The Monitorial System, also known as Madras System or Lancasterian System, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century, because of Spanish, French, and English colonial education that was imposed into the areas of expansion. This method was also known as "mutual instruction" or the "Bell–Lancaster method" after the British educators Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster who both independently developed it. The method was based on the abler pupils being used as "helpers" to the teacher, passing on the information they had learned to other students.

Andrew Bell was a Scottish Anglican priest and educationalist who pioneered the Madras System of Education in schools. He was the founder of Madras College, a secondary school in St Andrews, and helped fund other schools.