Page 2, 24th October 1941

24th October 1941

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Page 2, 24th October 1941 — CONVENT EDUCATION Pupils Are its Critics
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CONVENT EDUCATION Pupils Are its Critics

Sioe—It is sad to have to agree that there is a lot of truth in every part of Miss Walsh's forthright indictment of convent schools. But there is a cornforting and important reflection: the earnest critics of all thik social snobbery are the convent pupils themselves —proof that the convent did somehow give them those Christian fundamentals which teach them to distinguish between the spurious and the real. The "lady-like " veneer is soon enough seen for what it is worth. Perhaps Miss Walsh would argue that she got her fundamentals, in spite of her convent education, through Catholic home or parish priest. I can only say that, as I was not a Catholic until after 1 left my convent-, and it was the only religious influence I had, I do owe to the nuns those shining principles by which I deplore the weaknesses and shams of some of their
educational ideals. I applaud letters like Miss Walsh's because a polite acceptance of convent high-classness will never put things right, but I do think, in the matter of examinations, convents will have to follow after, and not lead the way, unless we are prepared roseethe exclusion of Catholic women from professional life where their influence is invaluable,
STEPHANIE MOFFAT,
41, Forest Side, Chingford.
Convent Education Defended
si..-1 spent four happy years at a large convent secondary school. The prospectus was beaded by these words:—" The aim of the school is to train the girls spiritually, mentally, and physically, for their future responsibilities as Catholic women of the world." Surely this is a restatement of the aims proposed by Miss Walsh? The only one of her criticisms that in the least degree applied to this school was a slight overemphasis of the importantee of examinations. But is not this true of every school in the land? There is much talk at present about co-operation between Catholics and nonCatholics. Let us hope the efforts to achieve this will outlast the war. Might we not, for instance, combine to secure revision of our present tyrannical national examination system?
My niece is now at a convent school of another religious order. Its aims are those of my own school though its methods are different. In this convent the devoted care lavished upon children from homes where there is neither money nor influence is beyond praise, and the success of charactertraining, studies, and especially health supervision is outstanding.
The defects which Miss Walsh describes may easily creep into convent education, but surely they are not so general as she fears?
AGATHA JACKSON.
c/o Kingsclere House, Newbury.
Convent Generosity
Sie,—Miss Annie Walsh asks " What do convent secondary schools exist for?" Might I point out that if, as she states earlier in her letter " convent schools, for the most part, have a monopoly of Catholic secondary education for girls," it is quite clear that, primarily, they exist to meet an overwhelming demand for the kind of education they provide.
It must be obvious, even to Miss Walsh, that neither Catholiec nor non-Catholic parents would send their girls to convent schools if those schools could not offer something better, and something in eXcess of their lay competitors whose fees, by the way, are often lower than those of convent schools.
As regards the alleged emphasis on the money side by convent schools, may I say that with a wide experience of convent secondary schools beginning with my own sisters, and extending down the years with my daughters and nieces, also in connection with my daily work, I have yet to come across a convent secondary school which did not have one or two, sometimes several pupils taken entirely free of cost because they happened to be Catholic children of ability whose parents could not pay the fees.
OLD HOWARDIAN.
Ealing. W3.
Snobbery Dying Out
Sno—May I reply to Miss A. Walsh re Aims of Convent Education? First, I con
gratulate her on her own aims, which are excellent but I regret her experience has been so narrow.
There do exist Orders whose aim is simplicity, plus solid Catholic education and I have had the pleasure of teaching with three of them.
Examinations are over-rated, so are careers to-day—the child should be educated in practical Catholicism suitable for the life it will have to lead in a modem world later on: but the greatest career of all seems to be entirely overlooked—Catholic ,Mother hood. What greater career to train a child for when once she reaches her teens? One
can even place it higher than a vocation— without Catholic Mothers there would be no nuns: and yet how many Convent Schools even mention it, much less foster the ideal?
The snobbery Miss Walsh had to contend with is dying not quickly enough perhaps—
but genuinely dying. I wish the same could be said for the ovcrflooding with nonCatholics. Surely when the State already provides so much for these children, there is no excuse for Convents to cater for them. This mixture causes introductions_ at im pressionable ages and later mixed marriages and surely one should expect only real solid Catholic influence in our Convent Schools. This is an impossibility where non-Catholics flood the school.
To-day when religion is to play the vital part in post war education, surely Orders
should reflect on their Founder's aims—not to make money, but by the vow of poverty to ensure real Catholic education for the girls who if properly guided and encouraged will be the future mothers of our beloved Country.
A Lovise OF THE MODERN CHILD. Cheshire.
(Further letters' on this subject are held over—EDITOR.) (Letters continued in next column.)




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