Which of the following recognised for the first time that the government should give 'frank and cordial support' to female education and take effective measures for its expansion?

The Wood's Despatch of 1854 was the first to declare that the government should give frank and cordial support to female education and take effective steps for its spread.

It laid the foundation of the modern education system in India, including support for girls' schooling.

The Women's Indian Association was a later social organisation and not the source of this official pronouncement.

The All India Women's Conference was likewise a twentieth-century body founded long afterwards.

The National Council of Women was another later association rather than a government policy statement.

The Wood's Despatch is often called the Magna Carta of English education in India.