Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c8.30

c8.30

There was then, before the British Government took over control of education in India, a widespread, popular, indigenous system. It was not confined to one or two provinces, but was found in various parts of India, though some districts were more advanced than others. In the inquiry made for the Madras Presidency in 1822-6, it was calculated that rather less than one-sixth of the boys of school-going age received education of some sort.¹ In the similar inquiry made for the Bombay Presidency (1823-8) the number of boys under instruction was put down as about one in eight.² In one of the districts in Bengal, where Adam carried out his inquiry, he found³ 13.2 per cent. of the whole male population receiving instruction. In another district he found 9 per cent. of all children of school-going age under instruction. William Ward says,⁴ that it was supposed that about one-fifth of the male population of Bengal could read. In some parts of India the number under instruction would probably be less than in the three provinces mentioned. Widespread, therefore, as elementary education was, it did not include a very large proportion even of the male population, and amongst females of course it hardly existed at all.