16
CANADA AND INDIA
October, 1915
CANADA.
Lord of the lands, beneath thy bending skies, On field and flood, where'er our banner flies,
Thy people lift their hearts to thee,
Their grateful voices raise: May our Dominion ever be
A temple to thy praise,
Thy will alone, let all enthrone;
Lord of the lands, make Canada thine own!
Almighty Love, by thy mysterious power,
In wisdom guide, with faith and freedom dower:
Be ours a nation evermore
That no oppression blights,
Where justice rules from shore to shore,
From Lakes to Northern Lights.
May Love alone for wrong atone;
Lord of the lands, make Canada thine own!
Lord of the worlds, with strong eternal hand, Hold us in honour, truth, and self-command;
The loyal heart, the constant mind,
The courage to be true, Our wide-extending Empire bind,
And all the earth renew.
Thy name be known through every zone; Lord of the worlds, make all the lands thine own!
-Albert D. Watson.
EDUCATION OF GIRLS IN INDIA.
It is rather remarkable that in the midst of the stress and strain of war-time there should have arisen in India and England a new movement for the education of Indian girls. It is reassuring to see that constructive efforts for "after-the-war" adjustments are still kept in mind, for it is pretty generally recognized among thinking people in both India and England that one of the first steps in India's onward movement-that which will best prepare her for her rightful position in the Empire is the education of her women.
NEED FOR THE MOVEMENT.
The friends and reformers of India are not satisfied with the allotment of girls' education of only one-ninth of the public funds spent directly on education. They are not sat- isfied with the general percentage of 5.1 of pupils to the girl population of the school-going age and a much lower one in some of the provinces-such as 1.2 in the United Pro- vinces. They cannot be content with the statistics for 1912-13, which show roughly that only one girl to every five boys is under instruction. They feel that the diffi- culties of caste and purdah cannot account for this condi- tion, since in the United Provinces the Indian Christian girls in Anglo-venacular secondary schools number only 2,668 out of a female Indian Christian population of 77,131. Before speaking further of the present movement, it will be interesting to follow the history of girls' education in India as related to Government enactments. First, there was the Despatch of 1854, known as "the Educational Char- ter" of India, which founded the Indian Universities, intro- duced the system of grants-in-aid, and directed the exten- sion of female education. One paragraph of the Despatch declares: "The importance of female education in India cannot be overrated, and we have observed with pleasure the evidence which is now afforded of an increased desire on the part of many of the natives of India to give a good education to their daughters. By this means a far greater proportional impulse is imparted to the educa- tional and moral tone of the people than by the education of men."
The Educational Commission of 1882 strongly urged the same view, and it received the endorsement of the Govern- ment of India and of the Secretary of State. A Govern- ment High School for girls was afterwards established at Poona. This was initiated at a meeting in the Poona Town Hall in 1884, just thirty years after the Despatch of 1854. A notable event at the meeting was the reading of a me- morial from the Arya Mahila Samaj, or Indian Ladies' Association, which asked the Government "that female education might receive more liberal support, for they felt confident that the blessings conferred by male education would be multiplied a hundredfold if the women similarly favoured." Prof. Bhandarkar, in an address at the same meeting, pointed out that, according to the ancient Aryan idea, the wife was the companion and friend of the husband, his partner in religious and worldly duties, and he quoted from the Mahabharata, "a wife is the half of a man and his most excellent friend; she is the foundation for him who seeks to be redeemed, a friend in solitude, a father in matters of duty, and a mother in distress."
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In 1892 a memorial was sent to the Government asking "that more strenuous efforts may be made and larger grants allotted for the promotion of female education in India," and especially that the support given to the Poona High School be continuedd.
Enlarged grants for education were among the benefac- tions announced at the Delhi Durbar in 1911. In the Delhi
Resolution in the Department of Education, 1913, the sub- ject of education of girls was introduced by the words, "the education of girls remains unorganized."
THE MEMORIAL OF 1915.
The present effort has been inaugurated to secure this needed organization, and it takes the form of a memorial to the Secretary of State for India, asking for the appoint- ment of a Commission to enquire into the conditions and especial needs of the education of girls among all classes, and to report upon the best methods of procedure, so that a scheme may be built up suited to the requirements of the various communities and sects of India. This memorial of 1915 has some new and striking features, which indi- cate a radical change in the outlook upon educational methods for Indian women. The general position taken by the memorialists may be briefly stated as follows:
1. That in the education of girls the more advanced Feudatory States show better results than British India, for while in 1913 only 3,910 girls were under instruction for every million of the general population, the proportion in Mysore was 5,600, in Travancore 18,637, in Cochin it was nearly 20,000 (in 1912), and in Baroda as high as 35,500 (in 1912)," and from these facts they draw the conclusion that better results are possible even under present condi- tions if the control of girls' education were more in Indian hands."
2. "That the enormous disparity (of 1 to 5) in the num- ber of girls and boys under instruction in British India constitutes a grave danger to the social well-being of Indian communities, and must impose a serious obstacle to the well-balanced development of their intellectual and poli- tical progress."
3. That no steps towards the organization of the educa- tion of girls will be "effective without the assistance and co- operation of Indian women interested in the subject."
4. That the fact that almost the whole of the directing and inspecting female agency consists of Europeans and Anglo-Indians constitutes (except where the highest types are selected with the definite object of training Indian women to fill their places) an obvious barrier to the pro- motion of a movement so intimately connected with home- life as the education of girls," and "they regard it a matter of vital and urgent importance that liberal scholarships and every possible facility should be provided for the train- ing of Hindu, Mahomedan, and Buddhist women teachers and inspectresses."
5. They express their great satisfcation with the ap- pointment of an Indian member of the Viceroy's Executive Council to hold charge of the Education Department, and regard it as peculiarly fitting that his hands should be strengthened "by a thorough examination of the question of the education of girls through a representative com- mittee, consisting mainly of Indians of all communities, together with ladies connected with or interested in edu- cation in this country, and, wherever possible, Indian ladies intimately in touch with the conditions under which Indian girls are brought up and Indian women work for the build- ing up and consolidation of their homes."
The memorial was adopted at a meeting held at the resi- dence of Lady Muir-Mackenzie, July 14th. Sir Krishna Gupta presided, and among those who spoke in support were Sir William Wedderburn, Lady Emily Lutyens, Miss Tagart, Mr. Yusuf Ali, Mr. Fox Pitt, and Sir Mancherjee Bhownaggreee. A large number of signatures of well- known men and women, both Indian and English, have already been obtained.
The friends of India everywhere will wish this under- taking a brilliant success.
There has already been quite a few things written about the returned soldiers after the war and their settlement to civil life. We would suggest that Canada, to show a real spirit of Empire citizenship and camaraderie, should open a tract of land where Indian soldiers of the King may settle as a community in this fair Dominion after the war is over.
WHAT FRIENDS MAY DO.
Friends interested in bringing about a better understanding between India and Canada may give time and attention to study the movement.
They may give effort in public speaking and in organizing their communities.
They may use the local press, the men's and women's clubs, young people's organizations, churches, missionary societies, or any social or lit- erary organization to inform the public.
They may make personal effort among their acquaintances.
They may write to lawmakers, asking support of bills for making just laws on this question.
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