The Role of Vernacular Schools in Promoting Education in 24 Parganas during the Colonial Period

This article examines the growth, operation, and impact of vernacular schools in District 24 Parganas during the Colonial period. With changing Colonial education policies and the role of missionaries, and also the local social reform movements, vernacular schools played a vital role in promoting elementary education in rural and semi-urban Bengal during the Colonial period. These schools used regional languages like Bengali etc. and Hindi and Urdu for teaching. They became important for control and social progress. The study shows the complex network of people, including Colonial administrators, missionaries, Indian reformers, and local communities, that shaped the direction of these vernacular institutions. This research examines how vernacular schools helped in the promotion of school education, using archival data, census records, educational reports, and data based on secondary sources.