Exemplary educationist

FROM HUMBLE beginnings as a science teacher, S. Natarajan rose to the position of vice-president of the World Confederation of the Teaching Profession, Geneva, and adviser to the Government of India in the Ministry of Education. His contribution to the field of education in general and the teaching community in particular, was the thrust towards professionalisation of teachers, driving home the need for self-help through research and development at the grassroot - classroom-level.

He was an architect of the South Indian Teacher's Union, vice- president of the All India Federation of Educational Associations and the first Director of the All India Council for Secondary Education, a member of the Madras Legislative Council for a brief term, and an active participant in many national and international committees on education.

Born on February 26, 1901, in a small village near Villupuram in Tamil Nadu, Natarajan had his education at St. Joseph's Secondary School, Cuddalore, and in St. Joseph's College, Trichy. He served as an untrained teacher of science and then underwent training in Teacher's College, Saidapet, Madras. He then joined St. Gabriel's High School, Broadway, Madras, where he served for 23 years - from 1922 to 1955. It was during this period that he came to be closely associated with eminent educationists of those days like Professors Yagna Narayanan, M. S. Sabesan, R. Krishnamurti of Pachaiyappa's College, and Mr. T. P. Srinivasavaradan and built up the South Indian Teacher's Union into a professional organisation, a body whose counsel was sought by Education Commissions and government departments of education.

Early in 1955, the British Council invited Natarajan to visit educational institutions in the U.K. Soon after his return, he received a call from the Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi, to organise and direct the activities of the then newly constituted All India Council for Secondary Education. With funds provided by the Ford Foundation he set up Departments of Extension Services in various colleges of education with a view to promote in-service education of teachers working in secondary schools. He laid down his office when the All India Council, which had been functioning as an autonomous body, became a wing of the Ministry of Education.

In 1956, he attended the annual conference of the World Confederation of the Teaching Profession held in the Philippines. From 1957 till 1969, he was the vice-president of this world body, after which he offered to step down on health grounds. The W.C.O.T.P. conferred on him the Russell Medal, instituted only that year as a mark of recognition of his services to the cause of education. In the Government of India conferred on him the Padma Shri award. In the last eight years of his life, he continued to be active in spite of his failing health. He directed many research and development projects in the S.I.T.U. Council of Educational Research and set up a trust with a grant from the Ford Foundation, substantial subsidies from the Central and the State governments, and liberal donations from his friends and admirers. He tried hard to stabilise the position of the two schools - a primary and nursery named Sabesan Balabrindavan that he had founded under the auspices of the Society for the Promotion of Education in India. He founded a new all-India Association for English Language Teachers. He also founded an Association for the Promotion of Science Education, the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India and the Geography Teachers' Association. He also organised the annual conference of All India Science Association, 1973, and a national seminar on Education of Women.

He founded Experiments in Education, Journal of English Language Teaching, the Geography Teacher, the Mathematics Teacher, Junior Scientist and its Tamil version, 'Ilam Vignani'. He also founded the SITU Publications Private Limited which brought out simple and interesting collateral reading materials in the form of small books for school children.

S. Natarajan was a pioneer in professionalisation of secondary school teachers, a visionary and a successful founder of institutions. He passed away on May 10, 1977. He exemplified for the teaching community the dictum "Raise thyself by thine own efforts", both at the individual and the collective levels.

D. RAJA GANESAN

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