The Chairman of the London School Board, Mr. J. R.
Diggle, delivered an address to the Board on Thursday, which contains an able summary of its position. The work of pro- viding the means of education is nearly done. The places required for the children of London are 688,000, and 680,000 are supplied. The attendance is not, however, satisfactory, rarely rising above 80 per cent. ; so that every day some 97,000 children are absent from the schools. The length of attendance, too, tends slightly to shrink, the children passing the standards and departing as early as they can. Still, a great work is being done, the immense majority of the 1,136 head and 6,030 assistant teachers "doing good and faithful service." As to the cost, it amounts to £1,700,000 a year, and shows a tendency to expand, "which cannot be accounted for by a corresponding increase in the amount of work," but which, we may remark, is to be noted in the history of almost every State establishment.
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