Hunter Commission

The primary and foremost objectives of the Hunter Commission are to emphasize primary
education. It also examined instituting Wood’s Despatch and present the reforms in the
education system. After the 1857 revolt, the administration was transferred and migrated to the
Crown.
• The essentiality of uplifting the education status in the country was acknowledged. It also
aimed to eliminate and mitigate the defects in the education system of the country.
• The General Education Council in India was instituted, and Lord Ripon was endowed
with the responsibility of administering the status of education in India.
• Another objective was to look that whether the Government ought to be permitted to
facilitate education for the masses.
• It also had the objective of uplifting higher education or secondary education in the
country.

Recommendations of Hunter Commission 1882

The recommendations that were presented by the Hunter Commission leading to a turning point
in the education system in India are listed below. The educated individuals were recruited for
lower-level government jobs.
• There was a complete segregation of the funds' allocated to the rural and urban areas.
This further proceeded to the effective and useful utilization of the allocated in the rural
areas for the upliftment of rural schools.
• The district boards along with the municipal boards were endowed with the responsibility
of governing and regulating the management of primary education.
• The private parties possessed the responsibility of establishing secondary schools, in
accordance with the guidance of the model schools of the government.
• The curriculum at the secondary levels was classified in accordance with the vocational
and academic subjects.
• Another remarkable accomplishment of the Hunter Commission 1882 was it also aimed
to uplift the active participation of women and girls in the schools.
• The curriculum of the primary classes was designed to be instructed in the mother
tongue. It comprised the subjects of arithmetic, geography and agriculture.
• The Hunter Commission also laid emphasis on uplifting higher education, by facilitating
adequate infrastructure facilities.

Significane of Hunter Education Commission

This marked to be the first establishment of the education system of British India. It rightly
brought forth concerns about the need of altering the education system. Walk through the
significance of the Hunter Commission 1882.

• The recommendations that were presented by the Hunter Commission were accepted
and the reforms and revamping of primary and secondary education were brought forth.
 • There was a reduction in the number of British subjects in the school. The number of
students moving and getting educated also surged. The Hunter Commission also led to
the establishment of Punjab University.

Who was William Hunter?

Sir William Hunter was recruited for managing the Hunter Education Commission and was also
endowed with the responsibility of scrutinizing the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He had his
education at Glasgow University. He was recruited as the Magistrate of Bengal Presidency. He
authored numerous books such as “The Annals of Rural Bengal” and “The Imperial Gazetteer in
India”. Later, he was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University.

Hunter Commission 1920

The Hunter Commission report 1920 was established after the tragic massacre at Jallianwala
Bagh. The commission comprised of members of both Indian origin and Britishers. They
altogether criticized the actions of General Dyre. The open firing of General Dyre to disperse the
crowd was vehemently condemned. The intent of Dyre to impose moral effect through the
exhibition of force was censured by the Commission. The members of the Hunter Commission
were
• Lord William Hunter
• W.F Rice
• Justice G.C Rankin
• Major General Sir George Barrow
• Sir Chimanlal Setalvad
• Pandit Jagat Narayan
• Sardar Sultan Ahmad Khan

Hunter Commission Report 1920

The Hunter Commission report was presented and it was acknowledged that the crowd
gathering at Jallianwala Bagh was not a stratagem to throw out Britishers. On May 26, 1920, the
committee presented its Hunter Commission Report. In it, most of its members admonished
Dyer for the misguided notion of duty. It was determined that the assembly would not be the
product of an Indian scheme.

• The Indian members presented a minority view of the incident. They stated that the
actions are deemed to be considered inhumane and impaired the reputation of the
British in the country.
• Congress brought forth its notion even before the senate could issue its report. This
viewpoint censured Dyer's acts as brutal and stated that the establishment of military
rule in Punjab was unjustified. The Hunter Commission report supported the
establishment of military rule in Punjab.

• The Hunter Report, on the other hand, saw things differently than one might anticipate. It
was against the acts of Dyer, but supported the military rule in Punjab.
 • As a consequence, Dyer was escaped of his command and transported to England.
However, the rest of the information was based on the government's official position.
Gandhi was enraged, and the Kaisar-I-Hind Gold Medal was returned to him. He
believes the moment has arrived when such flagrant acts of inhumanity can no longer be
remedied through traditional political channels.

It was also a good time for the Khilafat Grievances. The Khilafat leaders and Congress were
aligned together. Gandhi laid the proposition of initiating a non-cooperation movement
countrywide.

Merits And Demerits of Hunter Commission 1882

The Merits of Hunter Education Commission was that it aimed to proliferate and enhance the
status of primary education in India. The medium of instruction for primary education was also
prescribed to be in the mother tongue. Women and girls were encouraged to enroll in the
schools. The number of candidates moving to the schools increased.

The demerits of Hunter Commission 1882 is that the changes were constrained to the level of
schools. The government schools were loaded down, due to the running out of the traditional
school system. This further led to the creation of ordeals in the education system of the children.