HIMACHAL PRADESH NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY, SHIMLA

2018-2019
Report on Sociology

Course Code-BA203

Impact of Missionaries school on the Indian Society and its Children

and a comparative study of the product from two schools

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Naman Mishra Dr. Amit Chaturvedi
ROLL No.-1020181936 (Assistant Professor of Sociology)

(B.A.LL.B-2nd SEMESTER)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is not conceivable to set up an undertaking report without the help and consolation of other
individuals. This is positively no exemption. I am utilizing this chance to express my appreciation
to everybody who upheld me over the span of this assignment. I am grateful for their aspiring
guidance, importantly valuable feedbacks and friendly advice amid my assignment. I am truly
appreciative to them for sharing their honest and illuminating views on various issue identified
with the venture. I also want to express my exceptional appreciation to Dr. Amit Chaturvedi,
Assistant Professor of Sociology who gave me the brilliant chance to do this incredible
undertaking, which likewise helped me in completing a great deal of exploration and I came to
think about such a large number of new things for which I am obligated to her from the core of my
heart. I additionally recognize with a profound feeling of respect, my appreciation towards my
parents and member of my family, in view of whom I have figured out how to finish this task on
time and who have continuously upheld me ethically. Finally, my appreciation goes to the majority
of my companions who specifically or on the other hand in a roundabout way helped me to finish
this task. Any oversight in this brief acknowledgement does not mean absence of appreciation.

At last of this research I want to thank Principal of St. Joseph School, Father Sibi Joseph and all
the interviewer who helped me in the completion of this research report.

-NAMAN MISHRA
INTRODUCTION

The report introduced in the accompanying pages offers a record of field visits made to various
missionaries and Hindu school.

Province of Uttar Pradesh being a standout amongst the most thickly populated states in India
needs to manage different challenges as far as open welfare, which incorporates education, as one
of the significant objective for the development of the state. In order to do this there are many
schools of English and Hindi medium situated all over the state. The district from which the
researcher belongs i.e. Gorakhpur is considered to be essential part of the Purvanchal belt and
this research paper mainly comprised of the studies in the district of Gorakhpur.

This report depends on the individual meetings with the students, amid their school and coaching
institutes. The significant group of the students incorporated into the investigation and production
of this examination work are those considering in class eleventh and class twelfth. Simple reaction
to the inquiries raised both by those of English medium and Hindi outlined the real contrasts among
the understudies and their aura. Apart from the interview of students the researcher also
interviewed the Principal of St. Joseph’s School which is deemed to be one of the best catholic
school in the vicinity.

The research is mainly based on the field work and cover various points of interest which gives a
clear depiction of impact of missionary school on Indian society and its children, in addition to
this, the research paper is comprised of the comparative study of the product of missionary school
and Indian school. The points of interest of this research are:-

 History of Missionary schools in India

 Goals of Missionary school
 Comparative study of the two kinds of institutes (Missionary and Indian Schools)
 Architectural distinction of schools
 Conclusion
History of Missionary schools in India

In Colonial India Missionaries used education as a tool for propagating Christianity. The Scottish
and Protestant Missions had profound on the educational set ups of India. This study examines the
aims and objectives of the missionaries brought educational and religious ideas with them and
pressures put forth by their own followers. The Missionaries had deep impact on the local culture.
The Missionaries strategies were changed as they got feedback while achieving their goals. The
missionaries also arranged with Government but both of them had different educational strategies
and aims. The Missionary education was more secular than the education under Government in
the context of Alexander Duff’s strategy. There was a clear difference between the education at
the town level through English medium of instruction and the attempt to impart knowledge at
village level through local languages. The paper also focuses on missionaries aims and how they
were successful at village level. The missionary’s major aim was to develop local agencies in
institutions. Due to many reasons this aim was diverted but ultimately became the strongest aim
and strategy as it was highly commended by World Missionary Conference.

A number of questions regarding the aim of missionary education arise like: were the missionaries
mainly concerned with using educational institutions to give training to local or people they
considered themselves as outposts of evangelism? Were the Christians institutions meant to diffuse
Christian knowledge throughout the nation or intended specifically to raise the educational
standards of the growing Christian community? In which direction there was a missionary ideas
about the philosophy of education; the Baptist agency started work with main interest in the
education.

In the mid of Nineteenth century missionary education had become part of a more general
provision of education for India but without any focused aim. The greatest difference between the
Government and the Missionary education was in case of higher schools. English was the medium
of instruction and at primary schools vernacular language was medium of instruction. Some
missions established a complete English system of education. An approach of the missionary
educational agenda and an attempt to elaborate how this worked out in practice. It is clear that the
missionary acted within in a peculiar context and a specific mould of thinking and approach. To
some extent, the missionary’s ideas and thoughts also followed the ideologies and practice of the
Indians. The Government saw the issue of missionary education specifically and it was an
important theme as integral element of “ideologies of the Raj”.

The Britishers had the goals of the missionary education as tool Anglicizing while using the
Government and Missionary educational system. In this scenario two methodological points need
to be made. The missionaries being part of the British presence in India, it is important to know
about the missionaries themselves. The ideologies of the Indians were not necessarily identical to
them of the missionaries and in the same way, the missionaries in their thinking were not
necessarily tied to the theological and ecclesiastical agenda in Britain. William Carey went his
way in the ordering of Serampore College, despite intense pressure from the Baptist missionary
Society in England. In India, non-conformist missions made alliance with Government which
would have been unimplemented in Britain. The missionaries raised in uniform voice. The voice
of Alexander Duff and Miller, Scottish Missionaries has clearly sounded. To the point of unclear
quieter voices that need to be heard, if a balanced voice of missionary educational strategy is to be
gained. Generally, this paper suggests that in terms of the original and most important aims of
missionary education, the missionaries were not well served by any alliance with the Indians and
its ideologies. Until the age of reform 1855 and at the end of 19th century they did not therefore
serving their own best preferences at those times. In terms of the missionaries aim, when the
missionaries were closer to the Government they were the least effective. The missionary ideology
was that English medium of education of the elite was a blunder, to some extent were grants–in
aid, so was the liberal imperialism of the Cambridge missionaries.

Role of Orientalists

Those who study the past of India and open its for contemporaries were called Orientalists in which
William Jones, H. T. Colebrook and H. Wilson favored it. William Jones, like the other
enlightenment thinkers believed in the common source of wisdom and the fruits of that wisdom
were universally applied, it was very far from the 19th century behavior which tend to force the
superiority of western culture over all the other cultures. The Orientalists put forward an
emphatically favorable view of India’s cultural past and by suggesting a common origin for Indian
and western culture were what may be called as a clash of civilization and cultures. The question
was now how to find a common heritage and to replace one culture with another. Jones, Colebrook
and Wilson were the Orientalists. David Kopf, (Professor Emeritus at the University of
Minnesota), a research scholar on South Asian history, has produced several books on the region.
He has won the Guggenheim Fellowship at the University. A Ph.D. in history from the University
of Chicago, his first book, British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance was one of the three
books selected for the Watumull Prize as the best monograph on South Asia published in the US
in 1969–70) presented this Orientalist in the front line of the change.

Kopf basically presented the idea that Indian thinkers were caught between their loyalty to their
own cultural heritage and western wave, the wave of the future. It made easier to accept change
when it was mediated to them by men like Jones, Colebrook and Wilson.

Role of Modern Indian Society

Education is the basic right of each citizen in India. Indian education system has seen economic
development and a lot of changes till the 21st century. The education is producing skills, innovative
and creative thinking powers have been the fundamental key to education. It has been given high
priority by India’s central and state governments and continue to grow fast.

India is the largest population country and it is certainly one of the youngest countries in the world
after the independence. After the colonization, India has an important place in the world education
sector. India is a vast country comprising of 29 states and 7 union territories. Since post-
independence, there is a rapid growth of education, both in private and public education. According
to the 2009 Right to Education Act, the schooling is free and compulsory for all children from the
age of 6 to 14. The Indian Education system is divided into four phases:

Primary schooling

Primary education begins 5-6 years of the children. Primary school education gives students a
sound basic education in reading skill, writing skill and mathematics skill and a glimpse of social
sciences.

Upper primary schooling

Upper primary school education is of three year duration and starts for students aged between 10-
11 years. It usually continues up to 13-14 years. At this stage, education consist of the basic
programs of primary school levels, through more subject focused teachings.

Higher Schooling
Higher Education comprises of two year of secondary. The secondary education level is for
students aged 14-16 years. Admission requirement is the completion of upper primary school
education. The high schooling education is turning point of students.

Higher Secondary Schooling

Higher secondary education contains two years of higher secondary schooling education which
starts at 16 years and ends at the 17th year olds of the child. At this level a student can choose a
particular field to pursue his/her career.

Role of Colonial Indian Society

In the start of this all the things were not as sorted as they seem to be. In the start to some extent,
The Indian nationalists wanted westernization. The missionaries had their own agenda and made
an alliance with Government. In this same way the Indians had no uniformity in thinking. Thomas
Metcalfe’s view on “similarity” and “difference” supported to understand, at basic level, there
were two contrary behaviors seeing through “the ideologies of the Raj”. One side India was
discussed by its cultural backwardness. One thought suggested that the ability if not actually,
Indians shared many good qualities with the British and that proper cultural change can raise them
to a civilized state. The other thought stressed the enduring differences. The colonial mandate, on
this view, was to make the Indians like the British and nevertheless “fit for Government” but rather
to govern India well1.The similarities and the differences are the main themes of Metcalfe.

The main supporters of the ideas of “similarity” were those who were in favor of reforms. By the
end of the nineteenth century there was good deal of respect for old Indian traditions and there was
a school of thought who sought to justify the colonial imperialism by Good Government and by
reconciling the Indians to their new rulers. This could only happen by abstaining from the
innovation. To know about this innovation it is important to get an idea of Orientalism.

As discussed about the Metcalfe’s difference and similarities; the caution of innovation was to
change with the arrival of the age of reform. The age of reform was not restricted to the theme of
“difference.” However there were maximum similarities for the Indians, which in due course of
time could be turned into Englishmen. This idea resembled Lord Macaulay’s opinion, “a class, in

1
Thomas R. Metcalfe, 1995, 115
English, taste and intellect.” It was the same agenda of the Indians independence. The similarities
of the British and the Indians were not common in the sense of racial only helped India to get
freedom. “This led to the cultural imperialism an imperialism that was rooted in a devaluation of
the contemporary Indian culture”

The role of cultural change was through education in western society especially in Britain, the
education was mostly given in religious form. Educational training gave commonly. When the
missionaries started their activities it was not strange for them to give religious education and
established schools for religious education. On the contrary the Government did not establish
schools with the religious purpose. Nonetheless they replaced the idea of secularism. The
Government advocated western sciences but the carrier in the Government schools of the value
system did not come out with science but the English literature as Gauri Viswanathan stated that
“the missionaries were deeply unhappy about this but the Government remained adamant”.

After the war of independence of 1857, the Government did not completely ignore the aim of
civilizing mission. The Cambridge missionaries were quite happy to build a college on oriental
design in Delhi, namely St. Stephen College. But the Government officials did not agree with it.
A specific group of believers of Europe that Christianity will expand in India because a number of
religions existed in Indian in spite of this fact that religion went alongside and India could not be
converted by different efforts. But through liberalism, India could be changed on western lines.

Missionaries had the liberal ideas about education. After all they had put up a challenging mission;
even they were very limited with results in the initial stages. The Government exchanged between
two of them. For the liberal purpose, the Montague Chelmsford reforms were very important. The
idea was developed by the Indian educated persons which they got from the British. The followers
of Macaulay favored an intrusive model of education. The Indian was changed to an Englishman.
English became the language of official work because it was language of western world and not
because of their own convenience. A few missionaries had wanted to see cultural transformation
made a general reason with the Government. For example Alexander Duff elaborated his agenda
that “engage in directly separating as many precious atoms from the mass as the stubborn
resistance to ordinary appliance can admit, we shall, with, the blessing of God, devote our time
and strength to the preparing of a mine, and the setting of a train which will one day explode and
tear up the whole from its lowest depth” By educational means it was possible to handle the Indian
challenge.

The school was started to impart Western knowledge and produce an intellectual elite who would
guide India with Western values. Duff was assisted by Hindu reformer Ram Mohan Roy, who gave
access to him to the high classes of Calcutta society. Duff's school provided a religious-based
education, but he actively engaged both the Hindu and atheist intellectuals. He also followed the
Roy’s suggestion; Duff chose to give instruction in English, which had the effect of integrating
students from different Indian linguistic backgrounds. He was one of the first in India to include
women in his education program.

Goals of Missionaries School in India

One of the important aims of Christian education related to social uplift of those Indian who
belonged to lower class. That literature showed in the missionary education but perhaps as
expected, got side effect of other more Christian aims. Therefore, raising the local agency which
took over from the missionaries and do the job of converting Indians, was also something which
would contribute to the material welfare of Indian Christians. A good educated church got
advantage and got the opportunity to live a high standard of living. Generally dispersion of church
knowledge was believed to be a civilizing process. Civilization can mean among other privileges.
Nonetheless the castes system’s elimination, anything which would occur as a result of Christian
education clearly benefited those people who were neglected and deprived from materialistic point
of view.

The discussion of social uplift and betterment was considered an important component in the
theories of educational aim. The missionary work was clearly a well-accepted among the poor
class in the villages and on those missions which were not famous like Cambridge Brotherhood
who paid attention on the Indian elite. Those missions were famous among the Indian Christians
because mostly were disgraced at the time of their conversion. Education can be considered as the
possible means of rising in the social scale as compared to their Hindu neighbors. William Miller
viewed that it was a horrible situation in that comparing conversion to Christianity with the hope
to rise in the social scale can lead to nominalism, many missionaries eagerly provided this
advantage to their converts, whom they considered unfairly disadvantaged in the first place. People
who worked with the high class Indians reckoned that learning and having command over English
language means the availability of good job opportunities. But missionaries did not accept that
reason why Hindus choose their schools for their children, nonetheless it was important factor.

The goal of social uplift was also one of the answers given in the interview by the principal of
school Father Sibi Joseph.

Father C.B. Joseph further mentions that apart from social uplift missionaries other aim was to
convert the Indian non-Christians into Christians and propagate the Christianity all over the world.
But when there were no conversions the missionaries could find the reason. By the mid of the
19th century the missionaries established a “distribution/diffusion hypothesis.” The theme was
that through Christian education, the influence of Christianity amongst the non- Christian
population was being spread. The influence was secret and long term but effects were not short
term. It was hard to rebut this theory. It became influential, connected to wards the changing
attitude of the Indian religions and their links with Gospel. The dissemination theory had many
themes such as preparing a class of Hindus for the Gospel as the William Miller’s views. And
another aim was to spread the Christian standards of civilizing the people. The diffusion of
Christian education was also an end and as it worked out for the Gospel. When it became effective
it became popular all over the educational system. The rural schools were seen as civilizing
backward people. And high education paved the way of giving moral standards providing food for
mind initiating new ideas and developing the foundations of Christianizing civilization. The
missionaries who worked in institutions, it was mostly popular where the ratio of conversions was
significantly lower. It did not seem too had been a high difference in approach on this issue
between missions. William Miller demanded the diffusion approach although the missionaries did
not lay stress on the diffusion theory and this was the end of diffusion theory.

Comparative study of the product from two kinds of institutes

In the typical Indian society it is considered that, the product of convent school are much more
superior and advance than in comparison to those of Hindi medium products. This is a stigmatized
concept as according to my subjects of interviews, the majority of subject including the Principal
told this concept of judging the products of two institute is futile. Father Sibi Joseph even said
“The products of convent schools are not considered to be superior or advance, it is just the
ambience which make them “a crusader” kind and develops a fighting spirit in the student and
this spirit can be generated in any one of the student all he need is to work hard for his aim. A
student can become superior or inferior through his acts only and the institution can only provide
him a path to become crusader, it is up to him if he want to follow that path or fall into the pit of
inferiority.”

For my research purpose I asked a student of a convent school that if he thinks himself to be
superior to other students of Hindi medium products?

To which he replied, “I do not consider myself to be superior or at a higher pedestal, it is just that
the students of convent schools and English medium get a bit of advantage over other in the subject
matter of English. In today’s 21st century the only language which is omnipotent is English and
the quality of English taught in the convent schools and English medium schools is quite fair in
comparison to the one who get it in the Hindi medium.” He further said, “It is not like that the
person who in today’s world knows English is “God”, it is just that the speaking eloquent English
increases the confidence. If you go and take the interview of a guy from Hindi medium schooling
in English probably he won’t be able to give you an perspicuous answer this doesn’t mean that
that guy is imbecile or ignoramus person maybe he can be good at math or at any other subject in
comparison to a English medium guy. It is just the confidence which gives us a slighter edge to
other in today’s world.”

After that I went to a village near my hometown, Gorakhpur. In that village, there was a high
school named as Durga Vidhya Mandir, in that school I gathered a group of student and had a talk
with them in that conversation I asked them what they want to become in future? In reply one of
the student said, “Sir, hum to bade hokar shehar jayenge aur vahan jaa kar ek dukaan kholenge.”
Just as he was complete with his reply another kid popped up and said, “Sir, hum to bade hoakar
post man banenge.” After this I asked them what their father or mother do as occupation? To this
somesaid their father is farmer and other said their father is rickshaw puller, someone said his
father is a blacksmith and other said that their father is a cobbler.

After this I went to a convent school, St. Paul’s School, in my hme town there also I asked the
same question and to my surprise this time answers were different.
A student said, “Sir, I want to go to Cambridge University for further studies.” Another student
said, “Sir, I want to pursue my career in field of management and start my own company.” After
this I was over with my interviews.

As I was over with the survey I headed back to my school where I interviewed Father Sibi Joseph.
As I was heading to the school the answers of each children were kept revolving in head and I was
concerned with the nature of difference between the answers given by the student of a Hindi
medium school and answers given by the student of convent school as soon as I reached to Father
the first question which I fired at him was this only that why there is so much difference between
the thoughts of children of Hindi medium school and that of a convent school?

To this question he replied, “The creation of thoughts is due to the surrounding in which they are
living. The children of village think that cities and town are far better because their parents tell
them this and there might be possibility that they overhear the conversation of their parents in
which they talk about migrating to towns and cities. Other possibility of their thoughts can be the
limit of their thinking, every child which I interviewed was a child born in a family below poverty
line. Therefore the maximum limit of their aim can’t go beyond opening a shop in a city. This is
not the fault of child or neither of his parents that he is having such aims in life, according to me
this all is the fault of the vicinity in which they are living.” He continued further, “The ambience
which is provided by the parents of the child of a convent school and that of a child of village
school is quite different and this difference is the reason behind the nature of answer of student
from two schools.”

Architectural distinction of schools

There are many difference between the buildings of school of a government Hindi medium school
and a private Convent school. This difference is detailed further-

Government Hindi medium school

An ordinarily single-story hinder, with white-washed dividers and dim green outskirt over all, and
classes with creaky work areas and seats, bordering a verandah, envelops a little bit of ground. A
little latrine included by a four divider exists at a separation from the primary structure. There is
no primary door and a guardian to keep a check with respect to who enters the school. For local
people the toilets of the school go about as an open can framework. Power cut are frequent in
nature and there is electricity only on paper to get grants from government. The can be a computer
lab on paper but only with 5-6 computers and out of them only 2-3 are working properly. In name
of classroom there will be a room which is covered with cobwebs and birds can be seen building
nests in the classroom. The encompassing territories of the school involves trees and piles.

Private Convent School

It can be regarded as a modern palace with two to three buildings standing in a cluster and in front
of them a humongous playground. Every school will be having a proper water supply system and
electricity system. A guard will always be on duty to keep a check with respect to who enters the
school or who exits it. Classrooms will be well furnished equipped with a projector. A computer
lab will be there with sufficient numbers of computers in it. All kind of sports facility will be
provided by the school administration. In short there will be no shortage of anything and it will be
the perfect place to nurture a kid.

Conclusion

Christian Missionary activity in India had a modernizing tendency to the extent that it brought a
western style education through mission schools and the Church. Missionary activity acted as a
binding factor for India as it made Indians think of themselves as Indians for the first time. As seen
above, modernity entails a notion of statehood as well as industrial and economic growth. The
weak links of Hinduism were introspected as well as the clear lack of hierarchy and structure that
Britain possessed. A major question was to ask why India had been allowed to be colonized in the
first place and how different was it from the West’s state structure? And this is the answer given
by the modernization of society.

The main aim of the missionaries was conversion and large resources were spent on the education
but these were not sufficient for this vast purpose. The missionaries got the support of the elite
classes, and the Indian leaders had been won for the church. High class was associated with
Christianity for example; St Stephen’s college existed in Delhi, Madras Christian College in
Madras. The fact is that the lower class being the forces of missionary strategy, local language was
more attractive a tool and that contributed most to the building of the Indian church.