District Magistrate Balasore's letter dated 1923 to Commissioner Cuttack about handling of criminal cases of French Loge of Balasore.

 While clearing up my old papers recently I found copy of a letter written by the District Magistrate Balasore on 24.12.1923 to Commissioner Cuttack Division about handling of criminal cases of French Loge of Balasore. 

This makes an interesting reading.

Those interested in discovering more such correspondence my see my book "The Balasore Papers  The 1693-1949: A compendium of important documents relating to the Anglo-French dispute". It is available on pothi.com 

 

                                                                               - - - - -

Registered.

Judicial

27/23

29-12-23

No. 5384.

From

                               J. Johnston, Esquire, I. C. S.,

To

                                District Magistrate of Balasore.

                              The Commissioner of the Orissa Division,

                                             Cuttack.

                                                                                  Dated, Balasore, the 16 December, 1923.

Sir.

I have the honour to return herewith your file which you made over to me in connection with a letter of the Administrator of Chandernagor, dated 15th December 1923, relating to certain of fences said to have taken place in the French loge at Balasore, with my observations thereon:

Commissioner,

I have examined this file and the more I examine it the more complicated the matter becomes. I am by no means sure that I have got to the bottom of it, but at any rate I have helped to clear the way for doing so.

The agreement being in French I thought at first that it might be that we have no translation of it, and the Police were unaware of their duties in the matter. I find that there is a translation, which in dealing with this portion of the subject, I find to be somewhat some what inaccurate.

In French law there appear three kind of offences, one of which does not appear to possess a  noun, but the corresponding adjectives for which are "Faits contraventionnels, delits criminels", and the agreement between the two countries entirely ignores the distinction drawn in Anglo-Indian law between cognizable and non-cognizable offences, but assumes that all offences will come to the knowledge of the Police.

In British India the Police take no interest in non-cognizable offences, and in this district there is a very strong tendency to turn cognizable offences into non-cognizable ones, to avoid the trouble of enquiring into the matter, or to show good statistics. On the other hand there is an equally strong tendency, or perhaps even a greater one, on the part of the general public to exaggerate offences.

In the list of offence supplied in the agreement theft finds a place, but not ordinary assault under section 323 I. P C.  Which of these tendencies has been at work in the present case it is impossible to say without an exhaustive enquiry, but at any rate the Police chose to treat the calf as simply missing, while his complaint before the French authorities, the complainant represented it as being stolen. There is a slight discrepancy as to the date of occurrence but I do not attach very much importance to this.

The case of a complaint filed in Court has apparently not been provided in the convention, and nobody appears to have been aware of our duty to report occurrences relating to French territory  to the French authorities. The Supritendent of Police has gone away for the holidays, but as soon as he returns I shall discuss, the matter with him and the Sadar Subdivisional Officer, and arrange a system by which all occurrences, whether cognizable or not, relating to French at territory are reported to the French authorities, according to the spirit rather than the letter of the agreement, which as I have pointed cut is very difficult to work unless interpreted with due regard to the differences in law and procedure between the two countries.

In the present case on our own papers we appear to be technically right, but I am by no means sure that we are really so, in view of the inveterate tendency of the Police of this district to minimise offences, and to make out that cases which are really cognizable to non-cognizable.

It would have been much better if this duty had been entrusted to the District Magistrate and not to the Police.

 

                                                                                           Signed

                                                                                     District Magistrate.

A.     Pd.

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Much To Learn From French School System By K.J.S. Chatrath

 

 

Much To Learn From French School System

By  K.J.S. Chatrath

THE French have done well in spite of the devastation of the two World Wars and the French educational system in general and the school system is particular have contributed to it in no small measure.

One of the fundamental reasons for the success of the French school system is the deep interest of all French people, both students and parents, in their system of school education.

The Orientation Law of 1989 declares unambiguously that education is the first national priority for France. This involvement also takes the form of the local civic body assisting the schools say in the form of provision and maintenance of the school buildings. The importance that France attaches to education becomes clear when we notice that education accounts for the biggest chunk of the national budget with approximately 21% of the budget earmarked for this purpose.

This importance given to school education in France dates back to the days of Nepoleon. More recently it has been the vision and farsighted- ness of Jules Ferry, who in 1881-82, formulated the triangular concept of a compulsory, free and secular school that is "une ecole obligatoire, gratuite et laique”.

France has been a highly centralised country and it is easy to notice the impact of this characteristic in the school educational field. Out of the three main components of the school system infrastructure and buildings, recruitment and pay of teachers, and curriculum - it is the responsibility of the community, be it at the level of commune, municipality or region, to provide and maintain buildings and other infrastructure of schools. The teachers are appointed and paid by the state and they are government servants. This appointment is on the basis a recruitment test organised by the state. In so far as the curriculum is concerned, the guidelines called the "programmes" are prescribed by the government. The broad framework of programmes is decided by the centralised Ministry of National Education. Both students as well as their parents are given a clear idea of the programmes when the educational session reopens. Within this broader framework of the programmes, each institution is free to prescribe its own textbooks.

Public schools and establishements offer free education (free). Public education is expected to be neutral in areas of religion, philosophy and politics (secular). It is compulsory for all children in the age group of 6 and 16 (Compulsory). Only the state has the right to hold public examinations and to give degrees and university grades (state monopoly).

However, this state monopoly does not cover private educational establishments run side by side with those run by the state (Liberty). Lastly the local communes participate with the Ministry of National Education in the running of the pub- lic educational system (community participation).

The primary or elementary level of education i.e. the first 5 years of school, is organised in what are called the "ecoles" or Primary schools. The next stage comprising four years is taken up in institutions called "colleges". The last part of school education consisting of three years and leading to a diploma of "Baccalaureat" (or "Bac" as it is commonly called) is conducted in the "Lycees".

Any presentation of the school education in France would be incomplete without mentioning the system of pre-primary nursery schools called the "ecoloes maternelles". This is an institution of which the French are justly proud of. After attaining the age of 2, children start going to these schools. Present statistics indicate that almost 100% of the children aged 3 frequent these institutions. The period covered by the ecoles maternelles is 3-4 years. The children are encouraged to feel free in the school atmosphere and are gradually introduced to various group activities. There is a mild element of introduction of reading, writing and basic arithmetic.

It is often said that France has had two revolutions the first one of a political nature having taken place in 1789 and the second after 200 years in 1989 in the sphere of education. (Orientation Law of 1989). The Orientation Law of 1989 was presented by the then Education Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, who, is the Prime Minister of France. In fact, it is the first comprehensive law on

school education in France in about 100 years.

The French ideal has always been that of a perfect balance of faculties -the ideal of "L'honnete homme", the man who has a good all-round knowledge, an all-round understanding: it is the ideal of general culture as opposed to specialisation. One of the strong points of the system is its emphasis on producing an all-round personality. A balanced training in various disciplines is imparted to the students. Even the students who pursue vocational courses have to compulasrily take examinations in subjects related to general studies. For reaching the baccalaureat, the students must qualify, inter-alia, in mathematics, physical sciences, biology and modern European languages, besides of course, French. Since the past two decades, the study of phi- losophy has been made compulsory for students of almost all streams of baccalaureat, including technical baccalaureat. This is intended to focus on one of the basic objectives of education to develop free thinking and a critical mind. The real focus of education is to pre- pare for a life ahead rather than to prepare for a living

Diagnostic evaluations are an important innovation of the French school system. These are nation- wide tests with the same question papers which are held after moving into the new class. Loi d'Orientation 1989 has introduced 2 nationwide evaluations after moving to the college and the lycee. These examinations give an opportunity to the teachers to know the level of each student entering the college and the Lycee, his strengths and weaknesses for individual attention. Another important difference in the French and Indian high school examinations is that while in India the senior secondary examination consists only of written exams in France the Bac examination consists of written papers as well as a personal interview.

Even though France is a predominantly catholic yet the secular character of the school education is about 100 years old. No religious sign of any kind is allowed inside the school premises.

First published in The Tribune, Chandigarh, June 8, 1998

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How the French teach and Learn...Review of KJS Chatrath's book 'Vers la Lumiere: A study of the French school system

 

 

How the French Teach And Learn -Vandana

  Th Hindustan Times, Evening News, May 26, 1998.

IT is true that education plays a very significant role in the whole development process. But it is equally true that India as a nation has not devoted as much attention to education as it should have done.

Obviously, we have not made serious efforts to know what is happening in the other parts of the world, especially in the non-English speaking countries.

Dr K.J.S.Chatrath's book under review is an outcome of painstaking research and long strenuous hours put in archives for the material used in the book. The Indian Administrative Service Officer's efforts have however, have paid off. Incidentally it is his fifth book.  At present he is posted at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla.

The book deals with several aspects, notably "The Orientation Law of 1989", which is a watershed in the educational history of France, the rights and duties of the students, which can be relevant to India

One thing comes out loud and clear in Dr Chatrath's study: France has given due importance not only to education but to the teachers as well. And this is not just a lip service.

However, it is not all a rosy picture. The author notes (page 198): Dual competition from the USA on the one hand and the European countries, and more specifically from the UK and Germany on the other, in the economic field has forced France to take a close look at its educational system. Comparisons with other educational systems indicate that by and large France is not coming on top in any particular discipline. However the evaluations do pinpoint the strength of French system.

Useful for the educationists………..Vandana

Vers La Lumiere: A study of the French School System by Dr. K.J.S.Chartrath: Indian publishers and Distributors. Delhi Pp 224, Rs 350