Education in Ancient India c6.30

c6.30

Admission Procedure: In ancient Indian educational system there were no examinations, diplomas and migration certificates; every student, therefore, who sought admission to a higher course, had to undergo a severe test to prove that he was fit for it. The duty to provide free education that was imposed upon teachers and institutions must also have naturally resulted in making the admission test a stiff one. The test was partly moral and partly intellectual. Morally disqualified students were summarily rejected (*Nirukta*, II. 4). In ordinary schools dullards were given a trial and advised discontinuance of studies, when it was discovered that they could not improve. In famous centres like Nālandā, where the rush was great, the admission test was very stiff; only two or three out of ten could succeed in getting admission¹. Both at Nālandā and Vikramāśilā, there were special professors appointed to the task of regulating admission by testing the calibre, capacity and sincerity of the applicants for admission¹. Probably similar arrangements existed also in other institutions of higher education. Private teachers would themselves test the capacity of students seeking admission to their schools. At the beginning of Vedic and professional education, some religious rituals also were performed, which will be described in Appendix I, A.