Educational Development in South India

Travancore, an erstwhile princely State, which forms the chunk of modern Kerala State, has always retained the lead in educational matters since the very ancient times. Early educational centres like Kanthaloor Sarai, Parthivapuram Salai etc., are well known. In the later period., learning of Sanskrit assumed much importance. But after advent of Europeansand since the dawn of modern period the educational perspective once again underwent a substantial change, knowledge in Sanskrit was found not enough to cater to the need of modern education and against this backgrou8nd, study of English was encouraged by the enlightened rulers of Travancore and the Christian Missionaries. This phenomenon opened the gate of education to private agencies, which brought both good and evil trends in the educational front. This farsight in educational dawned onk the mind of sir C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar who served as diwan of Travancore during 1936-47. Under his stewardship the state adopted a new educational policy, which while retaining the legacy of education in the state, attempted to weed out the nonsecular tendencies that had vitiated the field. History of education of this period and the politics of the time will unveil, how education can be misused for selfish purposes. While the Diwan was keen on giving a secular touch to education and putting restraint to press which were encouraging non-secular tendencies, he was inisunderstood and misrepresented by the enemies of secularism. This work is an attempt to highlight the factors that obstructed reforms in the educational front to save secularism in the state.