Education in Ancient India c6.37

c6.37

School Hours: Curiously enough there is very little information available about the school hours. Smṛitis are altogether silent upon the point. We should however note that in ancient time press, paper and cheap books were absent; so home work or home reading was practically impossible. All the work had to be done under the guidance of the teacher or the monitor. Literatur often describes the coardy morning time as resounding with the sound of the recitation of students². So there is no doubt that there was a morning session, probably starting at about 7 A.M., when the daily religious duties were over. The morning session continued till about 11 A.M., when both the students and the teachers had to break off for their religious duties and meals. The noon meal was followed by a short rest and the school reassembled at about 2 P. M. and worked for three or four hours. The school period was spent partly in what may be called homework and partly in learning new lessons. The former consisted of committing to memory the texts expounded earlier with the help of one or two copies of the book existing in the school or under the direction of a senior monitor, who was well versed in it. The memorising and revision work was usually done in the morning, and new lessons were taught in the afternoon. Such at any rate was the tradition in the Sanskrit schools of Bengal and Bihar. We must remember in this connection that Brahman teachers were busy in the morning in performing their own religious duties or officiating at religious functions and ceremonies to which they were often invited. The noon session therefore must have been usually devoted to teach new lessons. It is however quite possible that there may have been no hard and fast rules in this connection. If the teachers were free, the morning session also may have been devoted to new lessons. In organised colleges which engaged full time teachers, this may have been generally the case.