After the British defeated the Peshwas in 1818, Mountstuart Elphinstone, the new governor, recognized the importance of existing educational networks- and state patronization of education - in the Company’s newly annexed domains.
Noting the “present abundance of people in education,” Elphinstone worried that “unless some exertion is made by the Government, the country will certainly be in a worse state under our rule than it under the Peishwa’s.”
From this position, the governor sketched out a policy for supporting existing vernacular-medium schools throughout the presidency, publishing school books in local languages, and also pursuing a limited program in English language education for Indian school children.
Thus, compared to the ‘anglicist vs. orientalist’ controversy in contemporary Bengal, Elphinstone’s education policies were shaped much more by immediate political realities than by ideological considerations.
Source: Minutes of Elphinstone, dated Dec 13, 1823.
Source: Minutes of Elphinstone, dated Dec 13, 1823.
In Bombay, Naoroji's mother enrolled him into one of those Gujarati indigenous schools that were known for producing students remarkably adept in mathematics. Naoroji didn't prove an exception, making his Mehta (teacher) exhibit his mathematical prowess "amid the loud wawas".
It was Bal Gangadhar Shastri Jambhekar who selected Naoroji for admission into the Elphinstone College, overruling a British teacher who had ranked him near the bottom.
What is the reason for our colleges not producing teachers like Jambhekar these days?
What is the reason for our colleges not producing teachers like Jambhekar these days?
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