WOMEN'S EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 82, 31 December 1907, Page 4

WOMEN'S EDUCATION.

: Ix a recent number of the " rsinetoenth Century," a woman writer has several things to say'on the above subjeot which, though indited' more especially for her British sisters, have also an application in this Dominion. It would seem that, there still exists in the Pld Country an undercurrent of feeling opposed to woman's intellectual development, based on the belief that it will interfere with her devotion to her proper duties as wife and mother. The cry, therefore, is for a thoroughly sensible education, such as will really prepare her to be the housekeeper and the food preparer for the male sex; to which some insist upon adding that the education.in the right methods of managing a family, and a kitchen should have a scientific basis. The lady critic remarks, in this connection, that the best'cooks and the best managers in the world are Prehch women, and that they have had, and have, no scientific study to produce that result. Her contention is that the proper improvement of the mental faculties, and the broadening thereby of the general ability'-pf the young girl, is all'that is requisite to enable her in her womanhood to apply her brains to the problems, with which she may be faced: Domestic economy teaching to young girls.has its value, of course; but, • the writer' says, so long as they leave school at fourteen, though they may have_ been taught cooking in the most admirable way, both practically and theoretic:ally, though they may have learnt all about how to mix a bottle and wash a baby, most of what they have learnt will be forgotten before they have, an opportunity of putting it into itice. In this Dominion, one is right in saying, the majority of the young girls leave school at fourteen or fifteen. Some remain at home to help in the domestic duties, but a large proportion of them seek employment in the factory or the office. Many pf these latter hardly put a hand, to housework from that time on till in the last of . their " teens," or the early " twenties," they merge into the ranksof married women, and are saddled with the care of a man and a house of their own. Bitter experience has shown, over and over again, that the, smattering of domestic economy acquired in childhood has not been re- t taincd in the hurriedly and partially trained brain, for the State school in T tellectual development does not go much beyond the knowledge of the '"' three It's." The cure for this put forward by the writer under review for her English sisters is equally applicable here. Girls, of whatever social grade, should be kept longer at school, and greater attention should be devoted to train : imrjheir klMliranfie jhanjnjli^ji^

tarian part of education. She says: " I maintain that to train their intelligence, to give them a wide outlook, real interests in life, will fit them to learn easily for themselves, when.the right time comes, that amount of housekeeping which their particular circumstances require. A really welleducated woman will know what she wants to learn, and how to learn it; moreover, she will recognise that there is something to learn. The time for learning it will be when she really needs it. Experience shows us that it is not the highly educated women with plenty of interests and many pursuits who are most inefficient in managing a house, or who have needed to make a special study of this mysterious art. They have known how to keep their eyes and ears open; they have known how to get the information they want with the least trouble." The truth of all this will be immediately apparent to those who have been lucky enough at some time or other to have secured as a domestic help the girl who is generally alluded to as "quite a superior kind of girl, you know," the meaning of which is that the young woman in question is correct in her diction, ladylike in manners, self-re-specting, and courteous. Such a domestic assistant is almost invariably highly successful. She can cook as well as she can lay a table, and is as careful about the scrubbing and dusting as she is about the. cooking. The reason why is simply that, no matter what her work may be, a trained intelligence is brought to bear upon it. There is no doubt whatever that the majority of New Zealand girls leave school in order to begin to earn for themselves, or their parents, far too early. There are many physiological reasons, which cannot be gone into in an article of this kind, why this should not be the case, but it can at least be said that, while it is the rule and not the exception, the general standard of intelligence among the women of the Dominion cannot be expected to be as high as it'would be under the conditions urged above. It should be clearly understood that it is just as necessary, if not more so, for the wife of the working man, 'or for the "working woman," to possess this better trained intelligence, as it is for her more socially favoured sister. Probably no section of the community lead harder lives, with fewer pleasures or recreations, than the women of the working; classes. The power to enjoy a good book, to take an intelligent interest in the affairs of their town and their country, vv ill brighten their lives. "We quite appreciate the force of the objection which may be put forward to any proposal to keep girls at school beyond fourteen years ,of age. In many cases they are required to assist at home—an already overtaxed mother may require their help. But this does not affect the general merit of the idea. ■■_'_• ; One more requisite this lady writer suggests in connection with women's education—the need of women school inspectors, presumably for "infant" schools and for girls' schools. This Dominion prides itself on its education system, yet it does not include the appointment of ai single woman inspector of that most.'important branab_.pf.jt-r: the education of the future wives and mothers of New. Zealanders._ There iyould seem to be room for an improvement here, at least. It is a deficiency that has often been remarked upon by those interested in the education of girls. -Very aptly,,.the writer says; " Pew men understand much _ about women, except in their relation to themselves.". But, in regard to women school inspectors, she adds', the best women to appoint; and decide ; upon domestic subjects, will not be.the specialists in ; those subjects, but those ( capable of taking a wide vigw of the whole matter of education, 'lhe knowledge of the expert is more dangerous than useful unless accompanied by. the general knowledge to keep a sense of proportion, and know how to use the conclusions'of the expert. '