Exhibition Commemorating 150 years of Presidency Universities (1857-2007)
1857 was a year of contrasts in the annals of Indian history. It was marked by catacyclismic political upheaval on one hand and on the other, it also ushered in a new epoch in the history of higher education by the setting up of the three Presidency Universities.
Individual patronage by Indophiles for the cause of higher education in India can be seen through the establishment of educational institutions i.e. the Calcutta Madrassa (1781) and the Benaras Hindu College (1792). The Charter Act of 1813 allocated an amount of Rupees one lakh towards educational development. Thereafter, a debate sparked off between the advocates of western learning (Occidentalists) and the supporters of oriental learning (Orientalists), which was finally resolved by Lord T.B. Macaulay's Minute of 1835. This led to a thorough anglicization of the lower echelons of administration. Two decades later, British administrators realised the need for establishing centres of higher education to effectively produce superior native subordinates in the highly skilled areas of medicine, law, engineering and liberal arts.
Sir Charles Wood, President, Board of Control, sought to create a properly articulated scheme covering all stages of educational development through the educational Despatch of 1854 which is also considered as the Magna Carta of English education in India. As a result, three Universities were established at the Presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1857 on the pattern of the London University.
The affairs of the universities were to be managed by the fellows, who were mostly high government officials. All three universities had, at first, four faculties Arts cum Science, Law, Medicine and Engineering. Later on, Universities were also established in Punjab (Lahore) (1882) and Allahabad (1887).
In 1882, Lord Ripon appointed the First Indian Education Commission under the chairmanship of Sir W.W. Hunter to review the quantum of achievement in the field of education. This formed the bedrock of educational development in India.
The second review was undertaken by Lord Curzon and remedial measures were suggested to improve the overall quality of higher educational institutions. The Resolutions adopted at the Simla Educational Conference (1901) and the proposals of the Indian University Commission (1902) culminated in the formulation of the Indian Universities Act, 1904 which was a covert acknowledgement of Indian identity.
On the occasion of the 150 years of celebrations of the establishment of Presidency Universities, the National Archives of India presents this archival exposition to recapitulate history. The exhibition will be inaugurated on 10 January 2007 at 3 p.m. by Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar, Member, Planning Commission. Sh Badal K. Das, Secretary Ministry of Culture will preside over the inaugural function. The exhibition will remain open till 31 January 2007.
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(Release ID :23880)