Public Educational Systems in a Colonial Context: The case of India's Transition from Indigenous to Modern Ideas and Institutions in the Nineteenth Century *

Abstract

The consolidation of British rule in India during the 19th century included some transformations in the Indian educational system. These included organized efforts to restructure the system making it more accessible to a wider clientele. There were attempts to restructure authority in schools and to impose an external examination system. In addition, knowledge came to be viewed increasingly as a commodity which individuals should accumulate. This accumulation of knowledge in schools was supposed to guarantee fuller participation in the labor market. This paper attempts to trace the history of the changes in the educational system in relation to changes in the larger social system. As part of this history it accounts for the forces that work both in support of and in resistance to changes in a colonial context. ¹

1

This paper draws very heavily on Shukla, 1958, 1959, and 1967