Regarding Wood's Dispatch, which of the following statements are true?
- 1.Grants-in-Aid system was introduced.
- 2.Establishment of universities was recommended.
- 3.English as a medium of instruction at all levels of education was recommended.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
Charles Wood's education despatch of 1854 set up a grants-in-aid system for schools that met government standards and led to universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1857. It wanted English for higher education but the vernacular languages at the school level, so statement 3 is wrong.
- ✓ 1. After 1854 the Company began supporting schools, including village pathshalas, with government grants on condition that they accepted its rules, routines and inspections.
- ✓ 2. Steps were taken to build a university system after the Despatch; in 1857, the year of the revolt, universities were being set up in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
- ✗ 3. The Despatch favoured English as the medium of higher education only; for elementary schooling it pushed improvement of vernacular education.
Remember · Wood's Despatch (1854), Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control: grants-in-aid, education departments, universities (1857), English for higher and vernacular for lower education.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·