Wood’s Despatch Recommendation
- Introducing vernacular language at primary level, Anglo vernacular at high school, and English medium in higher studies.
- Recommended reorganizing the whole structure of education. Establishing a department of public instruction in each of the Bengal provinces.
- University at Bengal, Bombay, and Madras presidencies was established in 1857.
- Expansion of mass education was a major focus and it was started by discarding Downward filtration theory.
- Common people lacked educational opportunities so they focused on increasing no. of primary schools and colleges.
- Woods dispatch focused on teaching English but never discarded Indian languages.
- Women’s education was given importance, and Bethune school was established for girls.
- It focused on teacher training and separate training for engineering, medicine, and law which were organized in the mother tongue for the natives.
- Grant-in-aid to encourage private schools.
Orientalist-Anglicist Controversy
The East India Company was formed in 1600. Before the arrival of the East India Company in India, Persian used to be the court language. Both Hindus and Muslims irrespective of religion used to learn Persian to get employment.
After attaining political power in the country EIC wanted to remain neutral and not interfere in the sphere of religion and culture of Indian society. They feared adverse reactions and opposition to their work by indigenous people. However, after constant pressure from Christian missionaries, the orientalist, liberals, and Indian social reformers, it decided to take educational administration into their hands.
The first effort regarding bringing educational reform was taken in the Charter Act of 1813. It was decided that EIC will provide Rs. 1 lakh for the promotion of education in India. However, a conflict of opinion arose that whether the company should promote western education or Indian education. The medium of instruction between English or Indian languages like Sanskrit, Persian, or Arabic was also a concern. This controversy is known as Orientalist-Anglicist Controversy.