•   Although the first step towards modern education was taken by The Charter Act of 1813, it set aside an annual sum of Rs.1 lakh to be used in educating the Indians.

•   But there was a split among the British regarding the mode of education to be imparted to Indians.

•   While the orientalists believed that Indians should be educated in their own languages and taught their own scriptures and texts.

•   The Angelist group wanted the education to be imparted in English.

•   The dispute was settled by Thomas Maculay in 1835 through his ‘Minutes on Indian Education’, which sought to establish the need for Indian 'natives' to receive an English education.

•   Main features of his minutes:

o  All funds appropriated for the purpose of education would be best spent on English education alone.

o  The main goal of the British government should be to promote European literature and science among Indians.

o  The government would educate only a few Indians, who would then educate the rest of the population, this was referred to as the downward filtration policy.

o  This would create a pool of Indians capable of serving British interests and remaining loyal to them.

o  This group of educated Indians would be ‘Indian by blood and color, but English by tastes, opinions, morals, and intellect’.

•   Thus the foundation of modern educational system in India was laid by Maculay in 1835.

•   The Charter Act 1813 or the East India Company Act, 1813 was passed by the British Parliament, which renewed the East India Company's Charter for another 20 years.

•   The three main objectives of the Charter Act of 1813 were:

o  To continue the program of territory development,

o  Disseminate and promote Christian missionaries, and

o  Retain authority over the business for an additional 20 years.

•   The following are the features of the Charter Act of 1813:

o  It was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that renewed the charter issued to the British East India Company, and continued the Company's rule in India.

o  The Company’s monopoly on trade was broken, with the exception of the trade-in of tea, opium, and goods with China.

o  Missionaries were given permission to introduce valuable information and spread religious and moral betterment in India.

o  A grant of one lakh was allotted for the promotion of education.

o  The Crown’s authority over the British corporations in India was upheld by this charter.