Previous Year Question
Which of the following led to the introduction of English Education in India ?
Charter Act of 1813
General Committee of Public Instruction, 1823
Orientalist and Anglicist Controversy
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
English education in India developed through the cumulative effect of all three developments rather than through a single event.
Charter Act of 1813:
The Act gave statutory recognition to the East India Company’s responsibility concerning education in India.
It provided at least one lakh rupees annually for the revival of literature and the promotion of scientific knowledge among Indians.
It did not clearly decide whether this money should support English and Western education or Oriental learning through Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. This ambiguity contributed to the subsequent controversy.
General Committee of Public Instruction, 1823:
It was established in Bengal to administer educational grants and implement educational policy.
Initially, the Committee was dominated by Orientalists and supported Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian learning and Oriental institutions.
Its members later became divided between the Orientalist and Anglicist positions.
Orientalist and Anglicist Controversy:
Orientalists favoured education through Indian classical languages and traditional systems of knowledge.
Anglicists supported the teaching of European literature, science and philosophy through English.
Macaulay’s Minute on Education dated 2 February 1835 and Lord William Bentinck’s decision of 1835 decisively shifted the policy in favour of the Anglicists.
Government educational funds were subsequently directed mainly towards the dissemination of Western knowledge through English.
Thus, the Charter Act provided the statutory and financial foundation, the Committee created an institutional mechanism, and the controversy determined the direction of English education. Therefore, all three are correct.