Post No. 8540
Date uploaded in London – – – 20 August 2020
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BOOKS INDIANS SHOULD READ- 21
Chapter 8 Part 2
THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF DHARAMPAL-3
Figures Speak
We may now see some statistics.
1. No of Schools in the various areas. Madras Presidency,1823
Area Schools Students
Ganjam (Oriya) 255 2977
Telugu speaking
Vizagapatnam 914 9715
Rajhamundry 291 2658
Masulipatam 484 5083
Guntoor 574 7724
Nellore 697 7621
Cuddapah 494 6000
Kannada speaking
Bellary 510 6641
Seringapatam 41 627
Malayalam Speaking
Malabar 759 14,153
Tamil Speaking
North Arcot 630 7326
South Arcot 875 10,523
Chingleput 508 6845
Tanjore 884 17.582
Trichinopoly 790 10.331
Madura 884 13,781
Tinnevelly 607 9377
Coimbatore 763 8206
Salem 333 4326
Madras 322 5699
Caste representation among male students (%)
In Tamil Speaking areas.
District Brahmins Vysee Sudra Others
North Arcot 9.60 8.66 66.76 7.40
South Arcot 9.57 3.55 76.19 8.72
Chingleput 12.75 6.30 71.47 6.72
Tanjore 16.16 1.27 61.17 13.32
Trichinopoly 11.76 2.25 76.00 3.23
Madura 8.67 8.18 52.99 21.77
Tinnevelly 21.78 31.21 38.42
Coimbatore 11.30 3.56 78.52 2.78
Salem 10.75 7.59 39.15 32.38
Madras
Ordinary Schools 7.01 15.44 68.62 6.13
Charity Schools 12.56 11.11 41.55 32.37
IT is evident from the above that Brahmins did not dominate or monopolise
The education scene. The main beneficiaries were the Sudras.
The reports and the statements attached to them drawn up by the collectors under
instruction from the Governor are comprehensive, and also reveal qualitative aspects.
They cover the qualification of the teachers, how and how much they were paid, how the
poor students managed, the subjects covered , the number and types of books taught, etc.
It has to be remembered that at that time people mostly followed their traditional
occupations, which they freely learnt at home (much as the apprentices did in England).
They did not have to pay for learning the trade or craft which was the means of livelihood.
Thus the nature of even indigenous schooling was academic, and did not affect their
professions. Only the Brahmins went on to study their religious literature because
they earned their bread thereby.
Why did this system disappear?
The British altered the general economic and financial arrangements drastically. The
village communities lost their financial independence due to centralisation. They lost
their cohesiveness and organic nature. They were unable to maintain the schools.
The economy and along with it the old professions declined, and could no more provide
sustenance. The Indian schools were left to die.
At the same time, the schools introduced by the British were unaffordable for most.
Gandhiji pointed this out in his 1931 address.
” The village schools were not good enough for the British administrator, so he came out
with his programme. Every school must have so much paraphernalia, building, and so forth.
Well, there were no such schools at all. There are statistics left by a British administrator,
which show that, in places where they have carried out a survey, ancient schools have
gone by the board, because there was no recognition….and the schools established after
the European pattern were too expensive for the people.
Too expensive for the people! That is why large sections of people (including Brahmins)
could not afford formal education in the schools run by the government. To this day, the
schools we have established after the European pattern remain expensive!
There are many qualitative aspects of the indigenous schools and interesting information
that the reports bring out. We may see them separately. In the meantime every educated
Indian ought to study these reports to know the truth first hand, and become free from the
falsehoods that have been dished out to us in our system, by the politicians, and through
the media.
Many Brahmins themselves have developed a defensive complex- a guilty conscience-
as if their forefathers had done something wrong by denying education to the other
communities. Dharampal’s book contains all the original reports which are full of actual
statistics. And they show that Brahmins did not control or dominate or monopolise
education, and that Sudras derived the maximum benefit under the indigenous
system. Brahmins mainly concentrated on religious education. General education was open
to all, and was supported by common village funds and charity, as we will see.
Indians in general were neither uneducated nor illiterate as the politicians and false
historians have been claiming. Indians should study this material in the original and
really understand things as they were. Only then can we call the bluff of the propagandist
elements. *** Chapter 8 concluded
