The Sadler Commission
In 1917 to 1919, Sadler led the 'Sadler Commission' which looked at the state of Indian Education.
Towards the end of the First World War, the Secretary of State for India, Austen Chamberlain, invited Sadler to accept the chairmanship of a commission the government proposed to appoint to inquire into the affairs of Calcutta University. Chamberlain wrote: ’Lord Chelmsford informs me that they hope for the solution of the big political problems of India through the solution of the educational problems’. After some hesitation, Sadler accepted the invitation. Under his direction the Commission far exceeded its initial terms of reference. The result was thirteen volumes issued in 1919, providing a comprehensive sociological account of the context in which Mahatma Gandhi was campaigning for the end of the British Raj and the independence of India. From the lines of inquiry pursued, it is possible to deduce a conception of expanding higher education that goes far beyond the traditional university image in its search to relate higher education to the 20th century, with its increasing availability of educational opportunities to women.
Prior to the publication of the Calcutta University Report, Sadler delivered a private address to the Senate of Bombay University. He put forward his personal conclusions as he surveyed The Educational Movement in India and Britain. It was a far-sighted address, characteristic of Sadler’s belief in the inter-relationship of all the various levels of education and the importance of teacher training. He warned his listeners about producing an academic proletariat with job expectations that could not be fulfilled. And finally he told the members of the Senate:
And in India you stand on the verge of the most hazardous and inevitable of adventures—the planning of primary education for the unlettered millions of a hundred various races. I doubt whether the European model will fit Indian conditions. If you want social dynamite, modern elementary education of the customary kind will give it to you. It is the agency that will put the masses in motion. But to what end or issue no one can foretell.
In 1919, Sadler was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI).
Read more about this topic: Michael Sadler (educationist)
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