The Hungarian Student, 1958 (2. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1958 / 6. szám
the Hungarian student 5 Canada Greets Hungarians by E. C. KNOWLES NCCU Reports on Student Aid The following report was received from Mrs. Frederick Smith, Director of the Hungarian Refugee Students’ Committee of NCCU FIRST PERSONAL contact with Hungarian refugee students was shortly after Christmas 1956. Earlier, however, the Canadian Department of Immigration had asked the National Conference of Canadian Universities (NCCU) to establish a national office in Montreal where all incoming refugee students could be registered, helped and advised in innumerable ways. It was therefore as an alternate member of this NCCU Committee that I met the first Government sponsored flight of Hungarians. They arrived at St. Paul l’Hermite on January 16, 1957 and we met them on the 18th. The interest of the students was intense, but as so few spoke English it was most fortunate that we had Mrs. Smith, the Hungarian speaking Director of the NCCU Office with us. The first questions were: “Will the Government allow us to study” and “Will there be scholarships?” Equally important was, “How can we begin to learn English?” Inevitably there was delay. Uncertainty as to where the body of students would be located made it impossible to set up classes until this was decided. By February 18th, however, the first arrivals had been moved to Montreal and on that day the International Rescue Committee had started classes in English, four hours a day. At first these took place in two churches which provided accommodation free of charge. During this time the Board of Governors of McGill University had provided three large unused houses to accommodate 135 students. These were first heated, then cleaned up by the students and on March 2nd the first sixtyfive moved in with Dr. Andrew Holló as the Assistant Warden. Meals for the men were provided at the men’s residence, for the married women at the women’s residence. Single women students were accommodated at the Y.W.C.A. but had lunch and supper at the women’s residence. It is important to emphasize that this was a joint venture supported by the Department of Immigration, the International Rescue Committee, the NCCU and McGill University as well as the Travellers Aid and a few private individuals. The establishment of Petőfi House (the residence provided by McGill) was conceived not only as a welfare gesture but as an educational establishment. For the first three months no one who lived there was allowed to be employed. They were required to attend four hours of English classes per day. Soon after Petőfi House was set up, several other Canadian Universities, in co-operation with the Department of Immigration, established similar, though considerably smaller, hostels. (Nearly 900 students have registered at the NCCU office in Montreal.) It was a difficult period in many ways and for many reasons, but gradually more and more students began to get a grasp of the English language. Early in June, policy changed and we required students to get work, if possible, but allowed them free residence, but not free board. This pushed them out of the Hungarian speaking environment, it started them earning and saving, and becoming acquainted with Canadian rates of living. One of the greatest sources of dissatisfaction was that we made no specific promises about financial aid for university studies in 1957-1958. Actually we could make no promises because we did not know what resources would be available. By the end of September, however, with twenty-five tuition free places at McGill and five at Macdonald College, it was possible to accept forty-seven other students. The Hungarians have set a very excellent example of sustained study. It is natural that they should be anxious about written exams which are started after one or two days of lectures, instead of having four or five weeks in which to study for oral exams as they did at home. Having been so intimately acquainted with them, I naturally share their apprehensions, but I believe most of the students will give a good account of themselves. Indeed, there is some reason to think that a few will win, in open competition, a university scholarship. This is the highest academic award the University has to offer. It is impossible for me to estimate the relative standards of Hungarians and Canadians. Normally, provided the student has the necessary subjects, we rate the matúra as the equivalent of our first year. In the upper years the sequence of courses is not always similar. In subjects such as Physics, most of the students have had considerable difficulty, not wholly linguistic, nor is the difficulty confined to Hungarians! The author of the above article is an Associate Professor, University Chaplain, and Student Counselor at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. As a Student Counselor, Mr. Knowles has successfully handled problems of Hungarian students at McGill and has an intimate knowledge of the situation facing Hungarian emigres. O n JANUARY 16, 1957, the first of several flights of sponsored Hungarian refugee students arrived at Dorval airport and were taken to St. Paul l’Hermite, an Immigration Hostel about twenty-five miles outside of Montreal. The National Conference of Canadian Universities (NCCU), at the request of the Department of Immigration, appointed a Committee on Hungarian Refugee Students, which established an office to which all Hungarian refugee students could apply for information and help. The office co-operated with existing agencies which had been organized to deal with the Hungarian refugees so thaf the students could share in the benefits of these agencies. Students were registered and their documents examined. Applicants were informed about Canada and Canadian universities. Their applications for admission together with their translated documents were sent (Continued on page 6.) HUNGARIAN STUDENTS J N CANADA
