Through this post we are releasing the scan of the Report of The Commission on Christian Higher Eductaion In India published in the year 1931.
The 1931 Report of the Commission on Christian Higher Education in India, also called the Lindsay Commission Report. It is initiated by the International Missionary Council and chaired by Dr. A.D. Lindsay, addressed an operational crisis in non-Roman Catholic Christian colleges across British India and Burma, which were struggling with financial stagnation, tightening government control, a rigid university examination system, and a rising tide of Indian nationalism.
Comprised of prominent educational leaders from India, Great Britain, and North America, the Commission was granted a completely free hand by missionary societies to propose radical policy changes rather than being bound by past frameworks. Between November 1930 and April 1931, the members gathered data via detailed questionnaires and conducted an extensive field tour of 37 Arts colleges and 5 theological institutions across individual provinces, ranging from Burma and South India to Bengal and Punjab.Directly translating field feedback into a comprehensive, five-part restructuring plan.
This unified strategy aimed to eliminate wasteful duplication and reclaim educational initiative by introducing community-focused extension and research departments, alongside sweeping reforms in college governance, staffing, specialized training sectors like women’s and secondary education, and an implementation framework requiring permanent joint committees to handle financing and staff recruitment. Ultimately, by prioritizing scholarship, civic responsibility, and local public welfare over traditional missionary work, the report fundamentally reshaped the institutional model, enabling elite schools like St. Stephen’s and Madras Christian College to grow into highly respected pillars of India’s higher education landscape.
This document is digitized as part of the Malabar Christian College digitization project.
Metadata and link to the digitized document
Metadata and link to the digitized document are provided below. A facility to read the document online is provided in the item page. Click on the first image that you see on the item page to download the document.
- Name: Report of The Commission on Christian Higher Eductaion In India
- Published Year: 1931
- Number of pages: 412
- Press: Oxford University Press, London
- Scan link: Link