Education & social change : three studies on nineteenth century India
Mazumdar, Vina.
Education & social change : three studies on nineteenth century India - Simla Indian Institute of Advanced study. 1972 - 88p.
Till recent years, histories of education dealt mainly with the evolution of educa tional systems, institutions or methods and philosophy. Only during the second half of the present century social scientists have increasingly come to recognise its possible use as an agency of social change. They also admit that it cannot be studied in isolation. from the social process, since the relationship between the educational and the social processes is a two-way one with manifold consequences.
The author has chosen to describe the changes in Indian education in the 19th century as a "revolution", because they had revolutionary consequences even though they affected, at the initial stage, only a "Microscopic Minority". She does not, however subscribe to the traditional view of historians that it was the liberalising and rationalising influence of the new education that started off the social revolution in India. On the contrary the possibility of such an influence resulting from the impact of science and technology was deliberately prevented by a political decision that ultima tely determined the colonial' character of the Indian education system. The reasons for this decision and the manner in which it was implemented have been discussed in the
first two papers in this volume. Political decisions, while they may arrest or distort the trend of a social revolution, cannot, however, destroy it altogether. The dilemmas and the basic problems of Indian education were the result of the contradic tion between the needs of the social revolu tion and the educational policies of the British Government. These dilemmas still characterise the Indian educational process but their roots are to be found in the nature of the decisions taken by the planners in the 19th century.
The last paper is a tribute to an indivi dual whom the author considers to be one of the most significant leaders of the social revolution, particularly in its educational aspects, and raises certain fundamental questions regarding the nature of the social response to such leadership.
In tracing the influences on the decisions that shaped the Indian education system, the author has drawn on contemporary developments in Britain as well as in India, thus introducing a new dimension to the understanding of Indian educational development.
Social change
303.4 Maz
Education & social change : three studies on nineteenth century India - Simla Indian Institute of Advanced study. 1972 - 88p.
Till recent years, histories of education dealt mainly with the evolution of educa tional systems, institutions or methods and philosophy. Only during the second half of the present century social scientists have increasingly come to recognise its possible use as an agency of social change. They also admit that it cannot be studied in isolation. from the social process, since the relationship between the educational and the social processes is a two-way one with manifold consequences.
The author has chosen to describe the changes in Indian education in the 19th century as a "revolution", because they had revolutionary consequences even though they affected, at the initial stage, only a "Microscopic Minority". She does not, however subscribe to the traditional view of historians that it was the liberalising and rationalising influence of the new education that started off the social revolution in India. On the contrary the possibility of such an influence resulting from the impact of science and technology was deliberately prevented by a political decision that ultima tely determined the colonial' character of the Indian education system. The reasons for this decision and the manner in which it was implemented have been discussed in the
first two papers in this volume. Political decisions, while they may arrest or distort the trend of a social revolution, cannot, however, destroy it altogether. The dilemmas and the basic problems of Indian education were the result of the contradic tion between the needs of the social revolu tion and the educational policies of the British Government. These dilemmas still characterise the Indian educational process but their roots are to be found in the nature of the decisions taken by the planners in the 19th century.
The last paper is a tribute to an indivi dual whom the author considers to be one of the most significant leaders of the social revolution, particularly in its educational aspects, and raises certain fundamental questions regarding the nature of the social response to such leadership.
In tracing the influences on the decisions that shaped the Indian education system, the author has drawn on contemporary developments in Britain as well as in India, thus introducing a new dimension to the understanding of Indian educational development.
Social change
303.4 Maz