Education in Madras Presidency prior to the formation of Educational Department in 1854 by Sir Thomas Munro was informal, mainly in vedic patasalas. Efforts made by the then British Government were irregular and required thorough revamping and therefore the Governor Sir.T. Munro draw the attention to the local Government to the subject of education in a Minute recorded by him on the 25th June 1822 in which he says: — “Much has been written, both in England and in this country, about the ignorance of the people of India, and the means of disseminating knowledge among them, but the opinions upon this subject are the mere conjectures of individuals, unsupported by any authentic documents, and differing so widely from each other, as to be entitled to very little attention”. Therefore, a Committee of Public Instruction was structured to bring out Sir T. Munro's scheme into reality. The principal phase taken by the Committee was to organize a school at Madras for the training of teachers. This institution provided subsequently became the foundation of the Madras High School and ultimately developed into the Presidency College.

Presidency College was born during the times of East India Company. They laid solid foundations for educating the natives of India in English education. Originally the East India Company did not evince any interest in enlightening Indians in English education. (...Read More)