Kinnaird was established in 1913 by the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission. In 1919, Presbyterian Mission Church and the Church Mission Society joined a consortium to fund and operate the college. In 1926, it moved to its current campus on the Jail Road, where it grew over the years. By 1939, the college had grown into a 20-acre (81,000 m2) campus.[3][4]
The college is named after Lady Mary Jane Kinnaird, co-founder of YWCA and a great philanthropist of her time.
The now university was established at the start of the 20th century when it was housed near Kinnaird High School. In 2002, college was given the status of government Degree Awarding institution and its administration was handed over to Association of Kinnaird College. Its board of governors run its administration.
History
Kinnaird College was founded in 1913 by the Zenana and Bible Medical Mission when they started college classes at Kinnaird Christian Girls' High School in Lahore.[5] The founders wished to give Punjabi Christian women the opportunity to gain professional qualifications as teachers.[5] The first principal was Joan MacDonald.[5]
From 1913 to 1922, the college was the only women's liberal arts college in the Punjab. In its initial years, college life was designed for the predominately Christian student body and on graduation many students found employment in the mission school network.[5] The popularity of missionary schools among non-Christian families, with their emphasis on English language teaching and the chance to study with British and American teachers, led to a demand for the type of graduate teachers produced by the college.[5]
In 1928, Isabella McNair became principal of the college. McNair believed that women's education should be intellectually equal to men's and alumnae encouraged to be active in public life.[5] During the 1930s, admission standards, teacher/pupil ratios, extracurruclar activities and a fee schedule set Kinnaird apart as the region's most prestigious women's college.[5] The demographics had also shifted with a majority of pupils now coming from middle to upper class Hindu families, where an English education from a leading women's college was regarded as an important step in arranging a good marriage.[5]
After Partition in 1947, the University of the Punjab Senate decided to replace English with Urdu as the medium of instruction and examination for higher education. Despite this change, Kinnaird continued to offer women higher education in newly created Pakistan and added science courses, typing, nursing and social work to its curriculum.[5] Partition however significantly altered the student body, with Muslims, a minority at Kinnaird before 1947, now becoming a large majority.[5]
In 1972, the Pakistani government nationalised all private schools and colleges, including Kinnaird.
In 2002, Kinnaird college was given Charter of Degree Awarding institution and the board of governor was set up to run its administration.
Degrees and courses
Kinnaird launched its honors program in 2003, the four year bachelors followed by a dissertation. An honors degree is available in the following subjects:
Radio Kinnaird 97.6 FM is a campus radio of Kinnaird College for Women University. The test transmission of this radio channel was started in June 2010.
Students' Council
The Students' Council was formed under the Presidency of the Senior Student assisted by the Deputy Senior Student and the Hostel Deputy.
^ abcdefghijkMaskiell, Michelle. “Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960.” Modern Asian Studies, vol. 19, no. 1, 1985, pp. 55–83. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/312321. Accessed 19 Sept. 2020.
^Faculty Awards (2015). 2015 U.S. Higher Education Faculty Awards, Vol. 1: Fine Arts, Humanities, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. River Publishers. ISBN978-8793379008.
^Ḥasan, Musarrat (2004). Zubeida Agha: A Pioneer of Modern Art in Pakistan. Pakistan National Council of the Arts.
