What were the interesting facts founded by William Adam on Indian school system
Answers
William Adam was a Scottish missionary. He toured the districts of Bengal and Bihar and prepared a report on vernacular schools in 1830s. Some of his interesting findings were :-
(i)According to his report, there were over 1 lakh pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar; with each having no more than 20 students. These pathshalas were set up by wealthy people or the local community or by a teacher.
(ii)The pathshalas followed a flexible system of education. There were no fixed fee, no printed book, no separate building, no benches or chairs, no system of separate classes, no rollcall registers, no regular examinations and no regular time-table. Classes could be held under a banyan tree, in a village shop or temple, or at the guru’s home.
(iii)Fee depended on the income of parents. Teaching was oral and curriculum was decided by the guru; as per the need of the individual student. All the students sat together in one place. The guru interacted separately with different groups of children as per the level of learning of the group.
(iv)Classes were not held during harvest time because at such times the rural children usually worked in the farms. The pathshala resumed after the harvesting and threshing was over.