ABSTRACT
Within and outside India, Kerala is known for its total literacy and the historical penchant for the education of its population. Its renowned position in educational development is the result of the work of a variety of agents – western missionaries, local churches, community organisations, social reformers and the state – who, over the last two centuries have supported the cause of education and taken diverse initiatives in starting and maintaining educational institutions of different kinds. In what follows, I briefly sketch the growth of school education in the two princely states of Travancore and Cochin, what constitutes central and southern Kerala today. 1
