CHAPTER XV
EDUCATION AND CULTURE
The region covered by the present district of Etawah was a centre of Vedic learning and a stronghold of Brahmanism. In later Vedic times the Panchala parishad. an academy of the learned of this region, was celebrated throughout the country. Pari-chakra was perhaps one of the important Panehala parishads situated in this district. From the Vedic age downwards the central conception of education has been that it is a source of illumination, giving us a correct lead in the various spheres of life. Infusion of a spirit of piety and religiousness, formation of character, development of personality, inculcation of civic and social duties, promotion of social efficiency and spirit of national character may be described as the chief aims and ideals of ancient Indian education. The learning or culture of ancient times was chiefly the product of hermitages (ashramas) and gurukulas in the solitude of the forests where education was imparted to residential pupils at the homes of individual teachers. The education of a child began at home and was later taken up in gurukulas and ashramas under the guidance of gurus (teachers). Regular studentship began with the ceremony of upanayana by which the teacher (acharya) invites the pupil, brahmachari, into a new life described as a second birth, whence he becomes a dwija, twice-born. The new life had its own marks and rules for the pupil. The pupil was required to wear the skin of the black antelope (karshnam vasanah), a girdle (mekhala) of Kusha grass (maunjya) and to let his hair grow long (dirghashmashru). He had also to collect fuel in the forest and to tend the cattle. Begging (bhiksha) was also one of his duties. Brahmacharya (celibacy) formed the basis of the entire educational system which entailed discipline of the mind and the body and was considered an essential pre-requisite for all during the initial phase of their lives. Great stress was laid in the Vedic texts on the intimate relationship between the teacher and the taught. The primary objective of this relationship was to inculcate the attitudes of obedience, service, austerity and purity of conduct in the pupils. Though the system of cramming was prevalent in those days, it did not encourage cynicism and great importance was attached to the development of the intellect. A special ritual named medha-jamna (fostering of intellect) was performed for this purpose soon after the upanayana ritual when a prayer was offered for the endowment of the virtues of vigour, brilliance and an all round development of the pupil's intellect soon after the initiation, ceremony. The curriculum covered a wide range of subjects. Besides the three Vedas. there are also mentioned in several works of the period various other subjects of study, such as, itihasa-purana (legend and ancient lores), pitrya (the science relating to the manes), rashi (mathematics), daiva (knowledge of portents), nidhi (chronology), vako-vakya (dialetics). ekayana (ethics), devavidya, Brahma-vidya (knowledge of the Absolute), bhutavidya (demonology, or science of elements), kshatra-vidya (the military-science), nakshatra-vidya (astronomy), sarpa-vidya (the science of snakes), and devajana-vidya (dancing and music or mythology). Another list mentions the Vedas. phonetics (shiksha), ritual (kalpa), grammer (vyakarna), etymology (nirukta), metrics (chhandas) and astrology (jyotisha), as subjects of study. The period of studentship was normally fixed as twelve years, but sometimes it extended from 15 to 20 years according to the talent and requirements of the pupils. The aims of learning are stated to be shraddha (faith), medha (retention of knowledge acquired), praja (progeny), dhana (wealth), ayuh (longevity), and amritatva (immortality). They thus comprehended success in both secular and spritual life. The above mentioned system of education seems to have continued, with occassional modifications, in the district till about the advent of the Muslims Since about the times of Nandas and Mauryas, the Jains and the Buddhists are also known to have had their own religious establishments. In their monastries, education (sacred as well as secular) was in the hands of monks who were the custodians of sacred learning and had the leisure to impart it. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries Etawah was probably traversed both by the armies of Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori, but the local Hindu chiefs were generally able to defend their territory from the invader, though they made peace after each raid by the payment of a large tribute. The system of education in this area remained almost the same as in earliest days. Sanskrit was learnt mostly by the Brahmanas particularly for religious purposes and secular instruction was imparted through the medium of the local dialect in pathshalas (schools) which were usually run by private teachers and were often attached to temples. In the later medieval period, when Akbar included Etawah in his empire. Arabic and Persian were generally studied by the Muslims and were taught in the maktabs and madrasas which were attached to mosques, the course of studies generally cover-ing Islamic religion and theology. Gurukula system of education was however, continued till the advent of British rule. Mathas of the various religious pontiffs (acharyas) used to organise small centres for higher education, which cooperated with the private teachers in rendering the valuable service of keeping the lamp of learning burning in a dark age, when society was often overwhelmed by anarchy, internecine wars and foreign rule. The district, in 1847, had 105 schools attended by 833 pupils of which 40 schools were imparting education in Hindi, 13 in Sanskrit, 48 in Persian and 4 in Arabic. Of the 48 Persian schools with 398 pupils Etawah contained 1.8, Phaphund 7, two villages, two each, and the remaining 19 were found tans each in different localities. The Hindi schools were scattered over the whole district. Of the Sanskrit schools, 4 were situated in Etawah, ,2. in-Auraiya, and the remaining 7 in different villages. There were 435 pupils attending these schools. In 1850. Etawah was selected as one of the experimental district placed under the Vistor General of Schools whose report for 1850-51 shows that there were 248 unaided village school's, attended by 1558 pupils and 7 tahsili government schools, attended by 360 pupils. These tahsili schools were opened in 1850, the superior zila school was opened in 1856, and at the same time village schools were reorganised. During the disturbances of 1857, the system of education was totally disrupted. It appears from the report of A. O. Hume, then collector of Etawah, dated January 25, 1859 that though the number of indigenous schools and students were increasing, there were strong reactions from the British government against the expansion of universal education amongst Indians. Therefore, the government issued a circular criticising the teaching by indigenous teachers and directing the Collectors not to encourage these types of schools either by giving aid or by sending children to these schools. Hume deserves honourable mention for his efforts in the cause of education. He requested the government in his report date March 30, 1859 to adopt a liberal attitude towards education. Just after the disturbances of 1857. seven tahsil, schools were opened, more than two hundred schools were recognized and eight were established. from public funds. Hume High School, the chief school of the district was raised by him to the status of a superior zila school. He encouraged its early development and erected the magnificient school building. This school was later on acquired by "Hindu Educational Society. Etawah which renamed it as Sanatana Dharma College. Besides the high school, he built numerous halkabandi or village schools. The girls, schools were opened in 1863. The following statistics gives the position of educational institutions of the district in 1860-61, 1871-72 and 1874-75 :
The number of public schools fell from 147 in 1880-81 to 122 in 1900-01, but the number of pupils rose from 3,809 to 5,236 in 1903-04 there were 161 public schools with 6,595 students of whom 294 were girls. Three public schools were managed by government and 107 by the district and municipal boards, the rest being under private management. The following statement indicates the progress of education from 1896 to 1908 separately showing the position of primary and secondary education :
The supervision of education in the district during this period was carried on through the inspector of Agra circle of the department of education in conjunction with the district and muni-cipal boards. There were two training schools at Etawah and Auraiya which used to supply teaching staff for the primary and secondary institutions, greater attention being paid to physical education in all the institutions of the district. Since 1909 there has been: no important change worth recording. The number of primary schools has fluctuated from year to year while that of secondary schools has gradually increa-sed. In 1910-11 the number of primary schools fell to 199, while that of secondary schools increased to 11. In 1920-21 there were 15 secondary institutions attended by 824 pupils and 358 primary schools attended by 16,637 pupils in the district. The year 1931-32 showed further increase in the number of schools. At that time, there were 23 secondary institutions attended by 2,494 scholars and 445 primary schools attended by 22,835 pupils. After independence the district made much headway in the field of education. Many new educational institutions were opened and reforms were also made to give educational facilities to the poor and the common man. The census figures of 1951 show that the district had 13 intermediate colleges and higher secondary schools attended by 7,902 pupils, 71 junior high schools attended by 8,527 pupils, 2 training schools attended by 162 pupils, 1 technical school attended by 100 pupils and 603 other schools and . colleges attended by 55,616 pupils. The subsequent decade recorded more improvement in educational facilities. In 1960-61, the district had 4 degree colleges with 640 puplis, 26 intermediate colleges and higher secondary schools with 15,519 pupils, 96 Junior high schools with 13,392 pupils, 2 training schools attended by 218 pupils, one technical school and 678 other schools and colleges with 75,133 pupils. In 1971, the number of educational institutions further increased. In that year the district had 847 junior Basic schools, 163 senior Basic schools, 41 higher secondary institutions and 5 degree colleges. Prior to 1947, there used to be a circle inspector of schools for the supervision of education in a division. The district of Etawah was under the charge of the circle inspector of Agra division. The office of the district inspector of schools was established in the district in 1947 and since then education is being supervised by this authority. When the Basic system of education was separated from the higher secondary education in 1972, Basic education (both junior and senior) was placed under the supervision of Basic Shiksha Adhikari, while girls' schools remained under the supervision of the regional inspectoress of schools, Allahabad. Growth of Literacy The first attempt to collect informaton regarding literate persons was made in 1881. The percentage of literacy among males and females of the district between 1881 and 1951 has Percentage of literacy varied, as given below :
The subsequent decade registered the percentages at 33.9 and 10.00 respectively for males and females, the overall percentage being 22.9 as against the State average of 17.7 in 1961. . The district then ranked 9th in literacy in the whole State. There had been improvement both in male and female literacy during the decade. Of the total number of literates 66.9 per cent were without any educational standard, 26.9 per cent were of primary or junior Basic standard, and only 6.2 per cent of high school and above. The percentage of literacy in the rural population was 21.1 as against .41.1 in the urban. The percentage in the rural areas was 32.1 per cent among males and 8.1 per cent among females, and in the urban areas 51.2 per cent among males and 29.1 per cent among females. The following statement gives the educational -standards of the literate population according to the census of 1961 :
The percentage of literacy among males and females in the district at the census of 1971 were 38.98 and 16.61 respectively. The percentage of literacy in the total population was 28.86 as compared to the State average of 21.70. The percentage of literacy in the rural population was 26.83 as against 46.66 in the urban. The proportion of literacy in the rural areas was 37.27 among males and 14.36 among females, and in the urban areas 54.93 per cent among males, and 36.95 per cent among females. General Education General education now includes education from the pre-junior Basic or nursery stage to the university stage. The district had 954 junior Basic and 270 senior Basic institutions in 1974-75, the number of higher secondary institutions being 87 and the number of institutions imparting higher education in arts and science subjects at the post-graduate and degree level was 5. Junior and Senior Basic Stage Education at the junior and senior Basic stages is based on the Wardha scheme of education initiated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1937, which was adopted by the State Government with certain modifications in 1933. Although the idea of Basic education was placed before the country by Mahatma Gandhi in 1937, it could not gather strength before 1947. The term Basic now includes education at the junior Basic stage from class I to V, and the senior Basic stage from class VI to VIII. Mahatma Gandhi held that education ought to draw out the best in the pupil in body, mind and spirit. It implied that free and compulsory education for a period of seven years be provided by the State through the medium of mother tongue and every school should be self-supporting. It endeavours to create a social order free from exploitation and violence and the process of education centres around some useful handicrafts enabling the child to channelize his creative and productive ability. These junior and senior Basic institutions were supervised and administered by the education departments of municipal boards and district boards within their jurisdiction. In July, 1972, the supervision, maintenance and administrative control of these institutions was transferred to the board of Basic education, following the re-organisation of the education set-up, by the Basic Shiksha Adhiniyam. The State government vested their control in the Basic Shiksha Parishad at the state level, the Zila Shiksha Samiti at the district level, and the Gaon Sabha Samiti at the village level. The State body is headed by the director of Basic education, that at the district level being headed by the district Basic education officer. Secondary Education The secondary education now covers education after the senior Basic stage up to class XII. With the establishment of the Board of High School and Intermediate Education in 1921 the high school examination began to be held at the end of class X and the intermediate examination at the end of class XII To encourage female education, the State Government has made girls education -free up to high school, since January 1, 1965. A list of higher secondary institutions of the district is given at the end of the chapter in Statement II. Higher Education The number of institutions imparting
education up to the graduate and post-graduate level came to 5 in 1975 All of these
imparted education to both boys and girls. The following statement gives certain details
about the
EDUCATION OF SCHEDULED CASTES AND OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES Under the lead given by Mahatma Gandhi a programme for educational improvement of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, had been taken up as early as in 1937. After the attainment of independence this programme was intensified and in pursuance of it numerous benefits and incentives such as exemption from tuition fee, stipends, scholarships, financial assistance for purchase of books and stationery, free hostel facilities and relaxation of upper age limit for admission to certain educational institutions, are provided by the State Government. Boys belonging to these communities are exempted from payment of fee up to class X. The number of such students receiving financial assistance in different categories of schools in 1974-75 was as follows :
Professional and Technical Education 'In the post-independence period, great emphasis was laid on professional and technical education and for that purpose an Industrial Training Institute was opened at Etawah in 1962. The institute is run by the State directorate of training and employment, U. P. It imparts training in various trades, such as fitter, grinder, draftsman, electrician, radio-mechanic, farm mechanic, tool and die making, turner, electroplating, surveyor, welding, blacksmithy, painting, book-binding, printing, tailoring, embroidery, manufacturing of leather goods, knitting, hand weaving and stenography, etc. Duration of training is one to two years for different trades. The trainees are awarded a National Trade Certificate on successful completion of their training. Stipends up to Rs 25 per month are awarded to about 33.33 per cent of the trainees. In 1974-75, this institute had 300 trainees. There is one teachers' training college in the district which is affiliated to the Tilak Degree College. Auraiya and it can provide the degree course of Bachelor of Education to 120 students. It was established in 1974. There are three other teachers' training schools where certificate of B.T.C. is given to the trainees after successfully completing one year's training course. Of these, two schools situated at Etawah and Ajitmal impart training to male pupil-teachers,- while the third situated in the city gives training to female pupil-teachers. In 1975, there were 125 trainees on roll in each institution.
Oriental Education There are 9 Sanskrit pathshalas in the district in 1974-75; all of which are affiliated to the Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwa-vidyalaya, Varanasi. They impart education in Sanskrit literature, grammar (vyakarana) and other subjects Some details regarding these institutions are given below in the table :
Physical Education Physical education forms part of the curriculum of all the institutions from the Basic to the secondary level. Training under the auspices of the National Cades Corps and the Bharat Scouts and Guides Association is given in a number of higher secondary schools. Students are also trained in social and cultural activities at the time of the annual rallies when competitions in games and sports are also organised. FINE ARTS Folk Music and Dance Popular varieties of folk music prevalent throughout western U.P. e.g. the Alha, Phaag, Kajari, and Rasiaya, etc., are popular in this district as well, and are sung at different times of the year. Folk songs known as Dhola, Unchari and Langadia are also very common in the villages. Bhajan, Kirtan in a chorus to the accompanishment of musical instruments is very much liked by the inhabitants of the district. A number of open air performances, combining the rural style of folk music and dancing with a central theme are a regular feature of rural life in the district. The dance named Banjasha is one of the most popular folk dances of villagers of the district. Nautankis and dramas based on mythology are often staged and attract large gatherings, particularly in the villages. Libraries and Reading-rooms In 1974-75, there were five libraries in the district. Shri Maha Saraswati Bhandar, Etawah situated near the bank of river Yamuna and erected by a trust named Shri Pustakonnati Sabha is the most well-known library of the district. It was inaugurated in 1896 and registered on 19th June ,1911 in the office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh under Act XXI of 1860. The library was founded by Shri Brahma Nath Chela Khatkhata Baba. It has got a very big building near the river Yamuna. Some 10,000 books have been collected and most of them are manuscripts in Sanskrit and Oriya language. Parafhara manuscripts in Oriya and Hindi Vishwa Kosaha are the main attractions of the library. MEN OF LETTERS Hindi. Poet Gang, one of the earliest known men of letters of the district, is said to have been born at village Eknor and flourished in the 16th century. He was one of the court poets of Akbar and a fast friend of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana. Chhanda kavya is the well known work of the poet. The district is proud of having produced the great poet Deva alias Devadatta who was born in Mohalla Pansari Tola in 1683 A. D. as many as 27 books written by him in Brij Bhasha are now available. Bhava-vilas, Bhakta-vilas, Kushal-vilas and Vritha-Manjari are his well known works. Bhimasena Sharma who was born in 1854 A.D.. was also a renowned figure of the district He was a professor in Calcutta University and died in 1918 A. D. Arya Siddhant and Brahmaksh Sarvaswa are his well known published works. Dwarika Prasad Chaturvedii born in 1877 A.D., was a revo-lutior ary-cum-literary figure of the district. He wrote about 100 books and prepared 6 Hindi dictionaries. Rachnadharsha and Hindi Charitambudhi are the well known works. He was awarded the title of Sahitya Bhusan and Doctor of oriental culture. Shishupal Singh 'Shishu', who was born in 1911 A.D. at village Udi wrote many original and enthusiastic Poems. His famous works are Pariksha. Haldighaii Ki EkaRaat,.ApanePatha Par Nadi Kinare and Krishna Aur Mahatma Gandhi. He died in 1964 A.D. and a pillar was erected in his honour at the village Udi. STATEMENT No. 1 General Education from 1965-66 to 1974-75
STATEMENT No.2 List Of Higher Secondary Institutions Mahatma Gandhi Sainik Inter College,
Pachhiagaon |
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