UPSC Prelims 2018 · Question 19 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2018 question on Woods Dispatch
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2018
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicDevelopment of Education
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeStatement
Regarding Wood's Dispatch, which of the following statements are true?
1. Grants-in-Aid system was introduced.
2. Establishment of universities was recommended.
3. English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education was recommended.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Show answer
Answer: A. 1 and 2 only
Analysis
Statements 1 and 2 are true, so the answer is (a) 1 and 2 only.
Statement by statement
Statement 1 is TRUE. Wood's Dispatch of 1854 recommended a system of grants in aid to encourage private enterprise in education.
Statement 2 is TRUE. It recommended establishing affiliating universities in the presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, modelled on London University, with a senate of a Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and nominated fellows.
Statement 3 is FALSE, and this is where the question is decided. The Dispatch recommended English as the medium of instruction for higher studies and vernaculars at the school level, not English at all levels. It also systematised a hierarchy running from vernacular primary schools upward, asked the Government to take responsibility for mass education, and stressed female and vocational education and teacher training.
Source
Spectrum, chapter on Development of Education; NCERT Class 8 History, Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation.
How to crack it
The phrase at all levels is the planted absolute. Wood's Dispatch is remembered as the Magna Carta of English education, which makes an all English claim feel right, and that is the trap. Check the absolute against the graded structure the Dispatch actually built.