ch 1982: 60) Once the community stated migrating to the different out posts of the British empire and increasing in prosperity they started educating their children to join the ranks of the elite of the countries they inhabited. And because there were no restrictions in any way on the issue of male and female education the more prosperous families educated both offspring equally. This move to give their children English education lead to many of the younger generation growing up to speak the variety of English known as Convent English. In Sri Lanka for example such schools date from the 17th 18th centuries They were originally intended to provide a Christian education but became in recent decades increasingly secular. The model of Convent English is not specifically British English or American English, nor has the usage of school staff ever been homogeneous. In the past, European teachers were recruited not only from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but also from Belgium and other countries. A 'convent-educated' person was and is expected to have a Westernised outlook, and is generally comfortable with and fluent in English. Extensive code-mixing with local languages occurs. In middle-class circles, Convent English is equated with modernity and so the Daudi Bohra community soon became a very modern community with westernised outlooks on life. Women especially began to yearn for higher education and this remains a feature of the community even today. Most women do tend study further and are likely to be better qualified than the men. One reason for this is that a lot of the men join the family business or firm once they finish their O/Levels and A/Levels while the women tend to go on with their education. The other is that women are more likely to pursue education for educations sake, while the men tend to focus on their careers. And although things are changing career women are still a minority within the community with ...
