Education has become one of the essential requirements in a man’s life. India is a nation that excelled in education thousands of years ago and showed the light of knowledge to the world. History is proof that lakhs of foreign students stayed in universities like Nalanda, Thaksin and developed their knowledge. This article will help us to know the history of the modern education sector of such a famous Indian nation.
Gurukul education and schools and madrasahs
Even before the British East India Company dominated our country, the system of imparting education through schools and madrasahs was predominant in our country. Those schools often followed a system where students of different ages sat together and learned with the same teacher. Also, the children of kings, nobles, government officials invited teachers to their homes and learned lessons. According to the East India Company memorandum of 1797, there were more than 700 schools in Tamil Nadu at that time.
CHARTER OF 1813
Such schools started disappearing at some point. When the British conquered cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai and established their power there, western culture slowly began to infiltrate. As a result, the churches built to spread Christianity not only converted but also built libraries and schools around the places where they occurred. This education was seen as religious imposition and protested among the Indians.
This resulted in debates in the British Parliament. In 1813, the British government declared its mission to provide education to Indians. Christian missionary schools were given grants of up to 1 lakh rupees annually. This move spelled the end of Indian schools and madrasahs. This act is known as “CHARTER OF 1813”.
The charter states that “Indians are not required to have any caste, religion or status to work in the various departments of the East India Company. Job will be given only on the basis of educational qualification.” announced that This educational qualification is “English medium” education.
MACAULAY’S MINUTES
During the 20-year period between 1813 and 1833, the British government proposed a further program to expand English education. India’s upper class families should be attracted towards English education and employ them in government jobs. It was hoped that this move would draw others towards English education.
Macaulay visited India in 1834. Lord Bending, who was the Governor General of India at that time, appointed Macaulay as the head of the Department of Education called “Public Instruction”. Macaulay studied the educational system of India for four months and submitted a report called MACAULAY’S MINUTES.
Macaulay’s aim was to replace the traditional Indian education system which practiced “varnasrama dharma” and provide education for all.
“The main task we have now to do is to raise through education a new class to act as ambassadors of goodwill between us and the people we govern. They are Indians by blood and colour. But British by feeling, position by behavior, thought, likes and dislikes,” he said.
Also, it is difficult to educate all Indians with the money allocated for education and to translate all books in English into regional languages. Not only that but the British urgently needed people who could understand their language and speak it to the people they were ruling in their own language. So first let’s teach English to some people in India. Let them read all the books in English and translate them in their language and take them to everyone,” he said.
In 1835 Lord Bending, who was the Governor General of India, implemented Macaulay’s recommendations.
Wood’s Despatch
This act of Wood is known as “MAGNA CARTA” of Indian Education. In 1853 , a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Charles Wood, who was the chairman of The Board of Control of Education in England. “Would it be possible for the British Government to wrest the educational authority from the authority of the East India Company and carry it directly?” The purpose of this group is to investigate and find out.
It was this group that led to primary education in regional languages, secondary and higher education in English and regional languages, and graduation in English only. It also paved the way for women to get education in India. Created the first Directorate of Education. It paved the way for the establishment of universities in India.
Hunter Commission
In 1882, the Government of England appointed an Education Commission headed by William Hunter. It was called INDIAN EDUCATION COMMISSION. The committee was set up to examine the quality of primary education in India.
Quarterly, half-yearly, full-year and monthly examinations were introduced in our classrooms only through this group. Also, the group’s achievements include introducing uniforms in schools and popularizing regional language education. The group also led to more students entering primary education.
Gandhian education
A few years later, an Education Conference was held at Wardha in 1937, bringing together the Ministers of the Congress-led provinces in India.
The party presented some educational policies in that conference.
- Compulsory education should be provided free of cost from 6 years to 14 years
- Primary education should be compulsorily in the mother tongue.
- Students should learn a career in school, including rattan
- The purpose of education is to create self-controlled children to stand on their own feet
This conference proposed that.
At the time of India’s independence, only 14 percent were literate. To change this situation, Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, formed several committees. This first Education Commission was chaired by Dr. Radhakrishnan, who then worked at Oxford University and later served as Vice President and President of India.
Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar Committee
An educational committee was formed in 1952 under the chairmanship of Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar with Dr. Radhakrishnan on board . The committee made two recommendations.
- Recognition of separate schools for girls.
- To promote holistic regional language education.
Nehru appointed an academic committee in 1964 under the chairmanship of the then University Grants Commission chairman DS Kothari . Professors from countries like America, France and Russia were present in it. Activities such as national welfare program, sports teacher, painting teacher etc. were carried out only on the recommendations of this committee.
After that “Navodaya Schools” were opened all over the country under the rule of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi to provide international standard education to the students.
After Mr. Vajpayee became the Prime Minister in 2002, he implemented Education for All Movement (SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN) to provide compulsory free education for all children between 6 years to 14 years of age, make compulsory pass for all up to 8th standard and prevent school dropouts.
In this way the Indian education sector has undergone many changes and has made way to raise the literacy rate of our nation to 76 percent. The time is not far when our country will take the lead in terms of education and human resource indices like the countries of the world.