“The battle against French colonial education became part of the larger battle against colonialism and for independence”. Explain.
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(i) Schools textbooks glorified the French and justified colonial rule.
(ii) The Vietnamese were represented as primitive, backward capable of manual labour but not of intellectual reflection; they could work in the fields but not rule themselves; they were skilled copyists but not creative.
(iii) Teachers and students did not follow the curriculum blindly.
(iv) While teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text and criticised what was stated.
(v) In 1926, a major protest errupted in the Saigon Native Girls School. A Vietnamese girl was expelled from the school leading to protest. Seeing the situation getting out of control, the government forced the school to take the students back.
(vi) Elsewhere, students fought against colonial government’s efforts to prevent the Vietnamese from qualifying for white collared jobs.
(vii) By 1920s students formed various political parties, such as the party of young Annan and published nationalist Journals such as ‘Annamese Students’.