EDUCATION IN INDIA.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 49, 3 April 1914, Page 5

EDUCATION IN INDIA.

SOCIETIES AT" WORK. Last evening, at the Mathematics Lecture Room, Canterbury College, Miss Nina Brentnall, 8.A., student secretary for the Y.W.C.A. at Calcutta, gave a very informative and interesting address on the women students of India. The address was arranged by the Mission Settlement of University Women. Mrs C. Chilton' occupied the chair, and briefly introduced the speaker. Miss Brentnall gave a vivid picture of the "women of India, who are just, coming out of the seclusion of the purdah, as it were, and entering the educational lists of the women of other and more •advancer} lands. The wonderful development that has taken place in this way during the last 10 years was outlined, and the eager, responsive - spirit which both natives and Eurasians (the latter, as is generally known, being more of mixed blood) display towards educational matters. The keen desire to be numbered as college graduates sometimes led to amusing results, as, for instance, when a girl had taken, her first year in Arts at one of the colleges she attached the letters F.A. to her name—First Arts! Another man used to regularly add "Passed Fourth Standard" to his name—he also was bitten •yyith the craze for a degree. Concerning the eagerness of the women for education, Miss Brentnall stated that it was to a, great degree influenced by the men, many of whom were being sent to the 'finest schools in England and America, and who, on growing up, naturally wished their wives to. be edu-cated-jvomen, not only as scholars, but also in social matters. The Government of the country pursued a splendid educational scheme, and they laid special stress on the need of forming character. That was why they welcomed the Y.W.C.A. so much, because the association also aimed at, and worked hard for, the development of character. There were 64 branches of the Student Association in India, and there was a crying need for more workers in order to cope effectually with the great opportunity that lay there for helping the women of that country to a higher intellectual and spiritual plane. She touched on the different castes, mentioning the. Brahmins as reformed Hindus, and quite the leaders in the educational movement in India —in fact, she believed that a Brahmin woman was the- first in the world to go up in an aeroplane, and she commenced life in the purdah? ' This typified the sudden bursting out of seclusion into public life which was taking place, There were 80 students in the Arts Colleges in Calcutta, 50 studying medicine, and 150 as training students in secondary and primary schools, and out of that number there were only 40 who did not come into active touch with the association. So it could be easily seen that there was urgent need of more workers, seeing that during her\ (Miss Brentnall's) absence, there was only one student; secretary to cope with all the work it entailed. The Student Association was trying very hard to make the native girls who were trained as teachers respect themselves, or rather their calling, and realise their responsibilities and opportunities. Added to that, the association conducted Bible classes, mission studies, and performed social work in many directions that it was impossible to deal with in a brief address. It meant hard work, but it was a fine opportunity for university women to do something really worth while. The association looked to Australasia to supply more workers—eight were wanted during the present year, and so far not one h'ad been procured. Miss Brentnall was enthusiastically applauded for her interesting address, and a hearty vote of thanks was accorded her on the motion of Mrs Chilton. That lady, in a neat speech, seconded the speaker's appeal for workers, and remarked that surely Canterbury could send one or two. Miss Brentnall had pleaded her cause for assistance so strongly that she was sure the necessary help would soon be forthcoming. That it was an urgent need no one could doubt after listening to the address which had just been given.