THE NEW PREFECTS
WITH the wrath of the National Union of Teachers already heavily on his head over the rejection of the Burnham salary recommenda- tions, Sir Edward Boyle is in a difficult position. Though he would almost certainly like to come forward as the apostle of expansion and reform, he is obliged at the moment to play things as quietly and uncontroversially as possible. Having already been called a dictator for bringing about the fall of the Burnham Committee, there is no knowing what words might be used if he were to get down to reforming the running of the schools themselves, As there is little doubt that this is what the Ministry of Education should now be doing, it is a moot point whether Sir Edward is not being over-cautious in bringing any plans he may have into, the open. Certainly it is worth looking beneath the present dispute over teachers' pay to see if there is not something more at stake than the allocation of £21 million.
For most people by now should have begun to have a faint glimmer that what is going on is a full-scale reform of the functions of the Ministry of Education. The idea that'the Ministry should simply keep control of the purse-strings is as dead as the idea that the Minister has no right to comment on the activities of the local authorities. The present controversy is about the radical reform of both the State schools and the position of the teacher in our society. No local authority is likely to be able to achieve this on its own, though its individual contributions may be invaluable. What is needed in a national effort to improve the schools is a central pool of ideas, research and resources that will be able to make its influence felt throughout the country. No longer can we afford in any department to rely on a Ministry which does not have the best of available information to hand.
There need be no monopolising about this; nor need it entail any lessening of the power of the local authorities, but rather, by making them more aware of what is going on in other parts of the country, a tempering of this power with a national responsibility. The anomaly that a child's chances of a grammar or comprehensive school place depend on the borough in which he happens to live should be removed. To do this a far greater measure of co-operation and con- sultation between authorities at all levels is essential.
There should be no underestimating, either, of the progress that can be made by bringing the schools into far closer contact with the chldren's parents. The value of many an experiment or new idea has been lessened because a headmaster has not taken the trouble to explain to the parents what his school is trying to do. If a new method of teaching infants is introduced without explana- tion, it is no wonder that the parents become anxious and tend to retreat into sending their children to private schools where they believe they can rely on the traditional methods. No one should fail to see the overwhelming influence which the primary schools can have in setting the pattern for the whole of our educaticinal system.
The setting up of the Curriculum Study Group in 1962 by the Ministry made a small start in this reforming direction, and it was good to hear the recent announcement that the group is now about to carry out an experiment into the teach- ing of foreign languages in primary schools. Sir Edward Boyle is known to attach great impor- tance to the body, and the White Paper proposing the extension of its functions will be welcome.
Yet it is clear that for a long time the way of reform will lie as much through a better use of available materials as through increased re- sources. Here the Minister can give a bold lead. If, as can be expected, the Robbins Com- mittee comes out in September with a proposal for the extension of university degree courses in education, he should see that this is taken up immediately. He should revive Lord Eccles's plan for trained but non-teaching helpers in primary schools. In the moves towards larger sixth forms studying a greater variety of subjects, he should be able to give some guidance in the matter of pooling of staff and facilities between neighbouring schools. In many areas he could do a lot towards the establishment of the Sixth Form College. At the same time Sir Edward must not forget that it is also his duty to remind the Government again and again that it is no use producing larger sixth forms if there are to be too few universities to receive them.
Of course such centralising of authority will lead to tensions and collisions, but it should lead also to experiments and incentives and the fre- quent interchange of ideas between all educa- tional bodies, all of which will tend to make teaching a far more lively and attractive profes- sion for young people to go into than it has ever been in the past. A parallel with town planning is interesting: if half the explosive interest which is felt in that because it is known that new ideas are in the air could be stimulated by teaching, where the .need for experiment and new blood is equally great, then the teaching profession would be home. It is a new awareness of this which is now informing the Ministry of Education.
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