द ब्यूटीफुल ट्री: १८वीं सदी में भारत की स्वदेशी गुरुकुल शिक्षा (धर्मपाल)

and the collectorate schools, are all that will probably be wanted before the sanction of the Honorable Court can be received. The sum for which we ought to request their sanction ought not to be less than half a lakh of rupees. None of the endowments in the Collectors’ reports are applicable to the present object; they do not exceed 20,000 rupees in all, and only a small portion of them are public grants, and this small portion belongs chiefly to the teachers of Theology, Law and Astronomy. Whatever expense government may incur in the education of the people, will be amply repaid by the improvement of the country; for the general diffusion of knowledge is inseparably followed by more orderly habits, by increasing industry, by a taste for the comforts of life, by exertion to acquire them, and by the growing prosperity of the people. 8. It will be advisable to appoint a Committee of Public Instruction, in order to superintend the establishing of the public schools; to fix on the places most proper for them, and the books to be used in them; to ascertain in what manner the instruction of the natives may be best promoted, and to report to government the result of their inquiries on this important subject. 9. We must not be too sanguine in expecting any sudden benefit from the labours of the School-Book Society. Their disposition to promote the instruction of the people by educating teachers, will not extend it to more individuals than now attend the schools; it can be extended only by means of an increased demand for it, and this must arise chiefly from its being found to facilitate the acquisition of wealth or rank, and from the im- provement in the condition of the people rendering a larger portion of them more able to pay for it. But though they cannot educate those who do not seek or cannot pay for education, they can, by an improved system give a better education to those who do receive it; and by creating and encouraging a taste for knowl- edge, they will indirectly contribute to extend it. If we resolve to educate the people, if we persevere in our design, and if we do not limit the schools to tehsildaries, but increase their number so as to allow them for smaller districts, I am confident that success will ultimately attend our endeavours. But, at the same time, I entirely concur in the opinion expressed in the 5th Report of the Calcutta School-Book Society, when speaking of the progress of the system, that ‘its operation must therefore of necessity be slow; years must elapse before the rising generation will exhibit any visible improvement.’ (Signed) Thomas Munro. 253