National Council of Education
(Peter Heehs:) “Before the year [1905] was over Aurobindo decided to leave his job in Baroda and come to Calcutta. He was given a chance to do so when Subodh Chandra Mullick offered him a position in the national education system. In November or December Aurobindo went to Bengal to make arrangements. … Red-tape kept him in Gujarat for another two months; but on 2 March [1906] he boarded the train for Calcutta. By the 7th he was busy with meetings of the Executive Committee of the National Council of Education.”[1]
(Peter Heehs:) “Since his return to Calcutta in June [1906], Aurobindo had had little time for political, much less revolutionary work. His chief preoccupation was the Bengal National College, which opened its doors on 15 August with him as its first principal. During the last part of the year Aurobindo gave much of his time to administrative work and teaching. But the College proved to be a disappointment. Most members of the National Council of Education were reluctant to do anything to offend the government. They went so far as to prohibit students from taking part in political meetings, forgetting that a primary reason for the establishment of the system was to assist students whose political activism had got them expelled. Under such stewardship ‘national’ education became little better than a second-rate copy of the British variety. Whatever its merits, it could no longer be considered a part of the national movement as a whole.
Long before the failure became apparent, Aurobindo's interest had shifted from the College to Bande Mataram.”[2]
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