m a, w\ ,5j , HIGHER EDUCATION BY MISSIONS IN THE FAR EAST OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Privately Printed for the Use of Those Interested in the Administration and Promotion of Higher Educational Institutions on the Foreign Mission Field 1920 George T. Scott ASSOCIATE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE U. S. A. 156 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK CITY HIGHER EDUCATION BY MISSIONS IN THE FAR EAST OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS By George T. Scott Based on a Visit During 1919-20 in Japan, Korea, China and the Philippines. CONTENTS Introduction . 2 I. General Purpose, Policy and Program . 3 II. Departments of Higher Education . 5 A. Theological Education . 6 B. Teacher Training . 8 C. Medical Education. 9 D. Various Other Professions .10 E. General Cultural Education . 11 F. Extension Work .12 III. Education of Women .12 IV. Coeducation .13 V. Union Institutions .14 VI. Undenominational Colleges .15 VII. Secular Institutions .16 VIII. Administration and Support .18 IX. Property .21 X. Curricula and Extra-Curriculum Activities .23 XI. Staff .25 XII. Student Body .28 XIII. Graduates .29 Conclusion .30 INTRODUCTION A thousand complimentary commendations of higher educational work by Christian Missions in the Far East could easily be written. Hundreds of consecrated, competent and cultured men and women are devoting their lives to this service always with earnestness, often with heroism; they are deserving of all praise and of much larger support and cooperation in every way than they now receive from the home base; they are endeavoring to invest their time and talents for the highest safe return and they should be furnished with adequate tools to carry on their indispensable industry which is part of the common task of all Christians. As this report is intended for informed and interested administrative and promotional agencies, it is confined to a condensed summary of Observations (which were necessarily hurried and superficial) and to concise, concrete Suggestions (which originated largely with missionaries) in the hope that frank, friendly, constructive criticism may help in the earlier fulfilment of the unbounded possibilities of missionary colleges. The Suggestions are numbered consecutively throughout the report and frequently a Suggestion is given without a corresponding Observation. The matters presented are more or less general in nature and scope; many references, of course, do not apply to all fields or all institutions, yet they are never limited to a single institution and seldom if ever to a single country. The terms “Higher Education” and “Colleges” indicate work and institutions above the grade of Middle or High Schools. Of the higher educational institutions in the Far East, I visited in 1919-20 all those with which American Presbyterians are associated, most of the other missionary colleges and many secular institutions, and I submit this report of the impressions received during these visits. 1. GENERAL PURPOSE, POLICY, AND PROGRAM. A recent American Ambassador in the Far East, speaking of missionary colleges, says “The old order in the Far East is going to pieces and a new order is to be organized; so these nuclei of organization, these training centers for the leaders of the new order, are just now of peculiar importance.” The field of higher education presents today a wonderful oppor¬ tunity for constructive Christian service by the church. The release of vital and financial energy in missionary service is the most efficient and far-reaching application of power in the world; the Christian colleges are high-voltage contact-points and through the students spiritual and intellectual current is converted into enlightenment, service, progress, liberty and hope for individual, home, community and nation. These power centers must be properly developed for they are of immeasur¬ able importance in promoting the world program of Christian¬ ity. Our next educational developments should be intensive; we have over-extended our lines and must now consolidate the gains and vigorously re-enforce our present front. To train Christian leaders, to educate the Christian com¬ munity, to evangelize the student classes, and to permeate society with Christian ideals and practices, are ordinarily ac¬ cepted, with their relative importance indicated in the order above given, as the basic purposes and the justifiable objectives of higher education by Christian Missions. In some conserva¬ tive institutions the evangelization of students is not consider¬ ed an adequate reason for the admission of many non-Chris¬ tians, and the permeation of society with Christian principles is expected to result from the life and work of trained leaders and of the educated Christian community. All institutions rec¬ ognize the supreme need of cultivating the spiritual life,— of developing in staff and student body the only enduring, indispensable dynamic of divine power and purpose. Each country in the Far East is obviously groping its way upward in uncertainty and is in vital need of strong Christian leaders; for this leadership the missionary colleges must for the present be the chief source of supply and they do not now attract and train a sufficiently large proportion of the 4 Higher Education In The Far East strongest students of the nation. For this as for all lasting serv¬ ice our institutions must be made increasingly indigenous as well as impressively productive of leaders. The educational work of different denominations has been successfully correlated in many ways but still further coordina¬ tion is needed to insure Christian economy and efficiency by preventing un-Christian competition and wasteful overlapping with consequent needless neglect of needier places. If our various communions are Christian they are not competitors but colleagues. A much greater development of unified policies and programs is possible without impairing the essential in¬ tegrity or autonomy of any individual institution. In union work too frequently every Mission must cooperate in each institution, whereas, sometimes the undertaking would be more successful if the different institutions or other units were or¬ ganized on a cooperative basis under the full direction of a local Union Committee, with each separate unit assigned to a particular denominational group and operated for the benefit of all. In regard to the General Purpose, Policy and Program I suggest: 1. THAT the fundamental aim of missionary education in each nation and in each institution be recurrently restudied in the light of its opportunity to meet local and vital needs, and that this purpose be clearly defined and be assigned and accepted as the goal of the enterprise. 2. THAT in our institutions the most thorough and vitalizing Christian education possible be given with intensive religious culture and that the student body be selected with great care for character and capacity of leadership. 3. THAT interdenominational groups work out unified educational surveys and campaigns, assigning parts of the common task to different denominational or union groups, and that we all play the game according to instructions from the Captain and for the success of the team. 4. THAT the question of cooperation be studied from the view-point of possibly apportioning particular institutions, for instance within a city, to individual denominations, all institutions to be under the general supervision of a union Com¬ mittee. (This applies principally to institutions below college grade). Observations and Suggestions 5 II. DEPARTMENTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION The usual branches of Mission activity (evangelistic, educational, medical and literary) have largely determined the principal departments of education; theological, normal, medi¬ cal, nursing, and literary courses constitute the great bulk of college work. This arises from the wide-spread need for leaders thus educated, the missionary’s desire for native co-workers, and his ability to train in his own profession. Other types of train¬ ing have been introduced from time to time and are increasing in number and importance; law, business, journalism, engineer¬ ing, chemistry, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, and various trades and industries are looming larger every year, while for the women a new emphasis is being placed upon social service and the neglected, essential art and science of home-making (inconspicuous because fundamental). The broadening process tends to jeopardize the spiritual depth and purpose of an institution unless safeguards are erected against this common danger. The development of departments and courses seems too often dictated by opportunism, expediency, and willingness to cater to the desire of students for an education which can be readily and profitably marketed. Sometimes departments are conducted because they are inexpensive and easy to maintain, or because students will pay larger tuition in them, or again because the college can furnish nothing different or better. The essential raison d’etre of missionary institutions sometimes appears forgotten, and long-sighted policies with consistent, persistent programs, ignored. Training worthy students in definite ways under a suitable faculty and for fairly direct Christian leadership may cut down the size of the student body and so make the cost of education per student greater, but the increased value of the output justifies the effort and expense. Two important developments that have successfully passed the probationary stage in America receive scant attention, viz., University Extension and Vocational Guidance; a few colleges feebly attempt one or the other but broad and thorough pro¬ cesses in either are wanting. There is a growing desire for extension activities and an unlimited field for cultivation. The 6 Higher Education In The Far East discerning and sympathetic guidance of students into the kind of life-work appropriate for each individual would make the product of our educational plants more efficient; faculty ad¬ visers of students are especially desirable in Mission institu¬ tions. 5. THAT careful policies and the most beneficial pro¬ grams of departments, courses, etc., be formulated and pursued with unmistakable and vigorous Christian emphasis, and that every branch of missionary education bear reproductive fruit, consciously and abundantly. 6. THAT the departments of education being chosen for and adjusted to the fundamental needs of life, the students be wisely guided, individually and collectively, in the choice of and training for their life vocations. A. Theological Education. Theological Seminaries are commonly criticized but much of the criticism is caused by conditions which the institutions cannot control. The Seminaries are in a unique way creatures of environment and circumstance; they are ordinarily poorly equipped and understaffed; they must receive such students as the Missions send, must give them the best courses possible to fit them for the many grades and kinds of work desired, and must live between the Scylla of ultraconservatism and the Charybdis of liberalism. What shall a Seminary do? You recall the sad plight of the chameleon on the Scotch plaid! In some seminaries the study of Hebrew and Greek is compulsory; there are certainly many theological students whose time could be much -better spent in other subjects, for instance learning English so as to be able to read English books. Very few college graduates are entering theological seminaries; one large denominational university has in eight¬ een years sent only two of its alumni into the ministry, and a large union university has sent but three. (These two universi¬ ties are probably exceptional.) The chief deterrent cause is apparently economic, for in most fields the ministry at present offers little or no assurance of a self-respecting living. The native church has very small control in the affairs of the institutions which are training the leaders whom it must accept, support, and follow for life; the desire of the Church Observations and Suggestions 7 for a larger share in the supervision of the education of its pastors is growing. Many Missions do not seem fully to ap¬ preciate the vital and primary importance of the proper train¬ ing of the ministers, judging from the apparently secondary consideration and support given to theological seminaries. While the standard of other education has been advancing rapidly in recent years, the grade of theological teaching has remained practically stationary with the result that now the graduate trained by Missions to be a teacher, a physician, or a business man has usually a higher education than the man trained to be a clergyman; the great majority of theological students begin their professional study of three years at the end of high school or earlier, whereas the professional study for other vocations ordinarily begins only after two or more years of college work. The Christian ministry should furnish the highest leadership and the training for it should equal or excel that for any other vocation. The education of women as evangelists, Bible teachers, pastor’s assistants, and church workers in other spheres is being raised to higher standards and some of it is now of a grade equal to much of the theological education for men. There is increasing opportunity for service by women and this train¬ ing fits the graduate to occupy a place of unusual usefulness; the number of openings for these highly trained women is greater then can be filled. 7. THAT the real needs of the field be carefully con¬ sidered and met in making up the curriculum of a seminary, and that the fact that a certain subject is traditional or can he taught by an available professor be of itself insufficient to place it in the curriculum. 8. THAT Junior Colleges give a fairly uniform, pre- theological course so that students entering theological semina¬ ries will have a somewhat specialized and similar training. 9. THAT the general grade of theological training be raised, the standard theological course for ordination beginning after junior college, that is, after two or three years of study subsequent to the completion of the high school course; and that the degree of B. A. be conferred upon graduation. 10. THAT wherever advisable a higher grade theological course be conducted, receiving students presumably after the 8 Higher Education In The Far East completion of their senior college work; and that a B. D. degree be granted at graduation. 11. THAT lower grade schools for unordained evangel¬ ists be separate from theological seminaries. 12. THAT the native Church through properly accredited representatives be given larger authority and responsibility in the education of its ministers. 13. THAT the plants, finances, and faculties of theologi¬ cal seminaries be made and kept adequate for their supreme task. 14. THAT missionaries have at least one term of practi¬ cal service on the field before becoming teachers in theological Seminaries. 15. THAT the subject of Homiletics be taught in the vernacular. 16. THAT proper financial support and living conditions be furnished to Christian ministers, if necessary by assistance from foreign funds. 17. THAT the service rendered by highly-trained, women religious workers be studied and, if after thorough test it continues to be highly commendable, that training schools for such workers be multiplied and strengthened. B. Teacher Training. Along with the education of ministers the Missions rightly regard the training of teachers, both men and women, to be essential. This work has been faithfully conducted under the common restricting circumstances but is woefully weak in most places. Expert trainers of teachers are too scarce. The great and general advance in education makes a better normal education imperative. The field of teaching at present offers few attractions to aspiring youth and the meager remuneration, especially in Mission schools, depletes the normal departments as it does in America. One noticeable need in teacher training is a much larger opportunity for students to observe model demonstrations of class-room work and actually to teach and direct schools under expert supervision. A real school is the natural laboratory and the necessary clinic of normal students. Not only do the students profit by studied observation and Observations and Suggestions 9 supervised practice but the elementary and secondary schools would greatly benefit by being organized, standardized and developed in the operation of this system. (The vital import¬ ance of practical work in all professional education is referred to later.) 18. THAT the training of Christian teachers, being a great essential industry of Missions, occupy a relatively more important place in our missionary program than at present. 19. THAT for this specialized task there be employed more generally those definitely fitted by genius, talent and training. 20. THAT active education in practice schools largely supplement the passive education of text-book and lecture. 21. THAT the vocation of teaching be relieved of all unnecessary unattractiveness. C. Medical Education. College grade work in medicine is done in very few places; this type of training calls for a large and highly-specialized corps of teachers, for expensive equipment and for large cur¬ rent budgets; any one denomination would have difficulty in conducting a high-class medical school and as there is no good reason why any one alone should attempt it, each school is a union institution. To help relieve the immeasurable physical suffering of the Far East, in the name and spirit of the Great Physician, is a task which there is none higher or more neces¬ sary and pressing; the devastation of preventable disease among ignorant millions of our human family is heart-break¬ ing; the countless wrecks of our race require us to respond with salvage measures and life guards. The schools of medicine with their affiliated schools for nurses are highly esteemed by all classes of the community, and the men and women graduates are beloved benefactors of hundreds of thousands of people. Community service, preventive medicine, public hygiene, and sanitation are being developed as funds and qualified leaders permit. Teachers in a medical school feel especially the need of repeated study, observation and advanced laboratory work at home every few years and urge that their furloughs be more frequent and possibly shorter. 10 Higher Education In The Far East 22. THAT medical training for men and women have a large place in our program of Mission advance, with greater relative importance given to the training of women doctors and nurses. 23. THAT medical schools of the highest type be de¬ veloped, not merely to educate practitioners but also to train native teachers and research specialists. 24. THAT medical—social and community work be em¬ phasized and that in this service the students give considerable cooperation. 25. THAT ways be sought whereby, in fairness to mis¬ sionaries in other departments, teachers of medicine may tone up more frequently than the present furlough periods allow. 26. THAT a competent business manager be supplied to each medical school. D. Various Other Professions. Missionary education for professional life has not extend¬ ed in any broad, vigorous way beyond training in theology, education, medicine and nursing. There have been some at¬ tempts and several notable successes in developing leaders in other literary, technical and practical professions, as Law, Journalism, Engineering, Commerce, Agriculture, various In¬ dustries, and more recently Forestry and Chemistry. There are many reasons why such professional schools have not been more generally developed, one unyielding deterrent cause be¬ ing the scarcity of teachers for these specialized subjects. Some doubt exists as to the justification of assigning large forces and funds to this secondary line of defense when so much of the front line of the missionary sector is unoccupied and under-manned. However, there is fairly substantial agree¬ ment that Missions should exhibit through such schools in a few strategic points the universal spirit and scope of Christian civilization and the educational model and scientific experi¬ mentation that a certain field might require. The heavy burden of training large numbers of students in the above and allied professions and trades will be properly and necessarily assum¬ ed by secular institutions in which we hope Church and Mis¬ sion may be free to bring Christian influences into lives of the students through religious and social activities. Observations and Suggestions 11 27. THAT professional training for other than evangel¬ istic, educational, medical and nursing service be limited to a very few carefully located and properly supported schools. 28. THAT pre-vocational courses for these “various other professions” be given in the Junior-colleges wherever advisable. 29. THAT thorough study be made as to what branches and grades of Agriculture and Trades can best be taught in higher, and what in secondary, institutions. E. General Cultural Education. A general education in arts and sciences which leads to a diploma or a degree but not to a well-defined vocation is fort¬ unately less common on the Mission field than in America where our college was originally constituted as a preparatory course in the study of theology. Nevertheless our purely cul¬ tural college has been too largely transplanted abroad where the need and desire demand definite training for known tasks. When a student’s education is completed by graduation from a Mission university or senior college, he or she should be pre¬ pared for constructive service in a clearly recognized vocation. This does not prejudice or prelude humanistic and cultural studies but merely means that when a student’s university work is concluded he should be recognizably ready for something and not simply ready “for almost anything”; for instance, an arts or science student that is not preparing for a profession could be given enough pedagogy to qualify him fully for teaching; although after graduation he may never enter a class¬ room yet he will doubtless use the principles of education in whatever he does, will be an abler lay leader in Church and community, and will have a useful profession at his command, while his college life and work are redeemed from amoebic indirection. In the strenuous existence of over-worked and under-nourished Mission colleges, little respect and less room can be given to “Art for art’s sake”; art and culture there should be for both aesthetic and utilitarian reasons but only when fitted into a program of training for life career; one’s artistic sense is pleasantly gratified by the beautiful way in which a person properly prepared for a profession harmonizes with the scheme of human life and progress. 12 Higher Education In The Far East 30. THAT senior-college courses be made professional in character, fitting the student for a life of useful activity, in a definite field. 31. THAT a general cultural course with ill-defined goal and with only the status quo in its favor be suspiciously scrutinized and be treated with the remedies indicated by the diagnosis. F. Extension Work. University Extension work of any kind is extremely scarce in the Far East. We believe that this is one of the most fruitful departments of service before our Mission institutions; the field to be cultivated contains more than one-third of the human race with hundreds of millions of fallow minds offer¬ ing fertile soil for sowing. Not one person in ten thousand will in a generation reach a Mission college but the colleges can reach many of the other 9999. A few extension experiments, from museum lectures to sericulture stations, are in success- iui operation and other institutions are eager to open up more such lines of radial influence and enlightenment but are re¬ strained by the ubiquitous scarcity of funds and trained work¬ ers. Vigorous extension work calls for a strong central in¬ stitution. “Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes”. 32. THAT earnest effort be made to extend beyond the student body the influence and uplift of Christian education by adopting various proven methods of University extension and by experimenting in new and locally adapted processes. III. EDUCATION OF WOMEN No greater need or opportunity exists today than the Christian education of the young women that are rapidly taking an increasingly prominent part in the life of the Far East, especially in the leadership of rising womanhood. As yet secular institutions are doing very little for the higher educa¬ tion of women, large numbers of whom are now ready and eager for college work; the opportunity of the Church is as obvious as it is urgent. The young women are seeking train¬ ing as teachers, church and social workers, doctors, nurses, business women and home makers as the wives of highly- educated (future) husbands. A very large proportion of these Observations and Suggestions 13 students (probably larger than among men students) comes from Mission schools; the religious atmosphere of their col¬ leges and their voluntary Christian activities are pronounced and very encouraging. The intelligent earnestness in the class-room is equalled by the alert vitality on the athletic field. Altogether a visitor gains an extremely high regard and hope for the women’s institutions. When a fond teacher asks a visitor, “Isn’t this the loveliest group of girls you have ever seen?” what will he reply! From the shivering mud-brick class-rooms of northern Korea to the palm-thatched, bamboo bungalows of the southern Philippines the girl students are exceedingly attractive, interesting, and inspiring groups. One rejoices that Eastern nations are to have better models of cultured womanhood than the clever, irresponsible, dangerous demi-monde; educated Christian women are becoming the new ideal. The suggestions that occur elsewhere through the report apply broadly to women’s institutions quite as much as to men’s and have been made with both in mind; especial refer¬ ence to women has also been made under several other head¬ ings; however, in view of the eminent opportunity and pressing need, a few general suggestions are given: 33. THAT special and immediate effort be made ade¬ quately to promote the development of the present women’s colleges, including the urgently required strengthening of the girls’ schools which supply them with students. 34. THAT thorough study be made of the fields of serv¬ ice open to educated womanhood and that effort be made to determine and develop the special departments in which Christian leadership will count most directly for the advance of the Kingdom of Christ. 35. THAT, as Christianity must be indigenous in the home and as heathen home life is impossibly inadequate, espe¬ cial place be given to training for Christian home making and to preparing Christian teachers of Domestic Arts and Sciences. IV. COEDUCATION Very little coeducation in high school or college has here¬ tofore been conducted. However, public and Mission opinion opposing the joint education of the sexes is being modified 14 Higher Education In The Far East rapidly and the next few years will probably see the elimina¬ tion of much prejudice and objection to the principle and practice of coeducation. The affiliation of women’s colleges with those for men is becoming fuller, to their mutual benefit. Whenever a distinct saving in staff, property, equipment, and current funds can be achieved without jeopardizing efficiency or student welfare, closer coordination and perhaps full union of the work of men’s and women’s institutions should be con¬ summated. In a government university which has had complete coeducation for many years the young women, even in the Medical Department, do not have separate lectures or labora¬ tory work in a single subject and the native dean and an Amer¬ ican professor reported that coeducation had caused no serious difficulty. There are of course many arguments on both sides but the tendency now is strongly toward closer affiliation and coeducation. 36. THAT the question of the fullest possible affiliation between men’s and women’s institutions and of coeducation be repeatedly considered with open mind, and that every advisable step be taken toward efficient coordination of work. V. UNION INSTITUTIONS. An outstanding feature of the past decade has been the rise and extensive development of Interdenominational Institutions which are a natural outgrowth of the demands of the work and of the rising spirit of cooperation. They are doing magnificent service and are powerful and needed exemplars of Christian union. These institutions have brought with them many new and perplexing problems of harmonization and during these days of complex adjustment, a patience, generosity, and mu¬ tual accommodation are called for, not only among the co¬ operating denominations but also among the missionaries of each cooperating denomination, for the demands of these union institutions often affect uncomfortably the practices of a Mission and the interests of other departments of the work. Racial and denominational orchestration combines high art with exact science. A danger not easily sensed in these union enterprises is that the relations of a denominational Mission with its related native Church may be seriously impaired, one safeguard against which difficulty is to take the Churches Observations and Suggestions 15 into the fullest confidence and cooperation in the union effort. Many Observations and Suggestions covering Union Institu¬ tions are given under other headings. 37. THAT, inasmuch as denominational institutions tend to perpetuate within the growing Church on the Mission field an occidental sectarianism which has many unfortunate or, to the natives, incomprehensible features, higher education be conducted on a cooperative or, if possible, a union basis. 38. THAT common methods of procedure by Union In¬ stitutions be worked out on the questions of special regulations regarding faculty furloughs, of the furnishing of financial equivalent in case of vacancies in the foreign teaching staff, of home promotion, of bequests for unincorporated institutions, of deeds or memoranda of trust for buildings of one Board erected upon the land of other incorporated trustees, etc. VI. UNDENOMINATIONAL COLLEGES A number of outstanding, undenominational Christian colleges are scattered over the foreign field. The several note¬ worthy institutions in the Far East are, in administration and support, independent of denominational Missions and Boards; however, they function as vital and vigorous organisms in the local missionary program, doing the whole, higher educa¬ tional work except in theology. The relations of Mission and college personnels are most harmonious and helpful, and these independent institutions are in the minds of the native population part and parcel of a single Christian enterprise. Because there is so much amity and comity between the Mis¬ sions and these colleges, we wish that there might be also a unity of operation brought about by interlocking directorates and faculties; if Missions expect the colleges to function for them, each denominational Mission affected could maintain at least one of its members on the faculty and any other faculty member of that communion could be an affiliated member of the Mission; representatives of a cooperating Mission and Board could sit on the Boards of Control on the field and at home. Mission and college need each other, and close correla¬ tion will advance their common cause; the Christian Church should promote a unified program, with these colleges as a part, for the evangelization of the Far East. 16 Higher Education In The Far East These independent institutions have grown more rapidly than other colleges; this is due largely to strong promotional campaigns and to the effective, non-sectarian appeal to certain sources of benevolence both native and foreign; again, being independent and staffed chiefly with young, aggressive Amer¬ ican collegians, they are free and able to follow the most modern methods of education and to feature departments which do not train directly for Church or Mission work, all of which attracts many students who can pay relatively high fees and thus enable the college to finance its progress. The local, indigenous support from both students and friendly citizens is much greater than in the average Mission college, and the native influence and interest in them is at least as great. 39. THAT the work of the independent Christian colleges and the denominational Missions be more closely coordinated and, as far as possible, unified. 40. THAT each directly benefited Mission share sub¬ stantially in the work of an independent college, supplying professor(s), residence(s), current appropriations, field com¬ mitteeman, and home trustee. 41. THAT the successful elements in the promotion and operation of these colleges be studied by Mission institutions with the view to adopting and adapting some of them. VII. SECULAR INSTITUTIONS Great, secular institutions under government and private support and control are springing up with rapid increase in number, size, wealth and influence. Our missionary institutions no longer hold the conspicuous place of leadership which they occupied earlier; in many places they are secondary and sub¬ ordinate. High standards have been attained in non-missionary education, and missionary work that is really mediocre is no longer relatively superior; “a one-eyed man can be king only among the blind.” Originally secular schools were patterned to a great extent after missionary institutions but many of them have now far outgrown and surpassed their earlier models and have tremendous and thoroughly up-to-date plants with large, highly-trained faculties with foreign degrees and student bodies of an intellectual caliber and range greater than are found in Observations and Suggestions 17 neighboring missionary institutions. In many places ambitious students endeavor first of all to enter the government institu¬ tions; failing that they seek entrance into private, secular institutions and failing that they accept as third best enroll¬ ment in a missionary institution; although one great reason for this is that desirable political preferments and business positions are more easily obtained by graduates from govern¬ ment colleges, nevertheless, we must realize that in many in¬ stances the training given in the secular institution is of a dis¬ tinctly higher standard. We should bring up the grade of work in our own institutions and not attempt to do more than we can do thoroughly well; to call a second-rate thing Chris¬ tian doesn’t make it so. Missionary schools cannot educate all Christians in Mission lands, much less the entire non-Christian population; but they can be inspirational models of education and true exemplars of Christianity. We should rejoice that other interests are taking up the heavy burdens of general education in a comprehensive way and we should be ready to do everything that we can to assist by sympathy and advice in these forward movements. Many secular institutions are quite willing to have mis¬ sionaries carry on religious and social work among their students. In a number of important educational centers various denominations are conducting such work for students through hostels, social halls, group gatherings for the study of the Bible and the discussion of Christian themes, personal visitation, social contact in the missionaries’ homes and in the students’ boarding houses, athletics, English Classes, etc; this type of work cannot be too highly commended and various national leaders of secular education speak frankly of the immense benefits which obviously result in the lives of the students. No one denies the importance of educating the Christians. It is equally important to Christianize the educated, especially those that will probably be influential leaders in the life of their nation. The men for this student evangelization should be very carefully selected and trained; we are accustomed to think of this work as being special province of young men but I believe, with a very thoughtful Japanese professor, that “The right man of any age can do it well”. The question of separate student churches is one that needs careful study. 18 Higher Education In The Far East In some places strong government middle schools are drawing students away from similar schools of the Missions and in one territory have completely dried up the feeders of a missionary college. 42. THAT missionary institutions seek friendly coopera¬ tion with secular educational authorities, lending and receiving all possible assistance in the development of the most desirable plans and processes of education. 43. THAT we develop our institutions to higher efficiency in every way, making them really representative of Christianity. 44. THAT our middle schools which feed the higher missionary institutions be strengthened and that desirable out¬ lets for the middle-school graduates that do not further con¬ tinue their studies be furnished. 45. THAT Christian missionary work among the students of secular institutions be greatly strengthened and extended, and that it be developed along lines of the most thorough inter¬ denominational cooperation. VIII. ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT No attempt is made here to discuss the various and gener¬ ally complex systems of administration; the administrative per¬ sonnel is so all-important that the method of management is relatively negligible. Cordial team-work within each governing group and among all the governing groups of an institution is as indispensable as is a sound, business administration guided by Christian principles. A fundamental administrative problem is the coordinated development of all branches of the missionary enterprise. The plans of some educational institutions appear ambitious com¬ pared to the support which the other work of the Missions can reasonably expect and if the goals of these colleges were achieved without the other missionary activities making similar large strides forward, higher education might be so far separa¬ ted from evangelistic, medical, literary, and indeed lower and middle education as to jeopardize its vital and helpful contact with them. The entire Christian missionary campaign is a unit and I believe can best be developed as such. The whole Observations and Suggestions 19 advance of the Christian forces should present a solid front; it should neither be retarded by slow and meager resources and reenforcements from the rear, nor should communications be broken by the overhaste of any part of the line. Thoughtful and unprejudiced nationals of each country generally express very cordial appreciation of missionary education. They wish foreigners to bring to their lands the best possible institutional models and the highest type of educa¬ tional leaders and, at least temporarily, financial assistance. There is a strong and growing desire on the part of nationals to share more fully in the direction and to some extent also in the support of institutions. The opinion and desire of the Chinese in this regard seem to be approximating rapidly the position taken some decades ago by the Japanese. As institutions grow in size their spheres of influence some¬ times everlap, and whereas they should be cooperative they are in danger of becoming competitive. There is a desire for a common understanding in the various fields and for prevention of conflicting aims and programs; various steps have already been taken to meet these difficulties before they cause offense and injury. Also in the home lands closer coordination of the higher educational interests in a given country should be brought about, if not for purposes of administration at least for promotion and comity. Very few if any missionary institutions have a satisfactory program for cultivating a supporting constituency. With the exception of one or two colleges that have definitely limited themselves to restricted, conservative spheres, they are all in crying need of largely increased funds and forces. In the minds of the field administrators and the faculties this is ordinarily the most urgent question connected with higher education. Some independent Christian institutions employ a number of promoters at considerable expense and thus provide themselves with relatively large resources. This procedure, however, has not been open to institutions connected with Mission Boards; they frequently feel the burden of their limitations in not being free to make vigorous, independent attempts to secure funds. The current income is lamentably insufficient practically everywhere. The hand-to-mouth method of current finance is as discouraging and distasteful to the missionaries as it is 20 Higher Education In The Far East debilitating to the work. Income from students fees ordinarily forms far too small a proportion of the current receipts. Students of financial means should pay more nearly what their education costs. There are many plans of student aid and loan funds, repayment being made by work, by post-graduate teach¬ ing, by both of these, or in cash. At a great government uni¬ versity an honor student “must be distinguished for good morals”, and surely the scholarships of missionary institutions should be for students of no less distinction. The matter of granting degrees is rather serious in the minds of some institutions which are not separately incorpora¬ ted with American charters. In some countries a foreign degree, e.g., from the university of the State of New York, is at present eagerly sought by students with the consequence that institu¬ tions not granting such degrees are at a distinct disadvantage; some institutions do not believe it wise or find it convenient to become separate incorporations with American charters. 46. THAT our present institutions be materially strength¬ ened before we open new centers. 47. THAT higher educational institutions in each country have a representative union body on the field for reference, counsel and general supervision. 48. THAT also in America there be formed a strong cooperating committee, with a central office and staff, for co¬ ordination, standardization, promotion and possibly some degree of administration of the institutions of a given country. (The Cooperating Board for Christian Education in Chosen has functioned successfully for several years, and recently a “Committee of Cooperation for American Education in the Near East” has been organized.) 49. THAT closer contact between the home-base and the field be established by the appointment of more liaison officers and more frequent, mutual visitation. 50. THAT competent and deserving nationals be given a larger share in the field management of institutions along with increasing responsibility for them, not stressing the latter too heavily at first but nevertheless making clear the funda¬ mental concept “noblesse oblige”. Observations and Suggestions 21 51. THAT, if advisable, a uniform practice in conferring degrees be pursued by the Colleges of the same country. 52. THAT the financial problems of missionary institu¬ tions be thoroughly studied; that endowment needs be carefully determined and adequate measures taken to meet them; that the officers of finance on the field be given expert, definite, and sympathetic counsel; that a larger supply of current funds be secured both from the home base and especially through more intensive cultivation of the local field; and that institu¬ tions well aware of their total, anticipated income do not stretch it to the breaking point. 53. THAT larger effort be made to secure from the students, through cash, work or later repayment, a considerably increased portion of the cost of their education. 54. THAT scholarships and bursaries be granted to only highly deserving students. 55. THAT each cooperating Mission Board, after advise from its Mission, guarantee to support in an institution a rea¬ sonable number of foreign teachers and, in case of vacancy in that quota, to reimburse the institution up to a certain fixed limit for any expenditure it makes in filling the vacancy. IX. PROPERTY Property and equipment are as a rule quite inadequate and are frequently in a state of ill-repair; however, on the whole the quality of construction and of maintenance of the property of higher educational institutions is better than that of other Mission buildings. In the past for lack of funds or of foresight there has been a lamentable lack of initial, comprehensive building schemes for the future; the placing, the coordination, and the material and style of construction have often been haphazard. A comprehensive campus layout with an harmonious architectural plan for future development is happily becoming the custom of institutions that are still in their infancy. The amount of construction is and will con¬ tinue to be so large as easily to justify the setting up in the Far East (or perhaps in each country) of a central bureau of missionary architects and builders; this may not eliminate the 22 Higher Education In The Far East advisability of consulting highly qualified and long experi¬ enced architectural firms. Certain types of standardized build¬ ings seem advisable; institutions could at least save a good deal of money by exchanging plans and working drawings for cer¬ tain buildings, as many institutions need practically the same kind of laboratories, chapel, library, residences, dormitories, and so forth. Our institutions are generally located in large population centers on land that is or will become very valuable and may not always be exempt from taxation; with this, and al¬ so the most advantageous use of land, in mind a visitor feels that frequently the buildings of the institutions are too scattered and could be grouped more compactly; dormitories in many in¬ stances could also be higher, making airier, warmer rooms (they have no artificial heat) and reducing the cost of con¬ struction per room; this would release valuable land for re¬ creation, for landscape and kitchen gardening and for other purposes. 56. THAT the actual property and equipment needs of the institutions be determined after careful study and be ade¬ quately supplied. 57. THAT sufficient appropriations for respectable maintenance of plant be made and be non-transferable for other expenditure. 58. THAT wherever needed comprehensive, architectur¬ al, campus layouts be made. 59. THAT an interdenominational bureau of missionary architects and builders be established in each country. 60. THAT effort be made to group as closely as advisable the buildings on a campus where land is or will be very valuable. 61. THAT, as land values in large cities are rapidly rising, all the land that will be needed for an institution be purchased soon, postponing some construction if necessary thus to secure sufficient funds to buy land. 62. THAT, where land and construction are expensive and many new residences are required, an institution try the experiment of a comfortable apartment house, especially for teachers with small or no families. Observations and Suggestions 23 X. CURRICULA AND EXTRA-CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES The traditional education of the home lands has natural¬ ly been transferred by foreign teachers to the Mission field and in many ways and places it fails to fit the new environment. In a curriculum, that which is incidental and occidental too often excludes the essential and universal. Careful adjustment to the basic needs of the community does not sufficiently deter¬ mine the training we give to meet them. As remarked above, when a student has completed his full course of education he should be ready for a particular life task. There is a laudable desire on the part of progressive students to have a profession at their command and courses that make no close connection with the life of the day are in increasing disfavor. The graduates from our missionary colleges become the leaders of the Christian Church. During their years of study they are largely separated from the activities of an ordinary Christian congregation and it is therefore necessary that their experience in the institution should train them for lay leadership in church and community. With this and the spiritual welfare of the individual in view there does not seem to be a sufficient emphasis within or without the col¬ lege curriculum upon religious education or the practical train¬ ing of the students to be strong lay leaders in church work, Sunday School, Bible classes, community service, etc. The average college course becomes so easily crowded with secular subjects that religious subjects do not receive the attention that one wishes might be given them; the direct culture of the Christian life and activities of the students is largely left out of the curriculum and without any other adequate provision for development and direction. Close contact with the enlight¬ ening and elevating power of God with a discerning, practical expression of it in human affairs is the heart of Christian education; text-book and test-tube function forcibly but not sufficiently for the full training needed. Appreciating the great benefit of laboratory and clinical work in certain professional study one wishes that a larger degree of this kind of practical work by students could be made possible in all branches of higher education, for in¬ stance, that the students in Normal departments could conduct 24 Higher Education In The Far East and teach schools under supervision and/or observe them being taught and conducted by experts; that the students of theology and sociology could be given more thorough clinical practice than they take at present; and that likewise students of com¬ merce, law, journalism, business administration, etc. could, like medical, agricultural, and trade students, have larger op¬ portunities for the practical application and observation of their class-room laws and theories. Native teachers especially need to appreciate the merits of active (as opposed to passive) education both inside and outside the class-room. Staffs are so overburdened with curriculum work that the important extra-curriculum activities which mean so much to the development of student character and capacity are largely undiscovered and undirected. The religious, literary, musical, social, and athletic activities should be under the supervision of faculty members free and able to give these matters an inspiring and intelligent leadership. 63. THAT the essential educational needs of each nation and of the zone of influence of each institution be carefully determined, and that curricula be chosen to supply that need. 64. THAT a faculty be formed to cover the curriculum; don’t cut a curriculum to fit a faculty. 65. THAT, if the use of English as the main medium of instruction is not the wisest procedure, it be discontinued as such and that foreign teachers be given any needed training in the native language to enable them to conduct lectures and classes profitably in the vernacular. 66. THAT (as suggested above) missionary education in general emphasize professional courses in theology, educa¬ tion, medicine, and nursing, and in particular places develop other professional courses as models and as demonstration stations of the broad applications of Christianity to all phases of human life; and that as a general rule courses in other than the professions mentioned be confined to the junior colleges, the graduate professional courses being ordinarily left to non¬ missionary institutions. 67. THAT library facilities be greatly improved and be employed as a direct adjunct of the class-room. Observations and Suggestions 25 68. THAT a strong department of Religious Education be conducted in each institution with proper emphasis upon practical Christian service by the students. 69. THAT ways and means be discovered and employed for larger practical service by students along the lines of their special department of study. 70. THAT well qualified leadership for religious and other voluntary student activities be established in institutions where it is now lacking. 71. THAT practical, pertinent courses in public hygiene and personal health be given to all students. 72. THAT each student receive a regular physical exami¬ nation with remedial recommendations which are followed up. 73. THAT outstanding educationalists in the home-lands be secured for short-term lectureships in various institutions. XI. STAFF The administrative and teaching staffs are earnest groups of the finest Christian men and women, loyally doing their ut¬ most with meager material resources and against severe odds unknown at home. The results of their service are really remark¬ able when one realizes that the teaching force of each institu¬ tion is insufficient in number and not fully fitted by training for its task. These limitations weigh heavily upon the staffs who ardently wish to remove them. The quality of the work could be improved by continued preparation by the teachers for which presumably the foreigners have the best opportunity during furlough and the natives during their summer vacations. A number of native teachers in each institution are worthy of and would be greatly benefited by an advanced course of study, preferably abroad; teachers that have had this broaden¬ ing experience are, other things being equal, of vastly larger influence in the institution. The lack of funds is the common cause preventing foreign study but out of any increase available for expenditure a paying investment could be made in furnish¬ ing travelling scholarships to experienced teachers. Numerous teaching positions which really call for special technical train¬ ing are filled by missionaries without particular qualification, many of whom are ordained clergymen who are conscientiously doing the teaching because there is no one else to do it and who 26 Higher Education In The Far East would be much more satisfied and effective in other forms of work. When the correct curriculum is determined, a faculty should be found or trained to fit it. In missionary institutions there seems to be a scarcity of prominent, vigorous, native leaders of thought and life; there are of course many highly-respected and a few conspicuous teachers, all of them probably receiving less salary than they could command elsewhere. The housing facilities provided for the native staff seem as a rule quite unsatisfactory. Many institutions both denominational and union do not know definitely how many missionary teachers they can count upon from the constituent Mission (s) and Board (s). In union institutions where the quota of teachers from each denomination is determined by the denominational home Board, whenever a vacancy occurs the local Mission of the denomi¬ nation affected may not feel responsible for filling the vacancy, the matter being left to a distant Board in America with a con¬ sequent unfortunate delay in supplying the teacher needed. The use of the English language is spreading in the Far East and there is a growing desire to learn it; the majority of the missionary universities use English as the sole or chief medium of instruction and all missionary institutions give English a more or less prominent place in the curriculum. There are many teaching positions which can be filled by English-speaking persons who do not know the vernacular and an increasing number of institutions can advantageously use short-term teachers. Young men and women from American colleges can render good service in teaching, in leading extra¬ curriculum activities and in keeping permanent teachers in touch with the latest developments at home; they will secure an intelligent interest in mission work which should lead them into regular missionary service or into the active promotion of missionary interest at home. A term of service shorter than three years does not ordinarily have sufficient advantages to commend it. Universities and colleges are accustomed to state in their list of required reenforcements “Professor of.A young American candidate sees the list and feels that “Profes¬ sor” is just what he would like to be; for that position he ap¬ plies and is appointed; after a year of language study he may Observations and Suggestions 27 become “Professor”, whereas that rank should be reserved for those who by experience and ability deserve it. 74. THAT, inasmuch as a high quality of leadership is required to train leaders, each teacher be chosen and retained for clearly recognized Christian character and for conspicuous personal and professional attainments. 75. THAT the Boards find or train especially prepared teachers for higher educational work. 76. THAT the Boards grant adequate means on furlough for advanced work along educational lines, and that such study be the rule for younger missionaries. 77. THAT increased educational facilities on the field, by way of teachers institutes, vacation courses, correspondence courses, etc., be made available for native teachers with in¬ ducements adequate to secure their participation and with leaders competent to coach them into energetic alertness and into the inspirational putting across of ideas in the class-room. 78. THAT travelling scholarships for deserving native teachers be supplied from increased funds available for higher education. 79. THAT the conditions of service (position, salary, residence, and so forth) be such as to attract more, outstanding native leaders to missionary institutions, and that an increas¬ ing proportion of the total current expenditure be allocated to the employment of nationals. 80. THAT a Mission state the number of missionary teachers which it believes it should supply on the staff of an institution and that the Mission along with its home Board feel an urgent responsibility of filling as quickly as possible any vacancy that occurs. 81. THAT the Boards work out a uniform policy regard¬ ing the terms of employment of short-term teachers and that a united effort be made to secure a larger number of the finest type of foreign, college graduates for this work. 82. THAT young missionary recruits be not appointed to, or led to expect immediate field assignment to, “professor¬ ships”, and that this grade in a staff be reserved for teachers of tested and high ability. 28 Higher Education In The Far East 83. THAT, as a first-hand knowledge of various phases of native life greatly helps those who train its future leaders, a teacher have as much as possible of missionary experience outside of his own institution. 84. THAT as highly-qualified, Christian teachers of Native Literature are seldom available, a special course to train them be given in each great language area. XII. STUDENT BODY A visitor is impressed with the sterling character and the innate capacity of the students; the majority of them are Christians, many of rather limited financial ability and most with fairly definite desire to serve the Kingdom of Christ; the college course makes them potentially more competent finan¬ cially and deepens their purpose of service. Their sincere Christian spirit is generally evident in the sympathetic, spon¬ taneous nature of their chapel exercises, prayer-meetings, and Bible classes as well as in their daily life and ready helpfulness in various forms of voluntary service on the campus and in the community. In certain qualifications the students may not compare favorably with those in secular institutions but we must not fail to rate properly the inconspicuous, indispensable Christian qualification of a moral character and the spirit of service which distinguishes the students of Mission institu¬ tions. On the other hand, one wishes that a larger proportion of the students with high intellectual and social qualities were being educated in Mission institutions for they will be leaders of their people and that leadership should be Christian. In practically every institution one finds some students who seem not to deserve the expenditure of life and money necessary for their advanced education; they are there because of some one’s kind heart; perhaps a friend pays the fees and so the stu¬ dent is received and retained; but the small tuition charge is an insignificant return for the total missionary energy that goes into a student. The practice of having students of lower and intermediate grades on the same campus with those of college grade is prop¬ erly being abandoned and the few institutions that still con¬ tinue it should be supplied with the means of providing separate grounds and buildings for the younger students. Observations and Suggestions 29 The student class is the most alert, progressive and hope¬ ful element in the life of the nations; they are intensely nation¬ alistic but their patriotism is unselfish, idealistic and broadly humanitarian. In the prevalent, determined, student movements in the different countries, the young men and women of our Mission colleges are taking an active and often a leading part; a new respect for Christian institutions is resulting from the competence and courage displayed by their students in difficult and dangerous agitation against injustice and corruption. In the Class-room the students are reasonably eager and am¬ bitious to acquire and achieve; facility, spontaneity, receptive¬ ness and inquisitiveness vary according to national (and in¬ dividual) traits; students seem respectful toward one another and toward teachers, and punitive discipline is seldom needed. Extra-curriculum, student activities are referred to elsewhere. 85. THAT every effort be made to strengthen the funda¬ mental Christian character and purpose of the students. 86. THAT only students capable of helpfully using a professional education be trained in our over-burdened and under-financed colleges. 87. THAT students of younger grades be educated on a separate campus from college students and constitute a model, practice school wherever practicable. 88. THAT attempt be made to discover that proper limits of student activities in political agitation and that students be urged to confine their activities within these bounds. 89. THAT various forms of student government be established more generally than at present. XIII. GRADUATES From the mutual neglect of alumnus (a) and Alma Mater one might suppose the commencement diploma to be a certif¬ icate of divorce; the few years of closest intimacy between student and college are followed by a life of separation when each fails to provide for the needs of the other. This broken, or at best intermittent, and unsatisfactory relationship between an institution and its graduates is world-wide; some American colleges are making connecting links but in response to many inquiries I learned of no significant effort in this line by 30 Higher Education In The Far East any Far Eastern institution. Maintenance of constant, construc¬ tive relationship with graduates makes possible a study of the functioning of the finished product of the educational plant, a chance to apply any needed corrective in the work of the institution, an appreciated stimulus and guidance for the graduate, and from the alumni (ae) an invigorating current of good-will, financial support and sympathetic suggestion for improvement and progress. 90. THAT news items of the institution and of graduates be circulated regularly. 91. THAT periodic publications of the new contributions (especially by the institution) to the intellectual world and of other helpful material be sent to graduates. 92. THAT suggested courses of reading, reviews and very brief bibliographies be circulated, presumably in the above publication. 93. THAT careful records of graduates be kept and an¬ nually brought up to date. 94. THAT a sympathetic letter of encouragement and inquiry be sent by the President or Dean at least once a year to each graduate with an expression of readiness to assist him with any problems of work, location, etc. 95. THAT an institution constantly have in mind the placing of each alumnus in the field of service where his grow¬ ing talents will render the largest service. 96. THAT graduates be given a greater share in the support and administration of their institution, through mem¬ bership on the Field Board, a Graduate Council, and through individual annual subscription to current and capital expendi¬ ture. CONCLUSION Let no reader of this report mistakenly infer from its critical content that my recent visit to the Far Eastern mis¬ sionary colleges failed to impress me very favorably. Consider¬ ing all their limitations, for most of which I believe we at home are responsible, their position, work and influence are remark¬ able and inspiring to any unprejudiced observer, and to a sympathetic friend are powerfully invigorating and reassuring. God has used the life energy of small groups of devoted work¬ ers with extremely scanty financial support to produce results Observations and Suggestions 31 that are immeasurably out of proportion to the human causes. What would have been the effect if the Church had properly performed its part of the task? What will be, when it does! Twilight seems bright when we peer back into the night but not when we in faith face the dawn; the dwarfing mediocrity of the present twilight must readily resolve into the warmth and growth of the approaching brighter day of Missions. The sharp contrast between the gloomy needs and the glowing possibilities of Higher Education presents a challenging de¬ mand which Christians cannot deny; the entire enterprise calls for decided development in every department in order proper¬ ly to, promote the Kingdom of our Lord. What will we who are particularly responsible do about it?