IN DARKNESS. INDIA'S UNEDUCATED MILLIONS

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 42, 19 February 1908, Page 3

IN DARKNESS. INDIA'S UNEDUCATED MILLIONS

RECLAIMING WOEK. INTERESTING INTERVIEW WITH AN AUTHORITY. More than twenty-seven years spent in the cause of education in India entitles Mr. Charles A. Paterson, M.A., LL.B., to speak with some authority on that subject. Mr. Paterson is at present visiting New Zealand, and courteously consented to give a representative of The Post an interview on certain aspects of tho affairs of that vast Empire, which has loomed so large in the history of our own time. EDUCATION. Under India's education policy most of the schools and colleges are in tho hands of mission societies, local bodies, committees of natives, and other voluntary agencies receiving grants-in-aid. At the present time the Government of Madras seems specially desirous of developing primary education among the depressed castes, and the panchamas, or pariahs, both by establishing Government schools, and by the system of grants-in-aid. The colleges for professional education in medicine, law, engineering, and teaching, and almost all the normal schools are directly maintained by the State. Schools of course have to qualify for grants-in-aid, but the inspection by tho Government inspectors does not extend to the religious instruction given in' the institutions. No religious instruction is given in tho institutions directly managed by the State. Though as much as possible is raised in the way of fees, their amount is not allowed to prove a bar to the poorer classes obtaining for their children. at least, the privilege of elementary education. Whilst in tho colleges and secondary schools instruction in the various subjects is given per medium of English, in the primary schools tho teachers impart instruction entirely in tho vernacular. The variety of tongues spoken in the whole Peninsula is incredible. Each language has its own alphabetic characters, but, unlike our letters, each symbol represents a syllable. THE MILLIONS IN DARKNESS. Ifc is, of course, at present — and will be for many yeais to come, says Mr. Paterson — out of the question to make education compulsory. iMuch as tho schools have done, "their work as yet is bub beginning. Amongst the multitudes of the panchamas — the pariah, or non-caste classes — enlightenment advances slowfy. Of the females of all classes only a very small proportion receive education, and these are mostly Chribtians ; but the prejudice againsb fernoUd education is steadily breaking down amongst the Hindus. The great obstaclo in the way of the higher education of the women is the early marriago system, as the education of the girls generally ceases on their marriage; but, notwithstanding this, advance is taking place, and recently two Brahmin ladies obtained the degree of B.A. In the Madras University, and at the last medical convocation one Brahmin lady, who had been a student under Mr. Paterson, along with the male students, in tho Church of Scotland during part of her arts course, obtained a degree in medicine and surgery. That lady has since proceeded to Edinburgh to qualify better for the medical profesion. Tho great masses of the population, however, remain illiterate, and tho work of reclaiming them is not the work of a day. That fact, however, docs not discredit ths hopeful progress made. Gradually, but surely, the leaven of education promises to permeate the whole. UNIVERSITIES AND THE STUDENTS. Five universities— those of . Madras, Calcutta, Bombay, Allahabad, and Punjab — each with affiliated colleges, indicate in themselves that the higher learning in India is a' significant fact. Brahmins and Christians show a superiority over their fellows. The students show a vory marked aptitude for memorising — a mental gift which largely explains their exceptional capacity as linguists. It is not possible to speak in equally high torms of tho students' moral character, adds Mr. Paterson. Macaulay's indictment of the Hindu remains only too well founded. For instance in Madras there has sometimes boon a great deal of fraud and falsehood on tho part of candidates for the examinations, , and scandals have at times been rife in connection with the secret purchase of examination questions, and tho subsequent profitable sale of these to candidates about to sit for examinations. Only by the most vigilant raca sures, and by inflexible stornnos?, in moting out punishment to offenders, whatever their social standing, could tha authorities cope with the evil. But tho moral sense of the students is undoubtedly improving, and the great majority of the students would abstain from and condemn such practices. , Most graduates aspire to positions in the Government service, a fair number find their vocations as teachers in high schools and colleges, and a more numerous section recruit the legal profession. The Hindu is a litigious aaiimal and his lawyers are correspondingly plentiful. A small, though increasing, number of the students go to British universities ; but the caste rule forbidding going oversea will limit this movement for many years to come. POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF THE EDUCATED. Besides their course in Finglish literature, students take up the study of history including that of India from the English standpoint. But their interest in these fields usually ceases when the students have passed tho required oxamination. Their estimate of Britain, therefore, is but little coloured from these sourcos. Still, speaking of Madras students, tho visitor would say that as a class they are loyal. True, when^n, political firebrand, a polished orator* visiting tho presidency flatters the students and delivers seditious speeches they may loso their heads and for a time cause annoyancQ and anxiety. But tho noisy claptrap of such an occasion docs not represent any real disaffection, and it is strongly deprecated by the thoughtful educated class.