Let’s talk about our educational system. Let’s focus on the educational system of India before we move on to analyse the global educational system. The educational system in sixteenth century of our country was completely different from the current scenario. Even the entire world was totally different rom the setup where we are now struggling with the strange pressure from the unknown forces. Regional language was given importance in the ancient era. Back to the sixteenth century, the imperial powers spread beyond the periphery of Europe. The rise of British empire radically changed the preference of languages in their colonies.
India was unfortunately a victim of cultural hegemony where the local dialect got affected by the spread of English language. Like India, several colonies were forced to adapt the alien languages for cultural and social transformation. After the completion of world war II, a cold war began between the powerful nations and the commonwealth nations. English became the medium of instruction. This language held the superior position among the countries of the world by becoming the voices of elites. For the sake of globalisation and socioeconomic developments, English language became the lingua franca of the globe.
After the end of the British empire from almost all the colonies of the world, still English was the most promising language in their colonies. As a result, the English medium schools of those countries became predominant than their local medium schools. It began from the primary level to higher level. The degree courses in the various colleges chose English as a medium of instruction rather than their local languages. Our country, India is a brightest example of such transformation.
The heritage of India was culturally rich and we, the Indian were considered as the master of the entire world. The indigenous language of India was centre of attraction among the other countries of the world. Students from different countries flocked to our country for the ancient scriptures and great books those made us unique around the world. India witnessed all the legendary Sanskrit works by the great sages like The Vedas consisted 1028 hymns. Other than the Vedas, our ancient Indian literature was abundant with other magnificent creations like Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Purva Mimansha Sutras. These works are written during 1500 to 500 BCE. It is now clear that our country set an exemplary benchmark and became a pioneer in spreading its rich literary heritage among the other countries of the world.
As soon as the British empire spread its reign over the entire India, they tried to establish the superiority of their language over our traditional languages. Before the arrival of Britishers, learning took place in the temples, mosques and Gurukuls of India. Many visionaries like Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi realised the real propaganda of Britishers. Through the introduction of different acts, they tried to bring in the educational system of our country. They began to transform the savages of India into aristocrats. The Charter Act of 1830 signified the coexistence of Western education along with Indian languages. Then Thomas Macaulay’s ‘Minute on Indian Education’ came with the real agenda of Britishers for our countrymen. They tried to ‘ refine the vernacular dialect ‘ of our country. Above all Britishers aimed to bring a class of Indian people who would develop a deep interest in the English language and in the future they would be the connectives between the rulers and the natives. As a result English became the official language of India by replacing the Persian language from the courts of India. In 1854, Wood’s Despatch brought many changes .