The British Period

THE educational policy of the British in the Straits Settlements' was spelt out in 1854 in a despatch from the Court of Directors of the East India Company to the Governor- General in India, a copy of which was sent to the Governor of the Straits Settlements. The Court of Directors recognized that education was a “sacred duty” on the part of the British Government. The government, as the guardian of native rights and customs, held that this duty lay in catering for the natives in the vernacular. In a later despatch of 1857 the Court of Directors stressed that the primary object of the government was to provide elementary education in the vernacular, and that the indigenous population in the rural districts had first claim. However, though it was critical about learning English as an end of education, it recognized its utilitarian rote of producing “intelligent, diligent and honest servants to work for the Company”. Further, it encouraged private enterprise on the part of individuals and missionary societies, pointing out that the government could not possibly provide the means for educating the whole country.

The result was parallel systems of schooling: one in vernacular for the rural Malays, which was established and maintained by the government; Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools set up by their respective communities; and the English schools. The English schools consisted of two main types: the “free” schools that enjoyed the patronage and support of the government until they were taken over completely, and the grant-in-aid English schools established and maintained by missionary societies with a certain amount of government aid. The Chinese schools which were established and maintained through the generosity of individuals, district societies, or clan associations were left very much to themselves. After the 1911 Revolution in China, the Kuomintang saw the Chinese schools as incubators of the new nationalism and poured indoctrinated teachers and doctored texts into them. Consequently, Chinese education became highly politicized.