Hastings and Jonathan Duncan established the first Maddrassa in Calcutta and the first Sanskrit College in Benaras in 1781 and 1791 respectively.68 The British involvement in educational reforms was divided into two schools: the Orientalists who favoured Indian languages like Sanskrit and Persian as medium of education and the Utilitarian who maintained that Indian education was ineffective so best education could only be in English.69 As a leading Utilitarian, Thomas Babington Macaulay succeeded ideas previously forwarded by Governor-General Lord William Bentinck to have English instead of Persian as official language. The British initiatives were viewed as having a unifying effect amongst the culturally diverse Indians.70 Consequently in 1837, English was made the language of administration, and thus the East India Company officially entered the education field of this sub-continent. As a result of the new policy there was a rapid growth of English schools and colleges and English as the medium of instruction began to dominate the entire educational field. The indigenous educational institutions had to go through hard times due to financial crisis and the English language attaining dominant status. Most importantly, English became a compulsory subject in the high schools, for matriculation, and a requirement for college and university admissions.71 Under the reforms of 1919-1921 elementary education was made free within municipalities and rural unions and in Bangladesh the first steps towards universal primary education were taken through the Bengal primary education act 1930. A provincial department of education was established in 1930, and thus began the process of centralization and bureaucratization of education.72 3.1.4 The Pakistan period: The Pakistan period recognised the necessity of effective education as opposed to cramming the books. The Pakistani government planned for a uniform education system from the primary till 68 Ibid, 46 69 Wikipedia, ‘History of Education in Indian Subcontinent’, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_education_in_the_Indian_subcontinent> accessed 25 May 2014 Robert Eric Frykenberg, ‘Modern Education in South India, 1784-1854: Its Roots and Its Role as a Vehicle of Integration under Company Raj’ , American Historical Review, (Feb 1986), pp 37-67 M. Mustafizur Rahman (n 46) ibid 70 71 72 Page | 27