INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN CANADA: THE CONTRADICTIONS OF SPECIAL PROGRAMMES

This paper examines one particular response of the Canadian government to the issue of multi‐ethnicity in higher education: the constraints placed on people of Indian origin with regard to attendance at universities until the 1950's, and traces the historical development of special programmes within universities for Indian students. It suggests that while special programmes for Indian students may be a positive step in terms of Indian control of Indian education and the development of an infrastructure for both self‐government and economic development, such programmes are nevertheless problematic. In particular, special programmes tend to reinforce negative and potentially racist stereotypes about Indian culture. They suggest that Indian people trained in special programmes are only capable of dealing with other Indian people. The degrees granted by special programmes are devalued by employers. State efforts to increase the level of education amongst Indian people are aimed at creating a new set of agents of social control.