Which of the following statements are incorrect in light of the effects of the…
2023
Which of the following statements are incorrect in light of the effects of the expansion of higher education from the mid-1850s?
A. Curzon's university reforms were a high point in the development of official attitudes towards higher education.
B. The attempts were part of a wider programme to reform Indian society and purge evils such as sati.
C. Only two universities, in Calcutta and Madras, were established in 1857, and colleges became an integral part of higher education.
D. Only students who passed the entrance examination were admitted to colleges.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: C. C and D — ConceptIn a statement-combination question, test each claim independently against the relevant historical phase and watch for absolute words such as “only.”…
- A.
A and B
- B.
B and C
- C.
C and D
- D.
B and D
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
In a statement-combination question, test each claim independently against the relevant historical phase and watch for absolute words such as “only.”
For colonial higher education, separate the Wood's Despatch and the 1857 affiliating-university system from earlier social reform and later Curzon-era regulation.
Application
The claim about Curzon belongs to the later regulatory phase: his intervention culminated in the Indian Universities Act of 1904 and marked a major increase in official supervision.
The broader-reform claim is grounded in chronology: Bentinck's government abolished sati in 1829, while Macaulay's Minute (1835) and Wood's Despatch (1854) advanced English and institutional education. These were distinct measures presented within the wider colonial reform or ‘improvement’ agenda.
The claim that only two universities were established in 1857 fails the count check. The 1857 acts incorporated three presidency universities: Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
The claim that every college student first had to pass an entrance examination overgeneralizes the examining-university system. Entrance or matriculation examinations qualified candidates for university courses and examinations; colleges also included special and non-degree streams, so this was not a universal rule for every college admission.
Contrast
The Curzon-reform and wider-reform-programme pairing retains both historically supported claims.
The wider-reform-programme and only-two-universities pairing contains the defective count claim but not the defective universal-admission claim.
The wider-reform-programme and entrance-only pairing contains the defective universal-admission claim but not the defective count claim.
The only-two-universities and entrance-only pairing contains both defective absolute claims, so it is the required combination.
Cross-check
The National Testing Agency final answer key for UGC NET June 2023, question ID 908544, identifies the pair comprising the only-two-universities claim and the entrance-only claim.
Result
The two incorrect statements are the only-two-universities claim and the entrance-only admission claim.