The schools of Tranquebar: An educational field of cultural encounters and conflicts

Abstract

The arri1•al of the missionariesfi-om the Halle Mission to Tranquebar in 1706 deeply influenced the educational development of southern India. Education was a central element in the pietistic strategy of the Danish-Ha//e Alission to convert the Tamils to Christianity. The mission established 11·ithin ufew decades an e/j'ective school ~ystem in Tranquebar and its territory. which made it possible/or a broad segment a/the Tamil youth to receive basic school educ at ion. The educational success of the missionaries soon sprl!adji·om the Tranquebar area to other parts ojSouth India. where the missionaries established a number of schools. The school activities of the missionaries among the common Tamil population were the first steps towards the creation ofa general school .w1·tem in India and a precondition /iJr the development in the nineteenth century. where the public authorities took responsibility/or the teaching of Indian children. The legacy of the Danish-Ha/le Mission is still evident in Tranquebar. not least in the field of education. where the town holds an unusually large number ofprivate schools, including two teacher training institutes, of which all but one are mvned and run by Christian organizations.