CBSE Questions for Class 8 History Civilising The Native Educating The Nation Quiz 2 - MCQExams.com

The traditional system slowly declined. The new education system enabled Indians from different languages to interact among themselves. This gave impetus to the growth of national feelings. The European intellectual thoughts affected the Indian thinking in a long term perspective. It also influenced the Indian literature and resulted in various literary movements. Many sections of the society received social awakening. 

On the basis of Raeleigh Commission’s recommendations, the Indian Universities Act, 1904 was passed during the period of Lord Curzon. The intention of the Government was to check the tide of nationalist feelings among the educated elite. The Act directed the Universities to undertake teaching function and  focus on their academic role.

In 1854, the Court of Directors of the East India Company in London sent an educational despatch to the Governor-General in India. Issued by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the Company,   it has come to be known as Wood’s Despatch. Outlining the educational policy that was to be followed in India, it emphasized once again the practical benefits of a system of European learning, as opposed to Oriental knowledge. Thus, the 1854 Despatch on education was in favour of English being introduced as a medium of higher education in India.

James Mill severely attacked the Orientalists. He declared that he British effort should not be to teach what the natives wanted, or what they respected, in order to please them and “win a place in their heart”. The aim of education ought to be to teach what was useful and practical. So Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had made, rather than with the poetry and sacred literature of the Orient.

By education what Gandhiji meant was an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man – body, mind and spirit. He believed literacy is not the end of education nor even the beginning. It is only one of the means whereby man and woman can be educated. Literacy in itself is not education. 

In 1854 Charles Wood, a British Liberal politician sent the “Wood’s despatch” to the Governor General Lord Dalhousie. It recommended that the existing Board of Control for Education be abolished and the office of the Director of Public Instructions should be established in the states.  The result was Education Departments were established in every province and universities were opened at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.

Asiatic Society was founded on Jan 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies. With time, the Asiatic Society had to expand its range of objectives and consequently the area of research. One of its objective was to organize, initiate and promote researches in Humanities and Science in Asia.

In 1854 Charles Wood, a British Liberal politician sent the “Wood’s despatch” to the Governor General Lord Dalhousie. It primarily dealt with educational reforms. It recommended that the existing Board of Control for Education be abolished and the office of the Director of Public Instructions should be established in the states.  The result was Education Departments were established in every province and universities were opened at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.

With the introduction of the new system in vernacular education after 1854 - the new system demanded regular attendance, even during harvest time when children of poor families had to work in the fields.

Mahatma Gandhi strongly felt that the Indian language sought to be the medium of teaching. 
Mahatma Gandhi wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and self-respect.