20 JUNE 1931, Page 18

EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY

[To the Editor 'of the SPECTATOR.]

Sin,—Although I am in substantial agreement with your article " Education and Democracy," I feel some comment is needed on your reference to the " tyranny of the examina- tion system " as causing the tendency in secondary schools to concentrate on literacy.

Responsibility for denying to " craft " subjects complete equality with the more orthodox groups of subjects for the school leaving certificate rests with the Board of Education, as distinct from the examining bodies. The Board's reasons were given to the Secondary School Examinations Council and have been published. At the same time, the Board has agreed to allow two practical subjects to count among the minimum of five for the certificate, so that they now have a very definite place in the syllabus. Again, examples could be quoted to show that the impulse to progress and to the adoption of new subjects in school education is often given nowadays through the examination system.

The truth is, perhaps, that the schools themselves are in general rather conservative, while teachers, parents, and employers are largely influenced by the still more conservative spirit of university entrance requirements. These in nearly every instance simply ignore craft subjects and cause great emphasis to be thrown on the academic education of many thousands of school children who can never hope for a