What would be the phrase opposite in meaning to ‘interfered with’ in line 3?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

1. The period 1813 -1823 also saw the rise of several missionary institutions all over the country and
2. the establishment of the famous Hindu College at Calcutta. They   confined their help to
3.  encouraging  traditional learning and took no step which might have interfered with the existing
4.  system of study. In 1824, The Court of Directors virtually accepted the doctrines of Bentham and Mill
5. whose central theme was that education should be officially encouraged. Under the
6.  encouragement given by the official policy and the interest already generated locally in the
7.  study of English literature and economic doctrines, a widespread knowledge came into being.
8.  Our freedom movement flowered under the liberal ideas that resulted from the study of English poets and writers.