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Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation
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28/05/2021 1:13 pm
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Why did James Mill and Thomas Macaulay think that European education was essential in India?
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28/05/2021 1:15 pm
- James Mill was the strongest critic of the Orientalists.
- He declared that the British should not teach what the natives wanted, or what they respected, in order to please them and “win a place in their heart”.
- The pm of education should be to teach what was useful and practical.
- Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had made, and not the sacred literature of the Orient.
- Macaulay urged the British government in India to stop wasting public money in promoting Oriental learning, for it had no practical use.
- He felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced; it would make them aware of the developments in Western science and philosophy.
- The teaching of English could thus be a way of civilizing people, changing their tastes, values, and culture.