REPORT

OF THE

Council of Education,

From the 30th of April 1842, to the 30th of April 1843.

To the Right Hon'ble the Governor General

MY LORD,

of India in Council.

Our last Report was dated the 30th August 1842, and contained a narrative of our proceedings from the 30th April 1840 to the 30th April 1842.

2. Our present Report will comprise the subjects on which we have been engaged, from the 30th of April 1842 to the 30th of April 1843.

3. Your Lordship in Council is aware, that under the Orders of the 12th of January 1842, our direct Superintendence was confined 1st, to the Hindoo College and its dependencies; (those now are the Patsala and the late Mr. Hare's School) 2d, the Sanscrit College; 3d, the Mahomedan Madressa; 4th the Hooghly College, and its dependencies (to wit the Branch School, Infant School, Umerpore School, Tribanee School, and Seetapore School) 5th the Medical College, and to those occasions on which the Government might see fit to

avail itself of our services as a

* See page (1) of last printed Council, "for reference* and Report. "advice upon all matters of "important administration and "correspondence."

4. On a careful considera

Future constitution of Council tion of the best plan for the

and system of business.

facilitation of business in our Office, we came to the following

resolutions on the 31st March 1843.

That the whole Council superintend the Institutions left under its controul by the Orders of January 10th 1842;

viz. those at the Presidency and at Hooghly; and that Sections be abolished, with a single modification in regard to the Hindoo College, where, by the agreement, two Members, besides the President and Secretary, are to form a portion of the Hindoo College Management.

2d. That the Secretary of the Hindoo and Sanscrit Colleges, and of the Madressa send up their references to the Council, as the Principal of the Hooghly College who has no Local Committee, now does.

3d. That one Member, with the President and Secretary, every month take the charge of visiting and inspecting the several Institutions, (except Hooghly, which shall be visited quarterly by the President, Secretary and by the Members in rotation, and the Medical College, which is provided for hereafter) as follows:

F. Millett, Esq.,
F. J. Halliday, Esq........
J. C. C. Sutherland, Esq.,
C. C. Egerton, Esq.,
Baboo Russomoy Dutt,

...

...

.........

April and May.

June and July.

August and September.
October and November.
December and January.

Rajah Radakant Deb,......... February and March. 4th. That the Council meet on the 2d Saturday of every month at the Secretary's Office at 10 A. M. and at the Medical College on the last Saturday at past four P. M., and that the papers be circulated in boxes (like the papers of the Government) to be passed on from member to member, and lastly to the Secretary, to be collected and brought up on the said Saturdays.

5. These resolutions were referred to Government, and approved under date the 12th of April.

6. We were informed at the same time that His Honor the President in Council had determined, that simultaneously with those Resolutions coming into effect (which His Honor in Council observed, the Council proposed should be from the

1st Para. The Governor General in Council having been pleased to resolve that the Institutions founded and supported by the Government for the diffusion of Education, shall be brought more directly under the controul of the Government itself, aided by a Council of Education composed of the present Members of the General Committee of Public Iustruction, and such other Officers as from time to time be joined with them, the Local Committees of the Colleges and Schools in the two Divisions of the Bengal Presidency, will in future address their reports

may

end of the Official year, the 30th of April) the Council of Education should have a separate Secretary; and His Honor in Council has been pleased to appoint Dr. Mouat to that situation, on a Salary of 200 Rupees per month, payable from the Education Funds, the Council still discharging the duties specified in paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Orders of the 10th January 1842, here noted.*

and references, to the Secretary in the General Department of the Government of India.

4th Para. The General and Financial business of the Department of Education will be assumed by

the Government, and the Council of Education be maintained for purposes of reference and advice upon all matters of important administration and correspondence, retaining under the directions of the Government, the Supervision now established over the Institutions at the Presidency.

7. It appears that under these Orders of the 12th of April, the Secretary to Government in the General Department will carry on the correspondence with all the Government Colleges and Schools not at Calcutta and Hooghly, under the Orders of the Government.

8. His Honor in Council has at the same time recommended that there should be perfect unanimity and inter-communication, (as there has hitherto been) on all important topics of the Department, between the two Offices above mentioned, and all Circular Instructions involving general principles issued by the one, should be made known to the other, and as far as in us lies, these instructions shall be carefully attended to.

9. We observe that His Honor in Council desires that Teachers from Europe, or otherwise seeking employment, should report themselves to the Council who will inform the Government whether their services are needed at the Presidency or Hooghly, and at the same time request the Orders of Government as to their disposal; the Council submitting their opinion as to their qualifications, and the most useful sphere of employment for them.

10. The Office of the Council of Education can, as suggested by the Hon'ble the President in Council, conveniently be held at the premises of the Medical College, where there is sufficient accommodation and where the Secretary resides.

11. The details of the distribution of Establishment, Office Furniture, &c. will, as directed by Government, be arranged by the Council, in communication with the Government Secretariat of the Education Department.

12. We would respectfully, but most earnestly, suggest that the interests of this highly important department, will be best promoted by allowing all Educational Institutions to be superintended by one authority, directly responsible to Government, either by the appointment (as in many foreign European countries) of a Minister of Public Instruction, with properly qualified Inspectors; or (as in England) by a Committee or Council for Education, with a Secretary for the conduct of correspondence, and Inspectors to enable them to do justice to the duty of superintendence, which would belong to such Committee or Council. We must state our firm opinion, that without one of these plans, the duties of the Education Department cannot be fully or uniformly provided

for. We shall revert to the subject of inspection in a subsequent paragraph.

13. We have to lament during the year the loss of many Colleagues by departures to Europe or elsewhere, viz.

H. T. Prinsep, Esq.

A. Amos, Esq.
C. W. Smith, Esq.
J. Grant, Esq.

G. A. Bushby, Esq.

Mr. Surgeon C. C. Egerton has been appointed a Member of our Council, and we anticipate much aid from his professional and other qualifications, in the discharge of our duties.

GENERAL REPORT.

14. We We now proceed to review the subjects mentioned in the last printed Report, in the order in which they are there stated, and we have in the first place to take up the Establishments.

in our Colleges and Schools, and have had the opportunity thereby of being previously acquainted with the principles and details of our Educational System.

18. We advert particularly

of Foreign European Powers, and are about to be supplied, if not already so, at Bombay and Madras.

1st. To the absence of any Normal School for Teachers. 2nd. To the absence of an organized system of inspection or examination, or even adequate local superintendence in regard to teachers after appointment.

19. The importance of Normal Schools generally, is so universally admitted, that we do not feel it necessary for us to enter into any general arguments in support of it. But we would beg leave to draw the especial attention of Government to the arguments we can bring forward, as to the peculiar importance of such an Institution, in regard to the educational department of India in particular.

20. The students of our Colleges and Schools after the completion of their education, look forward mainly to but three or four lines of service:

1st The subordinate branch of the judicial, revenue, and other public departments.

2d The teacherships of the education department.

3d The mere manual copying of the writer, or the unvarying routine of an accountant's life.

21. While we are most anxious to see a portion, and the main portion, of the eleves of our Institutions employed in the public service, we are equally anxious to see a select and highly and specially qualified portion, set apart for the duties of imparting the benefits of instruction, to the masses of this great Empire.

22. But we have no means at present of making those who would enter the line of service open in the education department, more specially qualified for that line, than those who may be looking forward to being employed in the public administration.

23. We are not at present, however, in possession of sufficiently detailed and specific information as to the exact method in which it would be most advisable to organize and conduct a Normal School, of the nature and for the objects required, but as the subject is one of great interest and importance, it shall receive our earliest and best attention, when furnished with the necessary documents from Europe, regarding the systems of primary instruction adopted in Prussia and Switzerland, with the modification of them that has been more recently introduced and followed in England. By means of these we hope to be able to suggest a plan, especially adapted to the peculiar state and wants of Education in this Country.