Educational Problems in India Author(s): Wm. I. Chamberlain Source: The Journal of Race Development, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jul.

, 1910), pp. 110-121 Published by: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29737850 . Accessed: 04/10/2013 02:05
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EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS IN INDIA

By Prof. Wm. L Chamberlain, Ph.D., Rutgers College
An Address Delivered at Clark University
Far East.

during the Conference upon the

The poet who best sings the glories of the English

outlined their over-seas policy in this way: "They terribly carpet the earth with dead, And before their cannon cool, They walk unarmed by twos and threes To call their living to school."

has

illustrations in Kipling's mind were the terrible slaughter of Omdurman in the reconquest of the Soudan, and the founding of Gordon College at Khartoum, "before The
their cannon cooled," by General Kitchener, the Commander

of the British Army of Occupation. In India, too, the con? of the has been rapidly followed by the estab? quest country
lishment of schools.

The steps leading to the present system of education in India have been five : 1. Lord Maeaulay's Minute of 1835, leading to a deter?
mination of the issue in favor English language, cal languages of as against India. of European learning and the Oriental learning and the classi?

2. The Court of Director's Despatch of 1854, being the great charter of education in India and outlining the present
organization. 3. The Universities lishing the great Acts Indian of 1857, estab? of Incorporation Madras of Calcutta, Universities

and Bombay

to be followed
Commission which had

later by those of Allahabad

of 1882, reviewing found most been the past in

and Lahore. 4. The Education and confirming that

useful

experience.

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EDUCATIONAL

PROBLEMS

IN INDIA

111

5. The Reforms instituted by Lord Curzon in 1902, to the leading appointment of the Indian Universities Com? mission of 1902 and the Indian Universities Act of 1904 and
the very It was sions that then a time of primary education. great enlargement of previous the not until when results 1854, were in the great summed and experiments up true was marked out. of development has been maintained. Even the progress path discus? educa? Since storm

tional despatch of the Directors

the steady

of the East India Company,

of the Mutiny,
overthrew that of "

which

followed soon after, and which

was powerless the which natives flow with to stem

for

all order,

the rising those

tide of educational
ideal, vast moral

development

along the line of a high

of India from the general

upon conferring and material blessings derive from her

diffusion of useful knowledge and which

Providence, connection cause

India may,
England/'

under in
the and

Nothing
India, fact that

is more honorable
while becoming the storm to the of

to the British
fanaticism and

supremacy
than ignorance

or more

of education

cruelty was at its height the administrators

set themselves, with of establishing policy thus calmness

of the country

that creating of fanaticism from which spirit so This experience honorable at the present the Secretary persisting otherwise

and deliberation, to pursue the an universities and educational system, can which the alone exorcise knowledge India was to England suffering. is being of repeated India and

the present time, when are of State for India introduction

in their undeterred There

Viceroy and resolutely calmly of reforms and educational of politi? in recent

cal agitators. unrest

and the crime by the sedition has not been a finer illustration than that which was

times of the spirit of justice dominant

and disturbance Indian debate in Parliament

in the presence of

great the Secretary of State Morley, sion of a sane and resolute and appro? spirit, of the confidence val of his countrymen and of a deep understanding of the and of the two history democracy England, confronting and masterful of and Lord great pro-consuls Egypt India, Cromer and Lord Curzon, in their criticism of his administra

afforded by the in July, when John 1908, for India?secure in the posses?

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112

WM.

I. CHAMBERLAIN for a postponement

tion and their demand

of the reforms

? declared posed, in view of the sedition rife in that country resolutely to Parliament, to all Britain, and to all India that
no fanatical of crimes their would deter him from in Asia, endeavoring and that to one

pro?

meet as well as he could the political aspirations of the honest

reformers that cannon of great dependency

of the first articles

education. cool they

in his programme of reform would be

"before the

as Kipling Again, writes, call the living to school."

The story of the development of the modern British sys? tem of education in India, by its superimposition upon the
ancient, indigenous system, so long-lived and so widespread

in that land, gives rise to many interesting questions. And while high praise is due the Englishmen for the splendid courage and firm spirit shown in carrying forward their stupendous task of putting new wine into old bottles with? out doing too great violence to either, from the standpoint
of those who are studying from without methods stationary national the the newest European whereby the reorganization of a long opment of their own this experiment are being applied to Asiatic and society, life, there remain

who are looking for lessons that may be useful in the devel?
expanding

large problems of vital significance to be solved.

Language. is to be connection Eastern a There is, for example, old but very vital

problem of the linguistic medium

communicated, with the lands. This the

through which knowledge

a problem which arises in always introduction of Western into learning old controversy raged in India between famous Minute of the of Lord

the Orientalists and Anglicists until the issue was brought to

settlement by who was the legislative member in the third decade nor-General characteristic the Arabic instruction: of a good literature brilliance he and languages "I have never on the Council Macaulay, of the Gover? his and of

last century. With the Sanskrit against argued as the medium for the English found," he wrote, "anyone

among

them (the Orientalists)

who could deny that a single shelf

that

was worth the whole native European library * * * and Arabia. of India Whoever knows access has ready to all the vast language (English)

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EDUCATIONAL

PROBLEMS IN INDIA

113

intellectual wealth which all the wisest nations of the earth have created and hoarded in the course of ninety generations.
now extant in that safely said that the literature of far than is value all the literature which greater language was in extant all of three hundred the ago years languages " the world together. seems to be renewed, recent years In more this discussion It may be and the wisdom of attaching so much importance to the study

of English,
some

and so little to oriental classical and vernacular has been called in question. It has been felt by literature,
that Macaulay?s influence made the pendulum swing

too far in the direction of the English language, and that it would have been better if the study of Sanskrit and Arabic literature had been allowed to go hand in hand with the In this way the breach study of the literature of the West.
between the past and the present might less per? have been a new and have had less unset? ceptible knowledge might But now appear effects. however it may tling unnecessary to be to bestow on in the future the class? attention greater

ical languages of India, there is now no forsaking of the

past possible, so far as western learning is concerned. In high

schools and colleges English has long been not only the sub? ject but also the medium of instruction. Many of the
most Indian are circulated which for newspapers only are printed in English, and of by preference the total number of books published in each year about one in ten is written in English. The language assem? of national important readers in the country is now English, as the one common to

blies

the greatest number. Where is this growth in the use of English to stop? Will it continue until it has supplanted not only the classical languages but also the one hundred and
or less, troublesome vernaculars? fifty, more known in some years scholar India English the extinction of the native He languages. between analogy in India. The the Roman empire and Indeed ago a well from the in advocated dominion the Gallic, provinces. the native

argued the British

Romans the study encouraged did not Spain and Africa. They promote or Moorish in their conquered literature Iberian, Why then, he asks, should the English encourage Gaul, languages of India?

of Latin

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114

WM.

I. CHAMBERLAIN

It is only necessary to point out, in reply, that the analogy of the two cases fails in the fact that the Gauls and Spaniards
and Moors scientific were not literary nations. Nor did they possess

a copious literature.

Nor had they for 2500 years used a

of the forms and a clear analysis theory of grammar for Had this advocate and structure of their languages. of India endeav? of the native the extermination languages

ored to carry this analogy a little further and to apply it to the one subject people of Rome most nearly akin to the Hindus in intellectual subtlety, the Greeks, he would have seen its utter failure. The Greeks never gave up for Latin the language which embodied all that remained to solace them in their degradation, the memory of the ancient glories of
their of Only the race, past about and the creations true of their of more is also a century What genius. Grecian modern liberated was true history. a Tur?

ago Greece

was

from

kish tyranny centuries old, during which time her language had lost much of its strength and beauty. Modern Greeks Still they did not do not speak the language of Pericles. to the language of its it of shorn was, glory though yield it,
their Moslem conquerors.

Ancient

classic Greek may

and

be likened to the classical

the modern language of Athens not

of the Hindus, languages to the ruling vernaculars krit, There as the day admit every are, some

Sans? of India, which, though from it. of them, derived are many the improb? which circumstances augment

ability of the English

literary speech

ever entirely supplanting

of India

the classics

language of the millions transition

or of its becoming the every? The national of that country. one language to another. that than On the was

objects, the implements, the social order are too different to

of easy from ground, therefore, ever be should English in ancient Rome. Greek Education another government recognize, withhesitancy and it seems anything scarcely possible more in India

and Development a far more serious education of the the discussion yet it is so wide because

is still There of Character. with connected the problem Indian we must which we enter upon and so far in its application people of which

and

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EDUCATIONAL

PROBLEMS

IN INDIA

115

reaching in its significance. It is the question of the responsi? bility of the educational system in India for the failure to
its people among develop are the bases and which those the ethical and moral of a truly well safeguards qualities national

life; in other words its failure to develop character which

universally recognized to be the aim of every grounded

is

educational system, and the failure to attain which is its The discussion of this problem then leads condemnation. to the inquiry: How far is the modern system of education
in India That does not and Lord responsible we may exist, for the present great unrest amongst

the people of that country?

not be accused let us here two note of an issue where one of creating of Lord Curzon the conclusions the most in the peoples. very eventful successful conduct amd most of practical

capable administration

Cromer, statesmen

among

experienced oriental

During
to, Lord

the debate in the House of Lords already referred

from his returned recently Curzon, ; as declared in India Viceroy, septennate

It will be admitted that first and foremost among by everyone the causes of the unrest (in India) is the education which we have ever since the day of Ma For years?indeed given to the people. have been giving to the people an education which, caulay?we suited to a country which has constitutional however admirably the to a country where ill adapted is profoundly development, social customs, and the state of intellectual evolution traditions, are what we see. It has taught the people of India the catch? its them with without words civilization of western inspiring It has sharpened its sobriety. their ideas or spirit or inculcating intellect without forming their character. Lord trative Cromer, with Indian : as well as Egyptian adminis?

experience, I am in entire concurrence with Lord Curzon that by far the cause of all in producing this unrest is the system most important We are really only reaping the harvest which we of education. * * * Lord Stowell once sown. said that ourselves have talent which will exceed the demand, the if you supply educated in India. surplus was likely to turn sour. That iswhat has happened for India, the Secretary of State Morley, of his and with the position, manifestly feeling responsibility and discrimination of a scholar as well as of the knowledge And Viscount

added

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116

WM.

I. CHAMBERLAIN

a statesman, closed the great debate with this cautious but conclusive judgment:
I think I am able to accept and follow him (Lord Curzon) I think his diagnosis those causes. is thoroughly sound. inadequacy also by recognized This in the others into

of education is system present are not officially who connected

with

the administration of the country. A keenly intelli? and gent observing Englishman, who has lived many years
in India and moved sent out the freely among this solemn warning: educated classes, has

recently

it is creating an immense class for whom Our Indian education has largely loosened the authority and obligation of the past, and crave for a career intellectual who, with quickened capacities, fibre with which we cannot afford to open, for lack of that moral which we have failed to supply them, in the place of what they have is charged with peril; and it cannot possibly lost. Such a situation stop there. We must go on to furnish those moral and spiritual alone can supplement and justify the education. forces which have reached the limit of their powers, and a stu? Our statesmen task confronts us. pendous of all shades Englishmen conclusion that one, if not and that reform and of opinion the great, on have cause then come to the in

of the unrest

India is the imperfect and ill adapted system of education

technical is to be urged education. primary three lines, us viz., moral,

This and Moral Religious Training. and religious sion of the place of moral a of which system education, question of deep concern and of differing and Rome allied

leads has

to a discus? in a state

instruction

solutions.

been one always It has led also

to the adoption of widely

In ancient the state and the Middle so intimate the other. has, in most Greece

differing administrative
religion to their educational became

policies.
of In

a function

systems. closely and formed the church and state coalesced Ages a union of each was entered that the domain by school, which was the creation into the control countries, and there passed has been

The

of the church, of the civil declension in education. in

government, the emphasis The tion is very

attitude

placed upon of the present day towards varied. In Germany and France

a consequent element the religious

instruc? religious we see the work

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EDUCATIONAL

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117

In the former ing of two diametrically opposed policies. as instruction is religious definitely prescribed by law as in the latter it is proscribed. In Great Britain and the United
see again wide For in differences of policy. on education has been carried England, largely always in recent under the contro? years, religious auspices, and, over the participation in education of the church has versy States we

been a dominant political

the and contrary, and there the state, instruction. In India

issue.

In the United

States, on

of the church is a complete separation of definite exclusion practical religious has, for twenty-five centuries, sanctified

religion

the pursuit of knowledge, as the path of liberation from the world, and absorption inGod. When the English undertook
the education ment interference of the people of India, the unwisdom of govern? was gener? with of the Hindus the religion and they bound to the mainte? themselves

ally conceded, nance of religious This principle, asserted neutrality. by all of India, the great Governors solemnly proclaimed by the of in and reiterated the Recommenda? great Despatch 1854,

tions of the Education Commission of 1882, was regarded by the Hindus as the great safeguard of their liberties. But the principle cut both ways. Stripped of all secondary aims,
government of conveying If education education was confined to the primary object knowledge. is training

for completeness of life, one of its elements is religion. If an educational be primary system on a basis which excludes this religious established element,

and if that religious element be not supplied through other

agencies, which are the the can result will inevitably be a deterioration and of of unselfish the assertion which of the conduct. of the trains

highest national
Education the right,

type, and the loss of the finer qualities

of purity safeguards never grow weary of duty.

truth that nothing has so much value as the will guided by

or by a sense which The education of duty, to be

the mind
character,

is eminently desirable, but that which

is the what actualizing we believe

forms the

is absolutely sound

indispensable. And right

here,

an entirely

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118

WM.

I. CHAMBERLAIN

educational theory has its application to the system adopted in India. The elevation of the Hindu character is admitted by all intelligent Hindus, no less than by Englishmen, to
be a prime necessity. The failure of the present educational

system in India to do this, to instill in her people a com?

sense of duty, to lead them to the practical manding adop? in a word, of morality, to give them such tion of the virtues as is possessed of Europe moral and strength by the nations America after of religious this long centuries instruction, failure London gives countenance of the to the famous culture classification Babu, by The along Spectator of the Bengali

with that of the Roman nobles in the period of the empire, and of the Chinese Literati of the present as constituting the
" Three Along Rotten with Cultures" the dissolutions of history. of many ancient customs shock. To which

English

rule and western

learning have brought about, the

a grievous learn for the Brahmans, exclusively of concentric India rings with rest on the back of a tortoise, in many other education of the Brah? temperature

customary morality that the world was that as the could vain has man, the earth was that have

has received not made not made it does not the result

centre, not but him

theories

of the world make

taught he cannot

of shaking belief and of life. Elementary that whatever may be the power water boil at any other

than that at which it naturally boils, and that a million repetitions of the names of their gods will not keep epidemics
This decay of old influences houses. away from unsanitary has led, among the classes affected the Eng? by contact with a as the such it was. to certain of moral sense, weakening lish, The result is that in India, intellectual and that progress of and has outstripped moral progress the bonds of ancient tradition have been are growing convictions, of conduct, The it is not of abruptly snapped. up in that country no fixed moral prin? no ancient food. in India, but "landmark Hindu on ideals in ordi?

sanction religious of young men Generations who have no deep religious ciples, no well defined rules

in heaven." earth, and no lodestar exist no longer, if they ever did, It is philosophy, nary life. in high Not only those but places

as a moral

dynamic

authority

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EDUCATIONAL

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119

the responsible leaders of native life and thought as well, are recognizing the need of moral and religion along with secular
instruction.

of Darbhanga, of last year the Maharajah a of the Hindu Religious Society, accompanied by deputation presented to the Viceroy on behalf of that body, an address, In March
to which were representative of leading native the signatures The states shrines in India. and of three great religious a was and that the society stated address primarily religious non-political one, and that their main object was to secure

the imparting of religious with secular education. The Earl of Minto, in his reply, sincerely welcomed the distinguished deputation and expressed complete sympathy with the aims of the Society.
The found largely best to answer, however, in the so-called missionary participated great need has been so educational system, and so long and so in by Americans, this

widely

established

throughout

India,

This need has been

and which colleges form so

in part, by the large number met, maintained religious by Christian a of the educational part important wherein religious instruction is an

of schools societies, system essential

and of India, of the feature

daily curriculum. That this demand for moral training exists, and that this opportunity for it is appreciated, is best attested by the fact that these missionary institutions
are so largely attended by non-Christian Hindus, notwith?

standing and possibly, in part, because of the definite daily instruction in religion, with the Bible as text book; and this
when under is afforded for attending opportunity no where and Hindu auspices government is given. instruction ample There schools religious

to the are many of great importance other questions are in and discussed life which educational India, developing can only mention in that country. We interest with deep them here. in university reference with education, special of examina? to the matter attached importance This and generally agitated. tions, have been very warmly of an Indian Universities Com has led to the appointment Reforms to the undue

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120

WM.

I. CHAMBERLAIN

mission, and to an elaborate report which includes a full treatment of this particular subject. The development of technical and industrial education is
pressed by many utilization of the in authority, large mineral to a removal who and see in it a means to the of agricultural of much of the poverty resources

and the country, which so cripples the people. those especially Missionary societies, a under American lead have taken distinct auspices, already

in this development. The wider diffusion of knowledge, and the spreading of the beneficent results that flow from it, among the masses
a part South of the great middle and of the population, India. This has to be lower is an come so large classes, who compose of the educational extension to be as a most as a

system especially urged in the past by Americans at work in

recognized among important Female reform education and the accomplished. is being agitated

Hindus in order

result in large part of its having been advocated

missionaries restrictions department the women of education, of the

both by
to

enlarge the social and intellectual life, now so limited by the

placed upon country.

Thus it is that the whole history of British education in India is not without deep interest and real significance. The reaction of the West on the East and the revival of peoples
everywhere, a phenomenon India, where is in India, in Japan in China, and as remarkable as any in modern In history. a social system has been based for two thousand visible

cannot the study of this revival years on a deep philosophy, be without attraction for those who are observing the tend? encies of the time. The has suddenly primitive society to find itself face to face with an enemy awakened it is power? The modern it does not absorb, world, where In the western education is an agent at once destroys. East, and constructive. it shall be depends destructive Which the people of England, with the cooperation largely upon in the maintenance in America, and promulgation ideals of the Christian of the highest civilization. be the future Whatever of the English connection may it is, at any rate, certain, with to use the words of the India, of those less to resist.

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EDUCATIONAL

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121

great religious reformer, Wilberforce, that "by planting her language, her knowledge, and her opinions in her Asiatic territories, she has put a great work beyond the reach of
contingencies."

The ideas which have been introduced into India, ethical

and moral as are as well as political, They The cannot but be ineffective among and finally a

people so interested
the Hindus. and

in intellectual and religious questions

cannot future germinate,

change the whole

strong practical. characteristics.

face of Indian society.

must

The present
share many of

is
its

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