GIRTON COLLEGE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:] SIR,—An article in the Spectator of August 24 on "The Teaching of Girls" appears to call for some remark. It is there stated that fathers desire to get good education for their daughters, and are ready to pay for it, but do not know how to get it. The upper, and middle, and lower-middle classes are, we are told, "at their wits' end to find competent instructors for their girls, and cannot find them." Women are upbraided for arguing abstract points, and not dealing with the practical question of how the needed teaching- power is to be produced. The conclusion of the article is some- what hopeless. Parliament will not pass a law prohibiting incom- petent instructors, and it is feared that nothing else will give us what we want,—" a large class of women as competent as the heads of English grammar-schools, and as able to prove their a priori competence."
Permit me to state that not only has this want been distinctly recognised, but a scheme expressly designed to meet it has been irr !practical operation for the last three years. In October, 1869, s college was opened, having for its object "to provide for women
la systematic education equivalent to that afforded by the Univer- I sides to men." I quote from the circulars issued by the Com-
mittee :—
'Certificates will be given upon Examinations of recognised authority. The University of Cambridge, with which it is desired as far as possible to connect the College, has not yet been asked to open its Examinations. for Degrees to the students of this College, but some of the students have already, with the cognisance of the Council of the Senate, passed the Previous Examination informally, and Certificates given by the College of having passed University Examinations will be really, though not formally, equivalent to University Degrees, and will be practically useful in a similar manner. The attestation is specially important in the case of teachers, but the Certificate would be valuable to all women. who want to give evidence of their qualifications for the various posi- tions which may be open to them It is believed that the influ- ence of such an institution on the general education of women will work through many different channels. It is likely to raise the education oE the schoolroom (1) by improving the quality of the teaching and (2) by holding before the pupils a higher aim and standard. Without being in any sense limited to any one class, the College may be expected to supply a body of highly-trained teachers, whose qualifications will have been duly tested and certified. The means of obtaining good teaching. will thus be secured. At the same time, a standard of attainment will be set up which will act as a stimulus far beyond the immediate range of the College."
Does not this meet the want indicated in the Spectator? We- believe that a body of women who can give evidence of having- received a University education equivalent to that of the most highly instructed schoolmasters will be able to hold their own, and will no more need legislative protection than the corresponding
class of men. At present, cultivated women are to be found' among teachers, but the class has to be created.
May I venture to appeal for aid in carrying out this effort? The College has hitherto been carried on in a hired house, and necessarily on a very small and inadequate scale. A building is now in course of erection, in the parish of Girton, near Cambridge, but the necessary funds have not yet been contributed. About £8,000 has been subscribed, but £7,000 is still needed to complete the portion of the building which it is proposed to begin with. To provide suitable accom- modation within reach of the teachers is manifestly the first neccessity, but assistance is also urgently needed in the form of Scholarships. At the present rate of fees, the College has already been made self-supporting, exclusive of rent ; but there are many most promising students, especially among those who are hereafter intending to teach, who are debarred from all hope of entering- by inability to meet the expense. In many cases, part of the fees could be paid by the student, but not the whole, so that the help of a small scholarship would just make the difference of its being possible to obtain the advantages of the College course or not.
It is perhaps best never to be bitter about anything, but women. may be excused if they do sometimes feel a little indignation, when they see boys lavishly helped at every stage of their career, while to girls, perhaps more in earnest and not leas able to make good use of a liberal education, such help is almost entirely denied.
Without bitterness, let me conclude by urging on the many liberal-minded readers of the Spectator who desire to raise the.
standard of women's education, that they may do so most effectu- ally by supporting the Girton College for Women.—I am,.
Sir, &c.,
17 Cunningham Place, .N. W., August 28. EMILY DAVIES.
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