May 5, 1910] 



NATURE 



281 



infectivity for a period of at least two years after the 

 native population has been removed." Whether this 

 very discouraging- result is to be explained by 

 longevity of the flies, by hereditary transmission of 

 the trypanosomes in the flies, by' the existence of 

 "reservoir" hosts, or by leakage and transgression 

 of official orders, cannot be decided positively at pre- 

 sent. Time alone can show if the measures adopted 

 will be efficacious in stamping out the disease and 

 the result will be awaited anxiously by all who have 

 the interests of our African colonies at heart. 



E. A. M. 



DEVELOPMEXT OF UMVERSITY (4A'D 

 OTHER) EDUCATIOX L\ IXDIA. 



'T'HE recent publication of the "Fifth Quinquennial 

 ■■• Review of the Progress of Education in India, 

 1902-7," by Mr- H-//W. Orange, CLE.,' Director 

 General of Education in India, indicates clearlv that 

 very considerable and satisfactory progress is being 

 made in India in all branches of education, and that 

 the university standards in particular are being raised 

 and made more real and effective. The review deals 

 with the period 1902-7, and it is probable that 

 during no previous five years has there ever been such 

 rapid and sound progress. 



The best indication of the increased amount of 

 attention which education is securing will be found in 

 the expenditure, which is mainly met from public 

 funds. Thus in 1902 the total expenditure on educa- 

 tion in India was 401 lakhs of rupees, while in 1907 

 it had advanced to 559 lakhs, or an increase of nearly 

 40 per cent. This increased expenditure has been 

 accompanied by a very large increase in the number 

 of pupils in all stages and branches of education. 

 Thus there were nearly 1200 more pupils studying 

 university courses, nearly 77,000 more secondary 

 school pupils, and about 860,000 more primary school 

 pupils under instruction in the year 1907 than 

 there were five years previously. In certain cases 

 much more progress was made in the five years, 

 1902-7, than had been made in the previous fifteen 

 years. This is specially the case in the matter of 

 training of teachers, in female education, in the 

 special education of Mohammedans, and in the 

 primary standards for boys generally, of whom, of 

 course, the great majority are Hindus. These are all 

 very healthy signs, and perhaps the first and second 

 named may be considered as of almost vital import- 

 ance to the satisfactory progress of Indian education 

 and of India as a nation. 



These great improvements have been mainly 

 brought about by the fact that, under Lord Curzon's 

 government as Viceroy, a general inquiry was held 

 which extended to all kinds and grades of educational 

 institutions, from the universities to the primary 

 schools. This inquiry brought under examination 

 the methods, organisation, tendencies, and results of 

 Indian education as a whole, and resulted in the meet- 

 ing of various committees, conferences, and commis- 

 sions. As the result of these, certain general lines 

 of policy were laid down by the Imperial Government, 

 and these have since been continuously applied by the 

 various local governments and authorities in meeting 

 the local educational needs of the various provinces. 



In the case of universitv- education in India, a good 

 deal of leeway had and still has to be made up. 

 In many cases standards of teaching had become 

 antiquated, and were also unsuitable. In previous 

 years a great many art colleges had been started by 

 persons wishing to help forward the great cause of 



1 Published in Calcutta by the Superintendent of Government Printing in 

 India, 1909. 



NO. 2 1 14, VOL. 83] 



edijcation, and these had been affiliated to the various 

 universities. Many of these were known to be 

 insufficiently staffed and very imperfectly equipped 

 generally, the main cause for such conditions being 

 the exceedingly slender financial resources of these in- 

 stitutions. This has been due to their having no en- 

 dowments and to the exceedingly small fees charged to 

 the students, an annual fee of two to three pounds 

 being commonly paid by a student for education up 

 to B.A. and M.A. standards. Added to this, many 

 colleges were endeavouring to teach a great variety 

 of subjects instead of confining their attention to one 

 or more simple courses, which could have been 

 efficiently carried through with the means at their 

 disposal. As a result of these conditions, a consider- 

 able proportion of the students sent up for examina- 

 tion had only received an imperfect training, and 

 this state of affairs having gone on for a considerable 

 period, it had almost insensibly reacted on the 

 standards of the examinations themselves, which had 

 become much lower than was desirable. 



To remedy this state of affairs, after certain pre- 

 liminar>- inquiries a University Commission was 

 appointed which exhaustively examined into univer- 

 sity education in all parts of India, and this reported 

 in June, 1902. As a result a new Act was passed 

 early in 1904 which reconstituted the five existing 

 universities. Under the previous Acts of Incorpora- 

 tion the work of the universities was confined practi- 

 cally solely to the examination of students, while the 

 new Act declared that the universities were "incor- 

 porated for the purpose (among others) of making 

 provision for the instruction of students, with power 

 to appoint university professors and lecturers, to hold 

 and manage educational endowments, to erect, equip, 

 and maintain university laboratories and museums, to 

 make regulations relating to the maintenance and 

 conduct of students, and to do all acts which .... 

 lead to the promotion of study and research." 



This contrast shows the different aspect in which 

 Indian universities are now being regarded, and these 

 provisions will probably gradually exercise a power- 

 ful influence, though from their nature their effect 

 can only come slowly, but even now. in certain 

 branches of study, university courses of lectures are 

 being delivered. 



Certain other provisions also appear in the new Act 

 which even in th^ short time which has elapsed 

 since it was passed are having important and far- 

 reaching effects. 



The senates were reconstituted, and steps were taken 

 to make them more representative of those actuallv 

 engaged in teaching in the affiliated colleges than 

 had hitherto been the case, and appointments to the 

 Senate were limited to five years instead of for life. 

 These new senates are now working much more 

 efficiently that was formerly the case. L'nder the Act 

 also, new sets of regulations had to be prepared for 

 all branches of study, and the Government of India 

 was given the power, after consulting the Senate, to 

 make such additions and alterations as might be 

 considered necessary. Speaking generally of the new 

 regulations, they are a very great improvement on 

 the old ones, for they require a much higher 

 standard. of study, and also that such study shall be 

 practical rather than of a theoretical nature. Indeed, 

 in all the science subjects practical work is made an 

 essential part of the course of study, whereas formerly 

 theoretical book-work frequently sufficed to carrv a 

 student successfully through some of the science 

 examinations. 



Perhaps, however, the clauses of the Act which are 

 having the most immediate and tangible effect are 

 those dealing with the affiliation of colleges to the 



