Eminent educationist S.S. Rajagopalan passes away at 95

Eminent educationist S.S. Rajagopalan, who was part of the committee that formulated the Samacheer Kalvi (Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education) scheme under the DMK government led by former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, died in Chennai late on Tuesday. He was 95.

His body has been handed over for medical research to Sri Ramachandra Medical College in Porur.

Beginning his career in the 1950s, Rajagopalan declined job offers at the then Imperial Bank of India and the civil services to pursue teaching. He started out as a math teacher and retired as the headmaster of Sarvajana Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore.

He dedicated his life to championing equitable education, education in mother tongue, and neighbourhood schools. He was also a member of the technical committee of the All India Forum for Right Education. He fought for the rights of students and teachers.

Speaking to The Hindu in 1997, Rajagopalan said: “Four maxims should motivate all teachers. Every child is educable; No two children are alike; every teacher is an eternal learner; and it is the teacher who has to evolve a strategy to cater to every individual learner.”

State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu general secretary P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu said: “He had great faith in students and student movements, and firmly believed that students would win equal educational opportunities for the people of India as their right.”

In a post on X, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said, “The demise of the senior educationist is a great loss to the field of education. He was one who emphasised that examination does not merely evaluate learning. It also evaluates teaching. While guiding pioneering projects, he never hesitated to critique them and always stood for the welfare of students.”

Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who was the School Education Minister during the deliberations on Samacheer Kalvi, took to X to condole his demise.

“S.S. Rajagopalan was not only an excellent teacher and educationist, but his social outlook continues to serve as an inspiring example for today’s generation,” he said.