Town Children in the Country
Nearly two years have passed since the first children in vulnerable areas were officially evacuated to safer regions, and it is now possible to form some estimate of the more lasting results of the migration. A booklet, The Schools in War- iime—issued last week on behalf of the Board of Education sums up the principal results. In December, 1940, the total number of children in reception-areas was about 620,000• who adapted themselves to the ways of their hosts, fell in with the conditions of rural life, and benefited in physique, general health, poise and bearing. It is the inwn children, interestingly enough, who have been assimilated by the country rather than the country children who have been brought under the in- fluence of the towns. The -best results have been obtained when there- have been organised centres for meals and _recreation, but these are often sadly lacking. It would be a great mistake to regard the present makeshift as the ideal arrangement. The camp boarding-school system ought to have been greatly extended. The existing camp schools house only 6,25o children Rural accommodation is still strained to breaking-point, with nothing to spare for future emergencies.
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