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structions, a separate Department of Public Instruction. was constituted. Universities were to be founded in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay; institutions for training teachers for all classes of schools were to be established; the number of Government colleges and high schools was to be increased; new middle schools were to be created; efforts were above all to be devoted to the development of elementary education with the object of conveying to the great mass of the people, who are utterly incapable of obtaining any education worthy of the name by their own unaided efforts, useful and practical knowledge, suited to every station in life.' The English language was to be the medium of instruction in the higher branches of education, and the vernacular languages of the country in the lower, and English was to be taught wherever there was a demand for it. The extension of education in the higher branches, would, it was thought, be mainly effected by applying the system of grants-in-aid; the resources of the State were to be so devoted as to assist those who could not be expected to help themselves, while it was hoped that the richer classes would gradually be induced to provide for their own education. The system of grants-in-aid to private institutions was to be based on entire abstinence from interference with the religious instruction given in the schools; aid was to be given, within certain limits, to all schools which imparted a good secular education and were under competent management; all aided schools were to be open to inspection by Government officers. This system has been put into practice throughout British India. Every province has its separate Educational Department under an officer called the Director of Public Instruction, with a large staff of officers, colleges, schools, and grants-in-aid.

The three universities of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay were established in 1857; a fourth was established at Allahabad for the North-Western Provinces in 1887. Their constitution is similar to that of the London University; they have a Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and Senate, with a governing body; they are examining bodies only, but by their examinations they control the course of study throughout the greater part of India, in the colleges affiliated to them. In 1882 a university was established at Lahore for the Punjab, and this is not only an examining but a teaching body also.

The entrance examination for matriculation is open to all. The subjects are English, a classical or vernacular language, history, geography, mathematics, and, in Madras and Bombay, elementary physical science. The usual age of the candidates is between sixteen and eighteen, and, according to the estimate of the Education Commission, the standard of knowledge required is about that which at the age of sixteen an English boy of average intelligence will be found to possess. Success in this examination admits a student to any of the affiliated colleges.

The college course does not much differ in the various provinces. After two years, a student may present himself for the first examination in Arts, the subjects being English, a classical language (Oriental or European), history, mathematics, logic, and, if he so desires, a branch of natural science. Two years later, he may present himself for the B.A. degree. Degrees are conferred in Arts, Law, Medicine, and Civil Engineering. The M.A. degree completes the college course; the examination is held in one or more of the following subjects: languages, history, mental and moral philosophy, mathematics, pure and mixed, and physical

science. The proportion of students who go beyond the entrance examination is not large, and the number who obtain degrees is small.

Taking the three universities of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay together, in the ten years ending with 1886, out of 75,047 candidates, 27,545 passed the entrance examination. During the same time there were 3,457 B.A., and only 365 M.A. graduates.

Some very useful colleges have been established for special objects, such as the study of medicine and surgery and engineering.

The medical colleges deserve particular notice, for no educational institutions in India have been so remarkably successful. There are nearly 1,500 hospitals and dispensaries in British India in charge of Native surgeons educated in our colleges and schools. Among all the benefits conferred upon the people by our rule, there is perhaps no one more highly and universally valued than this. Surgery is an art for which Natives of India have a remarkable aptitude; many of the Native surgeons are extremely skilful, and they often perform difficult operations in a manner that would not discredit the surgeons of London or Paris. More than 10,000,000 patients are treated every year at the Indian hospitals and dispensaries.

Little has hitherto been done in India towards the establishment of institutions for technical instruction, but a beginning, especially in Bombay and Madras, has been made. This is a want which in England is only slowly beginning to be supplied, and we see in India. the reflection of English indifference. The neglect is especially to be regretted in regard to the chief of Indian arts, Agriculture. The recent establishment of Agricultural Departments, to which I shall again refer,

will, it may be hoped, lead to the recognition of the importance of applying scientific knowledge to the processes of Indian agriculture, and to the provision of means of agricultural instruction.

In regard to the general scope and character of collegiate instruction in India, I cannot do better than quote the account given in the Report of the Indian Education Commissioners ::

'The system is now almost uniform throughout India. Purely Oriental colleges must be excepted. These, however, are so few in number that they scarcely enter into a consideration of collegiate education in its modern development. The college of to-day aims at giving an education that shall fit its recipient to take an honourable share in the administration of the country, or to enter with good hope of success the various liberal professions now expanding in vigorous growth. The English and Oriental classics occupy an important place in the collegiate scheme. In history, philosophy, mathematics, and physical science, English is the medium of instruction, and the passport to academic honours. . . . The affiliated colleges are of two grades: those whose students go no farther than the first Arts examination, and those in which they proceed to the B.A. and M.A. degrees. The strength of the teaching staff varies with the wealth of the institution, the number of the students, and the class of examinations for which candidates are sent up. Thus, the Presidency College in Calcutta has a Principal, eleven Professors, and two teachers of Sanskrit and Arabic. This staff provides for lectures being given in all the various subjects of all the examinations. A smaller college will be content with a Principal, two Professors, a Pandit, and a Maulavi. In their scheme of discipline, and in the academic life of their students, Indian colleges have but little analogy to those of the older of the English universities, their resemblance being closer to those of Scotland and Germany. Residence in college buildings is not only not generally compulsory, but the colleges are few in which any systematic provision is made for control over the students' pursuits out of college hours. Boarding-houses are

indeed attached to certain institutions, and their number

increases year by year. But unless the student's home be at a distance from the collegiate city, and he have no relatives to receive him, it is seldom that he will incur the expense which residence involves. Two principal reasons account for this feature in our system. First, the initial outlay upon buildings is one from which Government and independent bodies alike shrink. For so poor is the Indian student that it would be impossible to demand of him any but the most moderate rent--a rent perhaps barely sufficient to cover the cost of the annual repairs. The second obstacle lies in the religious and social prejudices which force class from class. Not only does the Hindu refuse to eat with the Mussulman, but from close contact with whole sections of his own co-religionists he is shut off by the imperious ordinances of caste. Experience, however, has already proved that the barriers of custom are giving way. In the NorthWestern Provinces and the Punjab, where the residential system has been widely tried, the success has been considerable, and nothing but want of funds stands in the way of a fuller development. In the more important Bombay colleges, also, a considerable number of the students are in residence ; in Bengal and Madras the system has been less fully recognised.'1

Although an important share in higher education is taken by the institutions established by private effort, with the help of grants-in-aid from the State, there is no present probability of the arrival of the time, to which many have looked forward, when it may be possible for the State to devote nearly the whole of its efforts to the encouragement of primary instruction, leaving the main provision of the means of higher education to private institutions, aided and supervised by the Government. But it would be difficult to give too much honour to the work of secular education which has been undertaken by private agencies, and especially by Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries. In 1882 there

1 Report of the Indian Education Commission, p. 273.

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