Saturday, May 21, 2005
Education in Kerala
One of the things that struck me while writing the last post was Logical Meme's comment that third-world countries owed the 'introduction of education' to the colonialists. It reminded me of a post that I've been meaning to make for a long while. During my dissertation writing process, I was investigating the origins of Kerala's educational achievements over the past 100 years and I came across this amazing Royal Rescript proclaimed by the Queen of Travancore in 1817. Yes, 1817! It explained a lot.
The last time I checked, Logical Meme (or Kimball or Powerline), the Maharani of Travancore did not belong to the House of Hanover or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Could it be, horror of horrors, that some of the natives hit upon the idea of state-funded universal education even before the colonistas did in their own countries?
The state should defray the entire cost of the education of its people in order that there might be no backwardness in the spread of enlightenment among them, that by diffusion of education they might become better subjects and public servants and that the reputation of the state might be enhanced thereby.
The last time I checked, Logical Meme (or Kimball or Powerline), the Maharani of Travancore did not belong to the House of Hanover or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Could it be, horror of horrors, that some of the natives hit upon the idea of state-funded universal education even before the colonistas did in their own countries?
