This presentation explores the major landmarks in the evolution of education in Kerala. It discusses the important educational institutions present in the medieval period in Kerala, the role of Christian missionaries and the important non governmental agencies.

1. PRESENTED BY
ANIE KURIYAN
M.Ed Second Semester
SPS MG UNIVERSITY

2. Salas Sabha Mutts
Buddha Viharas Ezhuthupalli
Othupallis
Maktabs
&Madrasahs
Kudippallikkoodam
Kalaries

3. • The contribution of Buddhism to the spread of education in Kerala
was undoubtedly great
• The Buddhist monks were pioneers in the field of education.
• The ultimate aim of education during the Buddhist period was the
freedom of the soul from the sufferings of life, it also help man to
achieve Nirvana.
• Buddhistic Education provided opportunities for education of men
and women of every caste.
• Gradually the people of Kerala copied Buddhist example of running
educational institution side by side with their temples.

4. • The educational institutions attached to the temples were known as Salai.
• The salais were a boarding school in which the Brahmin youth got free
boarding and lodging and underwent a course of instruction in the Vedas,
sastras and other branches of Sanskrit learning.
• The common people were not allowed to make use of the salais.
• There were salais which offered specialized course in Philosophy,
Grammar,Theology, Law, etc.

5. • The decline of Salais led to the emergence of a new chain of
educational institutions.
• The Sabha Mutts or Temple universities of North and Central Kerala
were the centres of Vedic education. The system of education
conformed to the Gurukula ideal.
• Sabha Mutts which offered free education for Namboothiri youth in
Vedas and sastras.

6. • Ezhuthupalli was a parallel system of education in villages for the
education of non- Brahmin students.
• It is considered as a long lasting contribution made by Buddhist
culture to the southern corner of India.
• There was no class gradation at this stage. Loud reading and group
recitation were distinctive features to start with instruction.
• The Ezhuthupalli was a mixed school in which girls had certain
special subjects in their course of studies.
• The curriculum of the Ezhuthupalli was designed for the moral,
intellectual and physical well being of the boys and girls.

7. • Othupallis were traditional religious educational institutions
of Muslims of north
• This was a type of Institution set up outside a Mosque under
the care of a Musaliar (Teacher).
• Othupallis were single teacher Institutions were a single
teacher would handle the class as a single unit irrespective of
the age and standard of the pupils.

8. • Kalaries is an institution that gives training in martial arts.
• Kalari is an institution common in all parts of Malabar even today.
During early periods it was customary, for children who had their
primary education in Ezhuthupalli, to proceed to a Kalari.
• The training given in the Kalari is called kalaripayattu. The pupils are
given regular physical exercises and training in the use of weapons
such as Kuruvadi, spear, dagger, sword, shield, etc.
• The most promising of the trainees are taught the marmas, viz, the
vulnerable sounds in the human body.

9. • Kudipallikoodam or village school were organised alike Formal
Schools. They were run in separate schools with a teacher paid by the
community.
• Children wrote on sand, rice grains or, when they were better at
writing, on Palm leaves.
• These traditional schools function as pre primary schools even in the
beginning of the 20th century.
• Children were educated in this caste based schools, before they went
to non traditional Schools.

10. • Established by Muslims. This Institutions were attached to
mosques. Maktab was a place where primary education
was given.
• The main aim of education was to enable the pupils to read
the Holy Quran and to understand religious prayers.
• After completing the course of study at the maktabs, the
pupils were eligible for admission to the Madrasahs.
• Admission restricted to Muslim children only.

12. TRAVANCORE - LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY
COCHIN - CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY
MALABAR - BASEL EVANGELICAL MISSION

13. BASEL GERMAN EVANGELICAL MISSION
• In the 19th century, Kerala underwent transformative changes in its
educational landscape, driven largely by missionary activities.
• The Basel German Evangelical Mission played a pivotal role by
establishing schools across the Malabar region.
• In 1818, the British missionary Rev. J. Dawson initiated the
establishment of an English School in Mattancherry with financial aid
from the Cochin Government.

14. • Dr. Hermann Gundert, associated with the Basel
Mission, significantly contributed to Malayalam
language and literature by compiling the first
Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha
Vyakaranam, and preparing the initial Malayalam-
English dictionary in 1872.
• In 1824 Basel Mission was running 56 while CMS
managed 47 schools. By the end of the century the
schools increased to 257 and 351 respectively.
Hermann Gundert
Hermann Gundert

15. • Another important agency of protestant missionary, the
Church Missionary Society concentrated in central and
north Travancore and among Syrian Christians.
• This missionary also gave important both theological and
higher education as well as general and primary education.
• Among the missionaries who worked at Kottayam, the
names of Benjamin Bailey in 1816, Henry Baker in 1818, and
Joseph Fenn in 1818 deserve special mention. They started
schools for boys and girls in Kottayam, Alapuzha, Cochin
and so on.

16. • Benjamin Bailey started an English school in Mattanchery in
1818.
• The Church Missionary Society established a Grammer
school at Kottayam in 1821 later it became as C.M.S. College,
the first college in Kerala.
• Mrs. Dorothea Baker, wife of Rev. Henry Baker from CMS,
launched the first girls' school, Baker Memorial Girls’ School
in Kottayam in 1819, marking a historic milestone in female
education.
• In 1857 there were 444 girls Christian missionary schools in
north Travancore.

17. • In the year 1816 to 1819 the London Missionary Society
opened two 'Seminaries' at Kottayam in 1816 and Nagercoil
in 1819.
• The most important name connected with educational work
in the state is that of Rev. Charles Mead. Mead started a
seminary in Nagercoil in October 1819, where the
languages of English, Tamil, and Malayalam were taught in
addition to theology.
• Johanna Mead, his wife, started a girls school and a
handicrafts training institute in the vicinity.

18. Nagercoil Seminary founded by Mead,
which later became Scott Christian
College.
Charles Mead
• Mead dreamt of the seminary becoming a college
someday, and so it did. In 1893, the seminary became
the Scott Christian College.
• By 1927, the London Missionary Society had opened
47 schools in South Travancore.

19. Nair Service Society
Sree Narayana Trust
Muslim Educational Society

20. • Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam raised the status
of the backward and depressed classes in Kerala.
• The social development of Ezhavas is the main target of this
Yogam.
• This Yogam also propagated the preaching of Sree Nayana
Guru. "One Caste, One religion. One God for the Man Kind
• Admitting the Ezhava students to government and
government aided schools was the first attempt of the
yogam.

21. • After the post-Independence scene R. Shankar took over as
General Secretary.
• Shankar concentrated his efforts on education. He raised an
educational fund of Rs. 1 lakh within 24 hours, and started
the Sree Narayana College at Kollam.
• Further, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam founded
schools and colleges in the independent India.
• Sree Narayana Trust was an important trust under Sree
Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam. This trust was
founded by R. Shankar. Kollam was the head quarter of Sree
Narayana Trust.

22. • The Nair Service Society, a synonym for selfless service and social
commitment was founded by the Late. Sri Mannathu Padmanabhan on 31
October l914.
• In the nineteenth century, The Hindus in general and Nairs in particular
could not reap the benefits of education. The Nair Service Society began
taking steps in propagating education right from the beginning. The
establishment of Karukachal English School in 1915 make its entry into the
educational field.
• a. Today the Nair Service Society had seventeen unaided English Medium
Schools, twenty N.S.S. Upper Primary Schools, sixty five N.S.S. High Schools,
thirty one N.S.S Higher Secondary school, two N.S.S. Vocational Higher
Secondary Schools and four N.S.S.Teacher Training Institutions.

23. • The Nair Service Society not only concentrate on school education,
but they want to promote higher education in Kerala.
• For the promotion of higher education in Kerala the Nair Service
Society started colleges too.
• For the successful conduct of the institution, appointed a committee
was constituted under the chairmanship of Deputy Education
Director Gopala Krishnan.
• According to the recommendation of the committee, the first college
of Nair Service Society was started at Perunna in Changanacherry. It
was established in 1947, it is one of the largest colleges under the
Mahatma Gandhi University.

24. • .It is the biggest educational agency of the Muslim Community in
India, having thousands of life members and hundreds of institutions.
• Muslim Educational Society was founded by late Dr. Abdul Gafoor in
1964 at Kozhikode
• Muslim Educational Society is one of the biggest Service
Organizations serving the Muslim minority in the country. The main
objective of the Muslim Educational Society is educational, social and
cultural up-lift of the Indian Muslims.
• MES Kalladi College at Mannarkad was the first institution to be set
up by the society in 1967.

25. Two thirds of schools and eighty percent of the
arts and science colleges in Kerala are in the
hands of Non-Governmental agencies.

26. • The Kerala Education Act of 1958 was a landmark
legislation enacted by the Government of Kerala, India,
with the aim of reforming and regulating the education
system in the state.
• The primary objective of the Kerala Education Act of 1958
was to ensure the development and regulation of education
in the state of Kerala. It aimed to provide quality education
to all sections of society and to promote uniformity and
standards in educational institutions.

27. HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN
KERALA
• Budhha Viharas
• Salas
• Sabha Mutts
• Ezhuthupalli
• Othupallis
• Kalaries
• Kudippallikkoodam
• Maktabs and Madrasahs
SPREAD OF EDUCATION IN
KERALA
CHRISTAN MISSIONARIES
• BEM
• LMS
• CMS
NON-GOVERNEMENTAL AGENCIES
• SN TRUST
• NSS
• MES