Education in Ancient India c9.s3.4

c9.s3.4

Scope of Primary Education :—Boys began their study with the primary and compound alphabets and used to spend about six months in mastering them. Then about a year was spent in mastering elementary arithmetic. Down to *c.* 250 A.D. Prakrits were in ascendancy¹ and so students must have spent some time in mastering them. After about 250 A. D. Sanskrit regained its position and even primary education became to some extent influenced by it. During the later stages of primary education boys used to study the Sūtras of Pāṇini and some other simple grammatical works from the age of 8 to 11.²