प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

V] EDUCATIONAL CENTRES AND INSTITUTIONS 141 centres for higher education were more numerous in medieval times (c. 600-1300 A. D.) than they are today in modern India. Tols : Before concluding this chapter, it will be necessary to refer to Tols or Sanskrit schools which are still fairly numerous in Bengal, Bihar and United Provinces. From very early times, Tols have enjoyed grants of land, on which their teachers and pupils subsisted. These grants were augmented in value and new ones were created when the Zemindars felt themselves secure by the Permanent Settlement of Cornwalis¹. Where there was no specific endowment, the village Pandit used to arrange for the free boarding, lodging and clothing of his students by collecting the necessary funds by raising subscriptions at chief fairs and festivals, and from rich charitable persons. Tols thus are a variety of the Agrahāra type of educational institutions. The classes are usually held in a thatched house. As a rule, each Tol enrolls about 25 students, who are accommodated in mud huts built round the school house. Study courses usually extend over six to eight years and enable the students to appear for the Praveśikā or Admission examination in Sanskrit. Tradition of free Education : It is indeed noteworthy that such tradition of free education should have persisted in spite of foreign rule of several centuries. Learned Brahmanas in India have always been anxious to impart education free to deserving students irrespective of their own financial condition. This tradition exists even today in ancient centres of

1. Report of the Bengal Provincial Committee, Education Commission, 1882.