The idea of a national education system in India could get a fillip with the transfer of control of education in 1921 to:

The idea of a national education system gained momentum when control of education passed in 1921 to Indian ministers in the provinces under the diarchy scheme.

The British Viceroy did not take charge of education in this transfer, as power moved to provincial Indian ministers.

Christian missionaries ran individual institutions but were not handed control of the system in 1921.

The European elite were not the recipients of this transferred authority.

The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 made education a transferred subject under Indian ministerial control.

This provincial autonomy let Indian leaders shape educational priorities more directly.