మహిళలు మరియు బాలికల మధ్య పని

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X

WORK AMONG WOMEN AND GIRLS

There can be little question about the need of organised In India the women are more work amongst women. ° conservative as to religious left untaught wives the are If husbands practices, but superstitious into taught they steady their husbands. Nor can there be any question about the capacity of the women education. for experience has shown that the when given a similar chance, quite equal the boys. We begin by considering what is actually being done. are two There kinds distinct teaching of the women in the villages, and the education of girls in schools. There are over six thousand Christian women and of whom, whether children of girls in the Mission, all Christians or converts, have at some time in their lives as no woman been taught, It will, therefore, be plain that a without instruction. go©d deal of work is already being done. The teaching of the women in the villages is done by 165

Capacity °^ Indian women, than customs men. the they drag down their if they are In other parts India of girls in mission schools, of work going on—the or confirmed baptised is

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MISSIONS IN THE TELUGU COUNTRY

i66 the same persons who teach the men, and in rare cases it is done by their wives as well. women are expected But household duties make interruptions instruction. and at best there is always some shyness on their part at being taught by a man. missionary catechises the congregation on a set course of instance, instruction, for as, as good answers from the women as from rarely gets the men. Nevertheless knowledge required from the women, as there is from the men, both for baptism and for confirmation. And now let us consider what Educa- There are a large number of girls in ° education of girls. *irls the village schools, and these are almost are open All the schools by the Church rules, Christian with boys to attend school. are more easily accepted 1910 there were 809 Christian a number which exceeded The Christian boys numbered 1465. boys (733). There are also the These schools were started early in the be considered. nineties, their primary object being to secure educated wives the superior for experience shows that have illiterate wives. shall marry a person a teacher least, and a fine is actually enforced second standard at if the rule is infringed.

At certain times, too, the to be present in the chapel for ; is seen when the The result he confirmation, for for certain standard of is a there is being done for the all Christians. to both boys and girls and, girls are bound equally absence Still, excuses for In girls than for boys. for in our day schools, girls non-Christian the that of girls in our boarding-schools to the agents as Mission, of it is undesirable for teachers to is a rule of the Mission that It up educated the to Another rule lays down that no

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KING'S NANDYAL. STITCHING TROUSERS MESSENGERS

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WORK AMONG WOMEN AND GIRLS

person may be recommended for Holy Orders whose wife has not had an education in a mission boarding-school or This equivalent. its Bishop of Madras. Such conditions create a demand for education, and with the object of meeting the demand two schools were started—one at Mutyalapad, moved later to Nandyal, the other at Kalasapad. Of the two, the school at Kalasapad It has provision forty-five for girls' school it is very incomplete, as it is merely a part At the opening of the boys' school. morning the girls take their places With the with the boys. which taken outside are entirely by masters. These two subjects are are taken by wives sewing, which Government inspector of the boys' school pronounces a verdict once a year on their needlework The girls, however, occupy a boarding house separate from that of the boys, and are under the charge of two These matrons matrons. character, but possess no learning, and are appointed to supervise the clothing, girls' arrangements and generally during the whole time that they are not in school. remuneration they receive their food and some clothing, and two or three shillings a month. The weak point in the of women's lack influence. official position in the school, and the sewing have no and drill mistresses see the girls for only a short time in

167 rule was made by the late is the larger. Considered as a girls. school every of classrooms the in of two exception subjects they the taught school are drill and The teachers. of ! are elderly widows of good and sleeping feeding, the superintend to girls For girls' boarding-school is the The schoolmasters' wives

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MISSIONS IN THE TELUGU COUNTRY

i68 the day ; nor can the matrons be expected to the kind influence that of spiritual influence has been the strongest Rev. John Appavu, who has lived on the spot and, in an informal way, has controlled the school. Of the results, some that are external can be reckoned A certain number up. of amination, which represents a positive gain in the shape of ability to read and write well. when they are at a stage at which it would be most useful to go on, their education ceases. tried to carry their education further, especially in the direction of domestic economy effort and no permanent provision has been made for it. Still, even with the amount of learning that the passing of the primary examination represents, the girl has got permanent something of especially if she marries a teacher, is definitely increased. is lamentable that education for their girls is so It little valued by the majority of ovu: people. reason for this is that it seems to lead to so little. children are not only taught, but fed and clothed at the boarding-school, and the charge for all this is nominal in many cases being only twopence a month. Yet even so, the parents are unwilling to give up the scanty fruit of the child's labour, which represents to them so much palpable Their indifference begins, indeed, at an earlier stage gain. than that of the boarding-school, for at the village schools the attendance of girls is much more difficult to secure than Parents are anxious to get their boys into that of boys. the boarding-schools, for if the boy can only get through

exercise For years past is wanted. the that of girls pass the primary ex- But from that point, Mrs. Groves at one time but this was a special ; and her value, usefulness, The chief The

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*.--^^.

THE

S.P.G.

GIRLS

DAY SCHOOL, KURNOOL.

The name is written, in TeUlgu, over tire door

TEACHERS AN D SCHOLARS AT

S.P.G. SCHOOL, KURNOOL.

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WORK AMONG WOMEN AND GIRLS

one of the schools, pass the primary, and be sent on to Nandyal, he is almost certain to develop into a teacher. That means a steady income, and much prestige to his But there is no such prospect before girls, and family. little competition therefore there is When the girls come, it boarding-school. at the late age of ten or eleven, and they have then to be put into the lowest class just above the infants, as they are from two to four years behind the boys. On the other hand, after they come their progress unmistakable nor their progress only intellectual is : the reverence learn girls neatness habits, their in manners, and the effects of the school are seen in many If, as often happens, the schoolgirl becomes other ways. with the wife teacher a of social advantages, these for she becomes one of the elevating influences of the new come has Ufe that village. The Telugu Mission of Hindu education girls. thousands of Christian women and girls that it was clear first duty was towards them. the Church's the lower point of view of results, more may be expected for the expansion of Christianity from the education of the StiU Christians. for made in Kurnool, where a tained for some years, at which the pupils were mostly fairly weU-to-do Hindus. daughters of given, judging by a pecuniary test, was valued, for the

; 169 in the places for is commonly is in church, tidiness their in refinement their in dress, intellectual and superior are seen very results clearly, with the Christianity into done much the has not for There have been so many And from exception was an time a girls' day school was main- The education

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MISSIONS IN THE TELUGU COUNTRY

170 regularity with which they paid their fees was remark- In 1905 the number of girls approached seventy, able. but shortly afterwards the school was closed and has not been resumed. A few non-Christian girls as a rule attend the boys' Their number amounted in 1910 to fifty-three. schools. Considering that there has been no isation for women's work (though money for our girls' schools has been received from women's organisations in England), and considering the Indian women and girls, it must be admitted that a good Need of deal has been done. it would be that of women teachers, simply but need, effectively trained, to instruct the Christian women in villages who cannot the One-half of the Christian population—the female half well looked is not so present cannot be, and the spiritual gation accordingly. suffers first lady missionaries women who may become teachers, and raises new hopes for the deepening of the spiritual life of the Church.

special organ- of teaching difficulties If we were to name our greatest houses leave long. their for half, and at after as the other life of the congre- The recent of the arrival has made to possible train it