Much of the story of Army education is shrouded in the mists of time. The earliest record of Army education, however, goes back to 1762 when the first Regimental School was established at Fort William in Calcutta as a welfare measure to provide education to the European soldiers and their families. The origin and growth of the educational system in India from 1600 to 1947 can be traced under two sub-periods studded by the historical landmarks in the history of Indian Army Education. Firstly, Army Education under the East India Company from 1600 to 1857 and, secondly, Army Education under the Crown from 1858 to 1947.

The arrival of the British troops in 1715, their subsequent increase in strength and their prolonged stay led to the establishment of British Regimental Schools in all the three Presidency Armies in India. The Commanding Officers of the British troops looked after the administration of the regimental schools while the Regimental Chaplains supervised the British Regimental Schools in India. By 1800, most of the British Army Regiments in India had established their regimental schools. Institutions for training of Army teachers for various regimental schools were founded in the Presidency towns by the mid-fifties of the 19th century. Sixtysix Sepoys passed out from these establishments in 1857. The educational training of Indian troops had hardly caught the attention of the East India Company when the Mutiny broke out leading to the suspension of all educational activities for the time being. Finally, the Crown wrested all powers from the Company in 1858.

On August 5, 1919, the Secretary of State for War, Mr Winston Churchill, informed the House of Commons : "It has been decided that education is henceforth to be regarded as an integral part of army training". This statement implied full and final recognition of the need for education in developing the military potential of the soldier in modern war. In harmony with this, the War Office, the Army Headquarters, India, sanctioned in 1920 the raising of an Indian Army Educational Corps (IAEC) and the establishment of the Army School of Education for Indians at Belgaum in Mysore with the British Wing at Wellington in the Nilgiris. This Corps was disbanded three years later as part of the post-war economy drive. However, the schools flourished when both the wings of the school merged together at Belgaum in 1924. All that survived out of the 45 officers, 175 Viceroy’s Commissioned Officers (VCOs) and 560 NCOs sanctioned in the initial raising of the Corps was a supernumerary list of VCOs whose number ranged from 50 to 80 upto the outbreak of World War II. These VCOs were the true forerunners of the Corps.

This period was marked by a rapid expansion of educational activities. Educational training was officially accepted as an integral part of the military training in 1920 and the graded Certificates of Education were introduced and linked with pay and promotion of men. Roman Urdu was accepted as the medium of instruction throughout the Army and a decision to teach English to the Indian troops was taken. The introduction of Educational Training Grant, firstly, on an adhoc basis and, later, with the substitution of several grants to meet the expenses on the ‘War Time Education’ and ‘Release Period Education Scheme’ for the British and the Indian troops, commenced.

The outbreak of World War II gave a major setback to educational training at the initial stages. During this period, mobile education training teams were organised in each command to train Unit Instructors; mobile library vans were brought in use in the various theatres of war. Indian Commissioned Officers were attached for educational duties with the Royal Army Educational Corps. Civilian school masters and Viceroy’s Commissioned Officers were recruited to meet the expanding educational needs of the Army. To meet the shortage of instructors, the Army Schools of Education were set up in each of the four commands to supplement the training of instructors. Indian troops stationed abroad were sent educational teams consisting of British officers, Warrant Officers and Indian VCOs to act as mobile schools for training instructors.

The expansion of the Indian Army and the widening of the area of recruitment resulted in the enlistment of a large number of men speaking different languages and with varying standards of education. It became clear that it was necessary to make the new recruits literate and to raise their standard of intelligence so that they could more readily and quickly be trained in the intricacies of their profession. Despite the enormously expanded staff and the greatly increased demands of the educational budget, the State of literacy remained low among Indian troops.

In May 1944, the then Commander-in-Chief, Gen (later Field Marshal) Sir Claude Auchinleck expressing his dissatisfaction over the existing rate of illiteracy amongst the Indian troops at the Army Commanders’ Conference remarked, "an amorphous body of staff dealing with the educational training of the troops had not produced any positive results primarily due to the absence of a self-contained and effective organisation capable of providing continuity to the educational policies and the training of the troops". He recommended the formation of the IAEC without delay. The staff action to implement the order was referred to a committee under the chairmanship of Brig IR Birchall, the then Director of Army Education, to formulate proposals for the formation of the Indian Army Educational Corps.

The need to have an IAEC for the peacetime regular Indian Army was confirmed by all concerned. But the education scales and establishment for the proposed peacetime regular IAEC could not be worked out till the strength of the post-war regular Indian Army was known. Thus, as an interim measure, the then C-in-C approved the formation of the IAEC with effect from January 1, 1946. He further proposed to the Government of India to sanction the raising of IAEC on a permanent basis. The sanction to raise the IAEC was conveyed by the Secretary of State on April 30, 1946.

Immediately after the receipt of the sanction, Indian Army Order 1254 of 1946 was issued proclaiming the formation of the Indian Army Educational Corps. Finally, the Indian Army Instruction 424 of 1947 was issued laying down the administrative instructions together with the terms and conditions of service. It also confirmed that the Depot and Records Office of the Indian Army Educational Corps be set up at the Army School of Education, Pachmarhi. Thus, the raising of the Corps was completed with a complement of 40 Regular Officers, 40 Short Service Commissioned Officers, 120 VCOs and 400 Indian Other Ranks on June 1, 1947. The Corps was renamed as the Army Educational Corps on January 26, 1950 by a Presidential decree.

During the post-independence era, the Army Educational Corps played a key role in enhancing the educational standard of troops to a great extent. The Corps personnel are widely scattered and the officers, JCOs and NCOs are to be found playing their part in every garrison, headquarters, training centre and unit. The Corps provides instructional staff to the pre-commission training establishments like the Indian Military Academy, Officers’ Training Academy, National Defence Academy, and the Army Cadet College Wing. AEC Instructors are also posted at the College of Military Engineering, Pune, Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow and the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering School, Baroda. Personnel of the Corps also fill a variety of ERE appointments, including the stewardship of all the Military Schools and some of the Sainik Schools. Of late, the Corps is also taking on the role of weather forecasting at mountain met centres.

The Army Educational Corps officers and men have moved with their formations and units to operational areas during active hostilities and, from all accounts, have always acquitted themselves creditably. The Corps boasts of six Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, one Shaurya Chakra, one Sena Medal, eleven Vishisht Seva Medals and many mention-in-despatches and COAS Commendation Cards since its raising. In recognition of its multifaceted achievements in peace and war, the Corps received the Regimental Colours from Mr VV Giri, the then President of India, on February 24, 1971 at an impressive ceremony held at Pachmarhi.

The most notable development in the growth of the Corps has been at its training establishment at Pachmarhi. The Army School of Education which, in 1947 had a staff of 15 officers and 45 JCOs and a total capacity of 500 students, became the AEC Centre and School in 1949 when the training of its own recruits started. It then became the AEC Training College and Centre in 1952 with the inclusion of courses like the BEd, BLib and BEd (Technology) besides a well-equipped English and Foreign Languages Wing. The wing has also attracted the officer trainees from several South East Asian countries as well as Central Asian Republics and para-military forces of India. The Corps has the distinction to send a team of officers to Afghanistan for providing instruction in English language. The training of all military and regimental bands of the Indian Army as well as those of the para-military forces and some friendly foreign countries is conducted at the Military Music Wing in the College.