The History of English Education in India PDF

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The East India Company brought the English language to the Indian subcontinent, and it later came to represent the British Empire. It was used as a symbol of power, but it was also promoted as a way of life. For the purpose of mental training and sophistication, this language was used....

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The Beginning of English in India. The East India Company brought the English language to the Indian subcontinent, and it later came to represent the British Empire. It was used as a symbol of power, but it was also promoted as a way of life. For the purpose of mental training and sophistication, this language was used. Both the colonisers and the colonised, the rulers and the ruled, were motivated by English education in India. It was a way for the British to communicate with the natives, administer them fairly, and introduce Christianity and bring them up from their ignorance to the light of Jesus, but paperwork (Wood's Despatch) shows a different motive for the British. The British Empire's introduction of English classes in colleges like Calcutta Madrassa, Benares Sanskrit college, and Agra college, as well as in many other orientalist educational institutions, was seen by the subject as an opportunity to learn new ideas, acquire superior language skills, and establish themselves in high positions. So why can't we simply say that the British Empire imposed English education on the Indians? It wasn't an easy ride for her, despite the fact that English gradually

replaced

vernacular

languages,

Arabic,

and

Sanskrit in Indian schools and colleges. Many British scholars and administrators were in favour of Oriental education, so it faced a lot of criticism and opposition. One of the founders of Calcutta Madrassa, Warren Hastings, advocated education in

the vernacular. As a result of his religious zeal, Charles Grant advocated for Indians to be educated in English so that they could learn morality, values, and ethics from Christianity (only true religion in his belief). Charles Grant, known as the "Father of Modern Education in India," proposed a plan to the British parliament in 1797 for reforming education in the country. One reason why the parliament was against education in India was because they realised that it would be counterproductive for the colonisers to educate the natives because it would lead to a greater likelihood of rebellion and resistance. They had learned the lesson from the United States of America. The parliament partially rejected this idea.

Charles

Grant's

proposal,

acknowledged

the

despite

being

Company's

and

partially the

rejected,

government's

responsibility to the people of India in the education sector. Charter Act 1813 mandated the government to spend at least one lakh a year on education as a result. In 1823, the Gurkha Wars and the Maratha Wars had ended, allowing

this

resolution

to

take

effect.

The

General

Committee of Public Instruction was established as a result of this resolution, and it granted permission for oriental colleges like the College of Agra, Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras to be established. Printing in Sanskrit and Arabic, as

well as translations from English, were all undertaken by the committee. Some Anglican missionaries who had never stopped criticising the government for providing secular education that had no effect began teaching English and Christianity in various parts of the provinces at the same time as missionaries. Serampore college and a handful of other

colleges

could

be

considered

centres

for

the

propagation of English culture and Christianity. Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra were influenced by western philosophy, knowledge, and ideas during this time period. To modernise the Indian Orthodox faith, they demanded the establishment of Western-style colleges and schools. As a scholar of Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Greek as well as English, Raja Ram Mohan is regarded as the father of the Indian Renaissance. He hoped to bring about social change in India by promoting modern education. He led a Bengali movement for modern scientific education, but he had no choice but to learn English because the vernacular languages were not developed enough to acquire the zeel of western knowledge. He didn't want to learn English.

Using only English officials to run the company's administration became increasingly difficult in 1830. For the sake of native participation in government administration, William Bentinck wrote to the committee of public instruction asking that English be taught as a language of instruction. He arrived in

India and began working on education at the same time. he worked with Charles Grant jr., Charles Trevelyan, and William Bentinck to promote education in English as a means of achieving

social

justice.

One of

his most well-known

"minutes on education" was published, prompting him to demand that his policy be adopted by the government, or risk being fired. To convince the government and committee to accept English as the official language of administration and education, he slammed the Indian education system, which he considered to be inferior to English. Later, it became the'manifesto of Indian education'.. English became the official language of the United States government in 1837 as a result. English and Anglo-vernacular schools were established in each district following the civil war. Finally, the natives were able to use English at its root level. In addition, Indians began to study English because the Charter Act of 1853 made it possible for them to compete in civil service examinations.

The Megna Carta of English Education in India was introduced by the British government and the company in the second half of the nineteenth century, and the Indian subcontinent was handed over to the British crown shortly after the end of the Sepoy Mutiny. The British government then established numerous committees and passed legislation like the Indian Education Commission of 1882 and the Indian Universities

Act of 1904. As a result of these resolutions, universities such as Lahore, Allahabad, Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta were established, where real western education and English propagation began. English literature was introduced as a class topic. In English, Indian authors like Raja Rao, Mulk Raj, R.K Narayan, and Michael Modusudhon began writing. Students with a degree from these institutions were quickly hired

by

a

Rajagopalacharia

variety

of

once said,

government "The

English

agencies. language

C is

Goddess Saraswati's gift to India, a blessing which Indians were privileged to receive" because it helped to unify India to stand against the arbitrary British rule. These unifying movements pushed English education to a new level, and it became the second language of India as a result. "Tryst with destiny" was the English phrase used to announce India's independence on August 15, 1947. Despite academic opposition, English was included in the Modern Indian Languages list.

They were foreigners, and English was the language of the kings and queens, so they didn't know any Indian languages. For administrative reasons, they had to communicate in a common language. In spite of many efforts (terms of wood's despatch) to limit the English language, it has spread throughout the subcontinent and is still going strong to this day....