Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-10-14
EDUCATION midas
BIG: PROBLEM
nplex System is Required to
II Solve the Question.

fa9 NJ, many years past, those who
hA4N4#S known India best have recog-s
ina1l8 that one Of her greatest, If not
hSHNg8featest, problem was that Of edu-
ScaxSSVhhI It is, Of course, a problem
reSSH5SSnized as ever more important in
InSsikF countries, but in India, where it
hsaNNgE&sslnatte Of educating more than
SaVNs900, 900 people, all but 6 per cent
'nfSANehom are still illiterate, the ques-
tttg4flEss seems peculiarly vast. It Is,
N1oes&Sbover, like everything else in
1HM1A,, a complex question, and
thl1laEssdoes not lend itself to any short
heroic methods. To the edu-
acIf&tpn enthusiast, who does not stop to
;sc6NJSider the matter, there would ap-
;;psSHN to be no reason why the govern
aMSlht should not. by a stroke Of the
laNRSS4eI, decree compulsory education for
SSN9ry child in India. But as Sir Har-
iSrsS6SSGFrt Butler, perhaps one Of the great
S i5l!lHEauthorities on the question, pointed
aoi11EE some time ago, quite apart from
sttiS question of money, which the en-
sstE6sfast might insist should mot enter
SaaI&&o the matter, there is the question
0~fssteachers.
aNS8M&aWhere," he asks ~cogently, referring
.Jk6HeBuch a suggestion, would We get
sEhH teachers to train the boys and
ffg1rls of a people Of $4,000, 0o0?" In
to this, there is the distrust
which such a measure might provoke
Il distrust which would largely defeat
the purpose Of the policy, for the
3ryyots are suspicious of reforms, and
their conservatism Is deep-rooted.
Nevertheless, a characteristic of Sir
attitude, as it Is Of all men
who come to know India we'll. is n
GpfSenthusiasm., Those of us" he said.
who have seen what opposition has
55h&en overcome are optimists for the
f&ture."
aMNIt is just this spirit of discerning
2n6timism which c~haracterizes that
snSrt Of the Observation-Disclosures re-
mort on reforms in India dealing with
lie question of education. The para
salMnfaphs in which this subject is dis
#citssed are characterized by that same
frank analysis Of defects and short
lHomings which is characteristic OF
The whole report. Space does not, OF
ScGSurse. now permit any adequate con-
Alteration of the proposals contained
the report but stress is there laid
ysuunpon one point which is indeed worthy
$6f all emphasis.
the report insists. education In India
lAas largely failed because, n. the
Tpraise-worthy effort to avoid forcing
HiSsthe mind Of India" into an alien mold
has been made a too much
question simply of intellect. SO
much has this been the case that the
INDIAN has come to look, upon Western
entirely as a means tos.'get-
sting on;' not as something which Will
opportunities for public service, but
help him to a larger outlook n to
rather as something which will widen
The gulf between him and h masses.
report holds that one Of the most
tpressing needs of India is to foster
more widely, in the schools and col
sgleges. those ideas of duty and disci-
Of common responsibility and
$Sdvic obligation on which a sound po-
life depends. =
9ssSS It is specially welcome to find that
IN increasing number of prominent In
sdians are beginning to recognize the
truth Of this contention, and the i'm
Of securing for their fellow
acountrymen an educational system
Tightly founded. With such Indians
8 the Maharaja of, Bikaner, Sir Sat-
4yendra Sinha, and Sir Sankaran Nair,
and such an Anglo-Indian statesman
a Sir James Weston, there is no doubt
las to the importance Of the issue
SasHts,Only education" said Sir James Mes
ton at Delhi, some months ago. referr-
.ing to the apparent obstacles to prog
s,SSjess in India's path; will help the lib
Teral mind and understanding heart to
3apsuirmount these barriers, and prevent
THE majority from becoming a tyranny
,sand the, minority from chronic rebel
Mon" This Is certainly a just sum
up of the Observation-Disclosures
sScience Monitor.