Notes on the Dacca
University Commission’s Report by Babu Herambachandra Maitra, M.A.
I am deeply grateful to Government for giving me an opportunity of placing my views on the Report of the Daeca University Committee before it. I regret I am unable to offer an exhaustive criticism, A the Report; I am obliged to confine my observations to certain points of vital importance.
Course of Study
The decision of the Committee no to include agriculture among the subjects of study at the Dacca university will cause Agriculture. Disappointment to those who believe that the time has come for the expansion of Indian University’s on such lines as may enable them, besides qualifying their alumni for the learned. professions and the various branches of the public service to give them a suitable training for other useful occupations; and I beg to accord my humble support to the views expressed by Sir Gurudas Banerjee on the necessity of : "'an agricultural College at Dacca. There is a very large proportion among our students who have no aptitude for literary pursuits; and an earnest effort should be made to fit them for careers, which would conduce to their wellbeing as well as to the prosperity of the country. For some years past foreign universities which include important branches 'of industrial education , in their courses of instruction have been attracting Indian students, some of whom have been studying agriculture in America. We have in these facts a clear indication of a growing need, which should be recognized and provided for; and the creation of a new University at Dacca may well serve as a fit occasion for an important development in this direction. Dacca is situated in the heart of the jute growing districts of Bengal. This circumstance as well as its proximity to Assam, a province which is the home of the tea industry and which may yield large quantities of India-rubber, ,would make it a convenient center of agricultural twining. I earnestly hope this suggestion will meet with sympathetic consideration on the part of Government.
Geology should, in my humble opinion, be given a more important
place in the scheme of the University than has been assigned to it. The mineral
resources of Assam are well-known; and a
university in the neighborhood of that province should encourage the study of a
subject which has such an important bearing on its economic development. It is
a recognized duty of American State universities as well as of universities on
the continent of Europe to provide such courses of; “instruction as may help
the material progress of the territories where they are located. The great
State University of Wisconsin may be mentioned as a conspicuous instance of a
university of this type.
Political Science should be given a place in the B.A. Pass Course: It is an important subject, and knowledge of its elementary Principles would be very useful to our students in the present condition of India. A scientific study of the subject would exercise a healthy influence on the Indian mind:" it would enable people to handle political question in a dispassionate spirit-from the point of view of the seeker of truth and the exponent of principles, and not of the partisan. But the subject would be studied only by a very limited number if it were confined to the Honors Course.
It is urged by the Committee in support of the proposal to establish a Civil Engineering College at Dacca, that such an intuition Engineering. "would be of the highest value to the Dacca University" and would "complete its scheme of studies in very important respect." This is undeniable. But it is equally unreliable that a heavy and unmerited loss would be inflicted on the older university by the abolition of the existing College of Civil Engineering which is affiliated to it; and it appears to me to be a very important question. Whether it is either just or necessary to confer this boon on Dacca at the expense of Calcutta. The Sub Committee were not unanimous in their recommendation; and in the report of the majority it is acknowledged that Calcutta has certain great advantage over Dhaka "It is a center of great
engineering activity." The "visiting tours
to large and interesting works:'
which , are suggested, would be a very
inadequate remedy for the inherent deficiency of Dacca in this respect. It is
also admitted that "the defect is more serious from the point of view of
the professors." In Calcutta, "the members or the engineering staff
would have facilities for intercourse with men engaged in large engineering
projects and works. Which facilities would be denied to them :l.t Dacca."
These are very serious hindrances to efficient teaching. It is. However, urged
on the other side that in a small college near Calcutta" students would
have to work under conditions which would not be inspiring: such an institution
would not have "the scientific and social
atmosphere" necessary for the production of highly qualified engineers, and it would be without such large and well equipped laboratories as those of the new university. As to the first of these disadvantages; excellent work has been done at Sibpur in spite of it: there are now three Superintending Engineers (one of them being employed in the Railway branch or the P.W.D. and one., in the new Province), five executive engineers and another gentleman who has' been appointed Under Secretary to the Irrigation Branch, who were educated at Sibpnr, and whose services have met with recognition from Government. But, admitting the force of these objections, an unbiased outsider would , be disposed to think that the right way to meet them would be to expand the Engineering. College on the lines recommended by Lieutenant Colonel Atkinson and Mr. T.S Dawson, and to add to it departments 0:' mechanical and electrical engineering and of industrial chemistry. An institution of such a comprehensive character, with an adequate staff and thoroughly well· equipped laboratories, would provide the stimulus to study and conscientious work that is needed. The arguments against such an institution being ,placed in the outskirts of Calcutta, which have been alluded to in the Report, are not set forth in it. It may be hoped the Report says, that after a few years the demand 'for well-trained engineers will increase to such an extent as to make it necessary to admit a larger number of students to the new college at Dacca. There is, it is stated. "Great scope for private enterprise throughout the country in regard to light railway projects and many Of her schemes involving engineering problems." This being so, the most reasonable course appears to be to start a Civil Engineering College-on a modest scale for the present-at Dacca, in addition to the one now in existence in Calcutta, or to follow the course which has been followed with regard to medicine, and to prepare students for a Preliminary or Intermediate'; Examination at Dacca, successful candidates being required to join the higher classes of the Calcutta College, The letter course would be a first step towards giving the younger university of the province a fully developed department of engineering hereafter. Either of these alternatives would leave Calcutta in possession of what it has got.
One very important aspect of the case appears to have escaped the attention of the Committee. It would be difficult to find highly qualified men at Dacca outside of Government service-heads of green engineering firms or men who have retired from service after a distinguished career- to serve on the Faculty of Engineering or the Board of Studies. From the point of view of the public, the presence of a non-official element in the Faculty or the Board of Studies would be very desirable.
Islamic Studies.
two in English and one in Arithmetic and Geometry. In Arithmetic' the standard will be" somewhat lower than that of the matriculation Examination" and the course in Geometry will be "merely practical Geometry up to the standard of Euclid Book I" This very slender intellectual equipment" will introduce students to too Collegiate course, in which, from the initial to the final stage, the only subject of study other than Arabic will be English. Not only will such a course represent" a culture different in kind from that which the ordinary arts course denotes," it will not satisfy the demand for or serve the ends of an education which may meet the requirements of life in these days; and it will be opposed to the progressive tendencies of the age which have led to the rapid development of the modern side in many Western seats or learning. It will not send men to the world-as a twentieth century· university ought to send them-well-qualified for the duties of citizenship and fitted to participate in the manifold activities of modern life It has been proposed to treat the degrees of B.I. and M.I. as equivalent to B.A and M.A for admission to Government service and to the B.L course. But ·no conventional valuation can make amends for an inherent defect.' A lawyer or a public servant with an old-fashioned training will not be abl.; to hold his own against competitors who have received a better education. Besides, the educated classes of India to-day have a somewhat wider outlook than fifty years ago. Literature, commerce and industries are beginning to engage their attention more than in the past. 'And those who enter those' fields of activity can hardly hope to succeed, unless they have felt the quickening touch of the most recent development’s of science and literature. A certain degree or variety in the subjects of study is an indispensable feature of university education, specialization being allowed only after considerable progress has been made. But the Islamic department will be very deficient in this respect. The scheme is open to another grave objection: the seekers of Western education will have to pass through much several ordinals in order to obtain University degrees than Islamic students, who will he admitted to the M.A and B.L. Examinations without having passed the Matriculation Examination' of' the University. For these reasons I beg to accord my hearty support to the suggestion of Mr. Mohamed Ali, that" the Islamic studies should he -absorbed in the Art course", so that "students may substitute subject included in them for an alternative' Arts subject." There is another strong ground in favor of this. As Sir Gurudas Banerjee has rightly urged, Sanskritic studies should meet with the same recognition on the part of the University as Arabic subjects; and under the arrangement suggested above, these two branches of course. If a Sanskritic Department were organized on lines similar to those proposed for Islamic subjects, the considerations I have ventured to urge against the latter would have equal force against the former.
I would sum up my remarks under this head by saying that a university should make the advancement of modern learning its constant aim and should pursue this high end with unwavering loyalty. And there should be no distinct a deviation from these principles would lower the new University in public estimation and would cause bitter discontent.
It is certainly desirable
that Bengali literature should be enriched by the importation of ideas and
themes from other countries. But the purity of the language should be carefully
guarded. Begali literature has shown itself eminently capable of assimilating
foreign thought , as is shown by the essays of Akshaykumor Datta and the novels
of Bankimehandra Chattterjee. But if these works deserve to be prescribed for
study, it is on account of their literary excellence; and they may be taken as
indications of the ideal which should be kept in view in the selection of
books. Books to be prescribed as models of style should be chosen from among
those which have come to be
recognized
as classics. It may be mentioned in this connection that some books have been
written by Mohomedan authors in excellent Begali.
A College for the Well-to-do Classes.
The
proposal to establish a separate college for the well to-do classes does
not, in my humble opinion, deserve support. It is perfectly true that Bengal
has, as the Committee observe, suffered from the upper classes having generally
stood aloof from the educational system of the country. This, however, is due
not to the absence of arrangements for them in the University, but to the same
causes which have operated in more advanced countries to make the progress of
education much slower among the wealthy than among the poorer classes of
society. And the remedy is to be sought
in those aids to progress which have been found effective elsewhere. With the
spread of education there will come a truer appreciation of the value of
culture, and intellectual advancement will become indispensable to seekers of
social influence and respectability. Landholders will be eager to send their
sons to the University when Government welcomes the co-operation of the educated
classes in a more liberal spirit. Many young men belonging to wealthy and
aristocratic families have been trained in colleges which had no other
attractions to offer than a good education; and their number is sure to
increase with the progress of education. A University recognizing a privileged
class among its alumni would be opposed to the modern spirit, and it would fail
in its mission on a vital point: it would foster the pride of wealth which
education ought to curb; it would help to keep up the barriers between class
and class which education ought to break down. If a university training-or the
appearance of it-were offered on easier conditions to the rich than to the
poor, it would not only create irritation and discontent on the part of the latter,
but would be harmful to the very class for whose benefit such an unjust
distinction was made college of this kind could not have a vigorous
intellectual life or a bracing moral atmosphere. The occupants of the
"Gold Coast" at Harvard do not enjoy a reputation for strenuous work,
and their unpopularity extends far beyond
their own University. An institution
of this kind is no more a necessity in India than in England, where it is
considered an advantage to the scions of noble families to be placed on a
footing of equality with other students at the Universities. By sending His
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to Oxford, His Imperial Majesty has set an
example, which ought to be imitated by the princes and the aristocracy of
India.
A College for Mahomedan.
Many of the foregoing remarks apply also a College which is tobe reserved exclusively for Mahommedan students. It is neither necessary no desirable to keep Hindus and Mahomedans apart from one another during lecture-hours, except in so far as this may be due to the attraction which Islamic studies will have for the latte. And there is no reason why Mahomedan students in residence should not have the same freedom of choice as those living with their guardians, regarding the institutions they are to join. A university, specially one stared with the avowed aim of “satisfying in full measure the requirements of the educated classes of India”, should discourage, and not develop ore create, the habit of aloofness on the part of any one of the various classes of students belonging to it. It is not easy to understand why an arraggement which has been proposed in the case of the college for the upper classes, to both Hindus, Mahomedans are to be admitted, and which is found practicable in so many other institutions in the province, should not be adopted in the Arts Colleges of the new University. A residential University should do everything in its power to promote the intimate union of students who have grown up amidst different associations, which alone can create a healthy corporate life.
University Uniform.
A University uniform for .undergraduates
is certainly desirable. But no distinction sh:mld he made in this respect
between Hindus and Mahomedans.
I am unable to comprehend why there
should be any necessity for exempting Hindus students from a discipline which
would be enforced in the case of Mahomedans. Many Mahomedau students in our
colleges wear the same costume as Hindus; and if it were supposed that poverty
would be an obstacle to the adoption of a uniform, this would create a
difficulty in the case of the majority of Mahomedan students as well as of
Hindus. It would, I believe, be easy to devise a costume, which would be within
the means of all and would not in any way conflict with the feelings of any
class.
Students
who fail.
In a large proportion of cases our
stndent8 fail at the university Examinations from causes other than negligence.
Poverty and malaria are two of the causes, which swell the number of plucked
candidates in this province; and there is a very high percentage of failures in
English owing to the difficulty that our students find in writing English
correctly. Students who fail require, in my humble opinion, a more sympathetic
treatment than what is recommended by the Committee. An expansion of Indian
Universities’ on such lines as world enable them to give a suitable training to
the large class of our young men who
have no aptitude for literary pursuits would be a better remedy for the evil
which it is proposed to deal with by the arbitrary exclusion of plucked
students from colleges. There have been instances in which students who have
failed here have won high degrees in science or medicine in foreign universities.
Constitution
of the University.
The constitution of the new University
has been framed on lines, which will cause profound disappointment to the
educated classes. The outside element ought to be represented by a larger
proportion among-the members of Convocation than what has been proposed by the
Committee. The number of those who take a keen interest in educational matters
has increased largely in recent years; and if a more adequate representation
were given to this class, it would prove a great stimulus to the spread of
education. It is disheartening to men, who are able and willing to take an
active part in the furtherance or education, to be denied an effective ,voice
in the management of educational affairs. But the policy of Government for some
years past has been to curtail, and not to increase, the opportunities of
cooperation 'with the' State in the sphere of educational work enjoyed by the
enlightened classes. And the scheme of the new university has been so framed as
practically to exclude the outside public from any voice in its Government.
There will not be one private college affiliated to the university. Every
professor in the Council of the University will be a Government servant. And
thus the nonofficial minority in Convocation and in the Council will
practically have no power to guide the policy of the University. North
withstanding the fact that the heads of Colleges will be ex-officio members of
the Council, six professors will be nominated to it by the Chancellor. This
contrasts very unfavorable with the constitution of the Syndicate of the
Calcutta University, in which there is not a single professor who is not
elected by the Senate or the Faculties. And what is most important of all,
Convocation will have no power "to revise orders of the Council dealing
with the Executive Government of the university. The usefulness of the most
wholesome regulations depends upon the spirit in which they are administered.
And there are matters of vital importance which fall within the scope of the executive
government of a university. To deprive Convocation of all voice in the decision
of such questions is to deprive it of all real power. It will be felt by the
educated classes that 80 far from their being given a larger share of
self-government in a University whose object it is more fully to satisfy their
needs, it is proposed to take away the small measure of power they enjoy in the
older University of the province.
The
Staff
The views expressed by Sir Gurudas
Banerjee and Bashbehary Ghosh on the grading of professors reflect the
sentiments of the educated classes on this important question. A seat of
learning should permit no other distinction of rank among its teachers than
those based on their attainments and abilities, on the zeal exhibited and the
measure of success achieved by them in their work the division of the
Educational Service into a higher and a lower
branch and the assignment of a lower position to men whose
qualifications are not inferior to those of the members of the higher class is
a grievance to be remedied, and not an ideal to be followed, in determining the
academic status of professors. The position of a professor in a university
should not be affected by the salary he draw or the rank he occupies in
Government service. The Committee, it is gratifying to find, recommend that
good salaries should be offered in order to attract suitable men to the
Provincial Educational Service. A fair field for able and conscientious work
would prove at least as great an attraction as good salaries, to men able and
willing to devote them- selves to the se of science or letters.
I fervently hope that the observations I have ventured to make will meet with sympathetic consideration of the part of Government.
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