Educational Policies and Colonial Legacy: A Historical Analysis of Successes and Failures (1835-1947)

This research explores British educational policies in India (1835–1947) as ideological tools that reinforced administrative control and cultural dominance. Focusing on Macaulay’s Minute (1835), Wood’s Dispatch (1854), and the Indian Universities Act (1904), it analyzes their impact on native institutions, language hierarchies, and socio-economic systems. Using historical document analysis, thematic analysis, and critical discourse analysis, the study identifies four lasting colonial patterns: cultural alienation, linguistic hierarchy, educational elitism, and bureaucratic utility. Policies promoted English superiority through a civilized/barbaric dichotomy, suppressing indigenous knowledge. The colonial agenda aimed to create a loyal clerical class and hinder native intellectual growth. These legacies persist through centralized control, outsider language dominance, and biased curricula. The paper concludes with recommendations to decolonize education by embracing indigenous knowledge and multilingualism to foster epistemic justice in postcolonial contexts.