Mission schools.

State

versities.

Meanwhile, the Christian missionaries made the field of vernacular education their own. Discouraged by the authorities, and under the Company liable to deportation, they not only devoted themselves with courage to their special work of evangelization, but they were also the first Europeans to study the vernacular dialects spoken by the people. Two centuries ago, the Jesuits at Madura, in the extreme south, had so mastered Tamil as to leave works in that language which are still acknowledged as classical by native authors. About 1810, the Baptist mission at Serampur, near Calcutta, first raised Bengali to the rank of a literary dialect. The interest of the missionaries in education, which has never ceased to the present day, although now comparatively overshadowed by Government activity, had two distinct aspects. They studied the vernacular, in order to preach to the people, and to translate the Bible; they also taught English, as the channel of Western knowledge.

After long and acrimonious controversy between the advosystem of education. cates of English and of vernacular teaching, the present system was based, in 1854, upon a comprehensive despatch sent out Indian uni- by Sir C. Wood (afterwards Lord Halifax). In the midst of the tumult of the Mutiny, the three Indian Universities were calmly founded at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay in 1857.1 Schools for teaching English were by degrees established in every District; grants-in-aid were extended to the lower vernacular institutions, and to girls' schools; and public instruction was erected into a Department in every Province, under a Director, with a staff of Inspectors. In some respects this scheme may have been in advance of the time; but it supplied a definite outline, which has gradually been filled up. A network of schools has now been extended over the country, graduated from the indigenous village institutions up to the highest colleges. All alike receive some measure of pecuniary support, granted under the guarantee of regular inspection; while a series of scholarships at once stimulates efficiency, and opens a path to the university for the children of the poor. In 1877-78, the total number of educational institutions of all sorts in British India was 66,202, attended by an aggregate of 1,877,942 pupils, showing an average of 1 school to every 14 square miles, and one pupil to every hundred of the population. In the same year, the total expenditure upon education from all sources was £1,612,775, of which £782,240 was 1 By Act II. of 1857 for Calcutta ; by Act XXII. of 1857 for Bombay ; and by Act XXVII. of 1857 for Madras.

Educational

statistics, 1878.

contributed by the provincial governments, £258,514 was derived from local rates, and £32,008 from municipal grants. These items may be said to represent State aid; while endowments yielded £37,218, subscriptions £105,853, and fees and fines £277,039. The degree in which education has been popularized, and private effort has been stimulated, may be estimated from the fact that in Bengal the voluntary payments are now equal to the Government grants.

ties.

The three Universities of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay The Indian were incorporated in 1857, on the model of the University of UniversiLondon. They are merely examining bodies, with the privilege of conferring degrees in arts, law, medicine, and civil engineering. Their constitution is composed of a Chancellor, Their conVice-Chancellor, and Senate. The governing body, or Syndi- stitution. cate, consists of the Vice-Chancellor and certain members of the Senate. It has lately been proposed to found a fourth University, on the same plan, at Lahore for the Punjab. Though not themselves places of instruction, the Universities control the whole course of higher education by means of their examinations. The entrance examination for matriculation is open to all; but when that is passed, candidates for higher stages must enrol themselves in one or other of the affiliated colleges. In the ten years ending 1877-78, 9686 candidates successfully passed the entrance examination at Calcutta, 6381 at Madras, and 2610 at Bombay ; total, 18,610. Many fall off at this stage, and very few proceed to the higher degrees. During the same ten years, 952 graduated B.A. and only 254 M.A. at Calcutta ; 496 B.A. and 14 M.A. at Madras; 217 B.A. and 28 M.A. at Bombay: total of B.A.'s and M.A.'s in the ten years, 1961. Calcutta possesses by far the majority of graduates in law and medicine, while Bombay is similarly distinguished in engineering. In 1877-78, the total expenditure on the four Universities was £22,093.

The colleges or institutions for higher instruction may be Colleges. divided into two classes,—those which teach the arts course of the Universities, and those devoted to special branches of knowledge. According to another principle, they are classified into those entirely supported by Government, and those which only receive grants-in-aid. The latter class comprises the missionary colleges. In 1877-78, the total number of colleges, including medical and engineering colleges and Muhammadan madrasas, was 82, attended by 8894 students. Of these, as many as 35 colleges, with 3848 students, were in Lower Bengal ; and 21 colleges, with 1448 students, in Madras. In the same

Boys' schools:

upper

middle

year, the total expenditure on the colleges was £186,162, or at the rate of £21 per student.

The boys' schools include many varieties, which may be subdivided either according to the character of the instruction given, or according to the proportion of Government aid which they receive. The higher schools are those in which English schools; is not only taught, but is also used as the medium of instruction. They educate up to the standard of the entrance examination at the Universities, and generally train those candidates who seek employment in the upper grades of Government service. One of these schools, known as the zilá or District school, is established at the headquarters station of every District; and many others receive grantsin - aid. The middle schools, as their name implies, are schools; intermediate between the higher and the primary schools. Generally speaking, they are placed in the smaller towns or larger villages; and they provide that measure of instruction which is recognised to be useful by the middle classes themselves. Some of them teach English, but others only the vernacular. This class includes the tahsili schools, established at the headquarters of every tahsil or Subdivision in the NorthWestern Provinces. In 1877-78, the total expenditure on both higher and middle schools was £478,250. The lower or primary primary schools complete the series. They are dotted over the whole country, and teach only the vernacular tongue. Their extension is the best test of the success of our educational system.

schools.

Increase of primary schools:

No uniformity prevails in the primary schools throughout the several Provinces. In Bengal, up to the last few years, in Bengal; primary instruction was sadly neglected; but since the reforms inaugurated by Sir G. Campbell in 1872, by which the benefit of the grant-in-aid rules was extended to the pathsálás or roadside schools, this reproach has been removed. In 1871-72, the number of primary schools under inspection in Lower Bengal was only 2451, attended by 64,779 pupils. By 1877-78, these schools had risen to 16,042, and the number of pupils to 360,322, being an increase of about sixfold in six years. In the latter year, the expenditure on them from all sources was £78,000; towards which Government contributed only £27,000, thus showing how State aid stimulates private outlay. The North-Western Provinces owe their system of primary Western instruction to their great Lieutenant-Governor Mr. Thomason, whose constructive talent can be traced in every branch of the administration. In addition to the tahsili or middle schools

in North

Provinces ;

already referred to, he drew up a scheme for establishing halkabandi or primary schools in every central village (whence their name), to which the children from the surrounding hamlets might resort. His scheme has since been largely developed by means of the educational cess added to the land revenue. Sir William Muir, during his long service in the North-Western Provinces, ending in the Lieutenant-Governorship, did much for both the primary and the higher education of the people. In Bombay, the primary schools are mainly in supported out of local funds raised by a similar cess added to Bombay;

the land revenue.

In British Burma, on the other hand, primary education is in Burma ; still left to a great extent in the hands of the Buddhist monks, who receive no pecuniary aid from Government. These monastic schools are only open to boys; but there are also lay teachers who admit girls to mixed classes. The local administration shows a wise disposition to avail itself of the indigenous monastic system. Government has very few schools of its own in Burma, the deficiency being supplied by several missionary bodies, who obtain State aid. In some localities of the Madras Presidency, also, the missionaries possess a in Madras. practical monopoly of primary education at the present day. In 1877-78, the amount of money expended upon lower and primary schools in British India was £406,135, or just onefourth of the total educational budget.

Of late years something has been done, although not much, Girls' to extend the advantages of education to girls. In this, as in schools. other educational matters, the missionaries have been the pioneers of progress. In a few exceptional places, such as Tinnevelli in Madras, the Khasi Hills of Assam, and among the Karen tribes of Burma, female education has made real progress; for in these localities the missionaries have sufficient influence to overcome the prejudices of the people. But elsewhere, even in the large towns and among the Englishspeaking classes, all attempts to give a modern education of women are regarded with scarcely disguised aversion, and have obtained but slight success. Throughout the North-Western Provinces, with their numerous and wealthy cities, and a total female population of 15 millions, only 6550 girls attended school in 1877-78. In Bengal, with just double the inhabitants, the corresponding number was less than 12,000. Madras, British Burma, and to a small degree, Bombay and the Punjab, are the only Provinces that contribute to the following statistics in any tolerable proportion:-Total girls' schools in

Normal

and other special schools.

Vernacu

paper.

1877-78, 2002; number of pupils, 66,615: mixed schools for boys and girls, 2955; pupils, 90,915: total amount expended on girls' schools, £78,729, of which £27,000 was devoted to the 12,000 girls of Bengal. Efforts have been made by the State to utilize the female members of the Vishnuvite sects in female education, but without permanent success.1

In 1877-78, the normal and technical schools numbered 155, with a total of 6864 students; the total expenditure was £54,260, or an average of under £8 per student. Schoolmistresses, as well as masters, are trained in these institutions; and here also the missionaries have shown themselves active in anticipating a work which Government subsequently took up. Of schools of art, the oldest is that founded by Dr. A. Hunter at Madras in 1850, and taken in charge by the Education Department in 1856. This institution, and the Art Schools at Calcutta and Bombay, founded on its model, have been successful in developing the industrial capacities of the people, and in training workmen for public employment. Their effect on native art is more doubtful, and in some cases they have tended to supersede native designs by hybrid European patterns. Museums have been established at the Provincial capitals and in other large towns. In 1877-78, the number of normal, art, or technical schools was 104, with 9121 pupils; the expenditure from all sources was £80,197, or an average of nearly £9 per pupil. Schools for Europeans have also attracted the attention of Government. Foremost among special schools are the asylums in the hills for the orphans of British soldiers (e.g. Utakamand and Sanáwar), founded in memory of Sir Henry Lawrence.

Closely connected with the subject of education is the lar press. steady growth of the vernacular press, which is ever active in issuing both newspapers and books. The missionaries were the first to cast type in the vernacular languages, and to First news- employ native compositors. The earliest vernacular newspaper was issued in Bengali by the Baptist Mission at Serampur, in 1818. For many years the vernacular press preserved the marks of its origin, being limited almost exclusively to theoThe theo- logical controversy. The missionaries were encountered with logical period. their own weapons by the Theistic sect of the Bráhma Samáj, and also by the orthodox Hindus. So late as 1850, most of the vernacular newspapers were still sectarian rather than political. The politi- But during the last twenty years, the vernacular press has graducal period. 1 See ante, p. 206.