Chapter VI: Interesting Institutions in the United Provinces and Panjāb

“The world exists in order to grow souls under the eyes of a patient, tireless, yearning Teacher.” From _Hindustan Review_.

It is not proposed to give in this chapter a detailed account of general organization and of the forces at work. There is a definite similarity in the system of administration throughout all India, though it varies in its adaptation to indigenous institutions: one policy underlies missionary efforts, though they differ remarkably in the personal factor; the new Indian spirit is everywhere more or less articulate. But it is worth while to lay emphasis on certain phases of the problem of female education in the United Provinces, and on certain institutions in the Panjāb which are typical of the complexity of the situation, or present unique characteristics.

In the Quinquennial Survey the United Provinces occupy an unsatisfactory position at the bottom of the list of comparative percentages, showing only 1.2 per cent. of girls of school-going age at school. This percentage has, however, risen in 1910 to 1.33, and the total number of institutions has increased from 1,067 to 1,266--a creditable advance in the face of the difficulties to be encountered. The “impatient idealist” must beware, however, of extravagant hopes of transformation in a country where progress must of necessity be slow and of an evolutionary nature. Under more stringent inspection and regulation, the rapid advance in the early part of the decade has proved to a certain extent fictitious, and due to an over-hasty desire on the part of the educational authorities to move with the times. Local committees had apparently started schools for which there was no demand and for which they were unable to procure teachers. One Inspectress reports that in some cases, on a surprise visit, no teacher was found at all; in others, though the teachers were present, no work was being done.[95] Artificial efforts to hasten the pace were attended only by a spurious success; for example, a capitation grant of four annas a month was given in 1906 for every girl attending a boys’ school, with a resulting increase of 4000 in the statistics of attendance; but a careful inspection and subsequent removal of the grant proved that the girls had simply been procured to sit in the schoolroom without receiving any attention, and that they left in a year or two as ignorant as when they entered it. Quite possibly some of the annas had found their way into the pockets of the parents who had been so obliging as to lend their girls. The latest statistics show a drop of 3000 in the total number of female scholars, but this is entirely among the girls attending boys’ schools, and is due to the more efficient administration. The slight increase in the Secondary schools and in the girls’ Primary schools is a sign of genuine progress and may be welcomed as such. The policy of the Government is one of slow advance after careful investigation and enlistment of local co-operation. About the year 1907, every District Officer was instructed to form a special committee to watch over the interests of girls’ education in his district, and some of these committees have done excellent work, while others have been baffled by the difficulties to be faced and by lack of funds. Others, again, as indicated above, have tended to make haste too quickly. The fact that Indian non-Christian men of good social position have been found willing to serve on these committees is an indication of general advance and of growing sympathy with every effort for enlightenment and reform.[96]

As regards Inspectresses, the United Provinces are better staffed at present than any other province excepting possibly Madras, and yet the overwork is no less, for the districts are very large, and in many cases the schools are quite inaccessible to the woman traveller. But in a country where _parda_ is strict, and where registers may only represent fictitious girls, and where moreover the work of the Inspectress is much needed for the stimulus and sympathy she can give, the system well repays the necessary expense, and will probably admit of yet further expansion. An effort is also being made to secure voluntary co-operation on the part of both English and Indian ladies who are willing and able to help. One Indian lady has given a great deal of her time to the inspection of the Government Primary schools in her district; another lady, a missionary with exceptional qualifications, is secretary of a local educational committee.

+TABLE OF SCHOOLS FOR INDIAN GIRLS IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.+[97]

+-----------------------------------------+--------------------+
| +UNDER | +UNDER |
| PUBLIC MANAGEMENT. |PRIVATE MANAGEMENT.+|
+-----------------------+----------+------+---------+----------+
| | Local or|Native | | |
| Government. |Municipal|States.| Aided. | Unaided. |
| | Branch. | | | |
+----------------+------+---------+-------+---------+----------+
|High Schools | .. | .. | .. | 6 | .. |
| | | | | | |
|Middle-- | | | | | |
| English | .. | 1 | .. | 18 | 4 |
| Vernacular | .. | .. | .. | 7 | .. |
| | | | | | |
|Primary | 5 | 355 | .. | 499 | 17 |
| | | | | | |
|Training Schools| 1 | .. | .. | 7 | 3 |
+----------------+------+---------+-------+---------+----------+
| | 58 | 356 | .. | 537 | 24 |
+----------------+------+---------+-------+---------+----------+

The problem of finding teachers is even more acute here than elsewhere. It seems hardly credible that a teacher could be found in regular employment who was unable to write words of three letters to dictation, yet such is a recorded fact. Her ignorance had been concealed by a memorized knowledge of the Koran. Of sixty-two Primary schools sanctioned by Government in 1909 it has only been possible to open twenty-one because of the entire lack of teachers with even the minimum of qualification.

There are two lines of spontaneous Indian effort: the Ārya Samāj, whose schools conform to the Government Code and regulations, and neo-Hinduism,[98] which has produced Mrs Besant’s school for Indian girls at Benares. The Ārya Samāj have a good training school for teachers at Dehra Dun, students from which may be found teaching in their schools in other parts of India. A High school department has recently been added to it, and every effort is being put forth to make it a strong educational centre. The school at Benares is in connexion with the Hindu Central College, and poses as a definite revolt from the anglicizing tendency of Government and mission schools. It receives no grant, and as yet has not even applied for inspection. The Government is considered to “favour Christian and mission schools,” and therefore, though there is the same lack of funds here as elsewhere, the promoters will have none of it or its money! Freedom to shape their own curriculum is also a dominant motive. To enter the school and see over a hundred beautifully dressed Indian girls, almost all of the Brahman caste, sitting in groups of six or seven, on bright carpets, the class-rooms well separated in the spacious airy building, was certainly to feel that here one might find a solution of the curriculum problem and a constructive theory of Indian education. “A training in conduct and religion is what Indians, as a rule, value most for their women--the work for those going beyond the rudiments is too bookish in character.”[99] Here the teachers are free to saturate the instruction throughout with the ethical elements of a religion acceptable to the parents, to edit their own text-books, to emphasize the study of the vernaculars and Indian classics without the strain of examinations. The pupils stay longer than in other schools: many “married” girls of fifteen and sixteen years are in the upper forms. One particularly bright child of fourteen told us she was to be there for four years while her husband studied in England. Thus there is time really to influence the character and mind of the girls. Yet, on analysis, from the purely educational point of view the school was distinctly disappointing. As regards the staff, the Head-mistress, an English lady, claimed no knowledge of the vernacular, and though her intercourse with the girls seemed most cordial and sympathetic, it was necessarily limited, and still more limited was her knowledge of their studies. An American with the degree of B.Sc., a Brahman, wife of one of the College professors, who had been educated in a convent, three mission-taught girls, and sundry other teachers of a nondescript character, completed the number. English was taught throughout, from class III. upwards, and used as a medium of instruction in classes VI. and VII., but the degree of fluency of the girls therein seemed hardly to justify this method. Many of the ordinary text-books were in use, and except for the moral catechisms and some stress laid on Indian art and Hinduism in the drawing lessons, the difference of the curriculum seemed more theoretical than actual. The theories are, however, suggestive, and when traced to the basal thought that education must be founded on the hereditary instinct and natural environment of the child they are not in reality revolutionary but compatible with the constructive system and ideals of the Christian religion.

The Crosthwaite High School at Allahabad shows possibilities of a different nature. It was started privately in Lucknow city some eighteen years ago by a committee of Indian gentlemen and Government officials, and was afterwards removed for the sake of a larger site and fresher air. A long, low, roomy building, with deep verandahs, forms the central school, with two hostels attached to it, in one of which twenty Moslem girls were residing, in the other six Hindus. A considerable number of day pupils, without restriction as to creed, are drawn from Allahabad. Tuition and conveyance for day pupils are given free, but the charge for boarders meets the cost. The Government Code is followed throughout, and the knowledge of English, tested by recitation and questioning on subject-matter, seemed of a thorough quality. The school illustrated in miniature most of the usual problems. It was marvellous that Moslem girls of really good family should have been allowed to come to a boarding-school, some from far distant States, and there was a certain pathos in the sight of them being taught by any kind of woman who had “learnt to read and write at home,” and who in some cases might almost have been their ayah. This description applies only to the lower forms, but in these classes girls are at the most formative age, and many would not stay for the whole course. One teacher of this type was actually engaged in nursing her baby while giving an arithmetic lesson, and one wondered which of the two suffered more--the lesson or the baby! The Head-mistress was a young Indian Christian graduate from the Isabella Thoburn College, full of energy and enthusiasm for what seemed so difficult a task. She herself had to take three lessons a day, which left little leisure for the superintendence of the lower school with its double vernacular (Hindi and Urdu) standards throughout. A similar position in a school at home would have been occupied by a much older woman with many years’ experience of life. A question as to the religious teaching given elicited the following reply: “The Mohammedan teacher has her own girls; I teach the few Christians, and the Hindus look after their own bathings!” There is no question here of Indianizing the curriculum.

In turning to the specifically Christian institutions, it has again to be noted that the missionaries have been the pioneers of education, that an overwhelming proportion of the aided schools are under their management, and that a creditable proportion of Christian girls in the High stages (552 out of 759 Indian girls) is maintained. No account of women’s education in India would be complete without a full description of the Isabella Thoburn College, or, as it is called throughout the Northern provinces, the “Lal Bagh” (Rose Garden). From a tiny beginning in 1870 as a bazaar school in Lucknow, with half a dozen Christian girls, it has grown by successive stages to a splendidly equipped collegiate institution, the portals of which may be entered by a child as a tiny “rosebud” for the Kindergarten, and from whence the full-blown B.A. may emerge some sixteen years later. The College and its latest additions stand as a memorial to two strong personalities, Isabella Thoburn, the founder, and Lilavati Singh, whose early death in 1909, when Vice-Principal of the College, removed one of the Indian leaders of women’s education. The ideals after which they strove and the spirit of passionate sacrifice for others which dominated their lives form a strong tradition in the school. The American sense of community life which enters so markedly into their schools and colleges has been transferred with wise adaptation to the Indian environment; and the former pupils of the “Lal Bagh,” scattered throughout India, are still under the glamour of their school days and are working out its inspiration. Self-government in all that regards the common interest is the rule of the College and Normal departments, and the same principle is being slowly established in the High school in the hope of developing the sense of responsibility so greatly needed in the Indian character. The girls are practically all Christian, but occasionally a non-Christian girl is found taking advantage of the splendid education which she could obtain nowhere else. The Zenana school, opened in 1909, is attended by some Hindu and Mohammedan girls desirous of a simple course with domestic science, and it is expected that this department will gradually increase. There is also a special hostel for Hindu or Mohammedan girls which has not yet been much utilized. The staff consists of seven or eight American graduates and about fifteen Indian teachers, some of whom are graduates also. There are no untrained teachers. This proportion in a school of some 200 pupils, and a College and Normal department of about 40, is refreshing after other institutions, but it in no way satisfies the standard of efficiency aimed at by the directors. The Normal department is of special importance, as teachers are supplied from it to all parts of Northern India. No student is admitted to the senior course who has not passed the Matriculation or equivalent examination, and the Government Report testifies to the thoroughness of the training given. A lower qualification is accepted for the Kindergarten course. The Government Code is followed throughout, and there is thus no question of an experimental curriculum on Indian lines. The College is under a Board of Directors which includes two prominent Indian gentlemen, and is in connexion with the American Methodist Mission.

The Church Missionary Society has an excellent boarding-school for Christian girls at Benares with about 100 pupils. The central schools for the Christian community form a very important part of the work of any mission, and it is entirely due to them that the creditable percentage of Christian girls in the Secondary stages is maintained. Where a Normal department can be added, their influence on the non-Christian community and on the general educational situation is very marked. Unfortunately some mission committees have still a tendency to appoint a pupil to a post too soon, and the numbers are not as large as they might be. The Benares class has at present nine students who entered it with Middle Anglo-Vernacular qualifications; its special feature, in addition to the ordinary subjects, is an experimental attempt to give some conception of the Hindu environment of religious thought to the students. The Indian Christian of the second or third generation tends to be totally isolated in idea and thought from other Indians, and this tendency is often accentuated in mission schools. It is therefore exceedingly important that those who are to influence Hindu life as teachers in mission or Government schools should, in the course of their training, form some clear and correct conception of the religious environment of their future pupils. Experimental work of this type should prove most useful in any future developments of Normal training which missionary societies may be contemplating.

There is throughout a pleasant spirit of co-operation between the various educational missionaries, and between them and the Government authorities. There is a Missionary Educational Union for the Province which the Inspectresses attend officially. An annual Teachers’ Conference is held in February, and it is probable that in the future co-operation may pass from theory to actual fact in the development of further work. A striking lack in the missionary contribution is the absence of any school of really first-class character for non-Christian girls, such as exist in Bombay and Calcutta. The educational work for boys has been fully developed, but the parallel opportunity for girls which the changing times have created has yet to be seized. It may be argued that the Isabella Thoburn school has arrangements for non-Christian girls, but even in these changing times there are few non-Christians who would be willing to risk their daughters in a boarding-school among such an overwhelming number of Christian girls, whereas first-class schools starting fresh with no tradition would be sufficiently in touch with the new movement to attract pupils by their sheer efficiency. In this direction and in the training of teachers the standard must be set by the missionary authorities if their reputation as pioneers is to be maintained.

The situation in the Panjāb differs again only in degree. While there has been no ebb in the increasing tide of pupils--an increase of 1328 in 1909, and of 3732 in 1910, making a present total of over 42,000 girls under instruction--the problem of administration and inspection in a strictly _parda_ country is as difficult as elsewhere, and there are stories of the inefficiency of the teachers which surpass even those told of other provinces. The municipalities vary greatly in their enthusiasm for the education of girls--Amritsar, for instance, being well supplied with thirty-five girls’ schools, whereas Lahore has only one of this type. The missions have as elsewhere the system of boarding-schools for Christian girls, and carry on extensive work, chiefly of a Primary nature, among non-Christians of all races and creeds. Occasionally a non-Christian girl is found in a Christian boarding-school. Some of these schools are specially commended by the Inspectress for their teaching in domestic economy and sewing. “The Sialkot boarding-school divides the children into families of twelve girls who each do their own cooking, washing, and housework, even the little ones helping.”[100] St. Stephen’s Girls’ School (S. P. G.) has a special lace department where any girl who wishes to learn English may earn the money to pay the requisite fee. The lace produced is of a marketable quality, and not of the type which passes from bazaar to bazaar in Great Britain. The work of the Kinnaird Girls’ High School, Lahore, is similar to that of the Bombay school[101] under the auspices of the same society (Z. B. M. M.). It is intended mainly for Indian Christian girls, but contains a certain proportion of others. The average age of leaving is about sixteen. Its training class is of special interest. Women students in the Panjāb are allowed to take the Junior Anglo-Vernacular training after matriculation, though, in the case of men the same examination is open only to graduates. In spite of this the girls generally stand fairly high in the lists, one of them recently taking the second place. The class, however, averages only some five students, though the school has over 160 girls. There is another excellent High school for Indian non-Christian girls in Lahore under the superintendence of an Indian Christian lady.

Here, too, slowly but surely, the voice of Young India is making itself heard in a new desire and a new effort. Lawyers, doctors, Government servants, are seeking for their wives and daughters an education which, if not equal to their own, will a least be a sufficient compromise between the old status and the new ideas to which they give utterance from public platforms and in the press. The reform sects, notably the Ārya Samāj, are ready with a definite educational policy of their own. They have a special orphanage at Ferozepore, and a considerable number of schools; the Dev Samāj, a new rallying-point, has two or more schools; there is a Sikh boarding-school near Amritsar; and, “in opposition to these reforming Hindu societies, at least one orthodox Hindu girls’ school has been opened lately. Whether the activity of the reformers will force the orthodox Hindus to take an interest in girls’ education and to start a network of schools in opposition remains to be seen.”[102] The Maharani of Burdwar is noted for her efforts in this direction, and her schools, the Vedic Putri Pathshala and the Khatri Girls’ School at Lahore, both aim at having High departments. Absolutely unique in its aim, management, and curriculum is the Victoria May Girls’ High School, Lahore, now known as Queen Mary College. The idea of establishing a High school for Indian girls of good family was put forward by certain Indian ladies at the _parda_ party held in honour of the visit of the then Princess of Wales in November 1905, and the possibility of putting this proposal into effect was attained by the munificence of certain leading Native States in the Panjāb. The school is under the management of five leading Indian gentlemen representing different creeds, and of two of the highest officials in the Province. Its curriculum is, so far as the writer’s experience extends, the only one in which a definite constructive theory has been put forth for the education of Indian girls on such lines as combine excellent modern education with training suitable to their future environment.[103] Its ideals are defined in the following extract from the prospectus. “The proposed education is to be first and foremost womanly, therefore pupils will not be prepared for Matriculation until alternative courses of study suitable for girls be framed by the Education Department. The Indian ideals of self-sacrificing motherhood and simplicity of life will be held sacred, and the education given, while conducted on the best modern methods, seeks in every way to guard the ideal of the Indian wife in her home. For this reason the curriculum includes lessons on the care of children’s health, simple remedies for ordinary illnesses, ‘first aid,’ invalid cookery, and science as applied to the home, in the shape of the elementary laws of sanitation, ventilation, etc.” Great attention is paid to the vernaculars and to the beautiful Oriental scripts. Advanced pupils may study Persian or Sanskrit. A speciality is made of colloquial English, but there is no study of it as advanced literature. Moral instruction is given from the beautiful stories and poems of all religions, no sacred book being excluded, and is as effective as can be in an institution necessarily limited in its religious life and instruction. A great effort is being made to attract pupils from the families whose sons attend the Chiefs’ College in Lahore; six or eight special suites of rooms are being reserved for rajahs’ daughters and their necessary attendants, in new buildings attached to the Principal’s house, and such facilities may do much to break down the barrier which has hitherto separated these classes from modern education. This school may serve not only as an inspiration to its actual pupils, but may have a reflex influence on the whole scheme of education. For instance, a course of lectures has recently been started in connection with it to demonstrate to Indian ladies the real needs of local girls’ schools, and to induce them to act where possible as helpers and advisers. To turn what has hitherto proved an obstructive force into a definitely constructive one would surely be an excellent policy.

The Land of the Five Rivers has ever been a land of romance and of stirring life, and the modern movement for the enlightenment of its woman-kind has still the same elements, and is full of the promise of the future.