Colonial Commissions on Education in India

With the establishment of British colonial rule in second half of 18th century, the early policy adopted was non intervention in Indian social matters. This pragmatic approach depicting respect and paternalistic outlook of colonial regime was well manifested in Warren Hastings policy of orientalism. The efforts were made to learn about Indian culture and it's tradition so that the knowledge could be utilised in the matters of governance. For this purpose Asiatic Bengal society (1784), Calcutta Madarsas (1781) and Sanskrit college at Banaras (1794), etc., were established. In addition, learning of Indian languages for British civil servants at Fort William college also initiated in 1800.

With the end of Hastings tenure, the influences of Utilitarists, Evangelicalists and free trade thinking began which precipitated for a new approach involving necessity of government intervention to liberate Indians from superstitions and other outdated traditions. The western influences started their domination. Earlier the orientation was Traditional Indian learnings which later shifted its focus towards imparting western education. English education was introduced through charity schools run in Kolkata, Madras and Bombay presidencies. The real beginning of western education can be seen from the Charter Act of 1813 which not only opened the floodgates for Christian missionaries in India but also allocated ?100,000 per year for promotion of learning in India. However, no efforts were initiated due to lack of unanimity with respect to syllabi and medium of instructions.

Eventually, efforts were made following the Orientalist- Anglicist controversy during William bentinck's tenure. Macaulay minutes were issued which laid emphasis on western education learning. It formed the basis for education policy in the country. In this context Macaulay commented "a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia".

The education policy followed by the British in the country till 1854 represented downward filtration approach. Their main focus was on educating a certain section of Indian society, preferably the upper castes and neglected the primary education. Thus, the growth of education was not uniform at all levels and more attention was given to the expansion of high schools and colleges. Primary education suffered immensely and vast masses of the country remained illiterate. The result was so severe that by the beginning of the 20th century 4 out of 5 Indian villages were without a primary school and 3 out of 4 children grew without any education.

Their motive behind pursuing the education system in the country was primarily serving their vested interest. Apart from understanding Indian traditions which would be helpful in their governance of the country and rule over the Indians, the motive behind the introduction of educational framework and the establishment of educational commissions was to fill the lower posts in administration (impractical to appoint Europeans at all level of administration) and to create market for their products (creating brown Indians having English taste. In this way, a breed of loyal Indians could be created by the British. Also, they adopted a cautionary approach as efforts were made to maintain their control over  the education imparted and prevent the spread of patriotism among students and teachers.

• The aim of government education policy was to promote western education.
• It provided clarity to the medium of instruction. Higher education what was to be imparted in English language but it also emphasised upon the importance of the vernacular languages as the medium of  instruction at the primary level.
• Proposed establishment of primary schools in the villages
• Grants in aid also proposed for the promotion of education
• It encouraged private participation in the field of education so as to maintain a proper standards for teaching
• Modern universities on the line of London University were recommende to be set up in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras presidencies
• Also, focused on the importance of vocational instructions and recommended for establishment of technical schools and colleges.
• Promotion of Education of woman also recommended by the dispatch

The Commission was appointed by the government to review the progress of education in the country since the dispatch of 1854.The main recommendations of the hunter Commission were: 

• It recognised state's active role in expansion of primary education. So, proposed the transfer of control of primary education to the newly set up local boards.
• Advancement of secondary education was also envisaged with an innovative approach of giving due importance to both academic achievements and vocational training.
• It encouraged the participation of private players in the field of education. Several incentives, grants, etc war considered for their active participation
• Similar to woods dispatch the hunter education also Commission supported education of girls

Two decades after the Commission submitted its report, the education in the country witnessed growth both at secondary and tertiary levels. In 1882, only 3916 secondary schools were opened but by 1901, they increased to 5124 secondary schools. Even number of pupils attending the schools also enhanced from over 2 lacs they reached almost 6,00,000. In 1901 the number of colleges opened were close to 200 which were inadequate in 1881.

Indian universities act, 1904 during the governorship of Lord Curzon drew up a new plan of educational reforms in the country. A Commission was appointed under the chairmanship of  Thomas Raleigh in 1902 to inquire into the functioning and future prospects of universities in the country and to recommend proposals for their improvement. The Commission neglected primary and secondary education and only emphasised upon university level education. Based upon the report of the Commission,  Indian universities act was passed in 1904. The main changes proposed by the committee and adopted in the act were :

• Promotion of research and development in the universities. It also recommended setting up of university laboratory laboratories and libraries and act gave the shape to this vision.
• Tenure of appointment was fixed instead of life term For fellowship in university
• Government nominate most of the fellows of a university. It was considered 20 fellows each at university of Kolkata, Madras and Bombay.
• Government control over the universities increased further as it provided veto power to the government over the regulations of a university.
• Stricter conditions for affiliation and regulations were imposed on private colleges by the government
• High standards of education to be maintained at the university level.

The act was considered as an attempt by Britishers to over regulate the education system in the country. It was opposed by the nationalists and even, Gopal Krishna Gokhale described the act as a retrograde measure that will fulfill only colonial aspirations. It was clearly seen that universities were reduced to the position of typical government departments and private participation discouraged further.

The Government of India appointed another Commission on education to examine the problems of Calcutta university. The Commission also included 2 Indian members namely, Dr Ziyad-ud-din-Ahmed and Ashutosh Mukherjee. The Sadler Commission reviewed the entire field of education from school education to university education unlike the hunter Commission. The main recommendations of the commissions were :

• At school level, long term education course was recommended for enriching the education attainment.
• A new type of educational institutions called intermediate colleges were thought of. These colleges could run as independent institutions or might be associated to certain high schools.
• Board of secondary and intermediate education was proposed to be set up to overlook the framework of education and prepare the students for the universities.
• The duration of the degree courses after the completion of the school education would be fixed, most probably 3 years.
• Regulations over universities were proposed to be less rigid as compared to the 1904 act.
• A centralised teaching university was recommended in Dacca to relieve the burden of students from the university of Calcutta.
• Promotion of female education also emphasised. A special board of women education in the Calcutta university was proposed in this endeavour
• Teacher training courses also envisioned to enhance the standard and to impart quality education.
• Science and technology courses also to be offered in the universities and for the purpose certain degrees and diplomas also considered.

Not all the recommendations of the Commission were accepted but but few steps were taken like 7 universities came into existence in Dacca, Lucknow, Patna, Banaras, Mysore, Aligarh and Osmania.

Montague Chelmsford reforms of 1919 had imprints on Indian education system as well. The Department of Education was kept under the control of ministers in various provinces. The control of central government in educational matters was reduced in this respect. However not much improvement could be made as financial difficulties faced by the provincial governments prevented them to undertake educational reforms in the right direction.

It was observed that in early 20th century although quantitative improvement were made in educational fronts but considerable deterioration of quality and standards also witnessed. Hartog committee was appointed to examine and report on the status of development of education in the country. The findings of the committee were :

• Hasty expansion at primary level of education was observed and the committee recommended for consolidation of the primary schools.
• At the secondary level, the committee observed that the quality of exams deteriorated and many undeserving students went to universities. Vocational courses in diversified fields also became the area of interest at the secondary educational level by the committee.
• The committee critisised the higher education system of the country due to it's policy of indiscriminate admission  not creating a level field and as a result, talents were ignored. The committee recommended upgradation of administration and overall education standards in the universities.

In 1944, a national scheme of education popularly known as surgeon plan was devised by central Advisory Board of education. The plan envisaged an improvement in the education system at all levels. The most important consideration of the scheme was to introduce free and compulsory education for children between the age of 6 and 11. It categorically mentioned of high schools to be of 2 types : one, academic schools and two,technical and vocational schools . It also recommended abolition of the intermediate courses.

In 1948, another Commission under the chairmanship of Dr Radhakrishnan was set up to report on university education in the country. The major suggestions of improvement by the Commission were :

• A University Grants Commission to be set up to overlook the university education in the country
• To put university education on the concurrent list
• An all out efforts to be made to raise the standards of examinations in all universities
• Increase the pay scale of university teachers
• A 12 years of pre university educational course was proposed
• Not less than 180 days were considered as working days at the universities excluding the examination days
• University degrees not to be considered as prerequisite for administrative services
• A fixed time of 3 years was mentioned to qualify for a degree
• Three main goals for higher education were mentioned that is, general education, liberal education and occupational education
• Emphasise also laid on learning different languages
• Attention to be paid to subjects like agriculture, law, medicine, technology, etc
• Examinations to be held for different subjects separately at different stages

University grants Commission in consonance to the recommendation of Radhakrishnan committee was formulated in 1953. By an act of parliament in 1956, the Commission was given a statutory recognition. UGC was responsible not only for regulation of the higher education in the country but also to look after the standards of  higher education as well as providing grants in aid to the colleges, institutions. At present, the government is considering a proposal to replace UGC with Higher education Commission of India (HECI).