William Jones was studying ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine and sciences Soon he discovered that the interests were shared by many British officials living in Calcutta at the time.
Englishmen like Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed were also busy discovering the ancient Indian heritage, mastering Indian languages and translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English. Together with them, Jones set-up the Asiatic Society of Bengal and started a journal called Asiatick Researches.

Rabindranath Tagore's motive behind setting up Santiniketan was
(i) He wanted to set-up a school where the child was happy, free, creative and could be able to explore his own thoughts and desires.
(ii) Tagore felt that childhood should not be restricted in the strict schooling system set-up by the Britishers.
(iii) He believed that creative learning could be encouraged only within a natural environment.

Many Company officials argued that the British ought to promote Indian rather than Western learning.
Some measures were taken to promote Indian learning like:
(i) A madrasa was set-up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law.
(ii) The Hindu College was established in Benaras in 1791 to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country.

Rabindranath Tagore's experiences as a student were not pleasing. As a child, he hated going to school. He found the atmosphere in school was suffocating and oppressive. The school appeared to him like a prison, where he could not do what he felt like doing. His mind wandered away while other students listened to the teacher.

Gandhiji was highly critical of Western civilisation and its worship of machines and technology.
He emphasized the need to teach science and technology at Santiniketan, along with art, music, and dance.

Once I was in the adjoining room where Mahatma Gandhi and Macaulay were involved in a serious debate on English education.
These are the excerpts of the conversation which I heard:
Gandhiji: "Colonial education has created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians.
" Macaulay: "This is so because in my opinion India is an uncivilised country that needs to be civilised.
" Gandhiji: "Western education is only focused on reading and writing rather than oral knowledge".
Macaulay: "A single shelf of good European library is worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia."
Gandhiji: "Education ought to develop a person's mind and soul.
"Macaulay: "Teaching of English can be a way of civilising people, changing their castes, values and culture."
Gandhiji: Literacy by itself cannot be counted as education. By education I mean in all round drawing out of the best in child and human-body mind and literacy is only one of the means which educates people."

Many Company officials in India argued that the British ought to promote Indian rather than Western learning because:
(i) They felt that institutions should be set-up to encourage the study of ancient Indian texts and teach Sanskrit and Persian literature and poetry.
(ii) The officials thought that Hindus and Muslims ought to be taught what they were already familiar with and what they valued, not subjects that were alien to them.
(iii) The officials believed that by introducing these measures, the British could hope to win a place in the hearts of the 'natives' and only then they could expect to be respected by their subjects.

After 1854, the East India Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education. The measures taken by the Company were:
(i) It appointed a number of government pandits, each in charge of looking after four to five schools. The task of the pandit was to visit the pathshalas and try to improve the standard of teaching.
(ii) Each pandit or teacher was asked to submit periodic reports and take classes according to a regular time-table.
(iii) Teaching was based on textbooks and learning was to be tested through a system of annual examination.
(iv) Students were asked to pay a regular fee, attend regular classes, sit on fixed seats and obey the new rules of discipline.