To make the Indian higher education system error-free and for overall improvement, Lord Curzon, after becoming Viceroy in 1899, formed the Raleigh Commission in January 1902. The Raleigh Commission was also known as the Indian Universities Commission. Before forming this commission, in September 1901, an educational conference was held in Shimla under the leadership of law member Thomas Raleigh. Hence, the Indian Universities Commission 1902 was also known as the Raleigh Commission of 1902 or Thomas Raleigh Commission of 1902.
Although the Raleigh Commission was formed to expand higher education among Indians, when the commission was appointed, there were no Indian members in it. Later, under the pressure of circumstances, Syed Hussain Belgrami, Sir C Sankaran Nair, and Gurudas Banerjee were appointed as members.
The conference was held for about a month. In the first phase of the discussions, the conditions, progress, and facilities of each educational level in different regions of India were discussed separately. During the discussions, Lord Curzon clearly expressed his own perspective.
In the second phase of discussions, about 150 proposals regarding Indian education were adopted. As an effective step towards these proposals, the Raleigh Commission was formed to advise on higher education in India, and later, based on this commission’s recommendations, the ‘Indian Universities Act‘ was enacted in 1904.
Objectives of Raleigh Commission
- Lord Curzon came to India in 1899 AD as a representative of British imperialism and to protect their interests. His objective was to destroy the newly awakened nationalism and strengthen the foundation of the British Empire. To achieve this objective, he chose education. He understood that the source of this nationalist sentiment was the educational institutions built by the National Council of Education based on nationalist ideals. The schools that had grown up in the country without government control were providing opportunities for the spread of nationalism. Therefore, as soon as he came to India, he became very attentive to the country’s education.
- In 1901, he called a conference in Shimla to discuss India’s educational problems. Directors of Public Instruction (DPI) from various provinces and selected high-ranking central government officials attended this conference. Dr. Millar, Principal of Christian College, Madras, was specially invited to this conference. No Indian educationist was invited to join this conference. The proceedings and proposals of this 1902 conference held in Shimla were the main source of the measures Lord Curzon later took regarding the reform of the Indian education system.
- Based on the proposals of this conference, Lord Curzon took three important steps regarding educational policy, which were: the formation of the Indian Universities Commission or Raleigh Commission in 1902; the enactment of the Indian Universities Act in 1904; and the publication of the Government of India’s Resolution on Educational Policy in 1904.
“Shimla, which was central to British India’s governance, not only influenced educational policies (as in the Raleigh Commission) but also provided as a place for key political conferences such as the Surat Split and Shimla Conference.
You can also read about Hartog Committee Report of 1929: Background, Recommendation.
Background of Raleigh Commission
- The British rulers did not look favorably upon the national awakening and nationalist ideals that had emerged in India towards the end of the nineteenth century. The ruling community began to view this organization with suspicion as nationalist sentiments intensified even within the National Congress established in 1885.
- Some prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress at that time also criticized the British government’s controlled education policy and the educational system disconnected from national culture. The general educated people of the country also gradually became conscious of this issue and became vocal against this education system. This discontent was manifested through the language movement. Congress members and generally educated people demanded education in their mother tongue and the expansion of technical education.
- The practical implementation of the nationalist education movement, combining demands for educational reform and political demands, was seen through the establishment of one national educational institution after another in different parts of the country. Some notable educational institutions inspired by national ideals were Dayanand Anglo Vedic College established by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1886 AD, Central Hindu College (later renamed Banaras Hindu University in 1916) established by Annie Besant in Varanasi in 1898 AD, Gurukul in Kangri, near Haridwar, established by Swami Shraddhanand in 1902 AD, etc.
- Thus, the British government became concerned with observing the progress of national consciousness development and the demand for incorporating elements of national culture and tradition in the education system, along with private initiatives in this regard. This consolidated form of nationalism, which was manifested in the demand for educational reform, served as the background driving force behind the British government’s successive education policies.
- A strict administrator like Lord Curzon was sent to India in 1899 to handle this turbulent situation of the nineteenth century. And as soon as he came to India, he took a well-planned step for educational reform. Therefore, he took several steps in phases, the first of which was the formation of the Raleigh Commission or Indian Universities Commission in 1902.
You can also read about Sadler Commission of 1917: Background, Matters, Recommendations.
Recommendations of Raleigh Commission 1902
Based on the survey of the Shimla conference, in January 1902, Lord Curzon appointed ‘The Raleigh Commission’ under Sir Thomas Raleigh to advise the government on Indian higher education. This commission presented several recommendations only regarding higher education in June 1902. The recommendations regarding university-level education were:
- When the Raleigh Commission was appointed, the work of establishing universities in places like Aligarh, Nagpur, Bangalore, Tiruchirappalli, and Trivandrum had already begun. Therefore, the commission commented that there was no need to establish any new universities in the country.
- The commission recommended transforming the universities into teaching Universities. To make this recommendation successful, it was suggested to give universities the right to appoint their own professors through increasing their powers.
- The commission’s report recommended distributing teaching responsibilities between universities and colleges. According to this report, universities were to be given responsibility for postgraduate education, and affiliated colleges were advised to take responsibility for undergraduate education.
- Regarding low-standard colleges, the Raleigh Commission report stated that either the educational standards of these colleges must be improved immediately or they should be converted into secondary schools.
- Several rules were set for college affiliation. All necessary information must be collected before college affiliation. It was recommended to cancel the affiliation of colleges if they failed to maintain minimum educational standards. Each college should have a legally constituted governing body and must appoint the necessary number of professors for proper college administration.
- Arrangements must be made for student hostels, libraries, laboratories, and other necessary facilities for students’ residence.
- Regarding the examination system, the commission directed that the standard of the entrance examination must be improved. The intermediate examination should be abolished, and the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) course duration should be increased to three years. Examinations and degrees of different universities should have uniform nomenclature.
- To strengthen university administration, arrangements should be made so that university professors could be elected to the Senate in greater numbers. The Syndicate should be given legal status, and the number of members should be limited between 9 and 15. Syndicate members would be elected by Senate members.
- The Raleigh Commission recommendations also mentioned changes in the syllabus and curriculum. The curriculum should be such that it improves educational standards.
- The Raleigh Commission advised the government to fix the tenure of existing universities.
