The Scottish educator Andrew Bell (1753-1832) was the developer of the Madras, or mutual instruction, system of education, which enjoyed great vogue in the first four decades of the 19th century, especially in schools attended by the poor.

Andrew Bell was born in St. Andrews on March 27, 1753. In 1769 he entered St. Andrews University, where he excelled in mathematics and natural philosophy. After serving from 1774 to 1781 as a private tutor in the Virginia Colony, he returned to Scotland, where he continued tutoring and was ordained a clergyman in the Anglican Church.

Bell sailed for India in 1787. He was appointed superintendent of the Madras Male Orphan Society, where he developed the Madras system, which became his lifework and made him a leading figure in English education.

At the Madras school little progress was being made because neither the teachers nor the pupils showed any interest in learning. One day Bell...