In 1854, Sir Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, sent a formal dispatch to

Lord Dalhousie James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...

, the then

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

, suggesting a large shift to English language use within India. Sir Charles recommended that primary schools adopt vernacular languages, high schools adopt Anglo-vernacular language and that English be the medium of education in colleges. This communiqué is informally known as Wood's despatch. Wood's letter played an important role in the spread of English learning and female education in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. One of the most favorable steps taken was to create an English class among Indian people to be used as workforce in the company's administration. Vocational and women's education were also emphasized more heavily. This period of time in the British Raj was part of a final phase where the British governmental administration brought social reforms into India. After this period, the governing policies tended to become more reactionary, notably in the wake of major social and political unrest surrounding the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

Recommendations

Wood recommended that: # English education will enhance the moral character of Indians and thus supply East India Company with civil servants who can be trusted. # An education department was to be set up in every province. # Universities on the model of the London university be established in big cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. # At least one

government school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

be opened in every

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. # Affiliated private schools should be given grant in aid. # The Indian natives should be given training in their

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

also. # Provision was made for a systematic method of education from primary level to the university level. # The government should support education for women. # The medium of instruction at the primary level was to be vernacular while at the higher levels it would be English. # Promotion and stress on teachers’ training at all levels.

Measures taken

After Wood's dispatch, several measures were taken by the East India Company: # Setting up new institutions like the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

, the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

and the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

in 1857 as well as the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

in 1882 and the

University of Allahabad , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

in 1887. # In all provinces, education departments were set up. # Promotion of English education, namely within academics and the bureaucracies of companies and public services.

References

* {{Citation , last1=Bayly , first1=Christopher Alan , author-link1=Christopher Alan Bayly , year=1987 , title=Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire , series=The New Cambridge History of India , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fX2zMfWqIzMC , volume=II.1 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=978-0-521-38650-0. History of education in India