Hyderabad: The concept of compulsory primary education was first introduced by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam in the princely State of Hyderabad. In several districts the compulsory education was implemented strictly and children from the age of 5 to 14 years had to study at the State schools, said professor A. Satyanarayana, former head of department of History, Osmania University.
The seventh Nizam had allocated large amounts of funds for primary education. “Mir Osman Ali Khan believed that strengthening of primary education would boost higher education and hence had increased the funds for primary, secondary and high schools,” he said while addressing a gathering during Dr Sheela Raj Memorial Lecture on Tuesday.
Elaborating on the contributions of the Asaf Jahi rulers especially the sixth Nizam Mir Mahboob Ali Khan and seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, he said that the sixth Nizam had extended his support to the Christian missioners to establish English medium schools.
“At the same time he also extended support to all those who were willing to start Telugu, Kannada and Marathi medium schools. Both western and non-western education was promoted during his rule and the same was taken forward by the seventh Nizam,” he said.
In 1884, Urdu was declared as the official language only because a large part of the population was familiar with the language.
Dr Zareena Parveen, Director State Archives and Research Institute Telangana, who was the presiding officer for the seminar also recalled the contribution of Mir Osman Ali Khan in setting up of the varsity.
