Demerits Of Macaulay Education System
Thomas Babington Macaulay, an infamous British politician and administrator, was responsible for initiating many radical changes in India between 1835 and 1858 that destroyed the great civilization. The most striking of those changes were the introduction of: the English education system, the Indian Penal Code, and the Indian Civil Services. This write- up will elaborate on the English education system started by Macaulay.
Macaulay education – quick background details
Thomas Macaulay first came to India in 1833, after he was appointed as a member of the Supreme Council of India. Until then, The East India Company was fairly supportive of the traditional educational system of India. This format of education had Persian and Sanskrit as the major languages.
Many of the new administrators of the Government, along with Macaulay, strongly opposed that. They maintained that the above support to traditional education would be counter- productive to British interests. These people added that the English education system is what needs to be introduced in India.
“Minute on Education” of macaulay and The English Education Act 1835
Macaulay penned down his “Minute on Education” in the year 1835, and it was addressed to the then Governor-General of India, Lord William Bentinck. The Minute turned out to be the last and the most crucial of all articles that appeared in a lengthy sequence, for almost five decades. These articles were intended to persuade the Government to bring in an English- based educational policy in India. This Macaulay’s Minute which is full of racism and false facts was used as basis to bring about a change in the education system.
The Minute forcefully said that a new english education system must be instituted and that the government should stop extending support to traditional education in India. After the publication of the minute, William Bentinck lost no time in making the required changes. Finally, The English Education Act 1835 came into force. This is unsurprising, considering the huge clout that Macaulay had among the elite circles of Great Britain.
The English Education Act 1835 – key aspects
These are the important aspects and consequence of implementation of The English Education Act. Which is summarized below for your convenience.
The Act made it mandatory that English was going to be the medium of instruction in all college-level courses. Consequently, students who were still in their schooling were necessitated to learn English.
The Act was propagated in an appealing way to people. It was subtly conveyed that Indians who painstakingly learn English and complete their college education would be treated as intellectuals.
Not only this psychological operations, the financial situation in India was deeply disturbing in the British rule. There was much financial and administrative mismanagement by the British. For example: immediately after British won their first territory in Bengal – lakhs of people died of hunger during their first few rules. By making only those with English education entitled to jobs in British India and as barristers in courts – those with traditional knowledge were deprived of a livelihood by making their education null and void in British rule.
The funding given to institutions providing traditional education was markedly cut down and the same was directed towards furthering English education. Another problem with the English education was that the Indian education which was affordable and in neighborhood was replaced by a very expensive education available far away.
This made most of the Indian population to become uneducated and illiterate. Not only was this in knowledge terms, even the moral and ethical focus of education was destroyed by Thomas Babington Macaulay.
“The Minute” and “The English Education Act” redefined education as a “sector”. The service angle of giving education started losing its relevance.
Criticism of macaulay education
Many great leaders of the freedom struggle even by those who were favorable to British rule like MK Gandhi had vehemently criticized the Macaulay system of education. They opined that the primary goal of this English Education was to make the British more powerful in India. The government actually wanted to create a specific group of native people well- versed in English language and British ideologies. These educated natives could effectively communicate to the illiterate masses about British supremacy. That was the underlying intention of the administrators. Without doubt the macaulay education created a great inferiority complex in Indians and developed a deep sense of coloniality.
Notwithstanding that, the English education system became an integral element of India and things haven’t changed even now, after nearly 200 years. This is very surprising as India has gained independence 75 years back. Even today, importance is given only to pupils educated in English medium schools, with respect to higher education and career opportunities. The ancient Indian educational system has been destroyed and even after 75 years of independence unable to recover from the destruction caused by Macaulay’s education.