Reports on the State of Education in Bengal (1835-38)/Report 3/Chapter 1/Section 11
SECTION XI
English, Orphan Girls’ and Infants’ Schools
These schools are generally of European origin. They are few in number and are often under the same management, and for these reasons they are noticed here under one head.
City and District of Moorshedabad
There is no English school throughout the district; and in the city the Nizamat College, in which English, as well as Persian and Arabic, is taught was by the tenor of my instructions excepted from my inquiries inasmuch as it is a Government institution or rather an institution under Government control. The duty assigned to me was to collect information regarding the state of education which Government had no other direct means of obtaining, and as regular reports are furnished of the Nizamat College, that institution did not come within my province.
The only school in the city thana in which the teaching of English is made the sole objects is one under the direction of the Revd. Mr. Paterson of the London Missionary Society. His instructions are gratuitous to the scholars, and they assemble in an out-office attached to his dwelling-house. The number of pupils is 13, of whom one is an Armenian, two are Musalmans, and ten are Hindus. Of the Hindus, six are Kayasthas, three are Brahmans, and one is a Kaivarta. Others give an irregular attendance, and are therefore not included in the list of scholars. Mr. Paterson has leisure from his other avocations to instruct them only three days in the week from one hour and a half to two hours each day. The school-books used are Murray’s Spelling Book, the English Reader, Murray’s Grammar, Woollaston’s Grammar, and Goldsmith’s History of England which are provided by the scholars, and from the irregular supply of books the classification of the boys is found impossible. In penmanship the scholars write on slates and paper. Some of them learn Persian elsewhere. The average age of the thirteen scholars when they entered school was 12·9 years; their average age when the school was visited was 16·6; and the average of the different periods mentioned when they would probably leave school was 22·3. After the examination of the school the elder boys expressed their gratitude to Mr. Paterson for his instructions, lamented that he could not devote more time to them, and entreated me to represent their ardent desire to be favoured with more ample means for acquiring a knowledge of English, a request in which Mr. Paterson himself joined. The boys afterwards came to my lodgings of their own accord to express the same sentiments in more formal manner. It has given me pleasure to observe that an attempt has been made since I left the district to establish an English school by public subscriptions both amongst Europeans and Natives.
The Berhampore Orphan Asylum is under the general superintendence of the Revd. Messrs. Hill and Paterson of the London Missionary Society, from whom the following details respecting it have been derived. The origin of the institution is ascribed to the late David Dale, Esq., who as Magistrate of the district had frequently to provide for destitute native children. He received three orphan boys into his own house and subsequently sent them for instruction to the Revd. Mr. Williamson of the Baptist Missionary Society, residing in the Beerbhoom district. About three years afterwards, and about four years before my second visit to the district in July, 1886, the Asylum at Berhampore was built at the expense of J. P. Pringle, Esq., and the orphans were removed to it from Beerbhoom, and supported by Mr. Pringle till his return to England. At the above-mentioned date, nineteen orphans had been received into the institution, of whom four had died of cholera and diseases contracted in their destitute condition before their admission into the institution; two female orphans had been sent to the Christian school in Calcutta attached to the London Missionary Society; and thirteen boys remained in connection with the institution. Of these thirteen twelve resided in the Asylum; and one, a leper, on the farm belonging to it. The parents of the orphans were, as far as is known, Hindus or Musalmans; and the orphans had been, some of them left destitute by the death of their parents, others secured from starvation during a period of famine, and one, it was stated, had been abandoned in the fields by its mother. The age of the youngest child is about four years and of the oldest about fifteen.
The orphans receive instruction both in letters and in the arts of manual industry, and to aid the Missionaries in both objects, John Gainer, a private soldier in one of the King’s regiments, was enabled, in part by means of the orphan funds, to purchase his discharge and his services have been engaged for 25 Rupees a month. Besides a sircar at 6 rupees a month, he is the only person who receives a salary from the institution. The school-instruction embraces the Bengali and English languages, and reading and writing in both. All are taught English who discover a capacity to acquire it. Three of the boys read Bengali in the Roman character, but this is in addition to, not in substitution of, the Bengali character. The ordinary school-books are employed, including the New Testament in both languages; the want of good school-books is stated to be very much felt. To teach trades and form habits of industry two arrangements have been made; a workshop has been formed and a piece of ground rented for a farm. In the workshop tape and bobbin, buggy-whips, shoes, manifold letter-writers, and snake-paper-weights are or have been made. The ground for a farm estimated at 100 bighas has been recently rented. Twenty bighas were in preparation for mulberry and it is hoped that the cultivation of the plant, the rearing of the silk-worm, and the weaving of the silk so produced will find employment and support for the orphans. There is a religious service morning and evening at which the pupils are present; and with the exception of an hour for food and bathing, they are in school from six o’clock in the morning till mid-day, and in the workshop till four in the afternoon.
Although orphans are the primary objects of the Asylum it is also proposed to receive outcasts, persons destitute by the loss of employment or friends, and catechumens; to locate them on the farm to teach them some art or business; and to provide them with a home so long as obedience to the rules of the institution renders them worthy of protection and countenance. On this principle fourteen mendicant females have been received. Sickness and a laxity of morals have reduced their number, but eight of them who formerly lived on alms now maintain themselves by weaving tape and bobbin.
The expenditure on account of the institution is small and its resources are limited. The building of the Asylum originally cost 400 rupees; of the workshop, 500; and of the school-room or native chapel, 318; to which is to be added the cost of various improvements and additions since made. The rent of the land for a farm is 100 rupees per annum, and the European artizan and native sircar receive together 33 rupees per month. No precise estimate could be furnished of the cost of maintaining the inmates of the Asylum and of providing them with tools, machinery, and materials. To meet this expenditure, the work of the orphans and widows in part contributes: in 1835 it sold for 398 rupees. The aggregate of local subscriptions has varied from 12 to 75 rupees per month, and occasional liberal donations have been received both from friends on the spot and at a distance. The number of orphans and widows received into the Asylum is limited only by the state of the funds.
The orphans of native parents are the special objects of the institution and the purpose is to train them up as artizans and farmers. When they have completed their school-education it is not contemplated to leave them without further care or superintendence, but on the plan of Moravian settlements to form them into a community in which each when married and comfortably supported shall assist in promoting the prosperity of the whole. It is hoped that the institution, independent of charitable aid, will thus enlarge or at least continue its operations. It is still in its infancy and promises more than it has yet performed, but not more than it may be expected to perform under the same management. Even in its present condition, it must be regarded as a highly laudable attempt to rescue the orphan, widow, and outcast from destitution and crime, to educate them in the principles of Christianity and to make them industrious, moral and religious.The only other institution in the city of Moorshedabad to be noticed is a girls’ school superintended by Mrs. Paterson, with the assistance of a native teacher who receives five rupees a month. The number of scholars is 28 of whom 24 were present and 4 absent at the time the school was visited. The scholars are all Hindus, 17 of the Bagdhi caste, 6 of the Malo, 3 of the Kaivarta, and 2 of the Vaishnava caste. The teacher is an Agradani or low-caste Brahman. The average age of the girls entering school was 7·2 years; their average age when the school was visited was 9 years; and the average probable age of their leaving school was 12·6 years. Twenty-four of the girls receive each 1 pice per week for attendance, and four receive each 2 pice. Each girl every four months receives a piece of cloth for a garment to secure her decent appearance at school; the cloth is valued at 10 annas. Two female messengers are employed to conduct the scholars to and from school, one having charge of 13 and the other of 15 scholars; and each messenger receives one anna per week for each child who attends regularly every day of the week. Each girl receives an armlet every year; and on the occasion of her own marriage or the funeral obsequies of a parent, a payment of one rupee.
District of Beerbhoom
In this district there are two English schools, one under European and the other under native management.
The former of these is at Siuri the chief town of the district, and is under the superintendence of the Rev. James Williamson of the Baptist Missionary Society, who gives his instructions gratuitously from two to three hours every day. The school-house was built for 130 rupees and was originally intended for a girls’ school, but has since been applied to the purposes of an English school with the consent of the principal donors. The number of scholars is 57, of whom ten are the children of native Christian parents and forty-seven are Hindus. The following are the castes of the Hindu scholars:
| Brahman | . . . | 14 |
| Suvarnabanik | . . . | 8 |
| Kayastha | . . . | 6 |
| Sadgop | . . . | 2 |
| Vaishnava | . . . | 2 |
| Vaidya | . . . | 2 |
| Gandhabanik | . . . | 1 |
| Muchi | . . . | 1 |
| Tanti | . . . | 1 |
| Dhoba | . . . | 1 |
The monitorial system of teaching is employed under Mr. Williamson’s superintendence. The subjects taught are spelling, reading, writing, grammar, geography, morals, and religion. It was intended to introduce the study of general history and natural history.
Mr. Williamson joined his scholars in earnestly soliciting that a Government institution should be established at Siuri to supersede the English school under his management.
The second English school is at Raipur, a village situated in the Kasba thana. The patron is Jagamohan Singh who built the school-house at a cost of 250 Rupees and pay the teacher Rasik Lal Chose a salary of 40 Rupees per month. The scholars are 16 in number of whom twelve are Kayasthas and four Brahmans. Of the Kayasthas four are sons of the patron and all the other scholars receive instruction gratuitously. The scholars are divided into three classes. The youngest boys were reading Murray’s spelling-book; the more advanced, Woollaston’s grammar in addition to the spelling-book; and the first class boys, Clift’s Geography, the History of Greece, the Poetical Reader, and Murray’s large grammar. This school has existed for three or four years, and its establishment is solely attributable to the patron’s desire to give an English education to his children. The teacher was formerly a pupil in the English school established by the late Rammohun Roy in Calcutta.
There was formerly a girls’ school under Mrs. Williamson’s care at Siuri, but in October 1834 one of the scholars abandoned her caste and became a Christian and two others expressed a wish to follow her example. The school was in consequence nearly broken up so that few except the daughters of native Christian parents remained. The Missionary Bengali school for boys about the same time from a similar cause met with a like fate; and the two schools much reduced in number were formed into one, classing the girls with boys of equal attainments. The boys’ department of the school has partially revived; but the girls’ division contains only the daughters of native Christian parents. They are eleven in number and their average age was 10·9 years. The teacher is a native Christian and he receives two annas for each child per month or Rs. 1-6 in all. The girls are taught to write words and figures, to read the catechism and commit it to memory, and to read the miracles and parables of Christ, together with a little arithmetic and geography. They are also taught to knit, to make bobbin and braid, and to sew.
District of Burdwan
There are three English schools in this district, one at Japat in the Culna thana, the second in the town of Burdwan, both under Missionary control; and the third also in the town of Burdwan but of native origin and under native management. The Missionaries of the Church Society the Rev. Messrs. Alexander and Weitbrecht respectively, established and superintend the two former, and the Baja of Burdwan established and supports the latter.
Each of the Missionary schools has one teacher, one a Musalman and the other an East Indian. The school of the Raja of Burdwan has two teachers, one a Brahman and the other a Kayastha. The following are the monthly salaries of the teachers:
| East Indian | . . . | Rs. 80 |
| Musalman | . . . | Rs.„ 20 |
| Kayastha | . . . | Rs. 14 |
| Brahman | . . . | Rs.„ 12 |
The number of scholars in the three schools is 120. Of these, two in the Japat school are children of native Christian parents. Six are Musalmans of whom one is in the Japat school and five are in the Missionary school at Burdwan. All the scholars in the Raja’s school are Hindus; and the number of Hindus in the three schools is one hundred and twelve whose sub-divisions are as follows:—
| Brahman | . . . | 53 |
| Kayastha | . . . | 36 |
| Vaishnava | . . . | 5 |
| Kshatriya | . . . | 3 |
| Vaidya | . . . | 3 |
| Chhatri | . . . | 3 |
| Swarnakar | . . . | 2 |
| Bhatta | . . . | 1 |
| Tamil | . . . | 1 |
| Mali | . . . | 1 |
| Kamar | . . . | 1 |
| Kaivarta | . . . | 1 |
| Yugi | . . . | 1 |
| Bagdhi | . . . | 1 |
In respect of caste, there is no distinction between the scholars of the Raja’s school and those of the Missionary schools. The average age of entering school or beginning to learn English was 12·5 years, the average age when the schools were visited was 15·5 years, and the average of the ages at which it was considered probable the scholars would leave school was 21·4 years.
The scholars in all the three schools are taught gratuitously. All the Raja’s scholars are furnished with paper, pens, and ink, free of charge; and eleven of them receive food for four years. They supply themselves with books.
The instruction given in the two Missionary schools will be seen from the following details. The lowest class or youngest boys of the Burdwan school con the English spelling-book; the scholars of the next give the meaning both of the Spelling-book and Reader; the fourth grade read the New Testament, learn Murray’s abridged grammar, know something of the maps of Asia, Europe, and Africa, and of the use of the terrestrial globe, work sums in simple multiplication, and translate easy sentences from Bengali into English; the fifth grade add to the preceding some acquaintance with syntactical parsing and with the outlines of ancient history; and the highest class still further read the history of England, study the definitions, axioms, and a few of the propositions of the first book of Euclid, work sums in compound addition, and translate rather more difficult sentences from Bengali into English.
The books used in the Raja’s school are Murray’s Spelling Book and abridged grammar, the English Reader, the Universal Letter-writer, and Dyche’s Guide to the English tongue. The teachers, never having enjoyed the advantages of competent instruction, possess a mere smattering of the language and can of course communicate only what they know.
Under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Linke a school for orphan boys has recently been formed on the Church Mission premises at Burdwan. They are to be taught English as well as Bengali, but they were acquainted with Bengali only at the time the school was visited, and they have therefore been enumerated in the account already given of the Bengali schools of the district in page 242. They are twelve in number and are the children of native Christian parents. In addition to instruction in letters and religion, they are also taught some of the mechanical arts as weaving, tailoring, and carpentry. The school is entirely supported by the subscriptions of benevolent persons in Burdwan.
There are four girls’ schools in the district, of which one, situated at Japat in the Culna thana, and superintended by the Reverend Mr. Alexander, is supported by the Ladies’ Society of Calcutta; a second, situated in the town of Burdwan, and superintended by the Reverend Mr. Linke, is supported by the same Society; a third, situated on the Mission premises in the neighbourhood of Burdwan, is supported and superintended by the Reverend Mr. Weitbrecht; and a fourth, situated in the neighbourhood of Cutwa in the thana of that name, and superintended by the Reverend William Carey of the Baptist Missionary Society, is supported by the Calcutta Baptist Society for promoting Native Female Education. In all these cases the wives of the Missionaries co-operate in the superintendence.
Besides the above-mentioned gratuitous superintendence there are thirteen paid teachers employed in these four schools; and of that number eight teachers are attached to the Japat school alone, two to the Cutwa school, two to the Burdwan school, and one to Mr. Weitbrecht’s school. Six of the teachers are Native Christians and seven are Hindus. Of the Native Christian teachers four are males, two females. The following are the castes of the Hindu teachers:—
| Rajbansi | . . . | 2 |
| Brahman | . . . | 1 |
| Kayastha | . . . | 1 |
| Kshatriya | . . . | 1 |
| Chhatri | . . . | 1 |
| Vaishnava | . . . | 1 |
The teachers are paid by monthly salaries—
| Six of the teachers paid by the Ladies’ Society receive Rupees 5 each | . . . | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Four receive Rupees 4 each | . . . | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| One teacher receives from Mr. Weitbrecht | . . . | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Two teachers paid by the Baptist Society receive Rupees 12-8 each | . . . | 25 | 0 | 0 |
The average is Rupees 6-12-3 to each teacher.
Of the total number of scholars one is a Musalman girl; thirty-six are the daughters of Native Christian parents, or orphans rescued from starvation and supported by the Missionaries; and one hundred and thirty-eight are the daughters of Hindu parents. The Hindus are thus sub-divided according to their castes—
| Bagdhi | . . . | 58 |
| Muchi | . . . | 18 |
| Bauri | . . . | 17 |
| Dom | . . . | 17 |
| Hari | . . . | 12 |
| Vaishnava | . . . | 6 |
| Tanti | . . . | 6 |
| Chandal | . . . | 2 |
| Kurmi | . . . | 1 |
| Bäiti | . . . | 1 |
The only language taught in the girls’ schools is Bengali. The books read are chiefly religious and the instruction Christian. They are also taught needle-work. The following is the distribution of the scholars into four grades of Bengali instruction:—
| (a) | Girls who read only | . . . | 112 |
| (b) | Girls„ who write on the ground | . . . | 2 |
| (c) | Girls„ who write„ on the palm-leaf | . . . | 57 |
| (d) | Girls„ who write„ on the plantain-leaf | . . . | 4 |
The only other institution in this district to be noticed is an infants’ school situated on the Church Mission premises in the neighbourhood of Burdwan. The children are about 15 in number of both sexes, partly Native Christian children and partly orphans. They are under the care of Miss Jones, lately arrived from England, and well acquainted with the modes of infant instruction in use there. The ear is chiefly taught, and the exercises are pronounced in recitative.
District of South Behar
In this district there is only one institution to be noticed under the present section. At Shahebgunge, the chief town of the district, a school in which English, Persian, and Arabic are taught has been established by Raja Mitrajit Singh of Tikari, and is superintended by his son Mirza Bahadur Khan. Two Maulavis and one English teacher are employed; and as they discharge their respective duties without any connection or communication with each other, I have preferred considering them as at the head of three separate institutions. The Raja has granted the use of a garden-house for the purposes of the school, but one of the Maulavis causes his pupils, six in number, to attend him at his own dwelling-house, and the other meets his, five in number, in one of the apartments of the garden-house. These two schools have already been enumerated amongst the Persian and Arabic schools in Section IX. The only other branch of the institution is the English school which assembles in the principal apartment of the garden-house and is conducted by Mr. Francis, an East Indian, who receives a salary of 40 rupees per month. The number of scholars is 23, of whom one is a Christian, three are Musalmans, and nineteen are Hindus. The following are the castes of the Hindus:—
| Kayastha | . . . | 10 |
| Brahman | . . . | 3 |
| Vaidya | . . . | 2 |
| Rajput | . . . | 2 |
| Sadgop | . . . | 1 |
| Mali | . . . | 1 |
Of these nineteen Hindu scholars, ten are natives of Bengal.
The average age of all the scholars at the time they entered school was 13·5 years; at the time the school was examined 14·7 years; and the probable age at which they would leave school, 22 years.
The books read consist of the usual routine, viz., Murray’s Spelling Book and abridged grammar, the English Header, and Clift’s Geography, with a little ciphering.
The expense of the institution, including the English, Persian, and Arabic branches, is limited by the Raja to 200 rupees per month, of which 40 are paid to English, 60 to one of the Maulvis, and 30 to the other; 14 Rupees are paid to the pupils of one of the Maulvis and 22 rupees to those of the other; and the remaining sum provides for the miscellaneous expenses incurred in common on account of the two Madrasas and the English school.
District of Tirhoot
Of the classes of institutions considered under the present Section there is not a single example to be found in this district. As far as I could learn there is not a single institution of European origin, nor one of Native origin established for the acquirement and communication of European learning.