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== Upadhyayani (उपाध्यायानी) Vs Upadhyaayaa (उपाध्याया) ==

== Upadhyayani (उपाध्यायानी) Vs Upadhyaayaa (उपाध्याया) ==

When a large number of women were receiving higher education and were making their own contributions to the march of knowledge, it is but natural to suppose that some of them must have followed the profession of teaching. And the presence of the terms Upadhyaya (उपेत्याधीयते अस्याः सा उपाध्याया one (lady) who sits nearby and teaches is Upadhyaayaa as per Patanjali) and Upadhyayani in Sanskrit language supports this conjecture. The latter of these words (Upadhyayani) is a courtesy title given to the wife of a teacher, who may or may not be educated. The former, however, denotes a lady, who was herself a teacher. That a special term should have been coined to denote lady teachers in order to distinguish them from wives of teachers would show that their number in society could not have been small. We must note in this connection that there was no Purdah custom in Hindu society down to the 12th century, and so there was no difficulty for women in taking to the teaching profession. Lady teachers may probably have confined themselves to the teaching of girl students, though some may have taught boys also. Panini refers to boarding houses for lady-students, chhatrisalas (छात्रिशालाः छात्र्यादयः शालायाम्) (6.2.86), and these probably were under the superintendence of Upadhyayas or lady teachers, who had made teaching their profession.<ref name=":0" />  

When a large number of women were receiving higher education and were making their own contributions to the march of knowledge, it is but natural to suppose that some of them must have followed the profession of teaching. And the presence of the terms Upadhyaayaa (उपेत्याधीयते अस्याः सा उपाध्याया one (lady) who sits nearby and teaches is Upadhyaayaa as per Patanjali) and Upadhyayani in Sanskrit language supports this conjecture. The latter of these words (Upadhyayani) is a courtesy title given to the wife of a teacher, who may or may not be educated. The former, however, denotes a lady, who was herself a teacher. That a special term should have been coined to denote lady teachers in order to distinguish them from wives of teachers would show that their number in society could not have been small. We must note in this connection that there was no Purdah custom in Hindu society down to the 12th century, and so there was no difficulty for women in taking to the teaching profession. Lady teachers may probably have confined themselves to the teaching of girl students, though some may have taught boys also. Panini refers to boarding houses for lady-students, chhatrishalas (छात्रिशालाः छात्र्यादयः शालायाम्) (6.2.86), and these probably were under the superintendence of Upadhyayas or lady teachers, who had made teaching their profession.<ref name=":0" />  

== References ==

== References ==