Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation NCERT Class 8 History SST Extra Questions

Question 1

Give a brief account of William Jones

Solution:

In 1783, William Jones came to India as a junior judge, to work in the Supreme Court set up by the East India Company. In addition to being a lawyer Jones was a linguist.

Jones knew many languages. Greek, Latin, French, English, Arabic and Persian were some of the languages he knew. As Jones had a deep passion to learn many languages he spent many hours with pandits who taught him the Sanskrit language, grammar and poetry. Soon he started studying ancient Indian books on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine and the other sciences.

Question 2

Write a brief not on the Asiatic Society of Bengal

Solution:

The Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded by the renowned English jurist Sir William Jones. He brought Asian languages, literature, arts, and sciences to the attention of Europeans. The members of the Asiatic Society of Bengal were the first European scholars to recognize the common ancestry of Sanskrit with Greek, Latin, and other European languages. They considered Sanskrit as the classical language of India and praised its wonderful structure and stated that it was more perfect than the Greek

Question 3

What was Thomas Babington Macaulay instrumental for?

Solution:

Thomas Babington Macaulay was instrumental in creating the foundations of bilingual colonial India, by convincing the Governor-General to adopt English as the medium of instruction in higher education, from the sixth year of schooling onwards, rather than Sanskrit or Arabic.

Question 4

State the recommendations of the Wood’s Despatch.

Solution:

The Wood’s Despatch recommendations were:-

1. An education department was to be set in every province.

2. Universities on the model of the London University be established in big cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.

3. At least one government school be opened in every district.

4. Affiliated private schools should be given grant in aid.

5. The Indian natives should be given training in their mother tongue also.

Question 5

What was the outcome of the Wood’s despatch?

Solution:

In accordance with Wood’s Despatch, Education Departments were established in every province and universities were opened at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1857 and in Punjab in 1882 and at Allahabad 1887. Attempts were also made to bring about changes within the system of school education.

Question 6

What were the special features of a pathshala?

Solution:

In a pathshala the system of education was flexible. There were no fixed fee, no printed books, no separate school building, no benches or chairs, no blackboards, no system of separate classes, no attendance registers, no annual examinations, and no regular time-table. Students were not separated out into different classes: all of them sat together in one place. The guru interacted separately with groups of children with different levels of learning. Classes were not held during harvest time when rural children worked in the fields. The pathshala started once again when the crops had been cut and stored. This helped the children of peasant families to attend school.

Question 7

What were Tagore’s ideas on education?

Solution:

Tagore felt that childhood ought to be a time of self-learning, outside the rigid and restricting discipline of the schooling system set up by the British. Teachers had to be imaginative, understand the child, and help the child develop her curiosity. The natural desire of the child to be creative should be encouraged. Tagore felt that creative learning could be encouraged only within a natural environment. Living in harmony with nature, children could cultivate their natural creativity.