EDUCATION & CULTURE

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

THOUGH NO PRECISE AND EXACT RECORDS ABOUT THE CENTRES OF LEARNING IN ANCIENT, MEDIAEVAL AND EARLY MODERN TIMES ARE AVAILABLE, there was in existence some sort of a system of imparting education or vidya to the local populace and that might have been educa- tion by heritage. So far as the available information is concerned the educational system in early times existing among both Hindus and Muhammedans, was in each case, closely connected with their religious institutions.

To give and receive instruction is enjoined by sacred books of Hindu system. Brahmans, and their ancient sages produced a literature which is deep and subtle and often of great beauty. Schools of learning were formed in centres containing a considerable highcaste population, and pandits gave instruction in Sanskrit, grammar, logic, philosophy and law. The students were called the chelas or children of their gurus or teachers, lived with them in a semi-filial relationship in their ashrams and owed them obedience and respect. The chelas were lodged and fed by their gurus and the latter were maintained by gifts and grants from the rulers of the country or from private benefactors. Teaching was mainly by word of mouth, and the memory of the pupils was trained to enable them to repeat by heart long passages of the sacred texts. The student respectfully held the hand of his teacher, and fixed his mind on the teacher, and said, " venerable sir, recite " and the Savitri (the well known gayatri verse of the Rig-veda) was recited and learnt as the introduction to the learning of the Vedas. Thus from day to day new lessons were recited and learnt, the student dividing his day's work between minding his lessons and minding the household work of his teacher. The chelas were expected to devote and sacrifice their tan-man-dhan i.e., health, soul and wealth for the sake of their guru. There are many instances found of this kind in the old Sanskrit literature. Besides, there was a difficult and hard test for the outgoing students and especially for the princes to mark their perfect vidyarjan.

This advanced instruction was strictly confined to youths of higher castes. For the lower castes village schools were scattered over the country side, in which rudimentary education was given to the children of the trading classes, the petty land-holders, and the well-to-do cultivators. Seated under a tree or in the veranda of a hut, the children learned to trace letters of the alphabet with their fingers in the sand, or recite in monotonous tones their spellings or a multiplication table.

Hindu System.

The system of education in ancient times followed a set pattern. The education of a pupil started with Vidyarambha at the age of five. Vidyarambha meant learning the alphabets and offering worship to the appropriate deities. Next followed the ceremony of Upanayana marking the turning point in the pupil's life. A student did not pay any fees to his teacher before he finished his education. Admission to study depended solely upon the pupil's fitness for it. The ancient educational system evolved its own appropriate methods of study. The student used to learn a fourth of it from his Acharya, a fourth by his own intelligence by himself, a fourth from his fellow pupils, and the remaining fourth in course of time by experience. It appears from the Manu-Smriti that the subjects of study in those days comprised besides the entire Vedic literature, Dharmashastras or Smritis; Itihasa or Purana; Economics and allied subjects, Anvikshiki (Dialectics), and Dandaniti or politics. The last two with the Vedic study (Trayi) and economics i.e., (Varta) are referred to as the four important subjects of study in the Kautilya Arthashastra. The education of the prince followed on other lines as he had to receive military training relating to the operation of the different weapons of war in addition to the four important subjects mentioned by Kautilya.

Muhammedan System.

In the former times, the higher education of Muhammedans was in the hands of men of learning who devoted themselves to the instruction of the youth. Schools were attached to mosques and shrines, and supported by State grants in cash or land, or by private liberality. Individual instructors of merit were also aided by the State and land holders and nobles vied with each other in supporting scholars of repute. The course of study in a Muhammedan place of learning included grammar, rhetoric, logic, theology, metaphysics, literature, jurisprudence and science. The classes of learned instructors were replaced by madrasas or colleges of a more modern type founded by the liberality of pious persons.

Elementary classes were included in the schools attached to the mosques, but ordinary education was as a rule, imparted at home. Householders of means engaged the services of a teacher to instruct their children in reading, writing and arithmetic. Persian was the medium of instruction and letter writing and penmanship were highly prized accomplishments. The children learned to write on oblong boards, in appearance like a large edition of the hornbook, which could be washed clean at the close of the lesson. Less affluent neighbours were invited or allowed to send their children to the class, which sometimes attained the proportions of a small school. The schools were known as domestic maktabs, and the teachers were called ' maulvi sahib ' or ' munshi sahib'. The profession was followed by both Muhammedans and Hindus. The old Indian Pedagogue is the hero of many a folk-tale, in which he is sometimes depicted as a tyrant whom it was the pride and the delight of the bolder spirits among his pupils to out wit, and at other times as the good-natured but lettered fool who fell into every trap that was laid for him. The pupils were bound to respect and do menial service for their ' maulvi', and custom permitted him to make free use of the cane or to punish delinquents in any other way his ingenuity might devise.

Western education.

With the establishment of British rule in India, a need for Western education was increasingly felt in the country and this district was no exception to it. The old Wardha Gazetteer published in 1906 has the following to say about the progress of education in the district.

" The following statistics of schools and scholars show the progress of education:—1870-71, (58 schools, 2,994 scholars); 1880-81, (71 schools, 3,685 scholars); 1890-91, (96 schools, 5,296 scholars); 1900-01,(108 schools, 5,878 scholars); 1902-03, (112 schools, 6,013 scholars); 1903-04, (103 schools, 6,704 scholars); 1904-05, (105 schools, 7,394 scholars). The District has two high schools at Wardha and Hinganghat. They were raised to this status only in 1905, having previously been English middle schools. In this year they contained 24 scholars in their high school and 313 in their middle school departments.. There are two English middle schools at Arvi and Ashti with 104 and 88 scholars enrolled respectively and 8 vernacular middle schools of which three have training classes for the teacher's certificate examination. The number of primary schools is 88 with 5,018 scholars. Three schools containing 147 scholars are supported by the Free Church Mission and seven schools are maintained by private persons without assistance from the Government. The District has only 4 girls' schools at Wardha, Hinganghat, Arvi and Sindi with 159 scholars; 45 girls were also learning in boys' schools in 1904-05. Out of the total of 7,394 scholars in this year, 1,588 were in receipt of secondary and 5,806 of primary education. The percentage of children under instruction to those 6f school-going age in this year was 24 for boys and one per cent for girls. At the Census of 1901 the District stood 7th in respect of the literacy of its population, 76 per thousand of males being able to read and write. Only 292 females were returned as literate. Among Muhammedans the proportion of male literates was 150 per mille. The expenditure on education increased from Rs. 34,000 in 1891-92 to Rs. 45,000 in 1902-03 and Rs. 61,000 in 1904-05. In the latter year Rs. 11,000 were contributed from Provincial funds, Rs. 45,000 from local funds, and Rs. 5,000 from other sources. The District is under the Inspector of Schools for the Nagpur Circle and has two Deputy Inspectors. It contains four printing presses using Marathi and English type. These are all situated in Wardha. No newspapers are issued." [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Wardha District, 1906, pp. 221-22.]

The details about number of educational institutions and scholars in Wardha district are available for the period from 1891-92 to 1936-37. They are given in the following table.

TABLE No. 1

INSTITUTIONS AND NUMBER OF SCHOLARS IN WARDHA DISTRICT.

TABLE No. 1-contd.

TABLE No. 1-contd.

TABLE No. 1-contd.

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