Our Girls at Their School Desks: The English Syrian School and the Women Teachers' College

A spacious garden, smiling with its green trees of pine and oak, in whose shade the girls of the school stroll about.

This was the first glance I cast at that great institution of learning; then my gaze moved on to a huge building of two stories, and I understood from the headmistress, after conversing with her, that the upper floor is for sleeping and the lower floor for teaching.

The headmistress received me with her cheerful face, apologizing for her delay and for my waiting, and with a gracious smile asked me what help she could offer. When I told her that my purpose was to carry back some information about her pupils and her school for the readers of "The Woman's Voice," she assured me of her readiness to give every assistance, and gave me the following information:

The English School is very old and widely known in social circles, on account of the years that have passed since its founding. The purpose at which it aims is the refinement of character, particularly from the spiritual side, for it believes that religion is the foundation of morals. It graduates women teachers who train children in uprightness, truthfulness, honesty, and good character.

Its program, like that of the other schools, teaches the three languages, but it puts the Arabic language in the first rank, in the belief that the daughters of the homeland must

master the language of their country before anything else. Over and above these, the pupil studies the various sciences and certain arts, among them embroidery, handwork, and sewing. In this last branch the pupil begins with simple pieces and finishes by sewing a dress for herself. Sewing fell into arrears at the school during the war on account of the high price of cloth, but it has returned to its normal state in these days.

The school gives much attention to physical training, for it trusts that a sound mind dwells in a sound body, and it has set aside special hours for this branch.

The English School has two branches:

The first — the secondary section, in which the pupil spends ten years, at the end of which she either leaves the school or enters the Women Teachers' College to continue her studies. This Teachers' College is the second part of the school. No pupil is admitted to it unless she has obtained her secondary certificate, and she remains from one year to three years, as she chooses. The first year qualifies her to be a teacher in an elementary kindergarten; the second prepares her to teach the middle classes, or to be a certificated teacher in a kindergarten; and the third grants her a certificate enabling her to teach the upper classes.

The pupil is trained in teaching by practical application: at the start she takes a single subject, which gives her an idea of this delightful and arduous profession — delightful in its results, arduous in its responsibility.

At the end of the year every graduate teaches for a full week, during which she bears absolute responsibility for her classes. Her teaching proceeds under the watch of her instructresses, who criticize her, correct her mistakes, and give a report on her fitness — or unfitness — to practice this calling. The institute has an outside school for practice, called the "Practice School," where the graduate of the Teachers' College spends a long time in testing and training.

The boarding section has conditions and rules which every pupil must observe.

The school holds an annual athletic festival for its pupils, to encourage the sporting spirit in them — this apart from the closing ceremony for the graduates, held at the end of June every year.

Here the headmistress smiled, having finished answering my many questions, each of which she had answered with a relish and eagerness plain upon her kindly face throughout my conversation with her; and I took my leave, thanking her for her kindness, and wishing the school and all within it steady success.