The activity of Christian missions during this period seems_The education of the women of India

extraordinary, when the difficulties which hampered Government

efforts are considered. Moreover, all their educational work was

handicapped, so far as numbers were concerned, by the frank and open

avowal of the desire to win their pupils ultimately for Christianity.

The missionaries had, however, at their command the one essential

asset--Western women who were willing to give themselves heart and

soul to the work. Eight new women’s societies, both British and

American, entered India between 1860 and 1870, and educational work

both in zenanas and in schools was their most effective means of

contact with the people. Their pupils in the Primary stages were

drawn both from the non-Christian population and from the orphans and

converts in connection with the missions. As it was possible to retain

the Christian girls, and even some of the others for longer than the

usual period, owing to the exclusion of men teachers from the mission

schools, a Secondary system on identical lines with that for boys began

to be slowly built up.

The Inspectress in the North Western Provinces notes that almost

the only really prosperous Middle girls’ schools are those in large

stations superintended by ladies of the missionary societies.[38]

Miss Carpenter’s testimony to the schools in Madras and Calcutta is

in similar terms. Where village schools were attempted they seem to

have suffered from lack of constant supervision. In 1870, the Isabella

Thoburn School, Lucknow, was founded, and in 1880, the Sarah Tucker

School, in Palamcottah. In 1881, the Free Church Mission School in

Calcutta had the satisfaction of passing a successful candidate for

the First Arts examination. This girl, and a pupil from the Bethune

School who passed in the same year, were the first in all India[39] to

accomplish this feat.

The third period, from 1884 to the present date, is marked by a

definite change in the attitude of Government. The Educational

Commission of 1882 under Sir William Hunter revealed many abuses which

had grown up in connection with the system in vogue for boys, and also

showed how little had really been done for girls. The recommendation

is that girls’ schools should now receive “special encouragement and

liberality.” The further recommendation of the Educational Commission

of 1900 is that girls’ schools should receive liberal grants and that

the fees should be less rigidly enforced. The standards of instruction

in the Primary schools should be different and have special reference

to the requirements of home life and to the occupations open to women.

This policy, emphatically reiterated in the Despatch of 1904, has

worked out differently in the different provinces, as is indicated

elsewhere. Its main features in the last two decades may be said to be

the appointment from home of experienced educators as Inspectresses of

Schools in the Indian Educational Service, the establishment of model

schools for girls like those formerly created for boys, in districts

where the aided schools had not reached the required standard or

did not satisfy the wants of the neighbourhood, and a considerably

increased financial outlay both in grants and direct educational work.

In 1907 the total expenditure amounted to over forty-four lakhs.

There is no desire in any way to supersede the aided schools, on the

contrary, it is recognized that the more their work is extended, so

long as it is really efficient, the better for a country which like

many others groans under its taxation, and where also the limit of

desire for female education is still easily reached. To efficiency and

adequate supply, the Government directs its attention. The proportion

of the schools directly managed by the Public Authority to private or

aided schools may be seen in the accompanying table, being slightly

over 20.41 per cent. of the whole.

Of the aided schools there is no separate official classification

to show what proportion are managed by Indian committees, and what

by missionary agencies.[40] Where possible this has been indicated

from local information in the chapters on the separate provinces. The

Indian spontaneous element has become however much stronger during this

modern period, not only in Bombay, where it has grown steadily since

1847, but also in connection with the various Samājes in the Punjāb,

United Provinces and Bengal. The orthodox Hindu element is seen in the

system of the Mahakali Pathshalas[41] started in Bengal in 1893, while

probably the most remarkable feature in the Indian movement is the

establishment of girls’ schools under committees of Indian gentlemen

representing different faiths. This indigenous movement is due in part

to a desire to provide a good education without direct interference

with the religion of the pupils, and in part to a reaction from the

extreme secularism and the Westernizing influences of the Government

schools.

+MANAGEMENT OF GIRLS’ SCHOOLS+[42]

+------------+---------------------------+-----------------+------+

+------------+-------+----------+--------+--------+--------+Total.|

+------------+-------+----------+--------+--------+--------+------+

| Schools | 12 | 2 | 1 | 44 | 4 | 63|

|High | 7 | -- | -- | 98 | 7 | 112|

| English | 3 | 1 | 2 | 179 | 6 | 191|

| Vernacular| 56 | 10 | 185 | 11 | -- | 262|

|Primaries | 365 | 1,274 | 250 | 7,041 | 1,053 | 9,983|

+------------+----- +----------+--------+--------+--------+------+

|Total | 443 | 1,287 | 438 | 7,373 | 1,070 |10,611|

+------------+-------+----------+--------+--------+--------+------+

+GIRLS UNDER INSTRUCTION CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO RACE OR CREED+[43]

+-----------+------+------+-------+------+-----+------+-----+-------+

+-----------+------+------+-------+------+-----+------+-----+-------+

| English) |11,502|10,725| 4,316| 140|1,402| 757| 552| 29,394|

| | | | | | | | | |

| cular) | 11| 6,896| 17,561| 1,104| 5| 6,246| 20| 31,843|

| | | | | | | | | |

|and Girls) | 564|22,776|133,341|27,832| 820|31,379|2,431|219,143|

| | | | | | | | | |

| only) | 1,547|16,063|214,092|46,876|3,626|10,382|1,519|294,105|

| | | | | | | | | |

| SCHOOLS+ | 173| 844| 292| 70| --| 32| 9| 1,420|

+-----------+------+------+-------+------+-----+------+-----+-------+

Missionary work in education during the modern period is marked by

continued expansion. The former success of mission agencies in taking a

proportion of their pupils beyond the elementary stages is redoubled.

Of the forty three High Schools for Indian girls, only five in 1907

were under Government management. “The bulk of female Secondary

education is provided by missionaries.”[44] A glance at the religious

classification table will show that out of some 17,000 Indian girls in

the High and Middle Schools more than 10,000 are Indian Christians,

while a large proportion of non-Christian pupils are also studying in

mission schools and colleges. The Christian Primary schools in the

villages have also greatly improved in type through the introduction in

some places of modern educational methods under the careful and regular

supervision of trained English managers.

As we survey the situation as a whole, certain problems stand out as

common to all India and as indicating how critical is the present

period in relation to the ultimate development of her women. These

are the extension of Primary education, the retaining of pupils in

the higher stages, the nationalizing of the curriculum, the supply of

teachers, and finally the place of the religious element in education.

In spite of the recent rapid increase and the steady progress of the

last twenty years, the percentage of girls of school age attending

school is only 4.6,[45] and though the next Quinquennial Returns will

probably show a marked increase, the desire for education has still in

many places to be created. The proportion of girls in the Secondary

stages is not shown by the number of those studying in High and Middle

English schools,[46] as many of these are in the Primary classes.

Only 1208 girls were actually in the High School departments in 1907.

In that year 178 girls passed the Matriculation examination.[47]

This small proportion indicates, apart from the social and religious

customs which cause it, a lack of balance in the whole system. Are the

circumstances under which higher education is given not such as commend

themselves to the Indian mind? Or is the course of studies pursued not

of sufficiently practical and educational value to prove attractive

to Indian women? Is there any foundation for the popular belief that

the physique of Indian girls is not strong enough for a prolonged

school course? These questions underlie much of the discussion in the

following chapters.

[Illustration: Government Examination of Girls, Calcutta]

Two causes are apparently at work. In India as a whole 42% of the girl

pupils are studying in boys’ schools. These naturally never proceed

beyond the Primary stage, as co-education is not, except in the hill

districts, in accordance with Indian ideas. There seems therefore a

great need for increasing the number of Primary schools for girls only,

whence the transition to the higher stages would be easy. In some

districts there is practically an unlimited field for expansion in this

way. Another cause may possibly be the difficulty of access to really

first-class schools for non-Christian girls. The missionary societies

which have done so much for the higher education of boys have, with

certain exceptions, concentrated their attention on the provision of

excellent boarding-schools for the girls of the Christian community

rather than aiming at developing a parallel system for girls which

would attract the non-Christian element, as it has on the men’s side.

The new Middle and High schools which are springing up under Government

and Indian auspices are an attempt to meet this need, but there is

undoubtedly room for further development.

The problem of the curriculum is a very subtle one. In the early days

of the reform of girls’ education in Great Britain, about 1862,[48]

the greatest need seemed to be the adoption of an adequate test of

knowledge, and that test one already recognized, so that there might

seem to be no lower requirement to suit the supposed lower capacity

of the feminine mind. The same principle worked in the early days of

girls’ education in India and preparation for Matriculation[49] seemed

the only means by which the standard could be raised. Whereas in Great

Britain the leading girls’ High schools have developed a flexibility

and variety of curriculum wherein many a “womanly woman” has found

her training, even if she did not prefer to seek her education in one

of the numerous excellent private schools, the girls’ curriculum for

Indian girls has been stereotyped on masculine lines. If we assume

that education should prepare for future life, it seems clearly wrong

that the preparation for spheres so totally different as those of

Indian men and women should be identical. A highly trained missionary

educator sums up the problem of the Secondary school as follows:--“In

spite of the fact that less than 1% go on to college, the whole plan

of school education is made to lead up to Matriculation and instead

of completing a school course, the aim is to prepare for a college

course that is never entered upon.” The Inspectress in Bombay writes

in this connection:--“Such a course is harmful, and girls leave

these schools with weakened physique and very little in the way of

real culture to compensate for it.” An Inspectress from Madras also

writes:--“The examination shadow is to be seen in every room from

the third form upwards, and it is only with the greatest difficulty

that sufficient time can be snatched for the teaching of a little

recitation, drawing and drill, in view of the annual inspection.” In

the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay a departmental examination is

offered as alternative to Matriculation for girls, and in this such

subjects as botany, hygiene, drawing, dress-making, cooking, appear

as substitutes for algebra and geometry, but the schools prefer to

send up their girls for Matriculation. The further question arises

not only of the differentiation of the girls’ curriculum from that of

the boys’ but also from that of Western girls. How is Indian female

education to be brought into close touch with Indian environment? The

spontaneous Indian movement is in part an attempt to meet this problem,

while on the other hand it inclines to view as a racial affront any

suggestion to adapt the curriculum to the special needs of girls.

The Government Inspectresses are closely considering the matter and

are eager to welcome any constructive policy which will lessen the

danger of creating the “female Babu.” Several missionaries are working

hard against the denationalizing tendencies which in many cases were

introduced before the reformed educational methods prevailed in the

West. A conference of English educators and Indian missionaries was

recently held in London to discuss Indian curricula and the relation

of the educational problems of the East and West. It is true that the

opinion of Indian missionaries is not yet unanimous on the need of

any alteration, and as the bulk of Secondary education is in their

hands their co-operation is essential. There is however good hope of

a sound constructive theory being ultimately produced if women of

sufficient courage, originality and ability can be found to plough for

a while a lonely furrow. The curricula for the Primary schools is a

different question. Some educators hold it to be the saner policy to

accept the fact that the majority of the girls will only be at school

for four years, and to adapt the whole course to this limitation. A

correspondent of the Education Commission of the World Missionary

Conference 1910, writes:--“Under such circumstances, therefore, the aim

should be directed towards a sound elementary education in reading,

writing and arithmetic, a knowledge of domestic economy and hygiene,

and the formation of a strong moral character. The aim, that is, must

be determined by the opportunities offered for education. It is better

to reach a lower aim than to try for a higher aim and fail altogether.

I believe the mistake that is made in regard to the education of Hindu

girls is in attempting to do the impossible. There are many subjects

which it is extremely desirable to teach, but the limited time during

which the girls are teachable makes it imperative to concentrate on

what is attainable. We should aim, therefore, at demonstrating to

the people that the girls who have been to school become superior

housewives and mothers; that what they learn is of real value to them

in the home; and above all, that their moral character is improved and

strengthened.”[50] The Primary curriculum has already been remodelled

to a certain extent. In Bengal, Eastern Bengal, and the United

Provinces separate schemes have been issued. In the two former the

courses follow the method of the Kindergarten in the lower classes, and

include much nature study, also hygiene, domestic economy and sewing.

In the United Provinces and Bombay the reading-books in use for girls

are different. These reading-books are often the only printed matter

which a village girl may ever possess, and they are intended to impart

a large amount of useful information. A reformed curriculum in the

hands of untrained teachers becomes, however, a dead letter, perhaps

hardly less injurious than the mere literacy of former days, and thus

the interdependence of the various educational problems is once again

illustrated. Is it advisable to increase the number of Primary schools,

and to adapt their curriculum without an adequate supply of trained

teachers?

The problem of the teacher can be traced since the first beginnings in

1820, recurring with the same baffling insistency. The modern situation

shows little advance, except that the absolute necessity of having

all teachers to some extent trained is gradually being recognized,

and grants are influenced by the degree in which this ideal is kept

in view. The sources of supply for teachers in Indian schools of all

grades are women from English-speaking countries, Anglo-Indians or

“country born” English girls from the Hill schools, members of the

Brāhma and Ārya Samāj, Indian Christians, Parsis, married women of

some education from the Hindu non-Brahman community and lastly “women

who have learnt to read and write at home.” This last class is still

astonishingly prevalent. Teachers from other sources are sometimes

procured but, except in the case of married women, they are few

in number. There are also a good many elderly pandits teaching in

village schools. The trouble is that the demand enormously exceeds the

supply. Here is a dilemma familiar to missions. A village school has

no teacher; there is at hand a mission pupil, who has finished her

Vernacular Middle Examination, but has not been trained; too often it

ends in the appointment of the girl to the school, as the committee

knows that the interval before she marries will be only too brief. This

illustration applies throughout the mission field. The difficulties,

moreover, attending proper chaperonage of village mistresses are

enormous. The employment of widows, where such are forthcoming, is

subject to the same difficulty, but ultimately they may with proper

training and care become a main source of supply. The hopes which early

theorists have built upon the widows of India are to a certain extent

already justified and may still be confidently cherished. As regards

the opportunities for training, a special circular, issued by the

Central Government, in 1901, has provided a needed stimulus to both

official and private effort. It is difficult to distinguish absolutely

between Secondary and Primary training,[51] as some institutions have

a few students doing more advanced work than the others. On the whole

there is a distinct lack of provision for the separate Secondary

training of women teachers; very few women graduates have taken it and

the creation of the opportunity might create the demand. The students

in training are mostly Anglo-Indian. The provision for Primary training

is more adequate, though there is still in some instances a lack of

that co-operation between missionary societies which would lead to more

efficient work. The details of management and religious classification

of pupils are given on pages 48 and 49. The great difficulty in all

the Primary training work is the lack of preliminary knowledge; in some

of the institutes for widows, indeed, this is a long forgotten minimum.

The influence of the previous curriculum upon those who pass on to the

proper Vernacular Course after the Middle Examination is also felt. An

experienced teacher comments:--“The shadow of prescribed examination

which hangs over the school course before training tends to leave the

girls quite unacquainted with the newer subjects, and they are not

able to acquire these during their training course with sufficient

thoroughness to teach them satisfactorily afterwards.”

The inter-relation of these problems needs to be borne in mind

throughout. It seems in many ways as if the whole reform in women’s

education in India must begin from above downwards, namely in the High

School and College stages combined with Secondary training, till the

impulse imparted thence is felt throughout every grade. This subject is

specially treated in the chapter on the University Education of women.

Reform further can only come through closer co-operation, the need and

opportunity for this will be apparent in the course of our study of

conditions in the different provinces.

III

BURMA

“Thou son of _dewas_; to hear and see much in order to acquire

knowledge; to study all science that leads not to sin; to make use of

proper language; to study the Law in order to acquire a knowledge of

propriety of behaviour; these are blessed things, _Dewa_, mark

them well.”

“Thou son of _dewas_; to be patient and endure suffering; to

rejoice in edifying discourse; to visit the holy men when occasion

serves; to converse on religious subjects; these are blessed things,

_Dewa_, mark them well.”

The _Mingala-thut_. Buddhist Beatitudes.

(Burma--Sir George Scott).

In Burma the ancient ideal of Indian womanhood may still be seen in

a somewhat purified form. The Buddhist faith which gives a touch

of gentleness to every relation of life, has accentuated its best

features and swept away many of the laws which hindered its development

elsewhere. There is thus very little in the position of women in Burma

at which even the most pronounced feminist could cavil. The woman

is, if anything, the predominant partner and yet few realize that

she rules. Gay, blythe and débonnaire, the sunniest spot in a sunny

scene, her rainbow-tinted tamein relieved by a short white jacket, a

coloured scarf across her shoulder, and fresh flowers clustering in

her dark lustrous hair, the Burmese woman is ready any day for any

problem of life you may choose to propound. She is the bargainer,

trader and financier of the family, and as such her legal and monetary

position after marriage is well assured. Marriage is here an affair

of the heart, and it is entered upon when young life flows strong in

the later teens. A woman may not marry without her parents’ consent

before the age of twenty, but then if marriage is her wish, why should

the parents not consent? Why should anyone object to anything which

promises to fulfil the heart’s desire of another. So runs a contented

“laissez faire” policy. And life is not measured in terms of money by

the Burmese. If education has a chance anywhere of being regarded not

as a means of livelihood but as a leading forth of the mind to higher

and nobler thoughts, it is here in Burma, in consequence of the mental

characteristics of the people. Work beyond what is needed for the bare

necessaries of life seems unnatural, and there is no perpetually rising

standard of comfort, nor passion for accumulation to bind the Burmese

to an unceasing wheel of toil. He pauses to be glad and to rejoice.

The art of rejoicing is one of the chief arts of Burma, and there is

perhaps no country in the world where it is carried to such a pitch of

perfection. No generalization can be made about any people unless long

years are spent in their midst, but the first impressions made by the

Burmese on a stranger generally confirm the writers who characterize

them as modern hedonists. There are books which show another side of

the picture, and many sad facts (notably the looseness of the marriage

tie[52]) bear them out, but leaving these aside, and turning to our

particular problem, we find that the girls’ schools of Burma are glad

and happy places. There is an atmosphere of buoyancy and quiet zest in

work which strikes the visitor at once, and this testimony is amply

borne out by the teachers.

[Illustration: Girls at St Luke’s Mission, Toungoo, Burma]