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Witch Weekly · September 29, 2019 – 4:26 PM

Opinion: Women Don't Need a NEWT Education
The magical community is leagues ahead of the muggle world, the subject of female empowerment being one of many. Unlike in the muggle world, where women are allowed to finish their primary education but are barred from many of the esteemed universities that allow for more lucrative careers, witches are permitted to earn their Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Exams—the highest level of education required for nearly every job on the British Isles.

Still, women are not usually seen in many of these jobs, bar healing, and even then it's widely debated about whether women should be exposed to the harsh realities that healers often have to witness. I propose that women need not receive a NEWT education, as it makes them a better woman and a more desirable wife.

It goes without saying that ladies who need to work should not need their NEWTs. Their families need their presence, whether it be on the farm or in the family shop, so they have no business twiddling their thumbs in their NEWT-level Charms class their sixth and seventh year. It does not change that there are one or two of these young ladies that choose this wrongful path each year in the name of education—all because they are simply permitted to!

Women from families of comfortable means have more flexibility during their last two years at Hogwarts, but many have no need to be there anyway. Magical Britain has allowed a NEWT education to become a given for those who are able to afford it, giving no question when their daughter, having expressed a desire to marry like every young lady should, brings home her OWL results. Where is the need for advanced Potions lessons when the most a young lady will be mixing in adulthood is a nice cup of tea? Where is the need for advanced Astronomy lessons when that knowledge will only help her show her children where each star is, assuming she can remember? No, NEWTs are a waste of money and knowledge.

As a NEWT education is often seen as a luxury, I do not blame the wealthy for seeing that their daughters have as much knowledge as the farmer's daughter who saw it a necessity to attend her full seven years. Some families value intellect and knowledge—it is not uncommon to see a family where most or all members were Ravenclaws!—but even then, it is still not necessary for their daughters to have a NEWT education. The most valuable education for a young woman of good breeding can be found in a reputable finishing school such as Pendergast's School for Young Roses in Irvingly. Not only does it provide a thorough curriculum in etiquette and dancing, but it also covers the household magic that may be necessary in their lives.

So you see it now: no woman truly has a need for a NEWT education. Some women choose to pursue a career, which is a whole other topic for another time, but unless they see fit to become a healer, they should find the sense to leave their classes after their fifth year and pursue their adult life instead!

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