LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Future of the Public Schools
, Spa,—Mr. Stockwood is right to doubt if the public schools would welcome any move which reserves entry is the sons of the wealthier classes. Most headmasters would like to sec entry depending on some- thing more than the capacity to pay. is not the crux of the matter the question of " aptitude " ? At present, any parent who can pay for it can get a place for his son at these schools, provided the boy can pass a very elementary entrance exam. The question whether he is the sort of boy who will profit by the hind of education the school offers does not arise. As a result, many boys are occupying places at the public schools and making little of the opportunities which surround them, while many more arc deprived of the opportunities for which they are well fitted just because of the inability of their parents to-pay.
This situation has been solved at the universities, where entry is gained (i) by qualifying in an exam.—which is comparatively easy, and (ii) by acceptance at a college, through report and interview—which amounts to a test of aptitude for a university education. Any boy who has " got acceptance " is likely to get a grant from his local education authority, unless his parents' income is above a certain fairly high level.
The same solution could be worked at the public schools, and it is already being worked at some schools with some L.E.A.s—but in most cases consideration for a grant is restricted to those who come from broken or otherwise unsatisfactory homes. There are two problems to be overcome: (i) No L.E.A. has time to cope with- the correspondence and interviewing which the procedure would entail ; (ii) the State schools are naturally suspicious of any plan which looks like "creaming off" their abler boys for the independent schools. My own experience of working on these lines with several L.E.A.s and State-school headmasters is that neither problem is insuperable if the parties concerned are genuinely interested in education.—Yours faithfully, GEORGE SNOW.
A rdingly College, Sussex.
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