Kinnaird College For Women University

The Kinnaird College for Women (KCW) is a university located in Lahore, Pakistan. It is a women's liberal arts university.

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 and by 1939 the college had grown into a campus.

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. 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.Maskiell, 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. The founders wished to give Punjabi Christian women the opportunity to gain professional qualifications as teachers.Maskiell, 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. The first principal was Joan MacDonald.Maskiell, 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.

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.Maskiell, 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. 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.Maskiell, 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.

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.Maskiell, 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. 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.Maskiell, 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. 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.Maskiell, 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.

After Partition in 1947, the University of the Punjab Senate decided to replace English with Urdu