ENGLISH EDUCATION IN BRITISH INDIA: THE STRATEGIC ADOPTION AND POSITIONING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS

Abstract

This article analyses British ventures for English education in the Indian subcontinent which had signified the inevitable relevance of English language both for education policy and practice. Looking at the phenomena in pre-19th century context, English language was introduced in the subcontinent for the sake of training Indian interpreters who could also act as mediators between other Indians and the British officers of East India Company. During 19th century, after establishing their rule over the Indian subcontinent, English education was being used as a vehicle of colonial enlightenment. Those were times when English language was introduced as a taught subject side by side with vernacular subjects in schools. While early 20th century had witnessed demands for educational change from within and from without, English language had sustained its status as a compulsory taught subject in schools even as a part of the suggested revisions in education system of the subcontinent. Based on primary data evidence from the public record files of the then Ministry of Education and of Education Commissions, conferences, etc. comprising of British officers and educated Indian leaders, this article provides a significant insight into why and how the British official vision for strategising English language in the mainstream school education of the subcontinent was being carried out.