<P> The British made education , in English -- a high priority hoping it would speed modernization and reduce the administrative charges . The colonial authorities had a sharp debate over policy . This was divided into two schools - the orientalists , who believed that education should happen in Indian languages ( of which they favoured classical or court languages like Sanskrit or Persian ) or utilitarians ( also called anglicists ) like Thomas Babington Macaulay , who strongly believed that traditional India had nothing to teach regarding modern skills ; the best education for them would happen in English . Macaulay introduced English education in India , especially through his famous minute of February 1835 . He called for an educational system that would create a class of anglicised Indians who would serve as cultural intermediaries between the British and the Indians . Macaulay succeeded in implementing ideas previously put forward by Lord William Bentinck , the governor general since 1829 . Bentinck favoured the replacement of Persian by English as the official language , the use of English as the medium of instruction , and the training of English - speaking Indians as teachers . He was inspired by utilitarian ideas and called for `` useful learning . '' However , Bentinck 's ideas were rejected by the Court of Directors of the East India Company and he retired as governor general . </P>
<P> The British made education , in English -- a high priority hoping it would speed modernization and reduce the administrative charges . The colonial authorities had a sharp debate over policy . This was divided into two schools - the orientalists , who believed that education should happen in Indian languages ( of which they favoured classical or court languages like Sanskrit or Persian ) or utilitarians ( also called anglicists ) like Thomas Babington Macaulay , who strongly believed that traditional India had nothing to teach regarding modern skills ; the best education for them would happen in English . Macaulay introduced English education in India , especially through his famous minute of February 1835 . He called for an educational system that would create a class of anglicised Indians who would serve as cultural intermediaries between the British and the Indians . Macaulay succeeded in implementing ideas previously put forward by Lord William Bentinck , the governor general since 1829 . Bentinck favoured the replacement of Persian by English as the official language , the use of English as the medium of instruction , and the training of English - speaking Indians as teachers . He was inspired by utilitarian ideas and called for `` useful learning . '' However , Bentinck 's ideas were rejected by the Court of Directors of the East India Company and he retired as governor general . </P>
who founded the first english institution of higher learning in india
who founded the first english institution of higher learning in india
Thomas Babington Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay