Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: The introduction of modern education was a main factor behind the rise of nationalism among the Indian population.
Statement-II: English system of education was conceived by the rulers in order to bring renaissance among the population.
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-1
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is not correct
(d) Statement-I is not correct but Statement-II is correct

Question

Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: The introduction of modern education was a main factor behind the rise of nationalism among the Indian population.
Statement-II: English system of education was conceived by the rulers in order to bring renaissance among the population.
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-1
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is not correct
(d) Statement-I is not correct but Statement-II is correct

ONLiNE UPSC · Accepted Answer

Statement 1 is correct: The introduction of a modern system of education afforded opportunities for assimilation of modern Western ideas which in return. The English language helped nationalist leaders from different linguistic regions to communicate with each other. Those among the educated who took up liberal professions (lawyers, doctors, etc.) often visited England for higher education. There they saw the working of modern political institutions in a free country and compared that system with the Indian situation where even basic rights were denied to the citizens. This ever-expanding English educated class formed the middle-class intelligentsia who constituted the nucleus for the newly arising political unrest. It was this section which provided leadership to the Indian political associations.

Statement 2 is not correct: The English system of education had been conceived by the rulers in the self-interest of efficient administration and not to bring renaissance among the population. The liberal and radical thought of European writers like Milton, Shelley, John Stuart Mill, Rousseau, Paine, Spencer and Voltaire helped many Indians imbibe modern rational, secular, democratic, and nationalist ideas.

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