselves almost daily for educational work in India in the case of State-aided and private colleges, men who would not come out into Government service, might be taken almost literally. If the men in Government colleges had more prospects and a freer choice in their career and, in the long run, of a University professorship, it would tend to bring back again a higher scholastic qualification. 82,950. (Mr. Crosse.) The witness said he would qualify his statement that the Government colleges were in a backwater by saying that on certain sides they were going forward, as for instance the technical and mechanical side and actual equipment, but on the side of educational life and spirit the remark was true of the Government College at Lahore. The Government college had led the way in certain matters, but in others had fallen behind. There were many Professors who had definitely stated they were dissatisfied with their service owing to their loss of freedom. He had constantly heard the Educational Service complained of by officers, and he himself felt that the Service was not what it ought to be. (The witness withdrew.)

At Delhi, Friday, 28th November, 1913. PRESENT: THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD ISLINGTON, G.O.M.G., D.S.O. (Chairman). THE EARL OF RONALDSHAY, M.P.. SIR MURRAY HAMMICK, K.C.S.I., C.I.E. SIR THEODORE MORISON, K.C.I.E. SIR VALENTINE CHIROL. MAHADEV BHASKAR CHAUBAL, ESQ., C.S.I.

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ABDUR RAHIM, ESQ. WALTER CULLEY MADGE, ESQ., C.I.E. FRANK GEORGE SLY, ESQ., C.S.I. HERBERT ALBERT LAURENS FISHER, ESQ. JAMES RAMSAY MACDONALD, ESQ., M.P.

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And the following Assistant Commissioners— J. G. JENNINGS, ESQ., M.A., Indian Educational Service, lately Principal, Muir Central College. M. CROSSE, ESQ., M.A., M.SC., Inspector of Schools, Punjab. KHAN BAHADUR MAULVI UMAR-UD-DIN, Inspector of Schools, Rawalpindi Division. M. S. D. BUTLER, ESQ., C.V.O., C.I.E. (Joint Secretary)

AFTAB AHMAD KHAN, ESQ., B.L., Trustee of the Aligarh College. Written Statement relating to the Educational Service. 82,951. I am asked to express my opinion on the present system and condition of the Educational Service in India. I may say that I am not much acquainted with the technical part of the subject and can submit my views only as regards the general principles which underlie the system and the educational interests which it is meant to secure. (2) The Educational Services of the country, as they exist at present, are classified under the following two main heads:—(a) The Superior Educational Service, and (b) The Subordinate Educational Service. The Superior Service is said to consist of two classes—(i) The Indian Educational Service and (ii) The Provincial Educational Service; and the Subordinate Service consists of (i) The Subordinate Educational Service and (ii) The Lower Subordinate Educational Service. 82,952. (VII.b) The working of the existing system of division of services into Imperial and Provincial.—The first point which deserves consideration is the question as to whether the division of the Superior Service into (a) the Indian Educational Service, and (b) the Provincial Educational Service is sound or necessary. In my opinion the division is neither sound nor necessary. In a Despatch dated the 6th January 1905 the Secretary of State for India has explained that “The Provincial Service was intended to represent side by side with the Indian Educational Service, the highest class of Employment open to natives of India. Both of these branches, that recruited in England and that recruited in India, together form the Superior Service of the Education Department, the difference between them being not in status or duties but in the conditions of employment as regards pay, leave, and service for pension. Thus the only reason which is given for maintaining this division is the difference in the conditions of employment of these two classes of officers as regards pay, &c., while there is said to be no difference in the status they possess or the duties they perform. It is thus assumed that the difference in the conditions of employment as regards pay &c., does not effect the status and position of the Members of either Service. I am, however, unable to appreciate the force of this reasoning. In my opinion those officers who are appointed by the Secretary of State on higher pay and better conditions must occupy, and do occupy higher and better position than those who are appointed by Local Governments on less pay and on conditions not equally favourable. It is nothing but a fiction to hold

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that men employed on different terms can ever have the same status, or form one service on sound lines. To my mind the real reason of this arrangement appears to be the idea that the services of suitable Europeans cannot be secured without the offer of better terms than those which can attract suitable Indians for the same work. But considering the class of men we require for the Superior Service the idea that the services of suitable Indians can be secured on cheaper terms is not well founded. The fact is that Indians of real ability prefer other occupations and professions which are more paying and attractive than the Educational Service, and I am sure that unless sufficient and high remuneration is offered Indians of real promise will not be attracted towards Educational work. Thus both with a view to raise their status as well as to attract Indians of real ability to this service it is essential that there should be no difference in the conditions of employment of Europeans and Indians who are to form the Superior Service of this country. Therefore the division of the Superior Service into the two classes should be abolished, and they should both form one service in the real sense of the term. SUPERIOR SERVICE. 82,953. As regards the Superior Service the following points deserve special consideration:— (i) Whether the present system of recruitment is satisfactory. (ii) Whether any period of probation is desirable. (iii) Whether the present scale of pay is sufficient to attract men of such qualifications as are required in the interest of education in this country. (iv) Whether the conditions as regards pension are satisfactory. (v) Whether this service should remain practically confined to Europeans as has been the case so far. 82,954. (I.) Method of recruitment.—In my opinion the present system of recruitment is not quite satisfactory and needs revision and improvement. At present all appointments for this service are made by the Secretary of State for India, but I do not know the procedure which is followed in making selection of suitable candidates. My suggestions in this connection are as follows:— (i) All Principals and Professors of Colleges, Inspectors of Colleges and Schools, and Headmasters of Model High Schools should belong to this service. (ii) No one should be appointed to this service who has not obtained First or a good Second Class in honours in any subject at any of the English Universities, preferably Oxford and Cambridge. (iii) At every English University there should be a Board with the ViceChancellor at its head for the purpose of making first selection of suitable candidates for Educational Service in India.

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(iv) The Secretary of State should select candidates out of those recommended by the above-mentioned Boards, or from among those who have already served with distinction in a College or Public School in England. (v) The Government of India should also have the power of recommending for selection by the Secretary of State the names of such candidates as possess the required qualifications and have come out to India after completing their education in Europe. 82,955. (II.) Systems of training and probation.—Candidates after the selection by the Secretary of State, should be required to continue their study in their special subject for a period of one year at Oxford or Cambridge, or with the special permission of the Secretary of State at any other University. Those who may be selected for professorial work should devote their probationary period to study and research in their special subject under the supervision of the University Professors; and those who may be selected as Inspectors or Headmasters should spend the period in the study of Theory and Practice of Education. For the period of probation the selected candidates should get an allowance of at least £200 a year. 82,956. (IV.) Conditions of salary.—As to the question of pay my opinion is that the Government should be as liberal in this matter as their funds permit. The quality of the staff is the most important question in this whole problem, and any expenditure upon its improvement is an investment in which we the people of India are virtually concerned. Any expenditure on this object should have preference on all other requirements which may be cut down to the lowest limits in order to provide sufficient means for attracting the best possible persons for this Service. I am in favour of time-scale, and would recommend that every Officer of the Superior Service should start with Rs. 500 a month, and should have the right to rise with an annual increment of Rs. 50 to Rs. 1,500 a month in twenty years. Over and above this every Principal should get an allowance of Rs. 300 a month, and in Colleges which have the residential system every senior tutor should get Rs. 200 a month and every ordinary tutor Rs. 100 a month. There should also be special allowances to be awarded to those who may distinguish themselves in any particular branch of learning as an encouragement to research and original work in the domain of knowledge. I suggest these liberal and higher scales of pay with the chief object of attracting men of higher standard of qualification and not for the Service as it recruited at present. 82,957. (VI.) Conditions of pension.—As regards the question of pension I am of opinion that an Officer of the Educational Service after a service of 25 years, should be entitled to retire on half the pay as his pension. This rule should be applicable to all branches of the Educational Service. I make this suggestion for two reasons:—(i) Because officers in this service may begin work at a later age than is usual in other Services, and (ii) to make the Service more popular. 82,958. (VIIa.) Such limitations as may exist in the employment of nonEuropeans.—As to whether the Superior Service should be practically confined 380

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to Europeans, as has been the case so far. I am of opinion that for a long time to come we do require the services of Europeans and particularly of Englishmen in the Educational Department of the country. We require their services for two objects:— (i) For teaching those branches of knowledge in which we, in India, have not attained the European standard of advancement; and (ii) For enabling our young men to come into actual and personal contact with European culture and English mode of thought, and thereby helping them in the formation of their character. It is therefore extremely important to have a sufficient number of European and British Scholars in our Educational Service. But the time has come when every encouragement should be given to Indians to qualify themselves for the Service, and those who are, or may be, qualified should be appointed to this Service without any restriction. I learn that ever since the institution of this Service only three Indians have been appointed up to this time, which is not a satisfactory state of affairs, and should not be allowed to continue any longer. PROVINCIAL SERVICE. 82,959. For the future this Service should be separate from the Superior Service and Officers such as the following should belong to Provincial Service:— (i) Assistant Profesors of Colleges. (ii) Assistant Inspectors. (iii) Headmasters of High Schools other than Model High Schools. (iv) Headmasters of Training Schools. These officers should be recruited by Local Governments, as is the case at present; and the necessary qualification for this Service should be the Degree of Master of Arts of any of the Indian Universities or Degree of Bachelor of Arts of any of the European Universities. But if any member of this Service gives proof of exceptional ability in any branch of learning he may, on the ground of approved service, be promoted to the Superior Service with full status and pay attached to that Service. As to the pay of officers belonging to the Provincial Service my opinion is that they should start with Rs. 200 a month, and should be entitled to rise, with an annual increment of Rs. 25 to Rs. 700 a month in twenty years. This will make the Service popular, and will induce many of those who now seek Deputy Collectorships and other similar posts choose educational line in preference to those which are more paying and attractive at present. SUBORDINATE SERVICE. 82,960. Then comes the question of the Subordinate Educational Service, to which the following officers may belong:— (i) Deputy Inspectors and Sub-Deputy Inspectors. 381

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(ii) The Headmasters of Anglo-Vernacular Middle Schools and Assistant Masters of High and Middle Sections of Anglo-Vernacular schools. (iii) Teachers in Training Colleges and Headmasters of Normal Schools. These officers are to be recruited by Director of Public Instruction, and the necessary qualification for this Service should be M.A. or trained B.A. of any of the Universities of India. The scale of pay should be from Rs. 60 a month and with an annual increment of Rs. 12 it should rise to Rs. 300 a month in twenty years. But any officer who gives proof of exceptional ability may be promoted to the Provincial Service with the full status and pay attached to that Service. THE LOWER SUBORDINATE SERVICE. 82,961. This part of the subject practically covers the field of Primary education, and may be considered under the following heads:— (i) Qualification of teachers. (ii) Salary of teachers. (iii) Pensions or bonus for teachers. (iv) Status. Qualification of teachers.—The passing of the Vernacular Final Examination and the Normal School course should be the necessary qualification for this Service as is the case at present. This whole subject has been recently considered in the United Provinces by the Committee on Primary Education and the matter is now under the consideration of the Local Government. Salary of teachers.—As regards the salary of teachers my suggestion is as follows:— (i) That in every Vernacular Primary School the minimum pay should be Rs. 12 a month. (ii) That the minimum salary of a trained teacher in Vernacular Primary School should be Rs. 15 a month. (iii) That teachers who are likely to spend their lives in Upper Primary Schools should rise to the maximum salary of Rs. 30 a month; and those who are likely to spend their lives in Town Schools should rise to Rs. 50 a month. The scale of pay should be so arranged that the above-mentioned maximum salaries may be attainable in twenty years. Pensions or bonus for teachers.—So far as this Service is concerned the grant of bonus is proferred to pension, and I may suggest that every officer of the Service should contribute one anna a month in the rupee and an equal contribution should be made by the Government or the District or Municipal Board towards the Bonus Fund of every such officer. Status of teachers.—So far as teachers of Primary Schools are concerned the question of status is very important and deserves special consideration. It is obvious that apart from educational qualification the social position and status of the Teacher plays an important part in the success of an Educational system, and 382

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hence the question of the status of teachers is of special significance and deserves particular consideration. In former days the Maulvi of a Maktab or the Pandit of a Patshala used to command much more respect than the teachers of the Primary Schools of the present day. It was so not only because they were better paid, but chiefly because they were respected by the elders of their pupils. The Maulvi and the Pandit derived their importance from their position as Imam and Spiritual Adviser of the people. Modern pedagogues in the existing Educational system of the country do not enjoy the same confidence and respect as did their predecessors. Moreover it is a matter of common knowledge that the teacher in a village school does not receive proper treatment at the hands of Government officials. Thus the small salary and contemptuous treatment combine to lower his status in the eyes of the general public, and it is now time that something should be done to make up for all these defects so that men of better social position may be induced to seek this service. In my opinion the following methods should be adopted to make the teaching line more attractive and honourable:— (a) Good service of successful teachers should be recognised on some occasion of public importance in some suitable manner, such as the award of certificates of good work by the Collector of a District on the occasion of some Durbar or public function. (b) Occasional promotion and transfer of successful teachers to other suitable posts under the district of Municipal Board or the Collector of District, carrying better pay and prospects. (c) The District Officer should be directed to treat the school teachers with courtesy and due consideration, and the Inspecting Officers of the Department should be required to pay a special regard to the status and position of the teachers and should treat them with due respect in the presence of their pupils such as to offer them chair and to address them in courteous language. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 82,962. So far I have said nothing about the post of the Director of Public Instruction which is the most important post in the whole Service. Every one will agree that it should always be filled by some Educationist who has had ample experience of educational work in this country, but in my opinion the time has come when a proper estimate should be made of the extent and importance of the work which the head of the Educational Department of a Province has to do in this country. The problem of education is so vast and intricate, and the interests which it comprehends are so diverse and peculiar that it is too much to expect that any European head of the Department can do the work successfully or can devote his attention to important educational questions without sufficient and proper help. I may mention here some of those important questions which need special attention and which under the present circumstances are not properly looked after:—

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(i) Education of the masses, (ii) education of women, and (iii) Muhammadan education. My suggestion is that there should be an officer belonging to the Superior Service in charge of each of these educational interests, and whose duty should be to make a special study of his branch and help the Director in all matters connected with that branch. The importance of promoting the cause of Mass Education and of the education of women is recognised by everyone, and I need say no more about them on this occasion. But the question of Muhammadan Education requires some explanation. It is needless to remark that the question of education is of the utmost importance for Muhammadans whose very existence as a living people depends upon in its proper solution. They are, so to say, in the position of an invalid for whose recovery special treatment is necessary, but so far their special requirements in the matter of education have not received the attention which they need and deserve. This has been mainly due to the fact that the question has not been properly represented before the authorities up to this time. My suggestion therefore is that a Muhammadan officer, belonging to the Superior Service, should be appointed whose chief duty should be to study the educational needs of the Muhammadans of the Province and should act as Educational Secretary to the Director of Public Institution in all matters connected with the question of their education in that Province. For this purpose this Muhammadan officer should have power to inspect all educational institutions in the Province and should be required to pay special attention to the condition of Muhammadan institutions which are now coming into existence in all parts of the country, and which badly need official support. I wish this officer to be a Muhammadan for the following reasons:— (i) Experience has shown, as it is only natural, that no non-Muhammadan officer can be in a position to understand the feelings and requirements of Muhammadans to the same extent as a Muhammadan can. (ii) No non-Muhammadan, naturally, can be expected to have the same enthusiasm and zeal which in our own present condition we need so badly, in the cause of Muhammadan education as a Muhammadan himself. (iii) The appointment of a Muhammadan officer in this position will give confidence and will be the means of removing many complaints real and otherwise. I am therefore of opinion that such important educational questions as mentioned above should be entrusted to separate officers who should be in the staff of the Director and should act as his Secretaries in all matters connected with their respective branches.

MR. AFTAB AHMAD KHAN called and examined. 82,963. (Chairman.) The witness said he had been a member of the Legislative Council for the United Provinces. He had been trustee of the Aligarh College since 1897, and had been Fellow of the Allahabad University for some years. He

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was Honorary Fellow at the present time. He had been Joint Secretary of the AllMuhammadan Educational Conference since 1906. 82,964. His general contention was that the Provincial Education Service had drifted into an unduly subordinate position. According to the present system, the Service consisted of two divisions—the Indian Educational Service and the Provincial Educational Service—and members of both Services were supposed to constitute one Service without any distinction. But there was a differentiation, and his idea was to secure suitable Indians in India to form part of the superior Service. Under the present circumstances, however, and on the present terms, good Indians were not attracted to the Service. He would like to see the Department re-organised on the basis of actual work to be done. 82,965. The witness thought that after the re-organisation and the improvement of the Service, better men would be obtained, and in that case they would be entitled to be called ‘Professors.’ He knew that in Cambridge the word “Professor” was used differently, but in India he thought all the members of the superior Service, who did the work of Professors, should be called Professors. In some Provinces the designation was used for special officers, and in other Provinces it was applied more or less broadcast. There should be more uniformity of practice in this respect. 82,966. The witness felt the importance of maintaining a European proportion in the Educational Department. It was as important to keep that European proportion in the professorial as in the administrative branch. The proportion should be about one-half, and he would only make it contingent upon there being men available. Steps should be taken to procure men, and opportunities and inducements should be offered to Indians, so that there might be no deficiency of recruits. In the present circumstances men would never be attracted to the Service. 82,967. Any member of the Provincial Service who proved himself an exceptional man should have the right to be promoted to the superior Service, with all the status and pay which that Service involved. The witness would regard that as an exceptional form of recruitment to the superior Service, as distinct from direct recruitment. 82,968. Asked whether it should be left to the Secretary of State to nominate Indians who had a European degree, the witness said his suggestion was that the Universities of England, preferably Oxford and Cambridge, should form a Board, with the Vice-Chancellors at their head, to select a certain number of candidates for the superior Service, and the Secretary of State should select recruits out of those men for the Service. His object in making that proposal was to secure that the Universities, out of regard for their reputations, would take good care to select men who were really fit for the Service. Also, they were in a much better position to know what sort of men were required for the Service than outsiders. 82,969. The witness was not of opinion that the professorial should be separated entirely from the administrative branch. He would have both branches interchangeable, as at present, because in the course of time it might turn out that a man was better fitted for a professorship than headmastership, or vice versa.

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82,970. He also made the suggestion that before men selected for professorial work in India came out, they should work during their probationary period under the University Professors, and complete their study in their special branch; and that those who were selected for headmasterships and inspectorships should have time to study the theory and practice of education, so that they might be better fitted to perform their work in India. He was not in favour of separating the Service from the very beginning. He thought on the whole it would be better to leave the matter to the discretion of the authorities. 82,971. He would bring the post of Deputy Inspector, now in the Subordinate Service, up to the Provincial Service. 82,972. The witness suggested that the Director of Public Instruction should be relieved by the appointment of three staff officers, who should deal respectively with the masses, women, and Muhammadans. His idea was that one man without adequate assistance and well-informed assistants could not look after the whole of the education of a Province. As to the question of Muhammadan education, his opinion was that it had not received the amount of attention which it ought to have received by the authorities. The Director of Public Instruction could not be expected to give the subject that special attention which those who were interested in Muhammadan education thought it ought to receive. For instance, taking the United Provinces, Muhammadans composed 14 per cent. of the population. If the history of education in the Province was studied, it would be found that whenever any proposals where made, either by the Educational Commission or by the Supreme Government, and the Local Governments were asked to go into the question of the improvement of Muhammadan education, the Local Governments always said that the condition of Muhammadan education was satisfactory, on the ground that Muhammadans composed only 14 per cent. of the population. If the result of the examinations showed that the percentage of Muhammadan passes came up to 14 per cent. they were satisfied. If, however, there had been any Muhammadan officer to represent to the Director the views of those interested in Muhammadan education, he could have said that the United Provinces was a Province inhabited by a large number of very ancient and old Muhammadan families. In the total population there might be 14 per cent. Muhammadans, but if the population of respectable and ancient Muhammadan families in the United Provinces was taken, it would be found that it came to 40 per cent. 82,973. There was a complaint upon the part of Muhammadans that Muhammadan students were not admitted in sufficient numbers into Government schools, that they did not get a sufficient remission of fees, and that here was not a sufficient number of Muhammadan teachers. Then again, Muhammadan schools needed official help in the form of recognition, and of grants-in-aid. In many ways the question of Muhammadan education ought to receive a great deal of consideration. If there was a Muhammadan Secretary with the Director, it would be his duty to study the question, and lay the facts before the Director. Similarly, with regard to female Muhammadan education, which was an extremely delicate subject, the Director of Public Instruction could not understand that problem in 386

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all its details as a Muhammadan could. The witness agreed that nominally all the work he had just been suggesting was work that should be carried out by the existing Inspector, but such an officer could only do it for his own particular area. What he really suggested was an officer with a free run over the whole Province, and with power to report to the Director of Public Instruction. He suggested that such a proposal should be applicable throughout India. Muhammadan education was in an extremely backward state throughout the country. There was an insufficiency of schools, and those which existed were not getting the necessary care to bring them up to the standard of other communities. 82,974. (Lord Ronaldshay.) The witness said he would make it a necessary qualification that no Indian should be appointed to the Superior Service unless he had been educated at one of the English Universities, preferably Oxford or Cambridge. 82,975. With regard to the question whether he thought it desirable that the people of India should be led to suppose that they could train themselves for the superior posts in their own country, and that they must go to Europe to get an adequate University training, the witness said at present such was the case, and would be for some time to come, and he thought it absolutely necessary. He did not include in that category individual cases of officers, who should be promoted direct, without being compelled to go to England. 82,976. With regard to whether Indians who went to Europe at the student age were likely to acquire a good many of the vices of the West, and lose some of their own virtues, the witness said that that depended on the individual. That was a general question, and not an educational one. 82,977. Generally speaking, he did not think an Indian would gain more by being trained in his own country during his student days, and then going to Europe later on for study leave, after serving his Department for a few years. He thought before a man entered the Service he should qualify himself by going to Europe. If there were similar institutions to Oxford and Cambridge in India, of course there would be no need for an Indian to go out of the country, but there were no such institutions. In Aligarh the authorities were trying to establish a University on the model of a European University, and when they had done so, then it would be a question whether it would be necessary for an Indian to go to Europe at all. 82,978. He would be disposed to say that a considerable expenditure on the part of Government with a view to attracting either European or Indian Professors of the highest calibre to India, would be entirely justified in the eyes of the Indian community. 82,979. (Sir Theodore Morison.) The reason why Muhammadans generally had not availed themselves of the ordinary facilities which were open to the general public in the Government institutions, was because they thought they had not sufficient representation in the Service. 82,980. He did not think there was any considerable Muhammadan objection at the present day to entering Government schools on the ground of religion. 387

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82,981. The witness said he attached great importance to the residential side of a college. He had suggested that the senior tutor should be given an allowance of Rs. 200 a month, and ordinary tutors Rs. 100 a month, because their work was not very pleasant, and there must be some special inducement for good men to carry it on. Such work ought most certainly to be encouraged in the educational system of the country. 82,982. With regard to his suggestion that there should be a very considerable increase in salaries in Government colleges, the witness said he had not looked to any other interest in the matter except that of education. He did not care whether other interests were affected by his proposal. India ought to get the best education possible. The State-aided colleges would be affected by his proposal, because in a few years Indians of such education would be produced that they would be available for State-aided institutions. 82,983. As to the status of teachers, and the witness’s recommendations thereon, if better men for the superior Service, both Europeans and Indians, were obtained, he thought they would look after themselves, and he thought their learning would command the necessary respect. The Subordinate Service certainly needed something done for it. He also said that, if there was someone with the authorities to represent the general feeling of the people with regard to the giving of titles, better results would accrue. The title of Shams-ul-ulama was very often given to those who really never ought to hold it, but who received it because they commanded the favour of some one in authority. 82,984. He did not agree that special efforts on the part of Government had been made to help Muhammadans in different parts of India, and that the results had generally been discouraging. The real effort was made, so far as the Government was concerned, after the Education Commission of 1882. That Commission made recommendations which really went to the root of the matter. The Government of India accepted certain recommendations, which were sent on to the Local Governments, but they were not properly carried out, simply because there was no one to represent the matter in its proper light. For instance, one of the most important recommendations of the Commission, which was accepted by the Government of India, was that in the Annual Educational Report, there should be a special chapter devoted to the question of Muhammadan education, in which should be shown in detail what particular steps had been taken to promote and improve Muhammadan education. If, however, the report of the United Provinces was looked at, it would be found that the subject was generally dealt with in a few lines. 82,985. With regard to the suggestion that in those parts of India where the Muhammadans had relied most on their own exertions the state of Muhammadan education was least unsatisfactory, whilst it was most unsatisfactory where it had received a great measure of assistance from Government, the witness said that depended upon the character of the people, the history, and the position of the particular section of the community in a Province. 82,986. (Mr. Chaubal.) When he said Muhammadans were not admitted in sufficient numbers in Government schools, he meant that it was because the school 388

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could only accommodate a certain number of people. He could quote no instances of a certain class being admitted to schools in preference to another, but it was said that there was some partiality shown. It was true that pupils obtained admission into the secondary school standards from the lower standards, and there was an examination held from which a certain number were admitted into the higher standards. 82,987. He did not know of any instances of any suggestions made by the present Muhammadan inspectors of divisions, which had not been considered or been treated fairly by the Government. 82,988. With regard to his suggestions that all Indians should go to Europe for training prior to entering the superior service, the witness said that in special cases men might go to England after serving four or five years in the service, instead of going out raw from college. 82,989. He did not approve at all of a separate institution the object of which would be to look after the conduct and behaviour of young Indians in England. He thought they should be kept within the influence of good English society. 82,990. (Mr. Sly.) At present in the college part of Aligarh, there was the Principal, who was an Indian, six European professors, and four Indian professors, of whom two had European qualifications. In the school, there was the headmaster, the assistant headmaster, who were Europeans, and about 20 Indian masters. The Principal was paid Rs. 1,000, and the professors were started at Rs. 400 rising to Rs. 750. The Europeans, and Indians with European qualifications, were paid exactly the same rates of salary. Indians who had not European qualifications did not receive the same scale. The Indian assistant professor was started at Rs. 100 rising to Rs. 300. 82,991. (Mr. Fisher.) At the Aligarh College a point was made of encouraging students to go to England if they were promising, and of good character. Many had gone from the college to England. The result, on the whole, had been satisfactory. Most of such students, when they returned, did not go into the Educational Service as professors, but entered the Bar. With regard to his suggested rules for the probation of candidates after selection by the Secretary of State, he did not necessarily mean it to be inferred that he assumed that all candidates would be selected just after they had taken their degree at the University; but when there was an Education Board in the University for the purpose, they should have a list of available candidates from which the Secretary of State might choose as many as he required, and those who were selected might go through the probationary term. 82,992. The witness said he would propose for his own college that a man, after being selected for the post of professor, should undergo a probationary period of study and research, arranged under the supervision of the University. 82,993. He contemplated the continuance of a reformed Provincial Service. When he used the term “Provincial” he did not necessarily mean to imply that the second grade of the Educational Service was to be exclusively recruited from the Province in question. He only used the word “Provincial” because the service 389

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would be confined to that Province, whereas the Imperial Service would be for the whole country. 82,994. (Mr. Madge.) Influential representations from Muhammadan institutions would not be as effective as an officer specially attached to the Director of Public Instruction. The former system had been in vogue for at least 40 years, and nothing satisfactory had come from it. It was true that in former years Muhammadans would not attend Government Schools because religion was not a part of the course of instruction, but he did not think that was true in many cases at the present time; the feeling had died out. 82,995. (Mr. Abdur Rahim.) It was true that he had special opportunities for studying Muhammadan education. Representations had been made on the subject of having a Muhammadan officer in the office of the Director of Public Instruction. Resolutions had been passed in the all-India Muhammadan Conference on that matter for several years past. He did not complain of unfair treatment on the part of the present officers, but there were questions specially appertaining to Muhammadan education which could be better studied if there was a responsible Muhammadan officer to keep the Director informed on the subject. Representations had undoubtedly been made by Muhammadan educational bodies, but unless there was a thoroughly informed officer in the office of Director, those representations could not be weighed and considered in an efficient manner. He was not aware of any special steps having been taken in Madras specially to encourage Muhammadan education. 82,996. With regard to Muhammadan boys being refused admission in the United Provinces, the number was very large. There were very few Muhammadan schools throughout India, and they were not so good as the Government institutions. He personally did not attach much importance to the remarks in regard to favouritism, but suspicions did exist, and in order to remove them the best plan was to have a Muhammadan in a responsible position, and then Muhammadans would have no reason to complain that their interests were not properly served. 82,997. In order to show the difference which the appointment of a Muhammadan officer made in a district, the witness quoted the following figures for a district, of which the total population was over 800,000, and of which the Muhammadans composed 775,000. These showed the number of students in primary schools and aided maktabs. In 1907–08, when there was a non-Muhammadan District Inspector, the total number of students was 8,902, of whom 5,047 were Muhammadans. In 1908–09 the total number of students had risen to 9,169, and the number of Muhammadans was 5,591. In 1909–10 the total number was 8,826, and the number of Muhammadans was 5,042. In the following three years a Muhammadan Inspector was in charge, with the result that in 1910–11 the total number of students was 9,965, of whom 6,154 were Muhammadans. In 1911–12 the total number was 12,438, of whom 7,835 were Muhammadans, and in 1912– 13 the total number was 14,402, of whom 9,836 were Muhammadans. 82,998. It was true that in Eastern Bengal there had been considerable progress made with regard to Muhammadan education. He attributed that to the special 390

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attention which had been paid to the subject after the Partition. A special conference had been called, presided over by Mr. Sharp, the Director of Public Instruction, in which all the needs of the question were studied and considered and a great number of scholarships were given. Another reason why more progress had been made in Eastern Bengal was because there was a larger number of Muhammadan Inspectors there than in any other district. 82,999. (Sir Valentine Chirol.) The witness said that if in the interests of education it was necessary, in order to avoid any feeling of jealousy, that every section of the community should have a special officer attached to the Director for the purpose of advising him as to that particular community’s needs in education, such officers should be appointed. He contended that unless and until special attention was paid in some form or another to the interests of Muhammadan education, the interests of Muhammadanism would not be promoted. A satisfactory scheme would be for an official to be selected by Government to perform the suggested work on the nomination of the Muhammadan community, and for his expenses to be defrayed by them. The officer should then work with the Director of Public Instruction in some way settled by mutual agreement between the representatives of the community and the Government. Such an official should be given the same status, the same powers, and the same position as an official secretary. 83,000. (Mr. Jennings.) With regard to the duties of tutors and specialists in Aligarh College, the duty of the tutor was to look after the residential life and discipline of the students. It was a very important duty, and there were a number of tutors in the college. The residential part of the college would not be run by specialists alone; the specialists could only deal with the educational side. College tutors and Inspectors could be made interchangeable in some cases. He thought a tutor, who was a high specialist, would carry much greater weight, and command much greater respect and admiration. (The witness withdrew.)

BABU SARADA PRASANNA DAS, M.A., Officiating Principal, Hooghly College. Written Statement1 relating to the Education Department, being a Memorandum embodying the Corporate opinion of the members of the Provincial Educational Service, Bengal.

83,567. I. It is desirable that the two branches—Provincial and Indian—of the Superior Service be amalgamated into one Service. The Resolution of the Government of India on the reorganization of the Educational Services dated the 23rd July 1896 stated in paragraph 6 that the Superior Service would consist of two branches—one including all posts to be filled by persons appointed in England, which will be called “the Indian Educational Service”; and the other, including all posts to be filled by recruitment in India, will 391

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be known as “the Provincial Educational Service.” In the course of a reply in the Imperial Council, Sir Antony MacDonnell (afterwards Lord MacDonnell), the then Home Member, was pleased to explain that there was no difference between the two Services except as regards the place of recruitment, and the same reply was afterwards practically repeated by the then Secretary of State in the House of Commons. It was this principle of equality which was virtually given effect to, in Bengal at any rate, by the provision of seven Principalships of Colleges and four Divisional Inspectorships reserved exclusively for the officers of the Provincial Service (vide Bengal Government’s letter to the Government of India—General (Education) Department No. 717, dated the 28th February 1894). In practice, however, the Provincial Service has come to be regarded by the Education Department as a subordinate Service, the newest recruit in the Indian Service being treated in many cases as senior to the most senior officer of the Provincial Service. This is probably due to the analogy to the Provincial Executive and Judicial Services, which are frankly subordinate to the Indian Civil Service, and also to the provision of acting allowances for the Provincial Educational Service officer officiating in the Indian Educational Service. The equality of the two Services was made quite obvious by the Government appointing (1) Mr. Brühl, a member of the Provincial Service, to the Principalship of the Sibpur Engineering College, which has on its staff several members of the Indian Service; (2) Mr. Duke, a member of the Indian Service, to a Professorship of the Cuttack College, the head of which is Mr. Shaw, an officer of the Provincial Service. These two appointments leave no doubt whatever as to the original intention of the Government of Indian to attach the same status to the two Services. In proposing the amalgamation of the two Services we are only advocating an organization which would give effect to the intention of the Government Resolution referred to above, without the possibility of a deviation that has arisen in practice. The great defect of the system under which the Provincial Service does not actually enjoy the same prestige as the Indian Service, in spite of the fact that several members of the former Service possess more distinguished academic qualifications and reputations, consists in this, that it supplies an object-lesson to our students in the colleges which is detrimental to the interests of sound education. For such invidious distinctions, based mainly on considerations of nationality, are calculated to weaken the students’ self-respect. It could never have been the intention of Government to introduce such a system. The distinction that obtains now between the two Services is regarded by the members of the Provincial Service with a feeling of deep disappointment. The principle which led the Government of India to recognize, in the above Resolution, the equality of the two branches of the Superior Service was mainly based on the two following considerations:— (1) The respective officers of the two Services, working side by side in colleges, have exactly similar duties assigned to them, in recognition of which under a Resolution of the Bengal Government they are uniformly styled “Professors.” 392

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Inasmuch as the Deputy Magistrates, Munsifs, and Subordinate Judges have altogether subordinate duties assigned to them, the Provincial Executive and Judicial Services are obviously differently related to the Indian Civil Service as compared with the relation which ought to subsist, and which was intended to subsist, between members of the Provincial and Indian Educational Services. (2) In the matter of academic qualifications the members of the Provincial Service have equivalent, identical, and, in some cases, even decidedly superior qualifications as compared with those of the Indian Service generally. We venture to think that the members of the Provincial Service have been, on the whole, discharging their duties as efficiently as the members of the Indian Service. II. In order to attract distinguished graduates from European Universities, Europeans should be given a higher scale of pay, though the status of Indian and European officers should be exactly the same. The one amalgamated Service should therefore consist of two classes of posts: (1) posts carrying full salary, (2) posts carrying at least 3⁄5ths or 60 per cent. of the full salary. Distinguished Indian scholars should however be appointed on full pay in India also. III. Posts of the former class will at present be held by the members of the existing Indian Educational Service, while those of the latter class will be similarly held by the members of the existing Provincial Service, subject to the following limitation:— At least one-fourth of the full-salaried posts should be reserved for Indians of distinction, whether educated in Europe or India. To the posts so reserved specially meritorious Indians who may be already in the Service but drawing pay on the lower scale should be equally eligible for appointment. These appointments should be made on the recommendation of the Local Government. IV. The present proportion of the cadre of the Indian Educational Service to the Provincial Educational Service is 1:3. This proportion should be reduced in future to 1:6, a corresponding increase being made in the number of posts carrying a lower salary. This would be in accordance with the recommendations of the last Public Services Commission. V. In the recruitment of officers, European and Indian, only men of high academic qualifications should be held eligible. VI. In the matter of special appointments, e.g., Divisional Inspectorships, Principalships of Colleges, the posts of Assistant Director and Director of Public Instruction, there should be no distinction as between Indians and Europeans, i.e., these posts should be open to all officers irrespective of appointments in India or England. VII. Seniority of officers in any particular grade should be determined by the date of appointment to that grade, and not by the actual salary drawn. VIII. The scheme of amalgamation of the two Services as they stand at present, if approved, should be worked on the following plan:— There are at present 52 posts in the Indian Educational Service and 160 posts in the Provincial Educational Service. In the case of full-salaried posts mentioned in 393

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paragraph II, the initial pay should be Rs. 500 rising to Rs. 1,000 in ten years by annual increment of Rs. 50. Out of a total of 52 posts, 32 posts should be included in this time-scale. In the case of posts with a lower salary, the initial pay should be Rs. 300 rising to Rs. 600 in ten years by annual increment of Rs. 30. Out of a total of 160 posts in the Provincial Educational Service, 100 posts should be included in the time-scale. On completing ten years’ service all the officers should be eligible for admission into a Graded Service constituted as follows:— Full Salary. Grade.

V IV III II I

Number of posts. ... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

6 6 5 2 1

Salary. Rs. 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000

Lower Salary. Number of posts. 18 18 15 6 3

Salary. Rs. 720 840 960 1,080 1,200

IX. Promotion from the ungraded to the graded list should be regulated chiefly by considerations of merit and not of seniority.

Supplementary Written Statement relating to the Provincial Educational Service. GENERAL REMARKS. 83,568. Importance of the work of Educational officers, and especially the responsibility resting with teachers, are admitted on all hands. Professors in Colleges have not only to train men for Public Services and for the liberal professions, but they are also responsible for imparting sound education calculated to widen the bounds of knowledge and to build up the character of their students so as to make them, in the words of His Imperial Majesty, “loyal, manly and useful citizens.” Lord Curzon, in the course of his address delivered at the annual Convocation of the Calcutta University on the 15th February, 1902, thus referred to the gravity and responsibility of those who choose the profession of teaching:—“I turn to those young men who are going to be teachers of others. I pray them to recognise the gravity and responsibility of their choice. Rightly viewed, theirs is the foremost of sciences, the noblest of professions, the most intellectual of arts. . . . . The first thing I would have you remember, therefore, is that you are not entering upon as easy or an idle profession. It is the most responsible of all.” 394

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In view of the gravity and importance of their work, only men of very high attainments and character should be selected for service in the Education Department, and the conditions of service, salary, leave and pension should be sufficiently attractive. It is therefore essential that the following general principles should be carefully observed by Government:— (1) Elimination of considerations of nationality.—In recruiting Educational officers, considerations of race or nationality should be altogether left out of account, as it is necessary to appoint the best men available, to whatever nationality they might belong. (2) Widening of the place of recruitment.—In recruiting officers for the Superior Educational Service, recruitment should not be confined to a particular province or a particular country. Best possible men, wherever available, ought to be appointed. (3) Appointment by Local Government.—Appointment to the Superior Educational Service in India should be made by the Local Government in consultation with the Director of Public Instruction and the University authorities in India. This point will be more fully explained under the head “Recruitment.” (4) Amalgamation of the Provincial Educational Service and Indian Educational Service.—The Provincial Educational Service, and the Indian Educational Service, which are only two branches of the same service, viz., the Superior Educational Service, should be amalgamated, in order that the distinction which has now arisen in practice between the two branches may be completely removed. This point, to which I attach great importance, will be dealt with more fully later on. (5) Appointment of Indians2 to the highest posts in the Education Department.— Qualified Indians (whether graduates of Indian or European Universities) should be appointed to the highest posts in the Education Department, viz., Principalships of Colleges, including the Presidency College, Divisional Inspectorships and the posts of the Assistant Director and the Director of Public Instruction. (6) Equal pay for both Indian and European officers, with compensation allowance for the latter.—The pay of the amalgamated Superior Educational Service (hereinafter called the Bengal Educational Service) should be exactly the same throughout the whole period of service for both European and Indian officers, but European officers may be given a compensation allowance, as explained in the scheme herewith submitted (Enclosure A), in order to induce men of high qualifications to serve in a country remote from their homes. (7) Personal allowances in recognition of special merit.—Personal allowances should be given to distinguished members of the Bengal Educational Service, whether European or Indian, in recognition of special merit, as explained in the scheme appended to this note (Enclosure A). Some of these personal allowances (not exceeding one-fourth of the total number) may, however, be given to officers, Indian or European, of special distinction, at the beginning of their service, if the interests of the service require that such inducements should be offered in special cases. (It is to be understood that in the case of Europeans a personal allowance, 395

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when granted, will be in addition to the usual compensation allowance.) Under this system of personal allowances distinguished officers of special merit will have every chance of getting a maximum salary of Rs. 2,000 a month, so that the Educational Service will attract best possible men, and there will be always an incentive to efficient work. (8) Some of the proposed personal allowances to be reserved for Indians.— At least one-third of the number of the proposed personal allowances should be reserved for Indian officers, in order to induce the best Indian graduates to join the Education Department by an offer of surer prospects. Apart from all general considerations, the principle of reserving a certain number of posts for Indians in a branch of the Public Service has already been recognised by the Secretary of State for India in the case of the superior branch of the Public Works Department. (9) General improvement of the pay and prospects of Educational officers.— The day and prospects of promotion of Educational officers, which compare unfavourably with those of members of other branches of the Public Service, should be substantially improved. The initial pay and the maximum pay ought to be raised, and the service should be so constituted as to ensure a steady flow of promotion. (10) Time-scale.—The pay of a member of the Bengal Educational Service, during the first ten years of service, should be regulated in accordance with a suitable time-scale to be explained later on (Enclosure A). This is already the case in the Indian Educational Service, the Provincial Engineer Service and the Telegraph Service. (11) Reduction of the European element.—The proportion of European officers to the Indian officers in the Superior Educational Service should be gradually reduced in the interest of economy, as more and more qualified Indians are available to represent Western culture. This is in accordance with the recommendations of the last Public Services Commission. In the present circumstances of the country, however, a certain number of highly distinguished European officers is indispensable in the Education Department, to assist in the “gradual union and fusion of the culture” of the East and the West. And when this ideal has been attained, it may be possible to work the educational machinery almost entirely through an indigenous agency. 83,569. (I.) Method of recruitment.—As already stated under the head of “General remarks,” only the best men should be appointed to the Bengal Educational Service— (a) to whatever nationality they might belong, and (b) wherever they may be available (whether Europe or India). Every vacancy should therefore be widely advertised both in Indian and in English papers. (c) Moreover, appointment to the Educational Service should be made by the Local Government in consultation with the Director of Public Instruction and the University, for the actual requirements in the case of any vacancy are better known to the Local Government than to the India Office. Moreover, character and attainments of Indian graduates, as compared with those of European graduates, are more fully known to the Local Government than to the authorities at home. As 396

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to the recruitment of European graduates, the India Office may invite applications from them and forward them to the Local Government with memoranda on their qualifications. (d) Men of high academic qualifications (whether European or Indian), especially those who after a brilliant University career have gone through a postgraduate course of study so as to specialise in the subjects they are required to teach, or men who after a distinguished University career have proved themselves to be highly capable teachers, in private colleges, should only be appointed to the Bengal Educational Service. 83,570. (II.) System of training and probation.—All officers, excepting those who have already had experience of college work, for a period of not less than two years, should be appointed in the first instance for two years. If recruitment be made in the manner already suggested, no special training will be necessary after appointment to the service. 83,571. (III.) Conditions of service.—Duties of a Professor should not be confined to lecture work. He should be responsible for the physical and moral training of the students under his charge, as much as for their intellectual training. He should encourage sports and games, and have free intercourse with them in the debating clubs, the common room, the playground, the hostels, and even in his own house. In short, he should mould the life and character of all students under his care. With a view to facilitate social intercourse between Professors and students, the former should be provided with free quarters within the precincts of the college. 83,572. (IV.) Condition of salary. A.—EXISTING CONDITIONS OF SALARY IN THE PROVINCIAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE. (a) Constitution of the Provincial Educational Service.—The Provincial Educational Service is now divided into eight classes, the pay and the strength of which are shown below:— Class. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Number of Posts. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

5 10 11 14 18 23 32 34

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

397

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Pay. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Rs. 700 600 500 400 350 300 250 200

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(b) Low initial pay.—The initial pay (Rs. 200) is inadequate. The initial pay of the Provincial Executive Service is Rs. 250. (c) Low maximum pay.—The maximum pay to which a member of the Provincial Educational Service is now entitled is Rs. 700. The pay of the highest grade in the Provincial Executive Service is Rs. 800, and in the Provincial Judicial Service Rs. 1,000. Moreover, members of the Provincial Civil Service (both Executive and Judicial) are allowed to hold some listed posts, but there are not even openings of this kind for members of the Provincial Educational Service, however brilliant or meritorious they may be. (d) Slow promotion.—Promotion is very slow in the Provincial Educational Service for two reasons. In the first place, the number of posts in the lower classes is very large as compared with the number in the higher classes, and in consequence, even under the most favourable circumstances, nearly two-thirds of an officer’s whole period of service must be spent in getting through the three lowest classes. Secondly, nothing has been more conducive to slow promotion than the old practice (which has not yet been altogether discontinued) of appointing some officers direct to one of the higher classes in the Provincial Educational Service. From 1897 to 1905 about 20 officers were appointed direct to classes VI. and VII. (the lowest class being class VIII.), and some even to class V. Quite recently (in August, 1913) an officer was appointed sub. pro tem, direct to class III. of the Provincial Educational Service. The result is that most of the appointments in the higher classes are now held by officers who will retire later than many of the members of the lower classes; and though some relief is thus afforded to the former, it is merely at the expense of the remaining officers who form the majority. B.—CONDITIONS OF SALARY AS THEY SHOULD BE. (a) Introduction of a system of progressive pay (time-scale).—In a service like the one which is now called the Provincial Educational Service (but which, I propose, should be amalgamated with the present Indian Educational Service, the amalgamated service being called the Bengal Educational Service), the graded system can hardly work satisfactorily; firstly, because the strength of the service is very limited, and, secondly, because it is sometimes found necessary to appoint some of the officers on special rates of pay higher than the pay of the lowest class, and in such cases appointment has to be made direct to some of the higher classes, over the heads of deserving officers in the lower classes, thus seriously blocking a normal flow of promotion and giving rise to a bitter feeling. It would no doubt be possible to improve the pay and prospects of members of the service even by retaining a graded system, provided the service were constituted on the following lines:— (1) The pay of each grade is to be substantially increased. (2) The number of posts in the lower classes is to be substantially reduced, a corresponding increase being made in the number of posts in the higher classes. 398

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(3) Finally, it is to be strictly observed that under no circumstances appointment should be made to any class other than the lowest. I should, however, strongly advocate the introduction of a system of progressive pay in place of the present graded system, at least during the first ten years of service, as in the Indian Educational Service or in the Provincial Engineer Service, as this will remove the grievance just referred to (namely, the appointment of outsiders over the heads of deserving officers), and secure a regular flow of promotion and make the service more popular. (b) Raising the initial pay.—The initial pay should be raised to Rs. 300 a month. (c) More rapid promotion.—The rate of promotion should be much more rapid than at present. In order to give effect to my suggestions under the three preceding heads, viz., (a), (b) and (c). I should strongly urge that the pay during the first ten years of service should be Rs. 300—30—600 a month, i.e., the initial pay should be Rs. 600 a month rising to Rs. 600 a month in ten years by an annual increment of Rs. 30 per mensem. (d) Raising the maximum pay.—The pay of the highest grade should be Rs. 1,300 a month. This of course, implies that there should be some intermediate grades—for example, two grades on Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 800 respectively. The constitution of the amalgamated Superior Educational Service, as proposed by me, will be explained later on in the scheme annexed to this note (Enclosure A). (e) Personal allowance to specially meritorious officers.—Personal allowances should be granted to officers of exceptional merit in addition to the grade pay (vide Enclosure A). 83,573. (V.) Conditions of leave.—(a) Equal facilities should be given to members of both the Indian and the Provincial branches of the Superior Educational Service for self-improvement and for keeping them abreast with the times, and there should be no difference as regards leave rules, especially in the case of furlough, so as to afford equal opportunities to all Professors for study in Europe or in different parts of India. (b) Privilege leave is allowed to Educational officers enjoying regular vacation:—(i) on half pay, and (ii) only when there is urgent necessity. The Director of Public Instruction should be authorised to relax the second condition at his discretion, and to allow privilege leave in cases of ordinary necessity. (c) The head of an office should be allowed discretion to extend casual leave from ten to fifteen days in the year, especially in cases of urgent necessity. 83,574. (VI.) Conditions of pension.—(a) Twenty-five years’ active service should entitle an officer to full pension. (b) Twenty years’ active service should also qualify for full pension in the case of— (i) officers who may be invalidated by competent medical authorities, (ii) officers who are admitted into the Educational Service from private colleges at an advanced age, and (iii) officers of special merit who may be willing to retire before completing 25 years of active service. 399

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83,575. (VII.) Such limitations as may exist in the employment of nonEuropeans and the working of the existing system of division of services into Imperial and Provincial. A.—EXISTING CONDITIONS. (a) Indians, however high their academic qualifications may be, are almost completely debarred from appointment to the Indian Educational Service. Prior to the reconstitution of the present Superior Service in 1897, men like Pandits Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Mohesh Chandra Nayaratna, Babus Bhudeh Mukherjee, Prasanna Kumar Sarbadhikari, Umesh Chandra Dutta and Peari Charan Sarkar, who had purely Indian qualifications, were considered to be very valuable acquisitions to the Superior graded service; but since the constitution of the Provincial Educational Service in 1896, even distinguished members of this service, like Dr. P. C. Roy and Dr. D. N. Mallik, who are well-known for their researches and high character, have not been admitted into the Indian Educational Service. (b) Non-Europeans in the Provincial Educational Service are not allowed now to hold the highest posts in the Education Department, e.g., Principalships of the Presidency and Dacca Colleges, the Civil Engineering College, Sibpur, and of the Calcutta Madrasa, Divisional Inspectorships (with one exception), and the post of the Assistant Director of Public Instruction, not to speak of the post of the Director of Public Instruction. Only a few years ago seven Principalships of Colleges, including the Ravenshaw College (now in Bihar and Orissa), and four Divisional Inspectorships, were reserved exclusively for members of the Provincial Educational Service, but at present only three of the Principalships and one Divisional Inspectorship are open to members of the Provincial Educational Service. Thus, while the number of listed posts thrown open to the Provincial Civil Service is being gradually increased, there has been unfortunately a distinctly retrograde move as regards the Provincial Educational Service in respect of appointment to posts of higher responsibility. (c) The working of the existing system of division of the Superior Educational Service into Imperial and Provincial has proved very unsatisfactory, and has given rise to bitter discontent. In the resolution of the Government of India on the reorganisation of the Educational Services, dated the 23rd July 1896, and in the Bengal Government Resolution No. 1244, dated the 26th March 1897, it was stated that the Indian Educational Service and the Provincial Educational Service were only two branches of the same service, viz., the Superior Educational Service. It was clearly explained in the Imperial Council and also in Parliament that there was no difference between the two branches of the service, except in respect of the place of recruitment and the pay. But in actual practice a member of the Provincial Educational Service has come to be regarded in the Education Department as inferior to a member of the Indian Educational Service, e.g., a man like Dr. P. C. Roy, the present senior officer of the Provincial Educational Service, who has earned a world-wide reputation for his original work in 400

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Chemistry, is regarded inferior in status even to the junior members of the Indian Educational Service. B.—NECESSITY OF REMOVING THE EXISTING LIMITATIONS AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AND THE PROVINCIAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE. (a) If graduates of Indian Universities are found competent enough to be Judges of the High Court or members of the Executive Council (both Imperial and Provincial) or to hold the highest appointments in the enrolled list of the Financial Department of the Government of India, there are no grounds for debarring them from holding the highest posts in the Education Department, including the post of the Director of Public Instruction. (b) The distinction which has arisen in practice between the Provincial and Indian Educational Services should be completely removed, and the two services amalgamated into one service, to be called the Bengal Educational Service. I lay great stress on this point for the following reasons:— (1) The distinction which has now arisen in practice was never originally intended by Government, as already explained under the head “A—existing conditions,” and it is obviously desirable to give effect to the original intention of Government. (2) The Provincial Educational Service does not bear to the Indian Educational Service the same relation that the Provincial Civil Service bears to the Indian Civil Service. Members of the Provincial Executive and Judicial Services have altogether subordinate duties assigned to them, and are distinctly subordinate to members of the Indian Civil Service. But members of the Provincial Educational Service and of the Indian Educational Service, working as Professors in colleges, have exactly similar duties to perform. The equality of status between these two classes of officers is indicated also by the fact that they bear the identical designation of Professors, while members of the Provincial Civil Service (both Executive and Judicial) have designations [“Deputy Magistrates,” “Subordinate Judges,”] which obviously imply an inferiority of status, as compared with members of the Indian Civil Service. (3) As regards academic distinctions, it may be pointed out that only the best graduates of Indian Universities are, as a rule, appointed as Professors in the Provincial Educational Service, and their qualifications may be said to be of a high order, even in comparison with those of the members of the Indian Educational Service, especially as the best European graduates are not always available for this service. (4) As regards the actual success attained by the European and Indian graduates respectively as Professors in colleges, the best method of arriving at a definite conclusion is to compare their abilities as teachers and disciplinarians, their character, and above all the enthusiasm with which they devote their time and energy to furthering the best interests of the students committed to their care. 401

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(5) The difference in status between the Provincial and Indian Educational Service officers, which has arisen in practice, though not intended by Government, has given rise to a feeling of intense bitterness in the minds of the more deserving members of the Provincial Educational Service. This feeling should be removed in the interests of sound education. Amalgamation of the Indian and Provincial branches of the Superior Educational Service may be effected on the lines illustrated by the scheme herewith submitted (Enclosure A). The scheme is based upon the principles relating to conditions of service, salary and status already formulated, and may, of course, be modified by the authorities in detail, the main principles being, however, allowed to remain unchanged. 83,576. (VIII.) Relations of the service with the Indian Civil Service and other services.—(a) To ensure cordial relation between members of the Educational and other branches of the Public Service, there should be mutual intercourse and exchange of views. (b) The status of members of the proposed (amalgamated) Educational Service should be higher, irrespective of pay, than that of members of the Provincial Civil Service (both Executive and Judicial). Members of the Indian Educational Service are already accorded a higher rank than Deputy Magistrates and Sub-Judges, and members of the Provincial Educational Service, as already pointed out, should have the same rank as those of the Indian Educational Service. 83,577. (IX.) Some other points.—(1) Inspectors of Schools, Additional Inspectors of Schools and Assistant Inspectors of Schools should continue to be included in the same service as Professors in colleges for the following reasons:— (a) It is necessary that the superior inspecting agency and the controlling officers of the Education Department should be men of as high academic qualifications as Professors in colleges and have also teaching experience, without which no effective control can be exercised over the teaching work in schools and colleges. Professors of some years’ experience may therefore be appointed with advantage as Inspecting officers. (b) It may happen that some of the Professors will find sedentary work unsuited to the state of their health, and a change of occupation may prove reinvigorating, and may thus prevent a too early termination of their career of usefulness; and, on the other hand, inspection work will not degenerate into a mechanical routine work, if fresh ideas and spirit be occasionally infused into it from the atmosphere of college life. (2) All officers doing lecture work in colleges should be men of high academic qualifications. It is therefore necessary to discontinue the practice now obtaining in the Education Department of appointing some Lectures on an as low initial pay as Rs. 125 a month. (3) The Principal of every Government College should be given a suitable local allowance, and also provided with residential quarters, free of rent, within or near the college, in consideration of his heavy duties and 402

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responsibilities, which consist in administrative work, a large volume of office work, including checking of accounts and control of the hostels, in addition to lecture work. (4) Married members of the proposed (amalgamated) Educational Service, in large towns, should receive adequate house allowance, unless they can be provided with free quarters. This concession has already been allowed to all married members of the Indian Educational Service living in Calcutta. (5) The relation between two or more Professors teaching the same subject in a college should be one of co-ordination and mutual co-operation. Each of them should be responsible for his work directly to the Principal of the College, and not to any of his colleagues. (6) No officer of less than 10 years’ experience (whether European or Indian) should be appointed to the responsible post of Principal of a College or Inspector of Schools, as an accurate knowledge of the conditions and requirements of those under his charge, and a clear and ready perception of the practical measures best suited to their welfare, are essential for successful performance of the duties of an educational administrator. (7) There are some posts included in the Provincial Educational Service (e.g., post of the Head Maulvi, Calcutta Madrasa, Superintendent, Apprentice Department, Civil Engineering College, Sibpur), for which it may be necessary to recruit officers on a rate of pay higher than the pay of the lowest class. Inclusion of such posts in a graded service necessitates appointment of outsiders over the heads of deserving officers in the lowest grades. Posts of this kind should therefore be placed outside the grades of the service, with a view to remove a keenly felt grievance arising from the appointment of outsiders to higher grades. (8) Headmasters of schools, and other officers not connected with College education, should not be included in the proposed Bengal Educational Service, care being, however, taken that their prospects may not in any way be prejudiced. 83,578. ENCLOSURE A.—SCHEME OF THE PROPOSED AMALGAMATED SUPERIOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICE TO BE CALLED THE BENGAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE.

(1) STRENGTH OF THE SERVICE. A.—Present strength of the Indian Educational Service and the Provincial Educational Service. (a) The number of posts in the Indian Educational Service is 56 (including the three posts outside the grades), of which 12 are vacant now. But there are actually 14 officers in the Indian Educational Service, viz., 39 Europeans and five Indians, including those outside the grades. (These figures have been taken from the quarterly Civil List for Bengal corrected up to the 1st July, 1913.) 403

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(b) The strength of the Provincial Educational Service (according to the issue of the Civil List referred to above) is 147. But the actual number of officers in the service is now 133. (c) It will thus be seen that the total strength of the Indian and Provincial Educational Services is 203 (56 in the Indian and 147 in the Provincial Service), but that the actual number of officers in the two services is 177 (44 in the Indian and 133 in the Provincial Service).

B.—Strength of the proposed Bengal Educational Service. (a) The strength of the proposed Service should not exceed 177, the actual number of officers now in the Indian and Provincial Educational Services. (b) As suggested in my memorandum under the head “IX.—Some other points”, in the paragraph marked (S), officers having no direct connection with college education (and also those doing chiefly tutorial work or working as assistants in colleges) should not be included in the proposed Service, though Inspectors of Schools and Assistant Inspectors of Schools should continue to be so included for reasons explained under the head “IX.—Some other points”, in paragraph marked (1). Twenty-five to 30 officers may thus be removed from the cadre of the Provincial Educational Service. On the other hand, some of the lectureships in colleges now included in the Subordinate Educational Service should be included in the proposed Service, some however being converted into posts of college tutors. The strength of the proposed Service should therefore be about 160 as follows:— Actual number of officers in the Provincial and India services Number of headmasters and others to be transferred (roughly) Remaining number Number of lectureships to be included (roughly) Total strength

177 27 150 10 160

(2) PROPORTION OF EUROPEAN OFFICERS TO INDIAN OFFICERS IN THE PROPOSED SERVICE. For the present the number of European officers should be 40, which is about their actual number in the Indian Educational Service now. The number of Indian officers should therefore be 120. European officers should be gradually replaced by Indian officers of similar qualifications, so far as practicable. This will lead to economy, as the number of compensation allowances will thus be gradually reduced. In my opinion the number of Europeans should be reduced by at least 15 (which appears to be practicable) during the next 20 years on the gradual retirement of the senior officers. Since the passing of Lord Curzon’s Universities Act, the standard of education in Indian Universities has considerably advanced, and a steadily increasing number of Indians now proceed to foreign countries for study. 404

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(3) CONSTITUTION OF THE PROPOSED SERVICE FOR BOTH EUROPEANS AND INDIANS. (a) The time-scale (Rs. 300—30—600 in 10 years).—The initial pay of an officer of the Bengal Educational Service should be Rs. 300 a month, rising to Rs. 600 a month in 10 years by an annual increment of Rs. 30 a month. (b) The graded service.—(1) After completing 10 years’ service, all officers will enter into a graded service in order of seniority, though they must draw for some years a fixed pay equal to the maximum pay of the time-scale (i.e., Rs. 600 a month) before they will find admission into the graded service, which will necessarily be contingent upon the gradual retirement of the senior officers in the highest grades. (2) Of the proposed 160 posts to be included in the Bengal Educational Service, 100 may be allotted to the time-scale and 60 to the graded service, which may be divided into three classes or grades. (3) The pay and the strength of each grade, as proposed, are shown below:— Class (grade). I. II. III.

... ... ...

... ... ...

... ... ...

Pay.

Strength.

Rs. 1,300 1,000 800

5 20 35

Time-scale Rs. 300—30—600 in 10 years 100.

(4) COMPENSATION ALLOWANCE FOR EUROPEAN OFFICERS. Every European officer, being a graduate of a European University, should be given a compensation allowance of Rs. 300 a month, so long as his pay does not exceed Rs. 1,000 a month. The allowance should cease to be given to an officer as soon as he is promoted to Class I (Rs. 1,300), firstly, because a compensation allowance is not necessary in the case of an officer drawing a pay of Rs. 1,300 per month, and, secondly (and chiefly), because a specially meritorious officer will be able to earn a personal allowance (as explained in the next paragraph) long before he rises to the highest grade.

(5) PERSONAL ALLOWANCE. (a) A definite number of personal allowances should be assigned to the Service, to be granted to officers (European or Indian) who may prove themselves to be specially meritorious ordinarily after 10 years of service. (b) Some of these personal allowances may, however, be given to officers (Indian or European) of special distinction, at the beginning of their service, if the interests of the Service require that such inducements should be offered in special 405

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cases, but the number of allowances granted in this manner should not exceed one-fourth of the total number of allowances assigned. (c) In the case of a European officer, a personal allowance, when granted, will be in addition to the usual compensation allowance, except when the officer rises to the highest grade. (d) The number and value of the proposed personal allowances may be as follows:— Personal allowances. Grade. 1st grade 2nd grade 3rd grade 4th grade

Number. ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

2 4 6 12

Amount. Rs. 700 500 300 200

N.B.—The grades of personal allowances are independent of the grades of the Service, and there is no correspondence between them. (e) At least one-third of the personal allowances should be reserved for Indian officers in order to induce the best Indian graduates to join the Educational Service by an offer of surer prospects. ( f ) A specially meritorious officer should be granted, in the first instance, after at least 10 years of service, an allowance of the lowest grade (Rs. 200), but as senior officers drawing higher personal allowances gradually retire, he will be eligible for allowances of higher grades. But these allowances will not be granted merely in order of seniority.

(6) PROMOTION AND SENIORITY. Seniority will be regulated according to the dates of appointment to the Service. Promotion up to Class III (Rs. 800) should be in accordance with seniority, but in the case of higher grades it should be regulated chiefly according to merit.

(7) PROSPECTS OF EUROPEAN OFFICERS UNDER THE PROPOSED SCHEME AS COMPARED WITH THEIR PRESENT PROSPECTS IN THE INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE. (a) A European officer will rise from Rs. 600 a month (Rs. 300 pay + Rs. 300 compensation allowance) to Rs. 900 a month (Rs. 600 pay + Rs. 300 compensation allowance) during the first 10 years. The average income therefore will be the same (Rs. 750 a month) both in the proposed scheme and in the existing Indian Educational Service during the first 10 years of service for European officers.

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(b) As a compensation allowance of Rs. 300 is proposed to be granted to European officers up to class II, this allowance will make their pay and prospects in the proposed scheme probably a little better than at present. (c) The chief attraction of the proposed scheme to really distinguished men is the scheme of personal allowances. A specially distinguished and meritorious officer will certainly rise to Rs. 2,000 a month (Rs. 1,300 pay + Rs. 700 allowance). (d) Moreover, inclusion of a large number of Indian officers in the European service will not prejudice a meritorious European officer, as comparatively less meritorious members of the service will not rise beyond class III (Rs. 800), nor will they be entitled to personal allowances. Further Supplementary written Statement relating to the Education Department, being a Memorandum on the working of the division of the Superior Educational Service into Imperial and Provincial branches. 83,579. In the Written Statement submitted by me on the 1st October 1913 (vide paragraphs 83,568–78), I could not, for want of time, deal adequately with the important subject of the working of the division of the Superior Educational Service into two branches, Indian and Provincial. Moreover, as the time allowed was only a week, I could not then fully ascertain the views of all the officers whom I have been called upon to represent. I therefore beg to submit this supplementary memorandum, dealing more fully with the subject of the existing division of the Superior Educational Service into two branches and their proposed amalgamation. The distinction between the Indian and the Provincial branches of the Superior Educational Service is threefold in actual practice, viz. in regard to the status, the place of recruitment and the pay. (A) UNEQUAL STATUS. In spite of the repeated declarations of the highest authorities, the status of an officer of the Provincial Educational Service has come to be regarded as distinctly inferior to that of an officer of the Indian Service. This, however, is inevitable, under the existing circumstances. For it is almost inconceivable that the status of a body of officers belonging to a distinct branch of the service, drawing pay on a lower scale, could ever be equal, except in theory, to that of the officers in the other branch of the Service. (B) DIFFERENCE AS REGARDS THE PLACE OF RECRUITMENT. The distinction between the Indian and the Provincial Educational Services, as regards the place of recruitment, is highly objectionable, as well as unnecessary, at the present stage of development of the Indian Universities. My reasons for arriving at this conclusion are as follows:— 407

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(a) Introduction of racial considerations. The present system, under which recruitment for the highest posts in the Education Department (i.e., the posts in the Indian Service) is made invariably and exclusively in Europe, introduces racial considerations and throws the question of academic distinctions and qualifications in the back-ground. The last Public Services Commission recommended recruitment in England for Professorships in those branches of learning only, in which the European standard of advancement had not been attained in India at the time. The recommendation was obviously based on considerations of qualifications and academic distinctions; but Government of India (Home Department) in their No. 4—Edn./204—205 dated the 23rd July 1896, on the subject of the reorganisation of the Educational Service, stated as follows (in paragraph 15):—“In future natives of India who are desirous of entering the Educational Department will usually be appointed in India and to the Provincial Service” (p. 185, Papers relating to the Reorganisation of the Educational Service in India from 1891–97. The result of this has been (1) that no graduates of Indian Universities, however distinguished or capable, can now find admission into the Indian Education Service, (2) that distinguished Indian graduates of European Universities, like Dr. P. C. Roy, have been refused admission to that Service, but (3) that an ordinary European graduate of the Calcutta University (Mr. Billing) could find an easy access to the Indian Service. (b) Recruitment on protectionist principles unsatisfactory. The hard and fast rule regarding the place of recruitment leads to the undesirable result that candidates of no superior merit in Europe, under the protection of this exclusive rule, are sometimes appointed in preference to more distinguished and capable men in India. (c) Progress of Indian education and research. Since the last Public Services Commission, there has been a considerable progress of education in India. The number of qualified Indians available for higher educational work is unquestionably much greater now than was the case 25 years ago, and the standard of education in Indian Universities is distinctly higher now. Within recent years, the Calcutta University has taken steps not only to raise its standard of education, but to impart a decided stimulus to advancement of knowledge by insisting upon writing an original thesis as the essential condition for the award of the degree of Ph.D., as well as of the Premchand Roychand Scholarship, and by taking care to appoint as University Professors, specialists and scholars of distinction. It is also a fact that within recent years, many Indian graduates have shown considerable aptitude for research. Some Indian members of the Calcutta Mathematical Society (started only a few years ago) have done useful original work, while a visit to the Chemical Laboratory of the Presidency College, where a band of enthusiastic chemists have been carrying on valuable original research under the guidance of Dr. P. C. Roy, will convince everybody that there is now no lack of intellectual atmosphere in India. (d) Recruitment on free trade principles unobjectionable. Even supposing the number of properly qualified Indians to be really few even now (which certainly is 408

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not the fact), I do not see any possible objection to keeping an open door for both Europeans and Indians, which means that in the case of every vacancy, the Local Government must select the best man from among all available Indian and European candidates. On the other hand, recruiting exclusively in Europe is at present not only unnecessary, but has been operating merely as an effective bar against the admission of even the best graduates of Indian Universities to the higher Service and has in consequence created grave dissatisfaction in the Provincial Service. (C) UNEQUAL PAY. The average monthly earning of a member of the Indian Educational Service is about three times as large as that of a member of the Provincial Educational Service. According to my calculations based on the figures in the Civil List for Bengal corrected up to the 1st July 1913, the average cost to Government, in July 1913, was Rs. 801, for a member of the Indian Education Service, and Rs. 295, for a member of the Provincial Educational Service (and I may add incidentally, Rs. 1788 for a member of the Indian Civil Service, Rs. 903 for a Superintendent of Police, Rs. 411 for an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Rs. 376 for a member of the Provincial Civil Service, Executive branch, and Rs. 367 for a member of the Provincial Civil Service, Judicial branch, so that the Provincial Educational Service officer, whose status is said to be as high as that of an officer of the Indian Educational Service and therefore higher than that of members of the Provincial Civil Service happens really to be the most ill-paid of all!) It is almost inconsistent with the self-respect of the Indian Professors in the Provincial Educational Service that for doing exactly similar work and with as much ability and success, generally speaking, as members of the Indian Service, they should be allowed about a third part of the remuneration of the latter. It is a significant fact that with only a few exceptions, the most brilliant graduates of the Calcutta University (I mean particularly those few who distinguish themselves by securing the first or second place in all the University Examinations from the Matriculation up to the M.A.) have fought shy of the Provincial Educational Service in Bengal, and those that have actually joined the Service are altogether dissatisfied with the conditions of their Service. As regards the question of inequality in salary between Indian and European officers doing similar work, the simple issues are:— (a) Is it fair (and if fair, to what extent) to allow a higher salary to European officers, on account of the greater cost of their living and on account of the sacrifices they make in serving in a distant country? (b) Is it not desirable to attract the most qualified men to the Educational service by offering them comparatively better prospects? If desirable, should not such better prospects be offered in the shape of higher pay rather than in the shape of personal allowances for special merit, in view of the practical difficulty as regards judging of special merit? (c) Is a Professor in the Provincial Service really of so inferior merit as to deserve only about a third part of the salary of a Professor in the Indian Service? 409

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I shall now deal with these issues one by one. (a) If the cost of living is higher in the case of a European officer, the Indian officer has to support or at any rate to help his poorer relations, out of a feeling of charity, which is his national characteristic. Moreover, the Indian officer is obliged to live in insanitary conditions and cannot get good medical help or benefits of residence in healthy stations on account of lower pay and thus meets with death at an age when the European officer enjoys a vigorous health. It would, therefore, be quite unfair to contend that the Indian officer requires less money, because his physical needs are fewer. Candidly, however, I must say that the pay attached to a post should be determined solely by the duties and responsibilities and not by the needs of the incumbent of the post. At the same time, I admit that if a European candidate has to be appointed as a matter of real necessity and in the interest of education to any post for which all the available Indian candidates are found to be comparatively less suitable (I believe such cases are few now and will be fewer still in the course of the next 20 years), then and then only I would give a suitable compensation allowance at a fixed rate (say Rs. 300 a month to the European candidate, in consideration of the sacrifices the latter would have to make in accepting service in a distant country and I would also devise a scheme of personal allowances for special merit, which in itself would prove sufficiently attractive to the meritorious European graduates, as much as to the best Indian graduates (Vide Enclosure A to my memorandum dated the 1st October, 1913). (b) In order that the best men may be attracted to the Service, it is no doubt desirable to differentiate the emoluments of educational officers to some extent, but not certainly on racial grounds or on the basis of the sentimental belief that graduates of classical Universities like Cambridge and Oxford are necessarily superior to graduates of comparatively modern Universities in Europe and India, nor as a rule, even on the basis of initial qualifications, however high, for all the recruits should be men of high academic qualifications, whether Indian or European. The only just and logical basis of differentiation is real merit, which should be judged by the standards of (1) ability as Professors or Educational administrators, (2) capacity for original work, (3) enthusiasm and devotion to duty, (4) moral character and (5) last but not least, in the case of Professors, capacity for building up the character of students, which means the capacity to understand the pupils, to sympathise with them and thus to acquire a real power of control over them, and in the case of educational administrators, accurate knowledge of local conditions and requirements and a clear preception of the measures best suited to the local needs. The differentiation should, therefore, be made, not generally at the time of recruitment, but after 10 years of service, and some personal allowances should be set apart for rewarding special merit, irrespective of nationality, as explained in my scheme (Vide Enclosure A to my memorandum dated 1st October, 1913). The only objection that might be raised against my scheme of personal allowances for special merit is that it would be difficult for Government to discriminate between the different officers; but this difficulty has to be faced even now, 410

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in making selections for the most responsible posts in each Department and in awarding titles, distinctions and special promotions. The difficulty, however, will be minimised, if the personal allowances proposed by me are attached partly to more responsible posts (such as Principalships and Divisional Inspectorships), but it is desirable that some of them should also be thrown open to the entire body of Professors, Indian and European. (c) I do not believe that any fair-minded person will contend that the Provincial Service officer is really of such an inferior type that he deserves only a third part of the pay of the Indian Service officer, for doing exactly similar work. Judged by the various tests mentioned in the preceding paragraph, Professors in the Provincial Service will be found unquestionably to be as efficient as members of the Indian Service generally, and some of them, distinctly of superior merit. There have been many Indian Professors in the Presidency College, Calcutta (and also elsewhere), enjoying a higher reputation for ability as Professors than many European Professors in the same College. There has also been a large number of Indian Principals of Colleges and Divisional Inspectors of Schools who discharged their duties to the satisfaction of those who supervised their work (Vide the reply of Bengal Government to interpellations put in the Bengal Legislative Council by the Hon’ble Dr. Debaprasad Sarbadhikary on the 2nd April, 1913). As regards the original research, not only some of the senior members of the Provincial Education Service, but several members of the lower grades of the Service have distinguished themselves by doing original work. In the matter of building up the character of students, European Professors generally cannot be expected to do as much as their Indian colleagues, as it is difficult for the former to understand their pupils, to get an insight into their inner life by having a free and intimate intercourse with them and thus to acquire real control over their private life. As regards the relative merits of Indian and European Educational officers, I cannot do better than to give below some extracts from letter No. 11,029 dated 11th August, 1892, from the Director of Public Instruction, Madras, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Madras:— “European experience in Educational matters is of less value in India than in Great Britain. The cleverest don from Oxford or Cambridge may prove a failure as an Indian Educationist.” “The Professorships of Mathematics, History, Sanskrit and Philosophy have been held, with credit either permanently or temporarily, on several occasions, by natives of India” (Vide para. 3 of the letter referred to, pp. 12–13 of the Papers relating to the Reorganisation of the Education Service in India from 1891–97). If it was true so far back as 1892, it is more so now, after a steady and considerable progress in education for 21 years. Perhaps I may add here that a statutory native of India (Mr. H. M. Percival) was acknowledged for many years as the most distinguished Professor of English in Bengal, and a similar reputation for English scholarship and success as a Professor of English was enjoyed by the late Rev. Lal Behari Dey, the author of “Folktales of Bengal,” “Govinda Samanta” &c. Mr. Homersham Cox (lately of the Muir Central College, Allahabad) is of 411

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opinion that “there are Indians thoroughly competent, although they have never studied in Europe,” and that “a superstitious value is sometimes attached in India to a European degree.” Mr. Cox concludes as follows:—“The conclusion then is that already many, eventually all, of the posts of the Indian Educational Service with the doubtful exception of the Professorships of English, might be conferred on Indians.” (Modern Review, Nov., 1912.) I might mention the names of many illustrious Indian officers now in the Education Department, but it would be invidious to do so. I may, however, be permitted to mention the name of the late lamented Professor Benoyendranath Sen of the Presidency College, who was looked upon as the friend, philosopher and guide of his students and who combined with a high character and a deep religious fervour, exceptional abilities as a Professor and I have grave doubts if any European Professor is capable of exercising the same salutary influence on students as the last Professor Sen; and yet this distinguished Professor was all along in the Provincial Service and it was 8 or 9 years before he could get a lift to Class VII (then Rs. 200). In these circumstances, I most emphatically condemn the existing division of the Superior Educational Service into two branches with unequal pay and recruited in different places. This kind of division is humiliating to the Professors in the Provincial branch and seriously affects their sense of responsibility and creates in them a sore feeling calculated to interfere with the proper discharge of their duties, specially outside the College. It tends to create in the officers in the Indian branch a feeling of artificial superiority and an attitude unfavourable to the growth of an esprit de corps among the members of the Service. Finally, it is an unwholesome object-lesson to the Indian students who do not fail to mark the differential treatment accorded to the ablest Professors of their own nationality. THE ONLY REMEDY: AMALGAMATION ON THE BASIS OF EQUAL PAY. In my humble opinion and in the opinion of the entire body of officers whom I represent, the two branches of the Service should be amalgamated into one undivided Service and the pay of all officers, Indian and European, should be made equal, the latter being, however, given a compensation allowance of Rs. 300 a month (Rs. 200 a month in the opinion of some officers). No further differentiation in emoluments should generally be made on the basis of initial qualifications, but special merit may be recognised, after 10 years of service, in accordance with a suitable scheme of personal allowances. Moreover, European candidates should be appointed, only when suitable Indian candidates are not available. With the exception of a few University chairs, which should be open only to specialists of established reputation, to be recruited on special terms for short periods, all the posts in the Education Department should eventually be filled solely by Indians. As regards the absolute equality of pay of the officers, Indian and European, I consulted all the members of the Provincial Educational Service (Collegiate branch) and they have modified their views as expressed in the memorandum 412

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submitted by Dr. P. C. Roy on behalf of the entire Service. In that memorandum, which had to be prepared in a great hurry and without due consideration, for want of time, the posts of the proposed amalgamated Service were divided into two classes, viz., those carrying full pay and those carrying 60 per cent. of the full pay. But I am now in a position to say (and I have been actually requested by some of the officers to say) that after mature and deliberate consideration, the officers subsequently came to the conclusion that in the proposed amalgamated Service, there should be one and the same scale of pay for all officers, Indian and European. I venture to hope that the Scheme I already submitted in my memorandum dated the 1st October, 1913 (Enclosure A to that memorandum) will meet the requirements of the situation. But as a result of further consideration and consultation with members of the Service, I should now suggest the following slight modifications in my original Scheme:— (a) Some of the proposed personal allowances in my scheme should be attached to certain specific posts (e.g. Principalships), while the rest should be thrown open to the whole body of the Service. (b) At least half the number of more responsible posts to which personal allowances may be attached should be reserved for Indian officers. I do believe that Indians are now quite capable of standing on their own merit. But at the same time, it cannot be denied that in the past, Indian officers of undoubtedly superior merit have been regarded and still continue to be regarded as inferior to the newest European recruits in the Indian Service and it is also a fact that since the constitution of the Provincial Service, not a single Indian graduate of an Indian University, however meritorious, has been appointed to the Indian Service, while some of the Principalships and Divisional Inspectorships reserved in 1897 for the Provincial Service have now been actually reserved for the Indian Service. Hence there are reasonable grounds for apprehension that unless the claims of Indians are safeguarded by some kind of protection, their merit might not be adequately recognised in the future also. Moreover, the proportion of Indians to Europeans being 3 to 1 in my scheme, the demand for reserving at least half of the number of more responsible posts for Indians is moderate. (c) With a view to reduction of cost, the constitution of the amalgamated Service, as proposed in my last memorandum may be modified as follows (the scheme of personal allowances, however, remaining the same as previously proposed by me):— Class. I. II. III. IV.

Pay. ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

... ... ... ...

Rs. 1,300 1,000 800 700

Strength. 4 8 18 20

Time-scale 300—30—600 in ten years 110.

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(d) Promotion up to Class II (Rs. 1,000) should be regulated chiefly according to seniority.

BABU SARADA PRASANNA DAS, called and examined. 83,580. (Chairman.) The witness represented the Provincial Educational Service of Bengal on the collegiate side. He was at present Officiating Principal of the Hooghly College, a position he had occupied for 2½ years. He had been in Government service for 15½ years. The explanation of the three written statements put in was that Dr. P. C. Roy originally called a meeting only of the Calcutta officers of the Provincial Service, but officers in the mufassal were not given sufficient time for deliberation or discussion. There was complete unanimity of opinion that the Indian and the Provincial services should be amalgamated into one service, but there was some difference of opinion as to the exact manner of working out a scheme of amalgamation. A scheme was adopted by the Calcutta meeting under which a certain number of posts would carry full salary, and others only 60 per cent. It was then contemplated that as a rule Indians would occupy only the lower salary posts, though some of them would be eligible for holding the full salary posts. Later on when the witness was informed on the 22nd September last that he had been elected to appear before the Commission he again consulted the members of the Service on the collegiate side and was told by most of them that they had modified their views. There was no change of opinion in connection with the essential principle that the Indian and the Provincial Services should be amalgamated, but it was now unanimously desired to abandon the idea of keeping Indians to a 60 per cent. salary standard. 83,581. In the detailed scheme contained in his written statement, dated the 1st October, 1913, he had proposed that 27 appointments now in the Provincial Educational Service should not be placed in the amalgamated service. This was his own personal view, but some of his colleagues were of a contrary opinion. The posts in question were those of headmasters of collegiate schools and superintendents of madrassahs. 83,582. In any reformed system consideration should be given to the actual work done as distinguished from the place of recruitment or race. On the collegiate side all the existing posts in the Provincial Educational Service were equally important with those in the Indian Educational Service and should be in the same service with them. 83,583. The recommendation that headmasters of schools should not be included in the proposed amalgamated service was made because nothing was gained by converting a headmaster into a Professor or a Professor into a headmaster: the headmaster should be recruited from amongst experienced schoolmasters in India, who might be M.A.’s and B.T.’s, but Professors could not be recruited from that source. He did not agree that the best training for an Inspector was that of a schoolmaster. A certain amount of teaching experience was necessary for an Inspector, but that experience could also be obtained in colleges. 414

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83,584. With reference to salary, the officers, now asked for equal pay with Europeans, but would not object to a foreign service allowance for the latter on account of their having to make certain sacrifices in taking up service in a foreign country. It should be provided, however, that Europeans were recruited only when suitable Indian candidates were not available. In the present circumstances of the country a certain percentage of Europeans was necessary, but it would be an advantage to appoint more Indians to higher posts. In the first place, the firstrate men from Europe would not generally accept service in India, and it was undesirable to increase the burden on the Indian taxpayer by appointing second and third-rate men from Europe. In the second place there had been considerable progress in education in India within recent years, and the number of highly qualified Indians available for higher educational work was much larger now than was the case 25 years ago. In the third place, one of the most important duties of a Professor was to build up the character of students and to influence their lives, and European Professors could do much less in that direction than Indian Professors, as the Europeans could not mix freely with the Indian students or completely understand them. There was a wide gulf between the European Professor and the Indian student, and there was no possibility of bridging it. It must be the work of Indian Professors to build up the character of Indian students. 83,585. A first-class Honours man from Cambridge or Oxford was not necessarily superior to a first-class man from an Indian University. From the point of view of scholastic attainments the M.A. degree of the Indian University would correspond to an Honour’s Degree in Europe. He had never been to Europe himself and could not speak from actual experience. There were a good many officers in the service who had taken an Honour’s Degree at an English University before coming out to India, and he would put most of them under the category of second or third class officers, because they had not proved successful Professors. The real test was not simply the initial University qualification, but ability as Professors or educational administrators, and success in building up the character of students. He himself set more store by actual success attained as educationalists subsequent to entry into the service. He did not consider a special training necessary for Professors; officers serving for a certain number of years in India would obtain the necessary training. 83,586. The wintess desired appointments to the proposed amalgamated service to be made by the Local Government, and not by the India Office. For a particular vacancy applications should be invited from both European and Indian candidates, and the best amongst them should be appointed by the Local Government. In the case of candidates in England, the India Office might forward applications with comments on the qualifications to the Local Government. If the India Office objected to forwarding applications to a Local Government, a Board might be constituted at the India Office to receive applications and forward them. His proposal would take the selection right out of the hands of the India Office and hand it over to the Local Governments. Europeans should be appointed only if highly qualified Indians were not available. 415

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83,587. The witness did not see the necessity in all cases of an Indian having a training in a European University, except in the case of Professors of Science and technical subjects, to whom it might be an advantage to have a training in the best laboratories in Europe. That, however, might be done by giving facilities for study leave. 83,588. If officers of special merit could retire after 20 years’ service, the very best men would be attracted. Such men on retiring should be given pensions. 83,589. The staff in the Government colleges was at present fairly sufficient. In his own college some classes contained 70 or 80 pupils, while others only contained 13 or 14. With large classes it might be advantageous to employ additional tutors, but there was no need to add to the lecturing staff. 83,590. (Sir Theodore Morison.) Under the present system there was some class teaching in the college which consisted in tutorial assistance rendered to individual students, each class being subdivided into smaller sections for this purpose. As Mathematical Professor he explained the general principles of mathematics and endeavoured to obtain some work from the students; for instance, he worked out some typical examples, and the students would work out other examples at home. Occasionally they were asked to write essays on mathematical subjects. It was really lecturing and excercises, not class teaching. 83,591. The witness could not give figures to show what the suggested amalgamated service would cost the Government. The increase of cost under the proposed scheme would be 50 per cent., or probably more on the present cost. 83,592. (Mr. Sly.) The first written statement, submitted through Dr. P. C. Roy, fixed the Indian officer’s pay at 60 per cent. of the European officer’s, but the service subsequently modified that view on the ground that it would be lowering the status of the Indian officers, and desired that all the officers should have the same pay, with a certain compensation allowance for European officers. The second scheme proposed equal pay with Rs. 300 compensation allowance to the Europeans. When the European officer’s pay was more than Rs. 1,000 the allowance might cease, which would practically bring the pay of Europeans and Indians in the highest grade to the same amount. The allowance to Europeans was given partly in consideration of their cost of living being greater, but it was thought that when men were earning Rs. 1,300 a month they could do without a compensation allowance. Moreover, specially meritorious European officers would also be able to earn a personal allowance in addition to the grade pay of Rs. 1,300 under the witness’s scheme of personal allowances for special merit. It should not be forgotten that the Indians had to spend a great deal on family expenses. The view was that after the highest grade on Rs. 1,300 had been reached there should be no distinction in salary except on the ground of special merit only. 83,593. (Mr. Fisher.) It was not intended, on the death of a distinguished Professor, holding a particular chair, to preclude the chance of making a direct appointment of a man well qualified to take up his work, and that was not implied by the remark in the written statement that in no circumstances should appointments be made to any class other than the lowest, as a personal allowance might 416

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be granted in such cases, if really necessary, under the witness’s scheme of personal allowances. 83,594. (Mr. Madge.) The standard of education in India had risen sufficiently high to secure the best kind of men in almost every subject, but it would be desirable to have a few distinguished Professors from England specially for English. It was not a question of attaching exaggerated importance to the passing of examinations; Indians showed a real aptitude for educational work, and many of them had shown a special aptitude for research work. A school of Indian research was steadily growing at present and was creating an intellectual atmosphere in the country and a real academic life. 83,595. (Mr. Gupta.) There were other reasons why the amalgamation of the services should take place. If the Indian Educational Service was kept separate, there would be a tendency to recruit Europeans on racial grounds. The last Public Service Commission recommended the recruitment in Europe of Professors in those branches of learning in which a high standard had not been attained in India at the time, but the Indian Government in a Resolution stated that natives of the country should be appointed to the Provincial Service, thus clearly bringing in racial considerations. Also the India Educational Service officers were remunerated about three times as highly as the Provincial Service men. This inequality was not justified, as Provincial men, especially in the professorial branch, were doing their work as efficiently and sometimes better than the Indian Service men. The present distinction made the Provincial Service man looked upon as an inferior officer, and no amount of assurances on the part of Government would make his status equal to that of the Indian Educational Service officer. 83,596. The witness was in favour of giving full pay to an officer during the first two years of service on probation. 83,597. The witness had no hesitation in saying that, examined by the highest possible standard, the work of Indian Professors would not be found wanting. They had a capacity for original work, which was one of the most important tests of the ability of Professors. Many officers in the Provincial service had actually done original work. (The witness withdrew.)

DR. P. C. ROY, C.I.E., Professor of Chemistry, Presidency College, Calcutta. Written statement relating to the Provincial Educational Service.3 83,675. I may begin by emphasising the fact that recent experience has brought the problem of education well to the foreground as the most important problem which British statesmanship has to face and solve. Education occupies a prominent place in the gracious speech of His Imperial Majesty the King-Emperor in reply to the address presented by the graduates of the Calcutta University. The supreme importance of education was also recognised by Lord Curzon’s government. The 417

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recent policy of Government, as embodied in the Scheme of Provincial Universities and University Chairs, has focussed attention on education as the problem of the day. It is also significant that the most prominent of our public men—men like Sir Gooroo Das Banerji, KT., Sir Ashutosh Mukherji, KT., Sir Tarak Nath Palit, KT., Dr. Rash Behari Ghosh, and the Honourable Dr. Devaprasad Sarvadhikari—have come to realize that education is the most fundamental problem to which all other problems must be subordinated. It is therefore essential that the Educational Department should be recognised as one of the most important branches of the public service. The work of education is the most responsible duty undertaken by the State. The department trains men for the various branches of the public service as well as for the several learned professions. In view of the extreme importance and the responsible nature of the work done by the department, it is absolutely necessary that it should be staffed by men recruited from the very best materials, in India and in Europe. The officers of the department should not only possess very high academic qualifications but should also be inspired by the ideals of duty. They should all feel an ardent enthusiasm for the work of education. This can be only secured by (1) enhancing the attractiveness of the service, (2) enforcing the strictest conditions of admission, so as to rigidly eliminate inefficient or incompetent candidates, Indian and European. Merit and efficiency should be the sole tests of admission, and preferment and all other considerations, e.g., race, nationality, prestige, etc., should be completely ignored or subordinated to the supreme test of competency. Every care should be taken to secure the best men, for an incompetent man, once admitted into the service, acts like a clog in the educational wheel and impedes the rapidity and smoothness of its motion. All distinctions should be based upon real differences, and not on considerations of race and prestige which now form the dividing line between the two branches of the Superior Service, the so-called “Indian” and “Provincial.” This unfortunate distinction—a distinction without a difference—should be abolished, and the two branches of the Superior Service should be merged into one service. The distinction should never have been made, for even at the time when it was made—it was made as early as 1896—there were Indian candidates available who were at least as qualified or competent as the European officers who then staffed the “Indian” Educational Service. These Indians—most of whom were graduates of the British Universities—were thus denied a place in the “Indian” Educational Service, and the anomaly, as unjust as it was inexplicable, compelled these unfortunate men to enter the Provincial Service for no other or stronger reason than their nationality. This glaringly unjust treatment meted out to them still rankles in their mind, and in the case of some of them it is almost too late to repair the consequences of this grievous mistake. I advocate therefore the amalgamation of these two branches of the Superior Service with all the earnestness and emphasis that I can command. The amalgamation will strike at the root of the bitter discontent which prevails among the officers of the Provincial Service. This discontent was created by the fact that though the two branches of the Superior Service are 418

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admitted to have the same status in theory, in practice a stigma of inferiority has come to be attached to the Provincial Service officer as such, no matter what his qualifications or length of service may be. This brand of inferiority, which is purely gratuitous and unmerited, not to say illogical, has produced in this branch of the service an intense feeling of bitterness which it is absolutely necessary to remove in the interests of sound education and for the efficient working of the department, for we cannot get the best and the most out of a man who smarts under a sense of unjust and undeserved treatment. In the Presidency College, for instance, the most senior man in the “Provincial” Educational Service is treated as junior to the latest recruit to the Indian Educational Service. Thus when there are two Professors of the same subject, one in the Indian Educational Service and the other in the Provincial Educational Service, the officer in the Indian Educational Service is invariably held to be the senior Professor, even though the Provincial Educational Service officer, besides being a teacher of acknowledged efficiency, may be a man of much greater experience and of equal or even greater academic distinctions. After considering the matter with all earnestness and fairmindedness, I am firmly convinced that the only remedy for this most anomalous and unsatisfactory state of affairs is to effect this amalgamation which I have already advocated. The treatment now accorded to Indians by the Educational Department, whether graduates of European or Indian Universities, does not accord well with the British sense of justice and this reproach should be completely wiped out. With these general observations, I beg now to proceed to the specific points on which the Commission has been pleased to invite opinion. 83,676. (I.) The methods of recruitment.—As regards recruitment, I would widen the field of selection by employing more open methods. In the case of appointments carrying special allowances, referred to in paragraph 15, page 5, recruitment should not be made as heretofore. The post should be advertised in the Indian and English papers, and appointment made by a properly constituted Board under the Local Government, which alone knows the local requirements, from among candidates for the post, including those already in the service. That the present method of recruitment, through the India Office, has not been altogether satisfactory, will appear to be obvious to any one who examines the actual facts. The appointments made, say, during the last ten years, cannot be considered, from an academic point of view, as altogether satisfactory. If better men have not been available, that only shows the desirability of adopting the more open method of recruitment as suggested above. Under the present mode of recruitment, men already in the service are excluded from the class of appointments under consideration. Further, the chairs recently created in the Calcutta University are being filled up by the mode of recruitment which takes account of academic qualifications alone. Under this system, on the one hand Europeans like Professor Young, F.R.S., Dr. Oldenberg, Professor Sylvain Levi, Dr. Strauss, Mr. Leslie (as an Assistant Professor in Economics), on the other, Indians like 419

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Dr. B. N. Sil, whose qualifications are entirely Indian but whose distinction as a scholar cannot be questioned, have accepted posts under the University. As regards appointments, other than those carrying special allowances, recruitment should be made from among Indian candidates possessing the highest academic qualifications. Officers of the present Subordinate Educational Service, possessing high academic qualifications and doing college work or belonging to the inspecting staff, should also be regarded as eligible for these appointments. I would advocate, however, that no one doing the work of a College Professor should in future be appointed to the Subordinate Service. 83,677. (II.) System of training and probation.—The conditions of work in the College Department require that an officer should be fully capable of entering on his work as soon as appointed. If the choice is confined to men with real academic distinctions, this object will be secured. There should, however, be a period of probation for two years. Training in the case of a College Professor is synonymous with academic qualifications, and understood in this sense, the methods of recruitment should be so devised as to secure only trained men for the service. But at the same time, officers of the Department, Indian or European, who may have shown special aptitude for research, whether in arts or science, should be encouraged by being given facilities, on equal terms, for visiting Europe and other centres of culture. In the case of a member of the superior inspecting staff, experience in teaching at a college or as Head Master of a collegiate or zilla school, and a knowledge of the vernacular, should be considered essential. 83,678. (III.) Conditions of service.—The officers should have ample leisure for study and research. The rule acquiring a medical certificate for physical fitness may be relaxed at the discretion of the Local Government. Free quarters should be provided for all officers, or quarters provided in consideration of a small percentage deducted from the salary, as is the practice in the Judicial and Executive Services in the more important stations. In Presidency towns where such quarters cannot be provided, or provided with great difficulty, liberal house allowances should be paid, no distinction being made as between Europeans and Indians. At present the Presidency house allowances are given only to members of the Indian Educational Service. This is an irritating distinction which should be done away with as early as possible. Special allowances should be given to Principals of Colleges. The scale of travelling allowance in the case of an officer of the Educational Department should be the same as that of an officer in the Indian Civil Service. Travelling allowances should be determined by the nature of the work done, and not by the amount of salary drawn. 83,679. (IV.) Conditions of salary.—If the extreme importance of the work of education as explained in paragraph 83,675 be adequately realized, it will be readily admitted that the scale of salary in the Educational Department should be so fixed as not to lower the status of an educational officer, as compared with that of the officers of the other branches of the public service. The present scale was fixed more than a quarter of a century ago, and the cost of living has rapidly gone up in 420

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the meantime. It has more than doubled, and this fact demands a very substantial increase in the present rate of pay. 83,680. (V.) Conditions of leave.—Greater facilities should be given to all officers, Indian and European, in the Educational Department for study in Europe. In particular, officers should be permitted to combine a vacation with privilege leave if the total period of the leave is to be spent in study and research. 83,681. (VI.) Conditions of pension.—Twenty-five years’ service should qualify for full pension. Twenty years’ service should also qualify for full pension, if an officer is medically invalided. 83,682. (VII.) Such limitations as may exist in the employment of nonEuropeans and the working of the existing system of division of services into Imperial and Provincial.—In my preliminary remarks I recommended most strongly and earnestly that the two branches of the Superior Service be amalgamated into one service and gave some general reasons which clearly necessitate this step. This I regard to be the crucial point at issue. I now proceed to explain the absolute necessity of adopting this measure, which alone can do away with various anomalies which have arisen in practice and radically remove the bitter and deep-seated discontent among those officers of the Superior Service who are now branded as “Provincial.” In the first place, I am in general agreement with the views which have been submitted through me by the entire body of officers of the Provincial Service, and the main portion of which I take the liberty of reproducing for purposes of ready reference.4 I should, however, strongly deprecate the proposed differentiation of posts into those carrying a full salary and those carrying a lower salary. All the posts in the Superior Service should, in my opinion, be on the same scale of pay; in the case of certain specified posts, however, I am prepared to admit that there should be a special system of allowances ranging from Rs. 300 to Rs. 600 and even Rs. 800, it being understood that recruitment to these posts should be according to the method already advocated by me in paragraph 5. I am opposed to any invidious distinction based on racial considerations, as such a distinction is in reality opposed to the spirit of the recommendations made by the last Public Services Commission. That competent Indian candidates were available at the time when the existing division between the two branches of the service was initiated, is abundantly evidenced by the fact that the last Public Services Commission recommended that recruitment should as a rule be locally made except for certain specific appointments. In accordance with these recommendations, seven Principalships of Colleges, three Inspectorships and a majority of the Professorships under the Bengal Government were served for Indians, and the European service was reduced from 41 to 27 (including the Director of Public Instruction, Assam). Since then there has been a distinctly retrograde move. All the Divisional Inspectorships, practically all the Principalships of colleges have now been reserved for the Indian Educational Service, which is virtually European, and the number of posts in this service 421

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has been raised from 26 to 54, the corresponding increase in the Provincial Educational Service being from 104 to 165. While thus, in all the other services, progress has been in the direction of throwing open to Indians an increased number of appointments usually held by Europeans, in the Education Department most of the more important posts formerly reserved for Indians have now been reserved for Europeans. And yet if the conditions of local recruitment were favourable at the time the last Public Services Commission made their recommendations, they are much more so now, after a steady educational progress for over a quarter of a century. I have already mentioned the fact that Dr. B. N. Sil, a graduate of the Calcutta University, has recently been appointed to the King George V. Chair of Philosophy by the Calcutta University. In my own subject, viz., Chemistry, we have got distinguished scholars and investigators like Rasik Lal Dutt and Nilratan Dhar, men who are now on a fair way towards earning for themselves a European reputation, but under the existing mode of recruitment for the Indian Educational Service, such men have absolutely no chance of entering this higher service. Finally, if graduates of Indian Universities can be appointed to be High Court Judges, members of Executive Councils, and Accountants-General of provinces, I see no reason why they should be debarred from holding the highest appointments in the Education Department. Supplementary written statement relating to the Education Department, being a Memorandum on the Recruitment of the Educational Service. 83,683. I have expressed my views in my corporate capacity on the undesirableness of earmarking a branch of the Educational Service as “Provincial.” In the present memorandum I shall confine myself to one or two points in connection with the method of recruitment of the service and the disadvantages under which its members have to labour. In the Despatch of the Secretary of State for India on the “Reorganisation of the Educational Service of India” 1896, occurs the pronouncement: “In future natives of India who are desirous of entering the education department will usually be appointed in India and to the Provincial Service.” This momentons and unfortunate decision has had the effect of virtually excluding Indians from the higher or the Imperial branch of the service. In reply to a question put in the Imperial Council last year the Honourable Mr. Butler replied that out of 211 appointments in the Imperial branch only 3 were held by natives of India. The present system stifles the legitimate aspirations of our countrymen and keeps away the most meritorious amongst them from the fold of the education department. The hardships of the “Provincial Service” members can best be brought home to the Commission by referring to some concrete instances. Let us take the case of Dr. P. C. Ray, the senior man in the Bengal P.E.S. He studied science at the Presidency College for four years (1878–82) up to the B.A. Standard under Sir John Eliot and Sir Alex. Pedler. In order to round off his education he proceeded to England in 1882 and studied at Edinburgh for 6 years (1882–88) 422

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and sat at the feet of eniment Professors of Science. He took the degree of B.Sc. in 1886 and that of D.Sc. in 1887. It is scarcely necessary to point out that for the latter qualification aptitude for original investigation is a sine qud non. Even after taking his D.Sc. he stayed on for another year so that he might continue his original researches and specialise himself in chemistry. At the completion of his six years’ studies he appeared before the India Office, backed by influential friends, and applied for a post in the education department; but his efforts were unsuccessful. He was advised to return to India and apply to the local government. The sequel to this narrative can be told in a few words. Dr. Ray entered the Education Department in 1889 on a pay of Rs. 250/- per month and served on that remuneration for 7 years, at the end of which period he was promoted to the Rs. 400/grade and after some 17 or 18 years’ service he got to the top of the ladder and was entitled to the maximum pay of the Provincial branch, namely, Rs. 700/- per month. Other members of the service with distinguished European qualifications, e.g., Dr. D. N. Mallik, Dr. Ganesh Prasad, Messrs. J. N. Das Gupta and M. Ghosh have met with a similar fate. I have given an unvarnished statement of my own case in order to present a vivid picture to the Commission of the differential treatment accorded to the two branches of the service. In the “Indian” educational branch the initial pay is Rs. 500/- with the guaranteed increment of Rs. 50/- per annum, or in other words, in 10 years an officer gets Rs. 1,000/- per month; then he is entitled to a further allowance of Rs. 100 per mensem and in special cases he gets a Principalship with a further allowance of Rs. 250/- to Rs. 400/- per month as also house allowance. As far as I am personally concerned I may be allowed to state that the pursuit of science for its own sake has been sufficient reward and stimulus to me; at the same time it is my duty to point out that the prospects held out even to the most deserving members of this service have failed to attract men of brilliant parts to the Educational Service; they have fought shy of seeking a career in this department. I shall relate a short story here. While I was serving on Rs. 250/- for years, a gentleman holding a high position in society asked my advice as to the future career of two of his sons who were my pupils. As he was anxious to give his boys the benefit of an education in England, I naturally suggested that they should study some branches of science and enter the educational service. “What, another P. C. Ray!” he exclaimed. From his own point of view I think he was fully justified, for both his sons competed for and entered the Civil Service. The present system also penalises the intellectual activity especially the pursuit of science amongst our countrymen. India is a backward country—her people compared to that of the western countries lack in public spirit and self-help and in the power of organisation. Here the State is often called upon to undertake duties which in England are taken up with alacrity by the people themselves. Scientific education is the crying want of India and one naturally looks up to the State for fostering and encouraging it. One of the ways in which the government can do its duty in this matter is by providing employments to the scientifically trained 423

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Indians, but by a bitter irony of fate the Indian has been virtually excluded not only from the higher appointments in the educational service but also from the Geological Department, and rigidly denied admission in the Great Trigonometrical Survey, the Meteorological Department, the Botanical Survey, as also from the “Imperial” branch of the Pusa Agricultural Institute and the Forest and Telegraph departments, and so forth. The denial of a suitable career takes away all incentive for the specialised study of sciences either at home or abroad. An embargo has thus been placed upon the cultivation of science in this country. The present method of selection by the Secretary of State is open to serious objection for more reasons than one. It is now a matter of common knowledge that only men of indifferent attainments care to come out to India, and the filling up of posts by them has seriously lowered the standard of scholarship in India. A raw graduate fresh from college, even if he can boast of First Class honours, is a dark horse. The committee of the Dacca University have fully realised this evil as they observe: “In general, men of about 40 years of age will be best, as younger men will not have had the necessary experience. At this age, too, successful men will have acquired habits of study and research which should withstand the effects of climate and environment. Young Englishmen, however brilliant, who, having only just finished their examinations, and started original work, come out to India find in many cases their enthusiasm weakened by the lack of an inspiring environment, and their difficulties exaggerated by the absence of the accustomed facilities and the help of older men. Under such circumstances a few men of exceptional calibre and strength of character will still manage to advance knowledge and earn a reputation, but the many, who might have been successful under more favourable conditions, will very soon drop original work altogether.”—p. 56. The method of recruitment in vague has created serious discontent amongst the members of the Provincial Educational Service. The differentiation between the two services is based upon racial ground and not on merit, for it cannot be said that the higher service is filled with men of higher intellectual calibre. If sound scholarship, life-long devotion to the subject of choice and capacity for original researches be accepted at tests and criteria of an efficient teacher, I believe the “Provincial” men will on the whole score over the “Imperial.” Pandit Hara Prasad Sastri, C.I.E., as an antiquarian, Professor Monomohun Ghose, poet and literatour, Dr. D. N. Mallik (wrangler) on whom the University of Dublin conferred the degree of D.Sc. on account of original researches in mathematical physics, Professor Jadunath Sarkar, who is rightly regarded as a higher authority on “India under Aurangzib” have had few equals in the service. Under the existing artificial and arbitrary mode of filling up vacancies in the Imperial branch, the best local men—natives of India—some of whom have earned a European reputation by their researches are excluded, while third rate men of great Britain and Ireland find easy admission. It is a sad mistake also to take for granted that merely because a man has been educated in an Indian University he is necessarily of inferior calibre and attainments. The competition lies 424

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between the third rate men brought out from England and first rate Indians. In this connection I cannot do better than reproduce here the short speech which I delivered at the last “Congress of the Universities of the Empire” in my capacity as a delegate of the Calcutta University. “I rise, my Lord, to associate myself with the weighty remarks made by my brother delegates from the Colonies, Prof. H. B. Allen (Melbourne) and Prof. Frank Allen (Manitoba). “The Indian graduate also is placed under peculiar disadvantages when he undertakes to pursue his post-graduate studies in a British University. My Lord, I plead for a more generous recognition of the merits of an Indian graduate; he has, I am afraid, the badge of inferiority stamped upon him simply because he happens to be an Indian-made ware. I can speak with some degree of confidence about the particular subject which I have the honour to profess, namely Chemistry. Now, of late there have been some brilliant students engaged in post-graduate researches and as their communications find hospitable reception in the columns of the leading British Chemical Journal, I take it that they are considered as of a fair degree of merit and yet it is a strange anomaly that when the authors of these investigations come over here and aspire for a high British degree, they are made to go through the trodden path in the shape of having to pass the preliminary examinations and this has a depressing and deterrent effect upon the enthusiam of our youths. I think the suggestion made by a previous speaker that such a scholar should only be made to pass through a probationary period under the guidance of a teacher whom he chooses and if he fully satisfies him the Colonial or Indian student should at once be allowed to go up for the highest degree on the strength of his thesis alone. “Sir Joseph Thomson has spoken about the rich endowments and scholarships required to encourage a post-graduate scholar. The Calcutta University has already founded a good few post-graduate scholarships and expects to have more. But I beg, however, to remind the representatives of the British Universities present here that we in India have from time immemorial held aloft the high ideal of plain living and high thinking and that with even comparatively poor stipends and bursaries we hope to achieve much. “My Lord, I do not for a moment claim that the teaching our Universities impart is of the same degree of efficiency as in the sister British Universities—in fact we have much to learn from you—but I beg leave to remind you that in spite of their many defects and drawbacks, our Universities have produced some of the brightest ornaments of our country. The foremost lawyer of Calcutta—a man renowned throughout India for his high forensic attainments—is a graduate of the Calcutta University. Three of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of Calcutta, who have attained to phenomenal success in their professional career are, again, graduates of my own University and last but not least the present Vice-Chancellor of our University, who enjoys the unique distinction of being three times in succession elected to his onerous duties by the Chancellor of the University, who is no other than the Viceroy himself,—I say, Sir A. T. Mookerjee is also a product of the same University. 425

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“My Lord, before I resume my seat I once more plead for a more generous recognition of the teaching imparted in our Colleges.” In the sphere of original researches in science, especially in Chemistry, some of our graduates at the Presidency College are showing remarkable capacity—their investigations are being published in the leading scientific journals in England, Germany and America (vide the annexed reprint of an article in the “Modern Review”) and yet whenever any vacancies occur in the department, their claims are cooly ignored and the sad spectacle is witnessed of the posts being filled up by raw graduates from England, who are admittedly their inferiors and who have got no original work to their credit. The Indian graduates suffer a grievous injustice and the obvious way to remedy it would be to throw the gates of admission wide open to merit alone irrespective of racial considerations. Recruitment should be in the first place local and the power of selection should also be entrusted to a thoroughly representative Board of Literary and Scientific Experts in India. In case of a vacancy, the Board should be empowered to advertise in the local papers and to receive applications. It is only in the contingency of a suitable candidate not being available on the spot, a requisition should be made to the Secretary of State. In the next place there should be one Educational Service in the country and the system of two compartments of the service, one called the Indian Educational Service and the other the Provincial Educational Service, should be done away with. The proposed service will have one cadre of appointments with equal pay and prospect and the consideration of fitness and merit will be the only criteria for promotion to the highest posts of the service. In the case of Europeans appointed in England a special allowance not exceeding one-fourth of their ordinary pay may be given to them in view of their service in a distant country. In other respects the rights and privileges of the Europeans and the Indians in the service should be absolutely similar. There is another strong reason in favour of employing Indian agency. A European naturally looks to India as a land of exile and his thoughts are always turned homeward. As soon as he joins his apointment he begins to look forward to his furlough and even during summer holidays he often runs home. Socially speaking, the European lives quite apart and it is only in rare cases that he is found to mix on equal terms with his pupils. The result is that he fails to create anything like an intellectual atmosphere. Moreover, the European when he retires from the service leaves India for good and all the experience which he gathered during his tenure of office are clean lost to the country. But the mature experiences of an Indian after retirement are always at the disposal of his countrymen; he is in fact a valuable national asset.

DR. P. C. ROY called and examined. 83,684. (Chairman.) The witness said his main contention was that no organisation of the Educational Service could be satisfactory which was based on race, 426

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and not on the nature of the work done. The Indian and the Provincial Educational Services should be merged into one. The present arrangement only gave rise to heart-burning, whilst a great many officers smarted under sense of positive injury. It was not consistent with a sense of self-respect that men equally educated, doing the same kind of work and of equal calibre, should be ranked in two different services. At present there was practically no difference between the kind of work done in a college by a Provincial and an Imperial man. The Provincial Professor was doing precisely the same kind of work, was teaching the same classes and giving the same quality of instruction to those classes as his Senior Professor. 83,685. Recruitment should be made by the local Government, and not by the India Office. The India Office would not give a fair chance to Indians. The posts should be advertised first in the local market, and if suitable men were not forthcoming—and then alone—the local Government should send to England for a qualified man. If there was an eligible Indian in England, the local Government ought to appoint him with the aid of a committee of experts in India. The Secretary of State should have nothing to do with the matter. The local Government would be in a position to give better advice on the subject, even although the Indian resided in England. As bearing out his contention, he mentioned that the Calcutta University had managed to bring out such men as Dr. Young, F.R.S., and Professor Jacobic without the help of the India Office at all. 83,686. Recruitment for the more responsible posts in the service should be both by direct appointment from the Universities in India and by promotion. He preferred the method of direct recruitment, but certain posts should certainly be reserved for promotion from the lower ranks. 83,687. He set some store on the average Indian man undergoing a European course. A man with this experience would often be a more efficient officer than one who had been appointed straight from an Indian University. He desired to point out, however, that there were very eminent men in India, e.g., Sir A. T. Mukherji, Dr. Rash Behary Ghosh and Mr. Gokhale, who had never had any sort of education in Europe. There could be no hard-and-fast rule on the point. 83,688. With regard to salary, many of the witness’s colleagues were in favour of two classes of pay, but he (the witness) deprecated any such system. He would give all members of the service the same pay, but to those who had shown extraordinary merit he would add something in the shape of a compensation allowance. 83,689. The bare fact that a man was a European, and had been educated in a British University, did not mean that he was likely to turn out a successful teacher. It was too often assumed that, because a man had been brought out from England, he was therefore an expert and a specialist. This was quite inaccurate. 83,690. All the divisional inspectorships and practically all the principalships of the colleges had now been reserved for the Indian Educational Service. That had been done four or five years ago whilst Sir Archdale Earle was Dierctor of Public Instruction. The few principalships in the Provincial Service, which had been promised at the time of the reorganization scheme, had been snatched away. 427

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There was only one divisional inspector now left in the Provincial Educational Service, and there was no knowing when that post would also be taken away. 83,691. There was a sufficient staff in his college for the work to be done. 83,692. (Lord Ronaldshay.) The education which an Indian received in India was ordinarily quite sufficient to enable him to carry out the duties which would be required of him when he joined the Educational Service. He did not think any period of training in Europe in addition to an Indian education was essential, but it had its uses. 83,693. The recommendation that a special allowance, not exceeding onefourth of their ordinary pay, might be given to Europeans appointed in England, in view of their service in a distant country, expressed the view which the members of the service now generally held, but they thought it should be applied only to exceptional cases. The authority making the appointment would decide in each case whether the candidate had made a name for himself or not. 83,694. (Sir Theodore Morison.) The scale of salary for the proposed amalgamated service might run from Rs. 300 to Rs. 1,500, but in exceptional cases, such as the head of a department, higher pay should be granted. The proposal that there should be five grades beyond the time-scale was the view of his colleagues, and not of himself. 83,695. The amount of the monthly increments should depend on whether the officer was an average man or was of exceptional ability, and had made a name for himself by his researches. For an average man a suitable arrangement would be to begin at Rs. 300 and to rise to Rs. 700 or Rs. 800 by annual increments of Rs. 30. If among the officers recruited at Rs. 300 a month a man of unusual capacity was discovered, he should either he promoted over the heads of his seniors to the Rs. 500 grade, which would no doubt cause some heart-burning, or be given a special personal allowance. 83,696. (Mr. Gokhale.) There were exceptional facilities for carrying on original research at the Presidency College, and there was as good material in the country as elsewhere for this purpose. Two of his own pupils, for instance, over and above their academic distinctions, which were of the highest, had contributed papers to all the leading scientific journals in England, Germany and America. Again, only last week he had received a letter from Sir Henry Roscoe, in which that gentleman congratulated him, not so much on account of his own researches, as of the brilliant work done by his pupils. If some of his pupils had the further advantage of visiting some of the laboratories in Europe and seeing the kind of work which was done there, and coming in contact with the great men in their subject, they could fill the chairs of chemistry in India with the greatest success, and would do the work as well or better than any young man who could be brought out fresh from the European Universities, who is more or less of the nature of a dark horse. 83,697. (Mr. Fisher.) Recruitment should be in the hands of the local Governments, and they should advertise appointments both in England and in India. In this way each local Government would have three alternatives before it on the occurrence of each vacancy; it might either promote in the foot of the cadre a 428

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junior who was already in the service, or appoint a freshly graduated Indian of distinction over the heads of those who were already in the service, or it might call in a man from Europe, either an Indian or an Englishman. 83,698. Promotion within the service should very largely be regulated by distinction in original research, but it would also be necessary at times to advance men who had done no research work but who had other important educational qualifications. He quite admitted that in an Indian college, as in an English college, a great deal of the educational work was on a very much lower plane than the plane on which he and Dr. Bose conducted their researches, and that it was primarily important to obtain men who were efficient teachers and guides of youth. Such men would very often not possess great scientific attainments, but yet might be a most valuable element on the teaching staff of the college. It followed from that that it was really in the interests of advanced college education in India that exclusive stress should not he laid upon power to conduct original research. That must always be the prerogative of the rather highly talented man. 83,699. (Mr. Macdonald.) The witness was aware that he might be charged with sacrificing teaching to original research, but he had found that in England a man who was appointed to professorial duties could only rise to that distinction by reason of the work which he had produced. When a chair fell vacant in England, the Board of Selection was guided more by a man’s original contributions in the particular branch of study than anything else. Moreover, the best teachers were ordinarily these who were the best original workers and experimentalists. 83,700. (Mr. Madge.) He agreed that there was room for improvement in the present system of education in Indian Universities, but the Universities were now starting on a new phase, and the present state of things would not continue for very much longer. 83,701. (Mr. Abduc Rahim.) An Indian, who received a European education, did acquire thereby a certain advantage, in that his outlook on life was widened and his views broadened. He did not at all under-rate the value of European education, but he found the custom was for a man to take a Cook’s holiday trip, spend six months or a year abroad, and then return with some indifferent degrees and claim credit over his Indian colleagues. 83,702. With regard to the suggestion that a certain European element in the Educational Service was of great advantage in modelling the character of young men, the witness said that was a very delicate subject. It entirely depended upon the personality of the teacher. The right man would produce a very wholesome influence, and the wrong man just the opposite effect. His contention was that an Indian teacher could produce a much greater effect than the European, because the former lived and moved and had his being amongst Indians whereas a European, however well disposed he might be, lived in a world apart. He quite admitted that there were certain exceptions to that rule, and there was no denying the fact that Europeans had to a large extent built up the educational system of India. 429

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83,703. (Sir Valentine Chirol.) It could be assumed that a graduate of an Indian University possessed the same educational equipment as a graduate of a British University of the same degree. 83,704. (Sir Murray Hammick.) Professor Young had come out for three or four years on a salary of Rs. 1,000 a month and house allowances; Dr. Oldenbergh was to be a University reader for a few months at a special fee, and Professor Sylvain Lévi was in the same position. Mr. Leslie had been appointed Assistant Professor of Political Economy. Dr. Strauss’s salary was Rs. 600 a month. The latter appointment was for a certain number of years. 83,705. (Mr. Biss.) While there was only one Indian Divisional Inspector, it was true that there were only two European Inspectors in Bengal. 83,706. The Presidency College had no monopoly of research work. At Dacca, Professor Watson was doing research, and some of his pupils were giving a good account of themselves. Professor Watson was doing excellent work, and the University of London had conferred the degree of Dr. on him during the present year. 83,707. It was the fact that the European Professors of the Presidency College had for a very long time been asking for quarters to enable them to come into closer contact with the students. 83,708. He could not conceive of any considerations which could be urged in favour of the employment of Englishmen as Englishmen. 83,709. (Mr. Gupta.) Under his scheme for the amalgamation of the Provincial and the Indian Educational Services the laboratory assistants in the Department of Chemistry should come into the subordinate service; but if they showed exceptional merit, they should be promoted to the higher service. 83,710. Indian Professors on the Art side should be placed on the same footing as graduates of English Universities, and the same pay and privileges should be extended to them. One effect of the inauguration of the Provincial Educational Service some years ago had been to scare away the best intellects of the country from the Educational Department. The general interests of education in Bengal had suffered very much on that account. (The witness withdrew.)

Notes 1. Signed by Dr. P. C. Roy on behalf of the members of the Provincial Educational Service, Bengal. This written statement was subsequently modified by the supplementary and the further supplementary written statements, which follow. Dr. P. C. Roy’s own evidence will be found in paragraphs 83,675–83,710. 2. The term “Indians” has been used throughout this note in the sense of “Statutory Natives of India.” 3. Dr. P. C. Roy also submitted a written statement on behalf of the members of the Provincial Educational Service in Bengal, vide paragraph 83,667. 4. The memorandum referred to will be found in paragraph 83,567.

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THE NACULAR MEDIUM VIEWS OF AN OLD TEACHER § 1. Charges against our graduates. IN all civilised countries, next to religion educational questions provoke the greatest differences of opinion and even engender heat. If this criticism of the educational system and methods prepares the ground for constructive reform, it should be welcomed; because such discontent with the existing system is a healthy sign of interest in education and of the spirit of progress in the community. But judging from the public discussions on the subject, there seems to be something essentially wrong with the present system of education in India; the evil is deeper than the mere unsuitability of this or that detail. The whole system is denounced for inefficiency and barrenness. We are told that the first products of English education in India,—namely, the scholars of the old Hindu College of Calcutta and of Dr. Duff’s missionary college; were giants; they produced masterly writers of English prose, leaders of society, and creators of new branches of vernacular literature. But the numerous graduates turned out of our University factories now-a-days are a puny race, whose slovenly English is kept in countenance only by the slipshod style of European journalism in India. The new race of our graduates, it is asserted, lack originality and depth; they are fit to be clerks and pleaders, but not masters of literature, either in erudition or in creative power. The second proof of the alleged rottenness of the present educational system is the heavy “massacre” of B.A. candidates,—sometimes amounting to 80 p.c., as in Madras and Allahabad in recent years. We are not concerned today with investigating the cause of such excessive “ploughing,”—whether it is due, to irrational severity on the part of the examiners, inefficiency on the part of the teachers, or a cruel leniency in the lower examinations leading up to the B.A. We only desire to point out the frightful waste of young lives and energy that such heavy failures at examinations involve. Who is responsible for it, and how long will it continue without being remedied? Where lies the remedy? That is worth inquiring into.

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The aim of education is not to pump information into a man, but to develop his latent faculties. If we study two plays of Shakespeare at college, it is only to train ourselves in the art of understanding other plays of the same writer without the help of a teacher. Then, again, the educated man must prove himself fitter for his duties than his uneducated brother, otherwise his education has no justification. How far has this been the case with us during the last generation? The charges brought against our graduates, by our own countrymen even oftener than by foreigners, are— (a) Our studies are not kept up after leaving college; and, hence, English education does not become a part of our life, nor does it influence our outlook upon the world. The chasm between the (English) school and the (Oriental) home remains unbridged. (b) We acquire too much of book learning, mere knowledge of the theory of things, but lack general intelligence and the power of readily and successfully adapting ourselves to new things. (c) Few or none among our graduates reach the position of experts or attain to perfection in their particular branches. We are an army of mediocres. (d) No addition has been made by us to the world’s stock of knowledge; in the temples of Saraswati in England, Germany and France the modern Indians are regarded as “intellectual Pariahs.” § 2. The charges examined. The last two of these charges refer to very ambitious ideals, and we shall leave them out of our consideration here. Time is, also, supplying an answer to them. We turn to the general intellectual level of our graduates, which is rather low. (People who know both the countries say that it is no higher for the “Poll” or Pass B.A. degree at Oxford or Cambridge. But then England and English Society have certain curatives which we lack.) True University education must, no doubt, form the character, develop the intellect, and infuse the spirit of searching for and accepting the truth. Apart from the influence of well-organised corporate life in residential colleges, and the personal example of good teachers in all colleges, we can influence our students only through books. We must give them good books, and we must make them read them, think on them, and then try to apply their knowledge to the world around them. It, therefore, logically follows that our teaching misses its highest possible results in proportion as our pupils do not revert to books in later life. Where this is the case it is due to three causes: (1) The high standard of living we have recently adopted, which requires strenuous work in professional life in order to secure the necessary income. We cannot afford to rest or enjoy ourselves or even take a holiday, (as Europeans invariably do, with the result of lengthening their lives). (2) Modern Indian society has counter attractions, even among the things of the mind, which lure us away from English books. 432

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(3) We have to use an abnormal medium of instruction. This last brings me to the main point of my discourse. § 3. Intellectual effects of using a foreign tongue. If the end of education is to make men think, then it is unquestionably abnormal teach us in a language in which we do not think,—a language which we do not use at home, in the market-place, in the workshop—and often not even in the club,—a language the use of which always requires a straining (however secret) of the mental powers, even on the part of the greatest among us. A process of perpetual translation cannot be a mental recreation. The experience of other countries may help us to understand the situation in India better. In the Middle Ages education in England was imparted through the medium of a foreign tongue, viz., Latin, and students had to answer questions in the same language. Hence culture was confined to a very small section of the community, and intellectual barrenness was the result. Some good lawyers and theologians were, no doubt, produced, but not a single original thinker or writer. In Scotland, lectures on philosophy were delivered in Latin up to 1700, when the mother tongue of the students was adopted in teaching and examination; and the Scottish intellect at once flowered in an array of philosophers who are the glory of English literature—Hamilton, Reid, Stewart, and others. In England to-day many students read advanced works written in German or French, but they are taught and examined in their mother tongue. In Japan, German or English is compulsory as a second language, and not as the principal medium of instruction and examination. Hence their knowledge is real and deep, while ours is often rudimentary or mere book-learning dissociated from life. Take an example. A Matriculation candidate in India is usually 16 or even 17 years old. He may be fairly compared with a 6th form boy in a school in England. The Indian boy is taught and examined in a history of India written in English, and because English is a foreign tongue to him, in order to diminish the pressure on him, the size of this history of India has been wisely reduced to about 150 printed pages. He therefore reads a very elementary work, which merely gives a hazy picture and burdens his memory, without teaching him the philosophy of history, or unfolding the full panorama of India’s growth through the ages. The English boy of a corresponding standard reads a history of his country written in his mother tongue; he can therefore easily and unaided by his teacher study a truly instructive and large history of England like John Richard Green’s great work. Thus, our insistence on the English medium for Indian boys, compels our sons when 17 years old to read works meant for little boys of ten and thus cramps their minds, while English Matrics come equipped with advanced knowledge suited to their age. Supposing that English 6th form boys were taught Roman history written in Latin, and asked to write their answers in Latin, their historical knowledge would be extremely scanty and puerile, though their knowledge of the Latin tongue would be a trifle better. Knowledge of things would be 433

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sacrificed to mere knowledge of words. That is the unhappy condition of Indian students to-day. § 4. The rival schools of educational experts on the vernacular medium. The evil had attracted the attention of many Indian educationists and wellwishers of our boys very early. As far back as 1897 or so, at the instance of Sir Gurudas Banerji and Babu Hirendra Nath Dutt, the Bengali Sahitya Parishad consulted more than a hundred experienced teachers and public leaders and published their views on the subject in one volume. Opinion was then found to be sharply divided into two schools: The first, ably represented by Mr. N. N. Ghosh (Principal, Metropolitan Institution, Mr. H. M. Percival (Professor, Presidency College, Calcutta), and Rai Bahadur Radhika P. Mukherji (Inspector of Schools), held that the best way to improve a boy’s knowledge of English is to make him read English books in all subjects, and not to relegate English to the position of a second language. Mr. Ghosh wished our College students to swim in an ocean of English literature and thus make it almost a mother tongue to themselves. Prof. Percival held that the vernacular medium of teaching and examination might do for those who wanted to stop at the Matriculation examination, but for those who wanted to go through a college course English should be the medium in all subjects from as early a stage in the school as possible, otherwise they would find it difficult to follow lectures and read text-books in English in the college classes. Radhika Babu strengthened his view by referring to the well-known fact that the Middle English Examination passed students (who had been accustomed to English as a second language only), when they join a Matriculation school, (usually in the 3rd class or 4th form), no doubt show remarkable superiority to the boys trained from the beginning in H. E. Schools in Mathematics, History and Sanskrit through the English medium, but this superiority rapidly disappears in a few years, while their deplorable inferiority in English continues throughout their academic career. The other party, whose chief exponent was the poet Rabindranath Tagore, held that by teaching Mathematics, History, Science and Geography in our mother tongue, we can not only secure greater thoroughness but also effect a reduction of the time taken in teaching these subjects, and the time so saved may be used in giving the boys a more thorough knowledge of English. Thus, according to him, the vernacular medium would ensure a deeper knowledge of things and of the English language also, at the same time. § 6. Objections to the vernacular medium answered. Mr. N. N. Ghosh’s view was based upon a misconception. From the example of our exceptional scholars he imagined that when our average school boys are asked to prepare a subject (such as History) in English, they read good pieces of literature bearing on that subject. He forgot that 99 boys out of a hundred would read only a cram-book, in which the information has been boiled down to the smallest 434

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compass, and literary beauties pruned away as useless! Or, oftener, they would commit to memory a catechism on the subject, or so-and-so’s Fifty Questions with Answers, which are certified as infallible at the Matriculation examination! The actual result, as every school-master in India knows, is neither the acquisition of a real knowledge of facts nor a decent mastery of the English language. Even our very best boys suffer to some extent from this abnormal system. The present writer, if he may be pardoned for referring to his own case, was one of the best scholars of his university in English; but he frankly confesses that he did not at the time of his first reading it understand certain passages in Hunter’s Brief History of the Indian People, an excellent piece of literature, which was his Matriculation Course. (He, however, did not use any crib. But that is immaterial to the question before us.) The necessity of the vernacular medium from the educational point of view has, I hope, been established beyond dispute. By large numbers of our countrymen, it is, however, objected to, from certain other points of view. The first objection is political: amidst the Babel of India’s tongues, English is the only possible universal language and the only means of communication and national union to the various races inhabiting this vast continent of a country. My answer to this objection is that English is at present an instrument of thought and medium of expression to only a few lakhs of men out of a population of 31 crores. A few lakhs more can talk “pigeon English” like the Chinese at Canton, but their mastery of the language is not sufficient to enable them to write letters or read books in it, and the use to which they at present put their English can be equally well served by the “railway traveller’s Hindustani” which all of us possess. Political union by means of a thorough knowledge of English is feasible only in the case of our “upper ten thousand”. But what means of union do you propose for the middle ten millions who can not read English daily papers nor speak anything but pigeon English? Happily, community of language is not so important an element in nationbuilding as community of thought and life. Language is only an instrument for the purpose of national union, but thought or life is the essential thing. Readers of De Tocqucville’s Ancien Regime will remember how that gifted writer shows that a wonderful sameness of thought had spread over France on the eve of the Revolution of 1789 and made the Revolution possible, though the immense majority of Frenchmen in that age were illiterate. In India today this sameness of thought or uniformity of culture is being effected by our vernacular newspapers and magazines, which, I admit, merely reproduce the thoughts and spirit of our English papers. But the agency that actually and directly effects our national union is vernacular and not English. There is a wonderful sameness between the best Bengali, Marathi, Hindi and Gujrati magazines, and even newspapers. And this sameness would certainly not cease when our boys are taught and examined in their mother tongue, because the English papers conducted by Indians would remain, the English language and literature would remain for the instruction of the upper ten; only the middle ten millions would 435

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then begin to talk intelligently and think rationally in their mother-tongue instead of talking in pigeon-English and not thinking at all. § 7. Practical difficulties considered. The second objection is based upon the unequal development of the different Indian vernaculars; for example Bengali, Marathi, Gujrati, Hindi and Telugu have each a more advanced, more varied and more numerous literature than say Panjabi, Kanarese or Sindhi; and therefore while collegiate instruction can be immediately given in the former group of vernaculars it is impossible with the latter group. My answer is, why should the backward races drag the more advanced races down to the pit of intellectual barrenness and mere verbal knowledge? Why should the only rational education be denied to millions simply because a few hundred thousands of other people are not ready for it? A third objection is that where the population is composed of the members of two or three different tongues, and only the vernacular of the majority can be adopted in the class-room, the minority speaking the other vernaculars will be excluded from instruction. Not necessarily, I reply. These minorities may be concentrated in their special schools, where their mother-tongue would be used. A few isolated students, like Madrasi boys in a Bengal town or Bengali boys in a Panjab town will suffer, no doubt. But that is no reason for denying true education to the immense mass of Bengalis or Panjabis. And even these minorities need not suffer. If they use text-books written in their own vernaculars up to the prescribed standard of their province, they will scarcely feel the absence of a teacher familiar with their vernaculars, because where books are written in one’s mother tongue even boys can read them unaided. The difficulty will be only in examining them in small isolated places. And supposing that they have to read the vernacular of the province, they will be hardly worse off than now. Every average Bengali school boy can derive no less instruction from a Hindi history of India than he at present does from a history of the same country written in English which he understands imperfectly. The only sufferers will be a few, viz., the best boys foreign to the province, who are very strong in English. After all, these minorities cannot turn the scale against millions who will benefit by the vernacular medium. To serve a few we are now content with a low “general” standard for all by making that standard English. § 8. The true objections. As a practical teacher, I anticipate that the most serious obstacle to the extended use of the vernaculars in colleges will be their present poverty in scholarly books. The stage to which university instruction (as distinct from school teaching) can be carried on in a vernacular depends on the amount, variety and value of the literature already available in that vernacular. An example will make my meaning clear. Bengali is said to be the richest among the Indian tongues; but even in Bengali

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there is no translation of Vincent Smith’s Early History of India, Macdonell’s History of Sanskrit Literature, Tout or Oman’s School History of England, Bury’s Greece or Shuckburgh’s Rome,—not to speak of more advanced or specialised treatises in English. Our poverty is even greater in respect of scientific works. To this it is answered that as soon as the vernacular medium is recognised by the university, good books in all subjects would be written in our mother-tongue. A horde of hungry literary hacks are, no doubt, waiting for that day. But what would be the value of their works? I have heard it openly argued in our Literary Conferences and Academies that the introduction of the vernacular medium in our colleges was necessary as the best means of enriching our literature and giving bread to our starving authors! This is putting the cart before the horse. It should never be forgotten that the great literature of England is not the creation of textbook writers; it has grown out of the patronage of a body much larger and far wiser than our Central Text-book Committees and Boards of Studies. To my mind the most fatal objection to the extension of the vernacular medium above the Intermediate standard is not the lack of suitable text-books (for that want can be very soon and very easily removed), but the utter absence of higher works in our vernaculars. Such a state of things would inevitably lower the intellectual level of the vernacular university, were one created just now. Where all the scholarly books, works of reference, learned journals, and special treatises are written in English and the students have a limited mastery of English, their knowledge is sure to be confined to their (vernacular) textbooks and their teachers’ lectures; they cannot supplement these two scanty sources by private reading, and they miss the true end of university education; they cannot gain intellectual freedom and they cannot become true scholars. If, for instance, I have to study the ancient Hindu remains of Siam and IndoChina, in which subject all the best books are in French, and I possess only an elementary knowledge of that tongue, it will be a slow and painful task to me to read those French books, and I should, if I were a student preparing for an examination within a limited time, be tempted to confine myself to my (English or vernacular) text-book on the subject and my professor’s spoken words without any means of correcting or supplementing them. If, however, the introduction of the vernacular medium does not result in a lowering of our boys’ knowledge of English, the above objection cannot hold good. Actual experience alone can show whether such will be the result or not. The example of our Middle-English-passed school boys, however, does not incline one to be optimistic. § 9. What is practicable at present. To sum up, I think it is practicable and necessary at the present day to make Bengali the medium of teaching and examination in our schools and also in our colleges up to the Intermediate standard only. The boys may read English books, but they must answer in Bengali. In scientific subjects, English technical terms

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should be freely either written in English or transliterated in Bengali. But angels and ministers of grace defend us from the philological horrors coined by the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad and the Nagri Pracharini Sabha in their “Glossary of English Scientific terms translated into the Vernacular” (Baijnanik Paribhasha). I do not share the linguistic purist’s horror of such mixture of tongues. The English themselves have it, e.g., gas is a word of Dutch origin and not English, but it has been bodily taken into the English vocabulary. Why then should not we naturalise it in our tongue unchanged instead of adopting a polysyllabic monstrosity of Sanskrit origin to express its meaning? Our pandits have been the greatest enemies of the introduction of the vernacular medium, by their insistence on a difficult artificial literary Bengali style, which is often more obscure than English to us. Allow a simple unadorned vernacular style in the answers at University examinations as the best means of ensuring true knowledge. JADUNATH SARXAR.

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BY K.M, PANIKKAR, B.A. (OXON.), M.R.A.S., DIXON SCHOLAR OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. THE PROBLEMS OF INDIAN EDUCATION. The questions of national education, answer them as you will, touch the life and death of nations.—Viscount Morley of Blackburn.

I. THOUGHT and word, it has been well said, are inchoate action; and every institution that considers its moral or legal right as an insufficient guarantee for its continued existence tries to control not only men’s actions but their thoughts and words. Every government that is interested in maintaining the status quo thus finds itself invariably trying to mould the thoughts and opinions of men, not merely in those spheres that directly affect the governmental institutions but in all the varied phases of human activity. The best method of such a control has been at all times recognised to lie in the effective manipulation of the educational machinery of the community. The extreme republicanism of the government of France is being imposed upon the community by its educational policy, just in the same way as the autocratic monarchy of Prussia tries to perpetuate itself by a State control of the universities. This principle, which has been from time immemorial the mainstay of every party in power, is best illustrated by the educational policy of the British government in India. Indeed, education seems to have been at no time free and unhindered in our country. Brahminical India used all the power which it possessed in trying to impose a status education which would perpetuate its own supremacy. It is easy for a critic to find exact parallels for our present educational disabilities in the general policy of Brahminical India. If we now object that education is given to us through the medium of a foreign language, it could effectively be pointed out that Brahminical India did the same thing, insisted on education through Sanskrit, which was somewhat like a foreign language to the vast majority of the inhabitants of that time as English is today. If we now object that naval and military 439

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education is prohibited and opportunities for higher engineering and constructive skill are denied to us under the British government, it could be pointed out that the punishment for a Sudra hearing the sacred words of the Vedas was mutilation. And that at no time of Indian history were educational disabilities so wide, and so rigorously enforced as in Brahminical India. Such an argument does our cause no harm. It only establishes beyond doubt our principle that the powers that be has always tried ‘to continue to be’ by an effective control of opinion through the educational machinery. In India under Britain, as in India under the Brahmins, the preservation of racial supremacy is the fundamental and apparently unalterable maxim of policy. This distrust of freedom is the basic fact that we have to face, and any reconstruction of Indian Educational values must be preceded by a change in this essentially wrong attitude towards social growth. Indian education is now wholly under the control of the State. The State manages and moulds educational policy and ideal as thoroughly and as effectively as ever the Brahmans or the Jesuits did. The universities are founded on government charter and exist on its sufferance. Their governing bodies are government controlled. Their examinations are the only gateway to government appointment, thus discouraging all independent educational attempts. It inspects the curriculum, discourages the study of certain subjects, encourages the extensive diffusion of certain others, and tries to circumscribe the intellect in narrow grooves. It limits the activity of the teacher, prohibits him from having opinions on vital questions, imposes upon him obligations which no honourable and patriotic citizen could accept. The history of the educational policy in India is the history of the progressive systematisation of this distrust of freedom, of the progressive adoption of the principle of status education, of the progressive elaboration of the methodology to realise that principle. This distrust of freedom which thus makes a constructive nationalist educational ideal imperative is seen not only in higher education, but more significantly in the policy pursued by the bureaucracy with regard to primary education. In studying it, one fact seems patent: the bureaucracy are afraid of educating the people. Nothing shows better the moral weakness of the British bureaucracy in India than the undoubted fact that they have definitely discouraged compulsory primary education. By raising the cost of higher education they have tried to limit the higher education of the people. By refusing them universal primary education they have tried and in a very great measure succeeded in keeping the people ignorant. The universal control of our educational institutions by the bureaucracy is the most demoralising fact in the complicated problem of our national existence. Even such institutions as the Benares Hindu University, which comes into existence with the blessings of the Government, do not by any means escape this vigorous and all-embracing control of the Indian bureaucracy. It is suspected and watched. The Government reserves the right of disapproving the nomination of any professor. It refuses to sanction Hindi as the medium of education. When 440

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even such a satellite institution is under suspicion, it is impossible that independent experiments such as the Gurukula and the Santiniketan should be left alone. The Government is keeping a watchful eye on them and we may be certain that it would never allow those institutions in any way to interfere with its general policy of educational servility. This however is not the only defect of our educational policy. An education for the express purpose of maintaining status relations necessarily tends to become formal. Its methodology becomes rigid and loses its meaning. As it is animated by no principle of progression but only by a desire to better the machinery, its formalism comes to be of the most deadening type ensuring a ‘Chinese’ type of stationary society. Such a process is inevitable and the educational policy of the British Government since 1834 has shown this more conclusively than ever. Macaulay wrote his omniscient minute in that year. It laid once and for ever the basis of the Anglo-Indian system of education. We are not concerned here with a criticism of that system; our business in this essay is to analyse and interpret the Educational Ideal of Indian Nationalism. What we have to recognise with regard to the Anglo-Indian system is that from 1834 its tendency has been to become progressively unreal, so that today it is a machinery which stunts our growth, a mass of unreality expressing no meaning and capable of expressing none, a system which tortures us by its elaboration and kills our mind and soul by its barrenness. Lord Curzon was the only viceroy who came to India with any ideas on education. He recognised the mischief that had been done in the preceding 65 years and valiantly tried to reform it. In an address to the Educational Conference at Simla he expressed in his own magniloquent style all the glaring defects of the AngloIndian system. He declaimed with vehemence against the ‘attempt to transplant the smaller educational flora from the hot houses of Europe’ into an entirely different atmosphere. The never-ending revolution of the examination wheel by which the educational fate of a man was settled met with the violent disapprobation of Lord Curzon. Indian education, he admits, is restricted in its aims and destructive in its methods. ‘It is of no use’, says he, ‘to turn out respectable clerks, munsiffs or vakils if this is done at the expense of the intellect of the nation.’ Lord Curzon’s criticism of the educational policy of the British Government was crushing and conclusive. But his reformative attempt, it must be admitted, ended in a total failure. His ideal was not free education, but an education controlled by the State. The Apostle of Efficiency cannot tolerate a variety of institutions with different ideals and methods. They must needs be regulated by the State. The Universities already under Government influence must become directly Government controlled; otherwise they won’t be efficient—as though efficiency were the end of educational institutions. The Raleigh Commission reported very much as Lord Curzon desired. In spite of the vigorous protest of Sir Gurudas Bannerjea, the Commission came to the conclusion that the cost of higher education should be raised and that a greater control of the university by the Government will tend to educational efficiency. 441

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The Indian national movement had watched with great anxiety the restless activity of Lord Curzon in this field. The Congress awoke at last to the extreme importance of the problem when the meddling hand of Lord Curzon showed them that the future of their country was being trilled with by an Anglo-Indian Committee. Till now the Congress had shown a fatuous indifference to this supremely important subject. The pressing necessity of a national programme in education and the fatal danger of allowing an alien Government full control of the training of the youth of the nation, patent enough to ordinary observers of political life, were completely ignored by the Congress until this time. It is true that a few devoted spirits of the Congress movement had for a long time seen the imperative character of this problem. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Surendra Nath Bannerjea, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and a few others had very early in their careers recognised the necessity of national control in education and had realised that the problem of national education touched very vitally the life and death of nations. They had in their different spheres tried to solve that problem independently of the Government. But the Congress itself confined its activities to the strictly political problems as if the source from which all political action derived its motive force was not a question of politics at all. But the threatening activity of the viceregal meddler awoke the Congress from its characteristic slumber. The changed character of the Congress, its new and unbending nationalism, its gradual emancipation from the Bombay clique, all contributed to the general activity and life which that movement showed during the latter part of the Curzonian regime. Lord Curzon’s attempt to raise the cost of higher education was therefore met with a direct challenge. The Congress at Benares enunciated the formula of ‘National Education under National Control.’ Later events showed that this formula was interpreted in two entirely different ways by the two different parties. The vital difference between the two parties showed itself even in the interpretation of this non-political programme. To the Moderates of the Gokhale type national education and national control meant only an extension of the field for Indians in the Service and a greater study of Indian subjects in the universities. To the Nationalists this formula meant something very different. They interpreted it to mean the complete nationalisation of educational machinery and absolute boycott of all the institutions where the hand of the Government was suspected. Thus the Congress committed itself to an undefined formula which only covered, as all formulae are perhaps meant to cover, fundamental differences of opinion. Behind the united demand for national education under national control which the Congress put forward in 1905, it was easy for the acute observer to see the uncompromising hostility between the Moderates and the Nationalists. The cleavage of opinion on the matter became vital when from the domain of congressional discussion an attempt was made to translate it into the field of action. Bengal instituted a Council of National Education and it seemed for a time that the educational monopoly of the Government was passing out of its hands. But the Bengal attempt failed as it was bound to fail. A division between the purse and the brain of a concern cannot indeed conduce to its success. The moderates 442

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headed by Rashbehari Ghose commanded the purse; the nationalists headed by Arabindo Ghose commanded the brains. The Hindu revival which was at the basis of the new nationalist movement had scarcely affected the moderates. They were still the ‘crowning product of the British rule,’ as one of them expressed it. They still looked to England for inspiration. They were unwilling to nationalise education completely, lest ‘the crowning product of the British rule’ might become extinct. Arabindo and his party had no such fears. They looked not to Europe but to India itself for inspiration. To them, all the faith of the moderates in the wonderful effects of the western education was but one of the many vile superstitions which the Anglo-Indian system had sedulously cultivated. As the experiment of national education progressed, this divergence of opinion came more and more to the front. In a few years’ time the whole system had completely broken down. Few tears need be wasted on the failure of this scheme. It only emphasised once more the fundamental political truth that all great institutions that shape and mould the destiny of nations begin in individuals, and not in collective organised groups. The great pre-revolutionary educational force in Europe was the Society of Jesus and it had its origin in the brain of Ignatius Loyola. Comenius, Pestallozzi and Froebel and all the rest of the great teachers that have revolutionised the educational systems of the world and thus directed the thought and evolution of mankind into widely different moulds were individuals and the institutions that they set up did not owe their origin to the collective initiation of a group but to individual attempts to realise what society had generally laughed at as impracticable dreams. In this matter as in others real progress can come only by the action of individuals and the Bengal National Council of Education had this ‘basic fault.’ It was left for an individual, the most eminent that Bengal has produced after Chaitanya, to realise the ideal of National Education and Rabindranath Tagore’s school at Bolpur can in this way be said to be the contribution of Bengal to the solution of this problem. We shall examine it later. The Bengal Council was perhaps the most typical attempt of modern Anglicised and ‘progressive’ India in the educational field. But the most remarkable experiment both in educational ideal and pedagogic methodology came not from Bengal but from the Punjab. The Arya Samaj and the Hindu revival brought with them not only a new interpretation of the doctrines of the Aryan religion but also a new outlook on life, and anew conception of mental training. The Aryas recognised more fully than the congressionists that the development of an independent system of education must precede all attempts at reconstruction and readjustment of the bases of Indian society. This new attitude and outlook materialised in the Gurukula at Hardwar. The Gurukula ideal of education is essentially different, not only from the Anglo-Indian system but from the educational ideals of any of the modern countries. It is an attempt to revitalise the ascetic spirit of the ancient Hindu Culture. It is an experiment in assimilating as much of modern science as is essential with the spirit of our ancient civilisation. The Gurukula tries to found an Indian University, Indian in every sense, out of which would arise a new Indian nation breathing the 443

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old and sacred atmosphere of the Vedas but tasting and relishing all that is useful and fine in the thought, literature and science of the modern nations. This is, we might say at once, the right ideal. But in the systematic elaboration of its methodology the Gurukula system tends both to an ascetic severity, and a cast-iron formalism. In taking the children away from the realities of domestic life and interning them for very nearly 18 years in the unreal surroundings of a Himalayan monastery, the Arya Samaj theorists show an absolute ignorance of the fundamental ideas of education. They forget the essential truth that an education which does not keep the child in touch with the realities of domestic life is no education at all; that to be left after 20 years of restless mental activity in an unexplained and to him inexplicable environment is not only harmful but positively destructive; that such a divorce of life in knowledge and life in reality can only lead to intellectual insincerity absolutely incompatible with true education. The answer which the Aryasamajists make to this argument is that family influence in India is on the whole detrimental to the full development of the child and that the less he sees of his family in his formative years the better. This line of argument takes for granted that it is for his elders to settle what is good for the child, and in effect that the mind of the child is soft clay to be moulded and shaped as his elders desire. This is the doctrine against which the great Comenius and the no less great Rousseau preached with such unanswerable logic. The child’s mind is not a virgin soil to use the famous metaphor of Comenius, to be sown by the teacher in a formal pattern. This is the basic flaw of the Gurukula system. It treats the children as so much raw material to be manufactured by a longtime process into pious, patriotic, philosophical and literary citizens capable of carrying the Message of the Great Arya Civilisation to all the known parts of the world. Another and perhaps more effective criticism on the Hardwar ideal is that it is essentially revivalistic and therefore lacking in the element of progression. The ideals of yesterday are useless if they are not interpreted from the point of view of the life of today. The Garukalas were prevalent full 2000 years ago and it is a vain attempt even if it were possible to re-vitalise an institution which flourished under widely different conditions and in a very different time. No nation can go back and least of all could we who boast of having had a continuous civilised existence for 2000 years, afford to go back to a particular phase of our national evolution. Societal traditions have their place in educational systems and in India, or at least in the India of the Indians, such traditions are stronger than even a traditionalist could wish. Every system of education should have both the binding conservatism of the social tradition and the fluidal mobility of a progressional element. The former is the hold of the past. The latter is the problem of the present and the call of the future. In Indian institutions the former is predominant; the latter is deplorably lacking. The Gurukula of Hardwar shows this defect of our institutions more conspicuously than anything in modern India. The principle of individual freedom so crushed out in Hardwar for uniformity of pattern is found to be the fundamental principle of the Santiniketan of Rabindranath Tagore. The Bengal Council was not an educational experiment; it was 444

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solemn futility meant to be an educational demonstration. But that unrest which drove the fatuous Congress to do something in its own extremely futile manner led the most fertile mind of modern Bengal to embark on an educational experiment the most unique of its kind in India. The School at Bolpur showed once more that experiment must begin, especially when the raw material on which it is begun is the most precious element in the nation, with the tested instincts of creative genius, and not by the commercial application of a uniform principle. The Santiniketan grew out of Tagore’s brains as the Academy grew out of Plato’s and the Bonnal School out of Pestalozzi’s dreams. Educational practice has from time immemorial been divided, as Mr. Richmond well puts it, into that which works through rules more than through sympathy, and that which puts sympathy before rule. The Hardwar system exemplifies the first: the Bolpur system exemplifies the second. The Hardwar system works through the class, assumes a uniformity of intelligence and interest. Santiniketan works through the individual, treats ‘each case on its own merit’ with no uniformity of pattern and preconceived notions as to what the child ought to be when grown up. It assumes that every child is born good but with different degrees of instinct, feeling and intelligence. The aim of all is the same but the capability of realising it differs in degree. Thus each individual should be ministered to in the fashion that fits him and brings out and developes his qualities and not in the measure of another’s wants and desires. The teaching of tradition tends to societal control: individual liberty tends to social freedom; but societal control and individual freedom are not incompatible when we recognise that, individual liberty finds its highest and truest expression only under societal control. But though they are not necessarily incompatible popular instinct is right when it draws a dividing line between the rigid formalism of the traditionalist and the sympathetic guidance of the individualist. The Gurukula stands for the control therefore for the limitation of the future by the experience or the realised ideal of the past. Bolpur stands for the ideal of free development deriving inspiration from tradition, but hindered as little as possible by the dead weight of a desire to bring back into existence an institution out of which life had flown centuries ago. Both the Gurukula and the Santiniketan are only individual attempts at the solution of a national problem. Realisation of great principles can only come through the spontaneous energy of individuals: but institutions meant for remedying crying evils have to originate, not in the creative genius of a single man, but in the general consciousness of a nation and its collective initiative. The Benares Hindu University is essentially a work of this kind. It is not the realisation of a great principle or ideal but simply an attempt to remedy the most conspicuous of all the evils of the Anglo-Indian system of education. Macaulay had written with the sublime impudence that characterised his peculiar talents that the Indian risorgimento can come only through the wide diffusion of European culture and that Indian civilisation, whatever it may have been worth, was as dead as the Assyrian. The palpable falsity of this view was manifest from its beginning. Its importance lies 445

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on its results rather than on its merits. From that day dates the deplorable divorce of Indian education from Indian thought and Indian feeling. The universities of India were but factories where a few were manufactured into Graduates and a good many more wrecked in the voyage of their intellectual life. What the Hindu University has at tempted to do is to bring Indian education into conformity with Indian culture. With its many and patent faults we need not concern ourselves. What we should recognise clearly is that the Hindu University differs essentially from the Anglo-Indian Universities in that the former exists for the express purpose of interpreting Hindu culture, and as the material and tangible expression of the cultural unity of India. Thus the Benares University is a far-reaching experiment remedial in its primary character but creating a new atmosphere vitalising old traditions, interpreting racial ideals and spreading the thought and feeling of ancient and modern India. Here we have the right ideal. But in the execution of that ideal lies unsolved the problem of national education. The Benares University is as effectively controlled by the Government as its own institutions. The watchful eye of the Bureaucracy is on it and it is independent only in name. The experiment is so important, the probable effects from it so far-reaching, the success or failure of it so vital, that the Government acting on its irrational distrust of free and unshackled education considered itself justified in imposing its own authority on it. But when all is said of the influence of an alien Government, of the reactionary character of any institution that exists to interpret ancient ideals and not primarily to search for truth, of the mischief that it may originate due to its sectarian character, of the great and crying evils such as the caste system which it may perpetuate, when all is said, the Benares Hindu University remains a capital fact which is bound to influence our national evolution certainly in a much better way than the AngloIndian institutions. Its chief defect we have noticed before. It is remedial and therefore supplementary. It does not solve the educational problem of nationalist India. It does not even face the issues boldly. But this must be admitted that it is a great step forward. It is the natural nucleus of any national experiment in education. Around it would gather institutions united in their diversity, inspired by the majestic flow of the sacred Ganges from whom, as it was written of yore, is bound to flow all that is good and great in India. II. Up to now our work has been entirely critical and estimative. The greater task of stating and analysing the problem and interpreting the tendency of the new nationalists towards it remains. What most strikes anyone who approaches the problem of Indian Education from any point of view, is its appalling magnitude. Here is a country with a population of 315 millions whose future salvation depends greatly upon the careful study and the right solution of this problem. Here is a not inconsiderable portion 446

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of the human kind whose destiny depends a great deal upon those who have the foresight to see and the energy and the enthusiasm to realise a right educational ideal. The problem is indeed bewildering in its variety. It is as if one entered a primeval forest, thick and crowded with trees, with no gleam of light to guide one’s steps, with soft grass and wild creepers covering many a pitfall. But if it is difficult, nay almost impossible to traverse, we must also admit the temptation to persevere in the attempt is as great, seeing that beyond this dark and untraversed forest lies the promised land, the land of a free and educated population. Out of the wild variety of this problem three factors stand out towering above the rest. They are the questions of a common language, of the education of women, and of the general policy and the institutions by which to realise it. The first question is whether India should be treated as a cultural unity, whether a new All-Indian language, a modified Arya Bhasha embodying not only the culture of Ancient India, but assimilating the contribution of the Mussalman inhabitants should be consciously evolved out. The second question is whether we should perpetuate the status relation between men and women in education, whether an absolute equality of sexes in educational practice is not bound to affect adversely the free progress of a family and social development. Whether a different educational ideal for women is not desirable, possible and practicable. The third question is the question of the educational principles and institutions; whether a uniform general policy is desirable, if desirable how far it should be carried, whether the realisations of great principles does not come from the co-ordination of tested units, whether it would be more desirable to nationalise interest than to universalise it. Such are the main outlines of the problem which the nationalist has to face not only when India governs herself but even today, because without at least a partial solution of the educational problem Swaraj would remain an unrealised ideal. The first question—that of a common language, is one of the most pressing of our problems not only from an educational, but from a general nationalist point of view. Without it all our efforts at united action must forever remain virtually ineffective. It is true that before the British dominion India was one in feeling, thought and culture. But today by the influence of a foreign language her different provinces are tending to a difference even in these vital points. This process of disintegration can be arrested only by a common language. Is such a thing possible; if possible, can Indian Nationalists unaided by the all-pervading machinery of government realise it? This is the first question we have to answer. That English can never serve the purpose of a common language is a manifest fact that requires no argument to prove. It is so utterly foreign to us that education in it involves an enormous waste of mental power. This waste is suffered not only by those whose natural gifts are so overflowing as to be indifferent to its effects but by everyone who desires to be educated in India. This is the explanation of the enormous number of failures in our universities, and of that unique and therefore all the more heartrending phenomenon of the Indian educational world the “failed B.A.” English can never become anything but the language for 447

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a microscopic minority of our inhabitants—the cidevant Eurasian. For us Indians it is and it will ever be a language in which to commit literary suicide, a tongue which stifles our expressive faculties, a medium of expression which kills all the thinking power of our mind. The use of a foreign language as the medium of our higher education leaves us without a national genius in literature, in sciences and in thought. Lord Curzon was essentially right, though in a negative sense, when he said that the raising of the cost of higher education would tend to the betterment of India. Such an administrative act would limit the classes who would be affected by this intellectual ravage. It would confine the intellectual exploitation to the very few who are rich. The ordinary man, though he does not gain, surely does not lose by this arrangement. Setting aside therefore the impossible supposition that English can at any time be the common language of India we are left with two alternatives, to wit:—that we should choose as our common language either an unused language—a dead language as it is erroneously called—Sanskrit, Prakrit, or Classical Persian, or, one of the chief Indian vernaculars, such as Hindi, Bengali or Tamil. Of these two possible alternatives we can dismiss the first with a few words. True that Sanskrit has the merit of being known and studied all over India. It has also the merit of being the common basis of all the Indian languages. But at no time does it seem to have been extensively spoken in India and it is hardly possible that such a perfect language with all its different verbal forms could ever be spoken by the ordinary man. Persian, of course, has little claim to be the common language, and Prakrit, less. Thus we are left with the indubitable fact that the common language of India can only be one of the three or four chief vernaculars of India. The problem more plainly stated becomes this: which language are we to choose, from among the great vernaculars of India as the medium of higher education and the basis of higher communal life? The apparent contest is between Hindi, Bengali and Tamil. But the contest seems to me to be only an apparent one. Neither Tamil nor Bengali, however cultivated their literatures be, can claim to be anything but the language of a particular province, a language spoken by a sub-nationality. But the case of Hindi is different. The Hindi-speaking people do not inhabit a particular marked-out portion of India. It is in fact understood all over North India. It is understood in a slightly different form by all the Mussalman inhabitants of India and this fact alone makes its claim a matter of incontestable weight. Also it has a double alphabet which, peculiarly enough, is in this case not a hindrance but an additional claim. Its Nagari character makes it acceptable to all Hindus; its Urdu character makes it acceptable to all Mussalmans. Thus an acceptance of Hindi would preserve the continuity of our civilisation both for our Muslim brethren and for ourselves. It is an interesting and supremely important subject which we would have liked to discuss with greater elaboration had the limits of this essay permitted it. However before entering into the consideration of the next question we would attempt to answer one important objection that is commonly raised against the evolution 448

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of an Indian common language. Will not the adoption of any one Indian language, say Hindi for example, as our lingua franca adversely affect the growth of our vernaculars? Will not the language in which Chandidas and Rabindranath Tagore wrote, say these, become in course of time, like Gaelic in Ireland, merely a dead tradition. Will not the sublime Tirukural, and the no less sublime Songs of Ramdas, become like the wonderful poems of the Welsh bards, or the reputed epics of the Aztecs mere objects of curiosity for the antiquarians? The fear is legitimate, though groundless. The unique greatness of India lies in its wonderful diversity, and the ideal of a great India must always remain a diversity-ideal. Is the attempt to create a common language an attempt to create a uniformity of thought and expression? If it is, it is treason to India. But under no conceivable circumstances can it be so. A second language taught and spoken as such can never replace a well cultivated mother tongue. The Bengali would be proud of his tongue as the Tamilian, the Gujerati, the Punjabi and the Malayali would be. They would be cultivated with greater zest and interest as the knowledge of the other Indian languages grew among the people. The objection therefore is groundless. The proper education of women is the next problem. We have noticed that this problem has to be treated in three main lines, which are—first, whether we should perpetuate the status relation between men and women in education, secondly, whether the Indian family life does not demand a peculiar consideration in our educational problem, thirdly, whether a different educational ideal for our women cannot without breaking the continuity of our culture be evolved from our past. The Indian nation can never be free till the Indian woman has ceased to be a slave. The Indian nation can never be educated till the Indian woman has ceased to be ignorant. I am not saying that the Indian womanhood is bound in slavery, or that it is blinded by ignorance. But the fact is that both in the relative status of sexes and in the idea of their education our present system affords room for very considerable modification. Is that modification to come through the activities of the social reformers or by the extensive diffusion of education. The difference between the two processes is great indeed. The social reformers try to impose their ideas on the generality, believing implicitly in the infallibility of the reforms they advocate. The social reform temperament is the temperament of the missionary. On the other hand the process of social evolution through the wider diffusion of education is essentially a process of raising the general standard of opinion and thus making social reform the real expression of the conscious will of the community. The question however arises whether we are to perpetuate the status relation of sexes in our educational system. The process of human evolution has surely been in the progressive differentiation of sexes which has now become a dominant and capital fact in all organised societies. The question of sexual status and education affects us in an entirely different way. At present the education of our females, such as it is, is entirely in relation to the family and not to the community. It is designed so as to make the child as it grows up a sweet and docile wife, an ideal mother, and when she reaches that age a self-sacrificing widow and able head 449

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of the family. This ideal is absolutely right as far as it goes. But it does not go far. It gives no place for the relation of women to the community. That relation is only implied in a very limited sense in the ideal mother. The business of the mother, as far as the community is concerned, according to this ideal, is to rear up ideal citizens. Naturally the question arises: does the social relationship of women end with rearing up excellent soldiers and sagacious politicians? Is she merely a means and not an end in herself? Can her faculties be fully and freely developed except in relation to the organised community, and, by limiting her to the smallest possible community, the family, are we not limiting the development of her faculties? It is therefore evident that any comprehensive solution, of the educational problem must include the final destruction of the artificial limitation of feminine relationship to the family. This brings us to the second question whether such an extension of feminine activity through a different ideal of education which, while perpetuating the healthy status relation of sexes, does not limit the female to the family, would affect adversely that vital point of our civilisation—the joint family system. It is by no means clear whether a higher individuation of the units that compose the family would tend to its breakup and it does not seem to be true that a freer interpretation of the position of women in society must lead to a disintegration of the family. What seems quite clear is that the joint family system as it is, with all its merits, tends very considerably to be a dead weight in the matter of freer, fuller and healthier family life, and a purification of it in its essentials can come only through the increased intelligence of women. Female education as long as it is imparted with the view of perpetuating the status relation of the sexes or on the other hand is based on the idea that such differences ought not to exist, would remain wholly unreal, disturbing the whole fabric of social organisation and sapping the very vital roots of all social existence. The education of women, such as is given in India today, inclines to the second alternative of ignoring the existence of sexual differences. That is why female education in India has been a totally disturbing, instead of a consolidating, factor in social life. The Indian joint family life being indeed the realised truth of a thousand generations requires a peculiar consideration in our educational problem. Our ideal should not be to destroy but to purify it. Does this ideal mean a break in the continuity of our civilisation? In spite of the opinion of Sir C. Sankaran Nair, no sensible man has ever believed that according to Hindu ideals woman is created to minister to man’s wants. The Hindu ideal of womanhood has been the ideal—not the European conception of a helpmate for man soothing his distracted hours—of a necessary counterpart without whom man by himself cannot attain salvation. What Sri Krishna asks his old playmate Kuchela when that pious devotee visited the Lord, is whether the female rishi suited him in every way. Indeed, according to the Hindu ideal man and woman are like the twin blade of a pair of scissors each important and insufficient in itself and capable of action only in combination. There is no superiority or inferiority in their relations. The right ideal is to make both the blades as keen as possible. 450

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This not only does not mean a break in the continuity of the Hindu tradition but is in entire conformity with its spirit. Such is the opinion of those who have devoted their life work to the cause of female education. Prof. Karve in founding the women’s university has the same ideal. The Gurukula authorities in establishing an institution for girls gives the authority of orthodox Hinduism to this ideal. Now it remains to discuss whether a general educational programme under these conditions is possible, and whether such a policy would be desirable as laying down the main lines of our educational development. A general policy means at least an attempt on the part of the powers that be to lay down certain things as the essential minimum of education. This power in the hands of a government generally tends to a control of the educational system. That is eminently undesirable, even it is comes from a strictly nationalist Indian Government. Education, unless we want to travesty it as a governmental instrument, must necessarily be free and unhampered. Thus a general policy can be laid down only to this extent, that is, the Government while encouraging, by every means in its power, should leave education outside the scope of its general activities except in so far as to remedy such manifest evils as a monopoly by any particular community, or a general inactivity in any particular field. The Government should make primary education free and compulsory, but in no case should it insist on a general curriculum for the whole of India. It should be left to the discrimination of the local authorities prescribing however that in such subjects, as elementary Arithmetic of which the realised experiments of the past centuries have convincingly proved the utility, a minimum standard should be set. Only up to this has the Government any right of interference. In its educational policy the Government’s activity should be one of co-ordination of educational institutions. How then are we to realise this ideal of free and compulsory primary education, absolutely under local control, with the least possible interference from the governmental authorities? Is it by a system of free universities as in America or by a system of local effort supplemented by board schools as in England? The answer is difficult. But this much we can say without any fear of contradiction: A national programme of education in a country like India whose greatness lies in the rich diversity of her people, her ideals and her life, must essentially be a programme of local effort, of individual experiment and of provincial and national co-ordination. The Government can therefore never lay down an educational policy. If it did, such a policy would only create a mechanical process of instruction without any local colour, without any conformity with the realities of life, without any attempt to create intellectual sincerity. The realisation of any ideal, however good, can come only through the general prevalence of individual experiments in that direction. A state can never successfully impose it on the community without transforming the character of that ideal. To summarise what we have said till now. The nationalist movement in India is threatened today by a grave danger, that of an inquisitorial control by the Government of the educational machinery. On the face of it, therefore, a nationalist programme in education becomes an imperative necessity. From the earliest days of 451

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the national movement the more far-sighted among them had seen this. But their efforts remained mainly local until the meddling hand of Lord Curzon imposed on an unwilling Congress the necessity of ennunciating a general policy in education. The translation of that policy from the realm of speech to that of action ended in complete failure. But other experiments, such as the Gurukula which attempts to revive the ascetic spirit of the ancient Hindus and the Santiniketan which tries to realise the principle of individual freedom, arose out of that educational unrest. The Benares University expressed in a tangible form the dissatisfaction of the best moderate mind with the Anglo-Indian system of education. But a really nationalist ideal in education has not yet been authoritatively elaborated. Such an ideal must take into consideration the problem of a common language, which in the opinion of the present writer can only be Hindi. It must also give particular attention to the education of our women without attempting to disintegrate the joint family system. Finally, a national educational programme must be a programme of local effort and national co-ordination. It is unnecessary to forecast whether such an ideal is immediately practicable. Any diversity-ideal can only be a matter of growth though not necessarily slow. The nationalist effort in education, therefore, should be directed not chiefly towards any attempt to mould the governmental policy but in building up local institutions of a great variety of character and embodying different national ideals and culture. Therein alone lies the hope of nationalism, for nationalism ignorant is nationalism ineffective. Let us remember this and then we shall have no more fear of the future. In the past India was great: the present is not without hope: but with our united effort her future shall indeed be greater than either her present or even her past. It depends upon us and let it not be said of us that the Spirit of Time in determining the fate of our Motherland tried us in the ordeal of fire and found us wanting.

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EDUCATION ON NATIONAL LINES. SWAMI VIVEKANAND. We must have a hold on the spiritual and secular education of the nation. Do you understand that? You must dream, you must talk, and you must think and you must work. Till then there is no salvation for the race. This education that you are getting now has some good points but it has a tremendous evil at its back, and this evil is so great that the good things are all weighed down. In the first place, it is not a man-making education, it is merely and entirely a negative education. A negative education or any training that consists negation is worse than death. The child is taken to School and the first thing he learns is that his father was a fool, the second his grandfather was a crazy lunatic, the third that all his teachers were hypocrites, the fourth that all the sacred books were lies! By the time he is sixteen, he is a mass of negation, lifeless and boneless. And the result is that fifty years of such education have not produced one man in the three Presidencies. Every original man that has been produced has been educated elsewhere and not in this country, or they have gone to the old Universities once more to cleanse themselves of superstitions. This is not education. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and running riot there, undigested, making a battle of Waterloo all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who can give by heart a whole library. “The ass carrying its load of sandalwood knows only the weight and not the value of the Sandalwood.” If education means information, the libraries are the greatest sages in the world and encyclopaedias are the Rishis. The ideal, therefore, is that we must have the whole education of our country, spiritual and secular, in our own hands and it must be on national lines, through national methods, as far as practicable. Of course this is a very big scheme, a big plan. I do not know whether it will ever work itself out but we 453

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must begin the work. How? For instance, take Madras. We must start a temple, must have a temple, for, with Hindus religion must come first. Then you say, all sects will quarrel about the temple. We will make a non-sectarian temple giving only “Om” as the symbol, the greatest symbol of any sect. If there is any sect here which believes that “Om” ought not to be the symbol it has no right to be Hindu. All will have the right to interpret ideas, each one according to his own sect, but we must have a common temple. You can have your own images and things in other places, but do not quarrel with the other people. There should be taught there the common grounds of our different sects and at the same time the different sects should have perfect liberty to come there and teach their doctrines, with only one restriction—not to quarrel with other sects. Say what you have to say, the world wants it; but the world has no time to hear what you think about other people, keep that to yourselves. Secondly, along with this temple there should be an institution to train teachers and preachers. These teachers must go about preaching both religion and secular knowledge to our people; they must carry both as we have been already carrying religion from door to door. Let us along with religion carry secular education from door to door. That can be easily done. Then the work will extend through these bands of teachers and preachers, and gradually we shall have similar temples in other centres, until we have covered the whole of India. That is the plan. It may appear gigantic. But that is needed. You may ask where is the money. Money is not needed. Money is nothing. For the last twelve years of my life I did not know where the next meal would come from, but money and every thing I want must come, because they are my slaves and not I theirs; money and every thing else must come. Must, that is the word. Where are the men? That is the question. I have told you what we have become. Where are the men? Young men of India,1 my hope is in you. Do you respond to the call of your nation? Each one of you has a glorious future if you dare believe me. Have the tremendous faith in yourselves which I had when I was a child and I am working it out. Have that faith, each one in yourself, that eternal power is lodged in every one of our souls. You will revive the whole of India. Aye, we will go to every country under the sun and our ideas must be within the next ten years a component of the many forces that are working to make up every nation in the world. We must enter into the life of every race inside India and outside India; we will work. That is how it should be. I want youngmen. Say the Vedas: “It is the strong, the healthy, of sharp intellect and young that will reach the Lord.” This is the time to decide your future—with this energy of youth, when you have not been worked out, not become faded, but still in the freshness and vigour of youth. Work, this is the time for the freshest, the most untouched and unsmelled fresh flowers, alone to be laid at the feet of the Lord. He receives. Get up, therefore, greater works are to be done than picking quarrels and becoming lawyers and other things. Far greater is this sacrifice of yourselves for the benefit of your race, for the welfare of humanity, for life is short. What is in this life? You are Hindus and there is the instinctive belief in you that life is eternal. Sometimes I have youngmen in Madras coming and talking to me about Atheism. I do not believe a Hindu can become an atheist. 454

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He may read European books and persuade himself he is a materialist, but only for five months, mark you. It is not in your blood. You can not believe what is not in your constitution; it would be a hopeless task for you. Do not attempt that sort of thing. I once attempted when I was a boy! But it could not be. Life is short, but the soul is immortal and eternal, and therefore one thing being certain, death, let us take up a great ideal and give up the whole life to it. Let this be our determination, and may He, the Lord, who “comes again and again for the salvation of His own people,” speaking from our scriptures—may the great Krishna bless us and lead us all to the fulfilment of our aims!—From the lecture on “The Future of India.”

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN INDIA AND WESTERN COUNTRIES. THE HON’BLE Mr. G. K. GOKHALE. C. I. E. An American legislator, addressing his countrymen more than half a century ago, once said that if he had the Archangel’s trumpet, the blast of which could startle the living of all nations, he would sound it in their ears and say: ‘Educate your children, educate all your children, educate every one of your children.’ The deep wisdom and passionate humanity of this aspiration is now generally recognised, and in almost every civilised country, the state to-day accepts the education of the children as a primary duty resting upon it. Even if the advantages of an elementary education be put no higher than a capacity to read and write, its universal diffusion is a mattar of prime importance, for literacy is better than illiteracy any day, and the banishment of a whole people’s illiteracy is no mean achievement. But elementary education for the mass of the people means something more than a mere capacity to read and write. It means for them a keener enjoyment of life and a more refined standard of living. It means the greater moral and economic efficiency of the individual. It means a higher level of intelligence for the whole community generally. He who reckons these advantages lightly may as well doubt the value of light or fresh air in the economy of human health. I think it is not unfair to say that one important test of the solicitude of a Government for the true well-being of its people is the extent to which, and the manner in which, it seeks to discharge its duty in the matter of mass education. And judged by this test, the Government of this country must wake up to its responsibilities much more than it has hitherto done, before it can take its proper place among the civilised Governments of the world. Whether we consider the extent of literacy among the population, or the proportion of those actually at School, or the system of education adopted, or the amount of money expended, on primary education, India is far, far behind other civilised countries. Take literacy. While in India, according to the figures of the census of 1901, less than 6 per cent. of the whole population could read and write, even in Russia, the most backward of European countries educationally, the proportion of literates at the last census was about 25 per cent; while in many European countries, as also the United States of America, and Canada and 455

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Australia, almost the entire population is now able to read and write. As regards attendance at school, I think it will be well to quote once more the statistics which I mentioned in moving my resolution of last year. They are as follows:—‘In the United states of America, 21 per cent. of the whole population is receiving elementary education; in Canada, in Australia, in Switzerland, and in Great Britain and Ireland, the proportion ranges from 20 to 17 per cent; in Germany, in Austria-Hungary, in Norway and in the Netherlands the proportion is from 17 to 15 per cent; in France it is slightly above 14 per cent; in Sweden it is 14 per cent; in Denmark it is 13 per cent; in Belgium it is 12 per cent; in Japan it is 11 per cent; in Italy, Greece and Spain it ranges between 8 and 9 per cent; in Portugal and Russia it is between 4 and 5 per cent; whereas in British India it is only 1 9 per cent.’ Turning next to the systems of education adopted in different countries, we find that while in most of them elementary education is both compulsory and, free, and in a few, though the principle of compulsion is not strictly enforced or has not yet been introduced, it is either wholly or for the most part gratuitous, in India alone it is neither compulsory nor free. Thus in Great Britain and Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United states of America, Canada, Australia and Japan, it is both compulsory and free, the period of compulsion being generally six years. Though in some of the American states it is now as long as nine yeare. In Holland, elementary education is compulsory, but not free. In Spain, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Servia and Rumania, it is free, and, in theory, compulsory, though compulsion is not strictly enfored. In Turkey, too, it is free and nominally compulsory, and in Russia, though compulsion has not yet been introduced, it is for the most part gratuitous. Lastly, if we take the expenditure on elementary education in different countries per head of the population, even allowing for different money values in different countries, we find that India is simply nowhere in the comparison. The expenditure per head of the population is highest in the United states, being no less than 16s; in Switzerland, it is 13s, 8d. per head; in Australia, 11s. 3d; in England and Wales, 10s; in Canada, 9s. 9d; in Scotland, 9s. 7½d; in Germany, 6s. 10d; in Ireland, 6s. 5d; in the Netherlands, 6s. 4½d; in Sweden, 5s. 7d; in Belgium, 5s. 4; in Norway, 5s. 1d; in France, 4s, 10d; in Austria, 3s. 1½d; in Spain, 1s. 10d; in Italy, 1s. 7½d; in Servia and Japan, 1s. 2d; in Russia, 7½d; while, in India, it is barely one penny. From—The Speech delivered on 16th March 1911 in the Imperial Legislative Council, India.

EDUCATION IN INDIA.2 LALA LAJPAT RAI. It has now more than abundantly been established that the efficiency of a nation depends upon the amount and nature of brain power which it can put forth in the affairs of life. In an address delivered some two years back, Sir John Lockyer, the illustrious President of the British Association, traced conclusively and 456

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convincingly the intimate relation that exists between the provision made by a nation for the higher education of its people and the position taken by that nation in the ceaseless competition between the great countries of the world. Relying upon facts and figures, he compared the educational facilities and the intellectual out-put of Great Britain and Ireland with those of its rivals, Germany and United States, and came to the conclusion that the latter were much in advance of the former. Nay, he went a step further and held out young Japan as an example to be followed with profit in the matter of intellectual efforts. Those who are in touch with the current literature of the West, must have been struck by the extreme importance which all the civilized nations of the world have, by experience, begun to attach to education as the foundation of all national greatness both in point of wealth as well as of intellect. If, then, in the struggle for life, education and educational efforts are matters of supreme importance to advanced, independent and self-governing nations like the English, the German and the American, it only stands to reason that they are of still greater importance to a country like India where ignorance and superstition reign supreme, where penury and poverty, are the order of the day, where want and, starvation are generally prominent, where independence of thought and action is almost unknown, and where the destinies of the nation are completely in the hands, and at the mercy, of a handful of foreigners who, in spite of all the generosity and benevolence of intentions that they can put forth in the Government of this country, are loth to admit the sons of the soil to any decent share in the management of the affairs of their own land. In a country where the economic circumstances brought about by an alien rule force the people to look to other countries for even the necessaries of life, where the unlimited resources provided by a bountiful Providence are closed to the sons of the soil and are only accessible to clever, energetic, and enterprising foreigners, where the wealth of the country is being daily drained out of the country, and where a fairly intelligent population are, for want of education, and opportunities, being reduced to the position of drawers of water and hewers of wood, education, I say, is a question of life and death. Our future principally depends upon the amount and the sort of education we shall receive. Having once put the educational machinery into motion, our rulers have of late been showing signs of great dissatisfaction with the results. The history of English education in this country shows that originally the framers of Government Educational policy were actuated partly by selfish and partly by philanthropic and high motives. To quote the words of the Government of India resolution of 1904: “They regarded it as a sacred duty to confer upon the natives of India those vast moral and material blessings which flow from the general diffusion of useful knowledge. They hoped by means of education to extend the influence which the Government was exerting for the suppression of demoralizing practices, by enlisting in its favour the general sympathy of the native mind. They also sought to create a supply of public servants to whose probity, offices of trust might with increased confidences be committed, and to promote the material interest of the country by stimulating its inhabitants to develop its vast resources.” 457

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The italics are mine. This policy appears to have been faithfully carried up to 1882, by which time the out-turn of the educational activity in the land had come to be immensely in excess of the requirements of the administration merely. To quote the resolution again: ‘The growth of schools and colleges proceeded most rapidly between 1871 and 1882 and was further augmented by the development of the Municipal system, and by the Acts which were passed from 1865 onwards providing for the imposition of local cesses which might be applied to the establishment of schools. By the year 1882, there were more than two million and a quarter of pupils under instruction in public institutions. The Commission of 1882–83 furnished a most copious and valuable report upon the state of education as then existing, made a careful inquiry into the measures which had been taken in pursuance of the Despatch of 1854, and submitted further detailed proposals for carrying out the principles of that Despatch. Thy advised increased reliance upon, and systematic encouragement of private effort and their recommendations were approved by the Government of India. The italics are again mine. This was the first step towards reaction. The AngloIndian bureaucracy raised a cry against high education and bitterly complained that the Government was entirely wrong in-spending large sums out of their resources on high education. It was thus laid down as a principle of policy to gradually withdraw from the work of secondary and high education and confine the energies of the State to the task of extending Primary Education. In pursuance of this policy some Government Colleges were abolished, a few transferred to private management, and the fees in all Government and aided colleges were greatly raised. To the great misfortune of those provinces which had only recently come under the British rule and where education had only very recently been introduced, as the Punjab, the policy formulated by the Government of India in 1882 affected them most injuriously and was very effectual in retarding high education therein. As a natural result of this policy, however, the people of the country began to look up for themselves, and systematic efforts were made by them to provide against the loss likely to follow from the partial withdrawal of Government from the field. This withdrawal of Government, or the contraction of Government expenditure on high education, and the raising of fees, have had different effects in different provinces, but so far it has had only a most disastrous effect in the Punjab. The truth of this remark will appear from a glance at the following table in which the 5 large provinces range themselves according to fee incidence:— Punjab ... ... Bengal ... ... Madras ... ... Bombay ... ... United Provinces

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

5·4 3·9 3·5 3·0 3·0

The following figures show that of all the 5 important provinces into which British India proper is divided, the Punjab is only next to the most backward of them in the matter of University education.

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The following table gives the number of boys of school-going age of which one is in an Arts College, in the 5 University provinces of India:— Bengal Madras Bombay Punjab U. P.

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... 711 ... 755 ... 1,029 ... 1,319 ... 2,502

The following table shows the increase in all British India in the total number of collegiate students in the 3 quinquenniums that have elapsed since 1882:— 1887–88 to 1891–92 1891–92 to 1896–97 1896–97 to 1901–02

... ... ...

... ... ...

... 4,364 ... 1,509 ... 3,215

Thus it took full 10 years for the private colleges to develop in order to reduce the decrease that was so marked and startling in the second quinquennium of this reactionary period. During the last quinquennium while Bengal gained 1,766 pupils (collegiates) Bombay ... Madras ...

... ...

... ...

... ...

... ...

... ...

877 239

Punjab with the N. W. F. P. only gained 160 while the U. P. fared still worse and only gained 44. In 1896–97 the number of scholars receiving education in Arts Colleges in the Punjab was 1,101. In 1899–00 it rose to 1,180 and in 1900–01 it was only 1,152, The following figures show that but for the private colleges, the collegiate education in India would have fared disastrously, as in 1901–02 there were only 4,000 students in Government Colleges and 12,000 in privately managed colleges, 54 per cent. of the latter only being in aided institutions—the unaided colleges of Bengal alone educating no less than 4,541 of them. The figures of increase in the number of students in different classes of institutions show to what extent during the last quinquennium alone, private enterprise in education has come to the rescue of high education in this country. This increase is divided as follows:— Government Colleges Aided Colleges ... Unaided Colleges ...

... ... ...

... ... ...

... 448 ... 998 ... 1,695

With the exception of Bengal, where the average annual cost of educating a college student is the lowest because of the very large numbers receiving education in cheap private colleges, the cost is the lowest in the Punjab, as shown by the following table:— U. P. Madras Bombay Punjab Bengal

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

459

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

278 195 188 136 97

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while the total expenditure on collegiate education stands thus:— Bengal Madras U. P. Bombay Punjab

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ...

8¼ lacs. 61⁄3 lacs. 4¼ lacs. 3½ lacs. 1¾ lacs.

Of these 25⅔ lacs, only 8,96,000 are furnished by Provincial Revenues while fees contribute 9¾ lacs, i. e. 80,000 over and above the contribution of Government. During the last quinquennium the expenditure from Public Revenues has actually diminished by Rs. 67,000 while that from fees has increased by Rs. 2,31,000. Compare with the above the amount of money contributed by the Government of Great Britain and Ireland on University education alone, viz. £1,55,600. The University of London alone gets a grant of £8,000 (see Contemporary Review of December 1903, P. 838); the University of Berlin gets a grant of £1,68,780 from its Government and the University of Tokio (in 1895) £1,30,000. SECONDARY EDUCATION. Descending a step lower and looking at secondary education we shall find that altogether a sum of Rs. 126,84,000 is spent on secondary schools, of which only Rs. 32,76,000 are contributed by public funds (Imperial and Provincial Revenues, Local and Municipal Funds all together) and Rs. 60,76,640 by fees only, the balance being made up from private sources. In the Punjab the fee-ratio of expenditure is shown in the following quotation from the Review of H. H. the Lieutenant-Governor on the Education report for 1900–01. “It is interesting to notice that on the average native parents are called upon to pay Rs. 1-3-0 per annum for the education of a son in a Primary School; Rs. 11-8-6 in a Secondary School; and over Rs. 80 in an Arts College. These figures, however., do not take into account assistance given in the form of scholarships.” In the Nineteenth Century for Oct. 1903 appeared an article on “London Education” from the pen of the Hon’ble Mr. Sydney L. C. C, in which the writer has noticed the work of the London county council in providing improved educational facilities for London boys and suggested desirable reforms and changes. Commenting upon the facilities which exist in London for secondary education the writer remarks that:— “Every year about eight hundred of the ablest boys and girls in the public elementary or lower secondary schools, between eleven and thirteen years of age, are picked by competitive examination for two to five years of higher education. These two thousand scholarships provide for the cleverest children of the London wage-earners a more genuinely accessible ladder than is open to the corresponding class in any American, French, or German city. In addition to these maintenance scholarships there are free places at most of the London secondary 460

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schools. from St. Paul’s downwards, which are utilised, as is found to be the case with all-provision of merely gratuitous secondary education, by the lower middle and professional classes. Above these opportunities stand the intermediate and senior county scholarships, and others provided by various trust funds, probably altogether about two hundred in each year, for candidates between fifteen and nineteen years of age. These serve partly to carry on the best of the junior scholars; partly to admit to the highest secondary schools the ablest children of parents ineligible for the lowest rung of the ladder; and partly to take the very pick of London’s young people to the technical college and the university. This scholarship scheme has now necessarily to be revised, to bring it into accord with the changes lately made in the school-leaving age and the pupilteacher system. Practically all children now stay at school until fourteen, and it is no longer necessary for any substantial payment towards the maintenance of the scholarship to begin before that age. On the other hand, there is a consensus of opinion that, when a child passes from an elementary to a secondary school, it should do so before the age of twelve and should remain for not less than four years. It looks as if the limit of age for the normal junior scholarship should be reduced from thirteen to twelve, and its duration extended from two to four years, whilst the annual maintenance allowance up to the age of fourteen might be reduced to 51, rising to 10l. and 15l. in the last two year. And if the need for pupil-teachers causes the number of scholarships to rise to 2,000 a year, it would perhaps be possible to effect the further desirable reform of beginning the selecting process by a preliminary examination, conducted, by the head-teachers themselves, in their own schools. Of all the children who had attained the fifth standard before the age, of twelve; and of undertaking to award the scholarships, not to any fixed number of winners but to all who, in the subsequent centralised competitive examination, reached a certain percentage of marks. Such a reform would organically connect the scholarship system with all the public elementary schools, instead of, as at present, only about a third of them; and would bring London’s ‘capacity catching machin’ to bear on every promising child. There must, however, be an adequate supply of efficient secondary schools for these picked scholars to attend, not to mention the needs of those who can afford to keep their boys and girls at school until seventeen or nineteen. There is a common impression that the public secondary schools of London are few and inefficient. Yet, including only Foundations, of which the management is essentially public in character, London has to-day certainly not less than 25,000 boys and girls, between seven and nineteen in its secondary schools, actually a larger number than either Paris or Berlin. In the back-ground, and not included in this calculation, stands the horde of private adventure ‘commercial academies’ and ‘colleges for young ladies’ of the genteel suburbs. These we may leave gently on one side. The publicly managed schools number about ninety, well dispersed over the whole country, ranging from those like Parmiter’s School (Bethnal Green) and Addey’s School (Deptford), where the 461

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leaving age is sixteen or seventeen, through the dozen admirable institutions of the essentially public Girls’ Public Day School Company, up to such thoroughly efficient ‘first-grade’ schools as the North London Collegiate, for girls (St. Pancras) and Dulwhich College (Camberwell) and St. Paul’s (hammersmith) for boys. Yet so dense is London that, with one or two exceptions, the very existence of these schools is forgotten by the ordinary citizen, and is often ignored by the legislator or administrator. Many a middle class family which could well afford to send its boys and girls to secondary schools is unfamiliar with those which exist within a mile of its home. Even to the best informed educational administrators the real state and quality of the London secondary schools taken as a whole, are far less accurately known than those of the elementary. All the information points to the conclusion that the efficiency varies, immensely from school to school; that nearly all of them have good buildings, mostly well provided with science laboratories and suitable equipment; and that, where any school falls below the mark, the weak point is the staffing. In at least a third of the London secondary schools the income from fees and endowment is insufficient to provide more than one good salary which goes to the head teacher whilst the assistants, who are to be university graduates, are paid, for the most part, less than is earned by an ordinary certificated teacher in a board school. Yet even recognising all the shortcomings of these schools, the department of secondary education is not one which will give the London County Council any serious trouble. About forty of the publicly managed schools are sufficiently well off to be independent of its aid, and these, nearly always charging highfees, and providing an education of high grade may be left to themselves. The other fifty, including practically all those in need of help, have already shown by their cordial co-operation with the Technical Education Board their willingness to fall into line. It would, of course, be necessary to disturb the present governing bodies, on which the local authorities are already well represented, and it would be unwise for the Council to interfere in the details of administration. In no department is it so important to maintain variety and independent experiment as in the secondary schools. But construct what scholarship ladder we will, the secondary schools can be used only by a small fraction of the population. For the secondary education of the masses there has been organised, by the School Board on the one hand, and the Technical Education Board on the other, an extensive assortment of evening classes; providing instruction in every imaginable subject of literature, science, art, and technology. The classes of the School Board, which enrol, over 1,20,000 students for the winter session and have an average attendance of half that number, are conducted in 400 of its day-school buildings, mainly by the younger and more energetic of its staff of day teachers. The work of the Technical Education Board, dealing usually with a more advanced stage and older scholars, is concentrated in the forty polytechnics, art schools, and technical institutes under its management or control, which have in the aggregate about 50,000 students. Here the lecturers and teachers are specialists in 462

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their respective subjects, teaching in institutions specially equipped for their work. At six of the polytechnics, the highest classes have been included in the faculties of the reorganised London University. These two schemes of evening instruction have now to be co-ordinated, differentiated, and developed. There can be no question of stopping either the one or the other; on the contrary, both sides of the work will have to be increased. It ought not to be too much to ask that every boy or girl who leaves school at fourteen or fifteen should, up to twenty-one, be at any rate enrolled at some evening-class institution, even if attendance is confined to an hour per week. Yet there are in London over 6,00,000 young people between 14 and 21 not a third of these are at present members of any sort of institution, recreational or educational. Out of 84,000 boys and girls between fifteen and sixteen, only 21,000 are on the rolls. What is happening to the others? We cannot, as yet, compel them to come in, as the Bishop of Hereford proposes, though this is done in various parts of Germany and Switzerland. But we might try the experiment of using the school attendance officer to look after those who have not joined an evening school, using the method of persuasion, just as they look after the younger defaulters from the day school. Meanwhile we could bring the whole of the evening instruction in each borough into a single harmonious organisation; we could allocate the work in such a way as to provide appropriately for each age and each grade, and avoid overlapping; we could take care that each subject is taught under the most effective conditions, and properly coordinated with more advanced instruction elsewhere; and we could arrange for the progression of the students from stage to stage until they reach the highest classes of the nearest polytechnic, or the technical college itself.” The italics are everywhere mine and adopted to enable the reader to compare the existing state of things in India with the existing state of things in London or with what in the opinion of the writer in the Nineteenth Century should be the state of things there. It will thus appear that while the London authorities are anxious to see that every boy and girl, whether rich or poor, is in receipt of some sort of secondary education up to the age of 21, the authorities in India have ruled that the classes in the rural schools be so formed as to exclude the possibilities of scholars reading in them joining the ordinary secondary schools in towns. The statement that in at least a third of the London secondary schools the income from fees and endowoment taken together is insufficient to provide more than one good salary which goes to the head-teacher whilst the assistants who ought to be university graduates are paid for the most part less than is earned by an ordinary certificated teacher in a Board school, is significant and may with profit be pondered over by the educational authorities in the Punjab who are so strict towards the private schools and are at times inclined to exact higer standards of efficiency than even those observed by some of the Board and Mission Schools in the province. If even London tolerates the existence of inefficient secondary schools wherein the income from the fees and endowment together is so meagre, 463

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surely there can hardly be a case against similar schools in India which is educationally so backward. PRIMARY EDUCATION Coming down to the Primary Schools we find the state of things still gloomier. The total expenditure on Primary Education is Rs. 1,05,45,000 to which the Public funds (Revenues, Local and Muncipal) all contribute only Rs. 60,50,000 while from fees are reailsed Rs, 31,15,211. The Provincial and Imperial Revenues contributed only 13⅓ laces (see page 178 of report). As compared with the magnificent figure of 13⅓ lacs of Rupees spent by British Goverment on Primary Education in India, the Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland voted £1,24,17,368 for elementary education in those islands in 1901 alone. The extent and enormity of the evil have been recognised by the Government of India in their resolution of 1904, Paras 14, 15, and 16. “How, then, do matters stand in respect of the extension among the masses of primary education? The population of British India is over two hundred and forty millions. It is commonly reckoned that fifteen per cent of the population are of school-going age. According to this standard there are more than 18 millions of boys who ought now to be at School, but of these only a little more than 1⁄6 are actually receiving primary education. If the statistics are arranged by Provinces, that out of a hundred boys of an age to go to school, the number attending primary schools of some kind, ranges from between eight and nine in the Punjab and the United Provinces, to twenty-two and twenty-three in Bombay and Bengal. In the census of 1901 it was found that only one in ten of the male population, and only seven in a thousand of the female population were literate. These figures exhibit the vast dimensions of the problem, and show how much remains to be done before the proportion of the population receiving elementary instruction can approach the standard recognised as indispensable in more, advanced countries. While the need for education grows with the growth of population the progress towards supplying it is not now so rapid as it was in former years. In 1870–71 there were 16,473 schools with 607,320 scholars; in 1881–82 there were 82,916 with 2,061,541 scholars. But in 1891–92 these had only increased to 97,109 schools with 2,837,607 scholars, and the figures of 1901–02 (98,538 schools with 3,268,726 scholars), suggest that the initial force of expansion is some what on the decline, indeed the last year of the century showed a slight decrease as compared with the previous year. On a general view of the question the Government of India cannot avoid the conclusion that the primary education has hitherto had insufficient attention and an inadequte share of the public funds. They consider that it possesses a strong claim upon the sympathy both of the supreme Government and of the Local Governments, and should be made a leading charge upon provincial revenues; and that in those Provinces where it is in a backward condition, its encouragement should be a primary obligation.” 464

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It may be remarked that these obligations were also admitted in 1882–83, but little was done to fulfill them, as will be clear from a perusal of the following facts and figures which we cull from Vol. II of the Government of India’s reports on the progress of Education between 97–98 to 1901–02. NO. OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS FOR BOYS. 1886. 91–92. 96–97. 1901–02. 84,673 91,881 97,881 92,226

which means an actual decrease of 5,655 in the last 5 years. The Punjab showed this decrease to the extent of 42, i. e. in 1901–02 there were 42 Primary Schools less in the Punjab and N. W. Frontier Provinces combined. In 96–97 there was one school for a group of 5·8 towns and villages. In 1901–02 there was one for a group of 6·2. In the Central Provinces there is one Primary School for 23·4 towns and villages, in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh one for 15·6 and in the Punjab one for 14·5. In the Central Provinces the mean average distance in miles between each boy’s Primary School is 8·2 miles and in the Punjab 7·1. This does not mean that schools are equally distributed over the whole area. The fact is that in some districts there is no school for many tens of miles. During the last 5 years, while the number of Schools fell by 5,655, the average strength per school rose only by 2 (i. e. from 31 to 33 per school). The following figures will show the progress made by primary education in the number of scholars receiving education. In 96–97, 30 lacs and 28 thousand boys received instruction in Primary Schools for boys but in 1901–02 the number fell to 30 lacs and 9 thousand (a fall of 17,000). In the Primary Schools attached to secondary schools the numbers in 96–97 were 31 lacs and 83 thousand and in 1901–02 the numbers were 31 lacs and 84 thousand i. e., an increase of 1,000. Total loss 16,000. In the Punjab and N. W. F. Province (combined) the numbers in the former schools were 10 lacs and 8 thousand in 96–97 and the same in 1901 and 1902, but in the latter class of schools it rose slightly, i. e., by 4,000.

Notes 1. Substituted for the original word “Madras”—Ed. 2. The conclusions and comments noted above are based on the figures of 1901–1902. We know that since then something more has been done by the Government of India towards extending the scope and sphere of education in this country. An examination of what has been done in these years and whether that justifies the policy and attitude of the Government towards private enterprise in education may better form the subject of a separate artiole wherein we may compare the results achieved by the Government of American and European states in the matter of Education.

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