Ans.

Role of Drinkwater Bethune in the expansion of women’s education in the nineteenth century: – John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune was a lawyer and a legal member of the Governor-General’s Council.  She played the role of a pioneer in the field of promotion of women’s education in India.  In 1849, Bethune established the Secular Native Female School in Calcutta with the efforts of the great educationists of Bengal, Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, Ram Gopal Ghosh, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Madan Mohan Tarkalankar, etc., in Calcutta.  He donated all his property for the construction of this school.  This was the first commendable effort made by an English officer in the field of education and it had a great impact on society.  In 1856 AD, the government took the school under itself and in 1862-63 AD it was named Bethune School.  This school played an important role in the spread of English education among women.  Bethune also had contacts with the Calcutta Public Library.  Along with the English language, he also tried to develop Bengali literature.  She got an article published in the field of women’s education with the help of Pandit Gaur Mandal Vidyalankar and distributed it among the people at her own expense.  The Bethune School established by him was later renamed Bethune College.  The role of this college was important in the development of women’s education in Bengal.