1. Fernandez, who came to Madurai during the time of Veerappa Nayak, established a primary school.
2. Tha Maratha ruler Sarfoji II collected the old records and kept them in the Saraswathi Mahal Library.
3. He also had a printing press with Devanagari type, which was located at Tanjore.
4. Pradran is an important center of higher education in the country.
5. Sir Thomas Munroe the Governor of Madras Presidency (1820 – 27) was highly responsible for the introduction of Western education in Madras Presidency.
6. The Education Commission of Munroe recommended the creation of two principal schools (Collectorate and Tahsildare Schools) in each district.
7. In 1835 Lord William passed a resolution favouring the introduction of western system of education in India.
8. Wood’s Despatch of 1854 introduced the department of public instruction in Madras Presidency. Grant – in – aid was given to all schools.
9. The Madras University was founded in 1857. It was the first University in Tamil Nadu under the British rule.
10. In 1882 the Local Boards Act was passed. The Board was empowered to open new schools and to get grants from the government.
11. In 1938, all subjects except English were taught in Tamil in Schools.
12. The Annamalai University was founded at Chidambaram in 1929. This was the next step in the development of higher education.
