How English Education affects India

ENGLISH EDUCATION IN INDIA

Oriental perception of education for Indians

The term 'Orient' means the East. As it has been

said earlier, there were many English officials

of the East India Company who were in favour

of encouraging Indian (or Oriental) rather than

Western learning. These people, who were called

Orientalists, were led by William Jones and Henry

Thomas Colebrook who discovered the rich

heritage of India's ancient past through sacred and

legal texts produced in ancient period that they had

translated into English. They said that in order to

rule India, the British needed to understand and

learn Indian culture. The study of the texts could

help them rule and develop India in future. This

would also help Indians seek pride in the glorious

heritage of their past.

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These company officials
thought that in order to win
Indians over to the British,
they should be taught subjects
which they were familiar
with. Institutions were set
up to encourage the study
of ancient texts and teach
Persian and Sanskrit poetry
and literature. A madrasa was set up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of

Arabic, Persian, and Islamic law. To encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts, the Hindu College was started in Benaras in 1791 by Jonathan Duncan. Sir William Jones, Nathaniel
Halhed, and Henry Thomas
Colebrook founded the
Asiatic Society of Bengal in
1781. They learnt Sanskrit and
some other Indian languages,
and translated several ancient
Indian texts into English.
Unlike a majority of British
officials in India, they gave
great respect to Asian cultures
and traditions. They studied ancient Indian texts and wrote a large number of
articles admiring the literary tradition of India.
These articles were published in Asiatick Researches,
a journal started by them.

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In the Charter Act
of 1813, the British
government granted Rs.
1 lakh for the promotion
of education in India.
As a result, a number of
schools were established
by Christian missionaries
who came from England.
Headquarters of the Asiatic
These missionaries
Society of Bengal
believed that educating
Indians through English schools would help to
convert them to Christianity.
Around this time, a new group of East India
Company officials gave their views in favour of
giving education to the Indians in English instead
of native languages. They criticised the Oriental
vision of learning. They were called Anglicists.

 


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