Rajaji’s Hereditary Education Scheme: A Historical Study

Abstract

The Hereditary Education Scheme introduced in the Madras State during the chief ministership of C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) in 1952–1953 was one of the most controversial educational experiments in post-independent India. The scheme, popularly known as the Kula Kalvi Thittam, sought to reorganise elementary education by combining school instruction with practical training in the traditional occupation of the child's family. Rajaji and his supporters argued that the scheme would make education more practical, reduce school expenditure, prevent unemployment, and preserve useful occupational skills. However, its opponents viewed the scheme as a form of hereditary occupational education that could reinforce caste and social inequalities. The controversy surrounding the scheme brought together questions of education, caste, occupation, social mobility, economic development, and the role of the state in shaping educational policy. This paper examines the historical background, objectives, implementation, public response, political controversy, and eventual withdrawal of the Hereditary Education Scheme. It argues that the significance of the scheme lies not merely in its short duration but in the larger debate it generated concerning equality of educational opportunity and the relationship between traditional occupations and modern education in Tamil Nadu.