ffort has been made by the government to educate this
immense population. It is seriously handicapped in this endeavour by want
of funds. The State does not largely enter into the establishing of
schools of its own; its policy being to give grants in aid to private
bodies on the basis of results achieved. And it contents itself with the
establishing and conducting of relatively only a few schools of its own
which shall serve as models and as a stimulus to the private aided
institutions. More than three-fourths of the education of the land is thus
conducted by private bodies which are encouraged by the government through
its grants in aid. There still remain not a few indigenous or, so-called,
"piall" schools. Educationally, these schools are of little value, as
their training is both antiquated in kind and extremely limited in
quantity. They are interesting because they reveal to us the old
educational methods of the land. Schools on modern lines, however, by
coming under government surveillance, for the purpose of receiving grants
in aid, are conducted much more efficiently, and attain results worthy to
be compared with those of western lands. The chief feature of the
educational system, controlled, examined and aided by government, is the
emphasis given to an English training. From the second year of
instruction, the English language grows annually in importance in the
curriculum of studies. In the grammar school it becomes compulsory and in
the high school and college it is the sole medium of the communication of
knowledge. The English language is emphasized also because it is the test
for admission even into many of the lowest of the numberless offices in
connection with government service; so that the study of this language of
the West has become to young India practically a necessity and a craze.
People of the lowest conditions in life pawn and mortgage their property
and involve themselves in terrible debts for the sake of giving their sons
an English education.

Christian missions constitute one of the principal bodies which engage in
the training of Hindu youth. One-ninth of all the school children of India
are found in mission schools. This number includes 330,000 boys and nearly
100,000 girls. In the training of girls, Protestant missions have not only
been pioneers; they are also today much the most prominent and efficient
educators of the women of the land. Their girls' schools and colleges are
not only the