Tripurari Chakravarti

“ We fail to distinguish which is the greater crime—to be young or not to have enough teaching work. It seems that in the opinion of Prof. Sarkar both are equally grave offences. We have already shown that his second charge at least, that is, want of sufficient teaching work for University Lecturers, cannot be substantiated. Prof. Sarkar no doubt thinks that a University Lecturer essentially exists for merely delivering lectures like a machine, irrespective of the difficulty and importance of the subjects of his lectures, or the value of the lectures themselves. ”

“ The illustrious author of Indian Economics has no doubt developed a great love for “the Bengali tax-payer and the Indian masses”, but how can he in all seriousness and with consistency ask the Government of Bengal to refuse any financial assistance to an institution whose affairs are solely managed by a Senate which consists mainly of Government nominees? The Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University is not a paid but an honorary official and he is a “fit and proper person” nominated by the Local Government of Bengal. ”

“ The existing Post-Graduate organisation is therefore based on a system by which a student would be brought into contact with a number of teachers, each with his own point of view and his own special subject, and a teacher would not be expected to diffuse his energy but would confine his attention to making himself master of some portion of his work. Proposal for curtailment of the ranks of teachers without the abolition of some of the important existing teaching activities in the University can only proceed from the dilettanti without judgment and adequate academic experience. ”

“ The distinguished member of the Indian Educational Service infected, no doubt, with the usual bureaucratic mentality, considers that success in the Indian Civil Service Examination is the highest ideal as also the measure of University education in India. ”

“ There can be no doubt that all students gain inestimably from an intimate association with a teacher of ripe experience and scholarly habits, a teacher who will not only assist him in solving difficulties but also inculcate in him the proper habits of study and thought. We can very well express our meaning in the words of the London University Commission’s Report—“It is the personal influence of the man doing original work in his subject which inspires belief in it, awakens enthusiasm, gains disciples............ ”

“ Economy and efficiency cannot be measured by a mathematical standard; but, subject to the obvious reservation, namely, that an educational institution maintained for the Advancement of Learning cannot be run on commercial lines, the Post-graduate system of this University has been carried out with such economy as is consistent with efficiency. We have to realise that higher teaching and research need money, favourable surroundings and an intimate association among scholars, and these factors should not be neglected in any discussion of this nature. ”

“ Sarkar’s suppression of facts must not be allowed to pass unchallenged. It may not be irrelevant to point out here that even now the governing bodies of colleges and Universities all over Northern India prefer to recruit the graduates of this much-maligned University to their teaching staff inspite of a persistent campaign of calumny conducted by certain ponderous Professors with a perseverance worthy of a better cause. ”

“ Every University must see that its teachers and graduates have access to the means of independent investigation, if for no other reason, for the maintenance of its own intellectual vitality. The truth is that we require more education and better education and we have no doubt that the demand for the highest type of education will increase as the requisite facilities become more and more available. Finally, in disposing of the present topic under discussion we should take into account the considered verdict of the Calcutta University Commission in support of the existing Post-Graduate system. ”

“ The importance of subjects undertaken for Post-Graduate study and research in this University has never been considered to be absolutely dependent upon the number of students that those studies may attract. Such a narrow and superficial view of the scope of activities of higher teaching cannot certainly commend itself to men of judgment and wide academic experience. ”

“ A lecturer who has done some amount of research work in a particular subject or subjects and who has been teaching such subject or subjects for several years, can very easily take upon himself additional hours of lecture work, because that does not involve on the part of such a lecturer any extra preparation at home. ”

“ In India, on the other hand, we think that Universities cannot prove their usefulness better than in the success of their students in the Service Examinations! Secondly, and this is now the more important part of the matter, Prof. Sarkar’s insinuation is entirely baseless and mischievous. The I. C. S. Examination has been instituted in India since 1922. During the last 4 years there have been altogether 28 appointments from India as the result of open competitive examinations, and of these 28 appointments Bengal has secured as many as 8. Is this “very poor result” for Bengal? ”

“ But if he is called upon to undertake the teaching of a subject with which he has little or no acquaintance, then he cannot certainly do the same amount of justice to his new undertaking, although he may undergo considerable additional labour at home. ”

“ Still less can they take the place of the most intimate teaching in laboratory and seminar, which ought not to be beyond the range of the ordinary course of a University education.........”. Every possible effort, therefore, should be made to provide arrangements by which all students will receive, at least, some individual attention. ”

“ Sarkar requires that the University need not undertake instruction in all the subjects now taught, especially in subjects which do not attract a large number of students. We must confess that such criticism is quite unintelligible to us. ”

“ It must be admitted, we hope, by critics, candid and impartial, that the M.A. and M.Sc. courses should not take the form merely of a more thorough undergraduate course conducted on very similar lines and methods. ”