The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century c5.s29: XXX
The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century c5.s29
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XXX
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MINUTE OF SIR THOMAS MUNRO, MARCH 10, 1826 (*Fort St. George, Revenue Consultations*) *10 March 1826*
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1. The Board of Revenue were directed by government, on the 2nd July 1822, to ascertain the number of schools and the state of education among the natives in the provinces, and with their letter of the 21st February last, they transmitted the reports on this subject which they had received from the several Collectors. From these reports it appears that the number of schools, and of what are called colleges, in the territories under this presidency, amount to 12,498, and the population to 12,850,941; so that there is one school to every 1,000 of the population; but as only a very few females are taught in schools, we may reckon one school to every 500 of the population.
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2. It is remarked by the Board of Revenue, that of a population of 12½ millions, there are only 188,000, or 1 in 67 receiving education. This is true of the whole population, but not as regards the male part of it, of which the proportion educated is much greater than is here estimated: for if we take the whole population as stated in the report at 12,850,000, and deduct one half for females, the remaining male population will be 6,425,000; and if we reckon the male population between the ages of five and ten years, which is the period which boys in general remain at school, at one-ninth, it will give 713,000, which is the number of boys that would be at school if all the males above ten years of age were educated; but the number actually attending the schools is only 184,110, or little more than one-fourth of that number. I have taken the interval between five and ten years of age as the term of education, because, though many boys continue at school till twelve or fourteen, many leave it under ten. I am, however, inclined to estimate the portion of the male population who receive school education to be nearer to one-third than one-fourth of the whole, because we have no returns from the provinces of the numbers taught at home. In Madras that number taught at home is 26,963, or about five times greater than that taught in the schools. There is probably some error in this number, and though the number privately taught in the provinces does certainly not approach this rate, it is no doubt considerable, because the practice of boys being taught at home by their relations or private teachers is not infrequent in any part of the country. The proportion educated is very different in different classes; in some it is nearly the whole; in others it is hardly one-tenth.
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3. The state of education here exhibited, low as it is compared with that of our own country, is higher than it was in most European countries at no very distant period. It has, no doubt been better in earlier times; but for the last century it does not appear to have undergone any other change than what arose from the number of schools diminishing in one place and increasing in another, in consequence of the shifting of the population, from war and other causes. The great number of schools has been supposed to contribute to the keeping of education in a low state, because it does not give a sufficient number of scholars to secure the service of able teachers. The monthly rate paid by each scholar is from four to six or eight annas. Teachers in general do not earn more than six or seven rupees monthly, which is not an allowance sufficient to induce men properly qualified to follow the profession. It may also be said that the general ignorance of the teachers themselves is one cause why none of them draw together a large body of scholars; but the main causes of the low state of education are the little encouragement which it receives, from there being but little demand for it, and the poverty of the people.
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4. These difficulties may be gradually surmounted; the hindrance which is given to education by the poverty of the people may in a great degree be removed by the endowment of schools throughout the country by government, and the want of encouragement will be remedied by good education being rendered more easy and general, and by the preference which will naturally be given to well-educated men in all public offices. No progress, however, can be made without a body of better instructed teachers than we have at present; but such a body cannot be had without an income sufficient to afford a comfortable livelihood to each individual belonging to it; a moderate allowance should therefore be secured to them by government, sufficient to place them above want; the rest should be derived from their own industry. If they are superior both in knowledge and diligence to the common village school masters, scholars will flock to them and augment their income.
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5. What is first wanted, therefore, is a school for educating teachers, as proposed by the committee of the Madras School-Book Society, in the letter of the 25th October 1824, which accompanied their second report. I think that they should be authorised to draw 700 rupees monthly from the treasury for the purposes which they have stated; namely, for the payment of the interest of money employed in building, and the salaries of teachers, 500; and for the expenses of the press, 200. I would next propose that government should establish, in each Collectorate, two principal schools, one for Hindoos and the other for Mahomedans; and that hereafter, as teachers can be found the Hindoo schools might be augmented so as to give one to each tehsildary, or about 15 to each Collectorate. We ought to extend to our Mahomedan the same advantages of education as to our Hindoo subjects, and perhaps even in a greater degree, because a greater proportion of them belong to the middle and higher classes. But as their number is not more than one-twentieth of that of the Hindoos, it will not be necessary to give more than one Mahomedan school to each Collectorate, except in Arcot, and a few other Collectorates, where the Mahomedan population is considerably above the usual standard.
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6. We have 20 Collectorates; the number of tehsildaries is liable to change: but it will be sufficient for the present purpose to estimate them at 15 on an average to each Collectorate, or 300 in all. This would, according to the plan proposed give about 40 collectorate and 300 tehsildary schools. The monthly salaries of the teachers of the collectorate schools might, on an average, be 15 rupees to each, and those of the tehsildary nine rupees each. These allowances may appear small, but the tehsiladry school master who receives nine rupees monthly from government, will get at least as much more from his scholars, and, considering all circumstances, his situation will probably be better than that of a parish school master in Scotland.
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7. The total expense of the schools will be as follows:
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| Madras School-Book Society per month | Rs. 700 |
| Collectorate Schools, Mahomedan, | |
| 20 at 15 rupees | Rs. 300 |
| Collectorate Schools, Hindoo, 20 at 15 rupees | Rs. 300 |
| Tehsildary Schools, 300 at 9 rupees | Rs. 2,700 |
| | --- |
| Per month | Rs. 4,000 |
| | --- |
| Per annum | Rs. 48,000 |
| | --- |
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This expense will be incurred only be degrees, because it will be long before a sufficient number of qualified teachers can be obtained. The charges for the Madras School-Book Society and the collectorate schools, are all that will probably be wanted before the sanction of the Honorable Court can be received. The sum for which we ought to request their sanction ought not to be less than half a lakh of rupees. None of the endowments in the Collectors’ reports are applicable to the present object; they do not exceed 20,000 rupees in all, and only a small portion of them are public grants, and this small portion belongs chiefly to the teachers of Theology, Law and Astronomy. Whatever expense government may incur in the education of the people, will be amply repaid by the improvement of the country; for the general diffusion of knowledge is inseparably followed by more orderly habits, by increasing industry, by a taste for the comforts of life, by exertion to acquire them, and by the growing prosperity of the people.
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8. It will be advisable to appoint a Committee of Public Instruction, in order to superintend the establishing of the public schools; to fix on the places most proper for them, and the books to be used in them; to ascertain in what manner the instruction of the natives may be best promoted, and to report to government the result of their inquiries on this important subject.
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9. We must not be too sanguine in expecting any sudden benefit from the labours of the School-Book Society. Their disposition to promote the instruction of the people by educating teachers, will not extend it to more individuals than now attend the schools; it can be extended only by means of an increased demand for it, and this must arise chiefly from its being found to facilitate the acquisition of wealth or rank, and from the improvement in the condition of the people rendering a larger portion of them more able to pay for it. But though they cannot educate those who do not seek or cannot pay for education, they can, by an improved system give a better education to those who do receive it; and by creating and encouraging a taste for knowledge, they will indirectly contribute to extend it. If we resolve to educate the people, if we persevere in our design, and if we do not limit the schools to tehsildaries, but increase their number so as to allow them for smaller districts, I am confident that success will ultimately attend our endeavours. But, at the same time, I entirely concur in the opinion expressed in the 5th Report of the Calcutta School-Book Society, when speaking of the progress of the system, that ‘its operation must therefore of necessity be slow; years must elapse before the rising generation will exhibit any visible improvement.’
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(*Signed*)
*Thomas Munro.*
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Annexure B