1 DECEMBER 1961, Page 14

Suss-Public schools are 'supposed to 'produce leaders for the country;

yet at the same time indi- viduality is almost completely Suppressed. Privacy is non-esistent. This may be all very well for junior boys, but it is ridiculous if a boy of eighteen cannot-find solitude for more than ten minutes at a time. Freedom is virtually nil. Surely a senior boy should be allowed to visit a play or take an occa- sional day away from school? The very idea is regarded with horror. The curriculum is so or- ganised that one has virtually no free time. But the concern for work is ludicrously superficial— there is no opposition to boys who are in their examination term spending at least a day a week playing cricket.