Page:The despatch of 1854, on General education in India.djvu/11

Rh 17. We desire to express to the present Boards and Councils of Education our sincere thanks for the manner in which they have exercised their functions, and we still hope to have the assistance of the gentlemen composing them in furtherance of a most important part of our present plan; but, having determined upon a very considerable extension of the general scope of our efforts, involving the simultaneous employment of different agencies, some of which are now wholly neglected, and others but imperfectly taken advantage of by Government, we are of opinion that it is advisable to place the superintendence and direction of education upon a more systematic footing, and we have therefore determined to create an Educational Department, as a portion of the machinery of our Governments in the several Presidencies of India. We accordingly propose that an officer shall be appointed for each Presidency and Lieutenant-governorship, who shall be specially charged with the management of the business connected with education, and be immediately responsible to Government for its conduct.

18. An adequate system of inspection will also, for the future, become an essential part of our educational system; and we desire that a sufficient number of qualified inspectors be appointed, who will periodically report upon the state of those colleges and schools which are now supported and managed by Government, as well as of such as will hereafter be brought under Government inspection, by the measures that we propose to adopt. They will conduct, or assist at, the examination of the scholars at these institutions, and generally, by their advice, aid the managers and schoolmasters in conducting colleges and schools of every description throughout the country. They will necessarily be of different classes, and may possess different degrees of acquirement, according to the higher or lower character of the institutions which they will be employed to visit; but we need hardly say that, even for the proper inspection of the lower schools, and with a view to their effectual improvement, the greatest care will be necessary to select persons of high character and fitting judgment for such employment. A proper staff of clerks and other officers