EDUCATION IN INDIA.*
THERE are in India, if we calculate by the ordinary rule, more than eighteen millions of boys of the school age ; of these rather more than three millions and a half attend school. This number, which may be stated in more exact figures at 3,631,000, or about a fifth, is a considerable increase on the return of 1902, which showed 3,009,000. The increase is the more satisfactory because in the previous quinquennium there had been a positive decrease, slight, indeed—it was about 19,000—but, in view of what might have been expected, distinctly discouraging. We have to add another half- million (552,107) for "indigenous schools, not under inspection and not conforming to departmental standards." How the education given in these institutions compares with that of the public institutions, and what it is intrinsically worth, it would be impossible to say. Still, the addition may fairly be made, and it raises the proportion of boys under instruction from 191 per cent. to 22.6 per cent. The eight Provinces exhibit a remarkable variation of percentages. Bombay heads the list, when the public primary schools are reckoned, with 26.3, and the Punjab comes last with 8.6. Burma is fifth with 195; but here the private schools make an effective appearance, for they show a total of 170,098 pupils under instruction, and actually raise the percentage to 40.7. It is interesting to know that they are attached to Buddhist monasteries and are taught by the monks, who are supported by the offerings of the public. The education given is of a very narrow kind. In some schools reading and writing only are taught, arithmetic not being included in the curriculum. Still, they are not without value : they give "respect for authority, the moral influence of grave and reverend monks who have forsworn the pomps and vanities of the world, and the intellectual culture consciously or unconsciously produced by • Provos of Education in India, 1902-1907. By H. W. Orange, C.I.E. Vol. 1., Report. Vol. IL, Tables, &e. London Superintendent Government Printing. Os. Dd.]
the study of a dignified classical language, which is, moreover, the vehicle of the people's religious aspirations." We are forcibly reminded of our own educational history. This, too, began with monastic schools, teachers who had given up the world, and a classical language, associated with religious belief and practice.
What, it will be asked, do these pupils learn P The ideal may be described as that of the English school ; the practical attainment differs widely. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught everywhere, and physical exercises are marked as " compulsory " in the curricula of the Provinces. There the uniformity ends. In Bengal (which includes for this purpose the new Eastern Province) drawing, object-lessons, geography, history, hygiene, science, and mensuration are compulsory. Here the aim is the highest. In Madras there are only four compulsory subjects, in the United Provinces two. In Madras only English is taught, but it is optional; Persian is taught in the urban schools of the Punjab, and Pali in Burma. But it would be useless to attempt anything like an exhaustive statement of the variations.
The Report is somewhat depressing when it comes to deal with the subject of teachers. The number employed, according to the last Return, was 35,015. Their qualifi- cations are moderate—more than a third have none at all, except, perhaps, that they have been at school—and their pay is in strict proportion. These conditions seem to be at their worst in the two Bengals. The rate of pay is sometimes as low as Rs. 3 per month (4s., ie., scarcely lid. a day !). In the United Provinces it does not fall below Rs. 10 (or 13s. 6d.) per month. The total amount of subvention from Government funds is less than two million pounds. This sum, how- ever, is supplemented by fees, for the principle on which the Indian authorities act is the very sound one that people value what they pay for. They make, however, large exceptions in practice. In some Provinces a fifth of the children pay nothing; where fees are exacted they vary from a half-anna (id.) to 2id. per month. The amount is not really little when it is measured by the teacher's pay.. When fees were paid in English schools they averaged 3s. 4d. for the year (of ten months). This would work out at Ti-oth of the teacher's pay (taken at an average of 280), whereas the 5d. of the Indian child is -s0th of the teacher's salary of 25 6s. (the Report gives Rs. 8 as an average amount). The remuneration naturally fails to attract, for it is less than is paid to any but the lowest class of labourers.
The condition of female education is, as might be expected, even less satisfactory. The scholars.are not, as is the case with boys, nearly a fifth of the school-age total, but a thirty- third part; the teachers are fewer and even less qualified ; the pay is somewhat higher, so greatly does the demand exceed the supply. Everything is done by Government to encourage the work. "If girls can be tempted to boys' schools, they are made welcome ; if they prefer separate girls' schools, separate girls' schools are opened for them ; conditions of purdah are observed ; the children are brought to school in conveyances ; female inspecting officers are appointed ; fees are remitted "—the average parent flatly refuses to pay for his daughter's education, whatever he may do for his son's—"and prizes are liberally offered." Still, even here progress is being made. The 348,510 total of 1902 had grown to 545,901 in 1907. Unfortunately, the pupil is taken away from school just at the time when education is beginning to be effective.
The figures relating to secondary education necessarily represent the real facts less completely than those which we have given for the primary schools. A peasant's child is not taught at all except he is taught at school ; the well-to-do parent has other means at his command. This is especially true of girls. In upper- and middle-class Hindu families the daughters receive regular instruction ; probably it would not be possible to say as much of the Mohammedan. In England the figures of female education would be lamentable if all governess-taught girls were left out of account. It is interesting to bear that the Burmese returns are the beat. There is no purdah system; marriage is later ; andthe "alert- ness and forcefulness of the Burmese feminine character" contribute to this result. A race which has the advantage of having such wives and mothers is bound to make its way to the front. Of University education in India the public probably knows more than it does of any other branch of the
subject. One set of facts, however, may be mentioned in this connexion. It is a mistake to attribute "unrest " to a. superfluity of graduates who cannot find empleyment The number has only once exceeded 2.000 in a single year. There is ample room for these. In 1903 it was found that Indians were employed in more than 16,000 posts which brought in a salary of more than 260 a year, and a young man who has just taken his degree does not expect as much. A more serious matter is the multitude of failures. It takes 24,000 candidates for matriculation to secure 11,000 passes ; of the 11,000, only 1,900 survive to take the B.A. degree. At Oxford the number of those who fail to matriculate is negligible, and of the 900 who annually matriculate, about 650 proceed to their degree. Here we may imagine a serious cause of discontent. We are glad to find the "Chiefs' Colleges" at Ajmere and elsewhere spoken of in high terms of praise, and to see likewise a handsome recognition of missionary work.
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