Education and Economy
The way of a Minister for Education in days when economy campaigns prevail is hard, but Sir Donald Maclean was an economist before he was President of the Board of Education, so what harrows him in one role must rejoice him in another. In reviewing the Education Esti- mates on Monday Sir Donald was able to claim that educational expenditure in Great Britain was far higher than in any other European country, and that the teachers, even after last year's 10 per cent. cut, were the best paid in Europe. It was no bad thing at this moment, he submitted, to check expansion for a little, and take stock of the situation. That is sound enough doctrine if it really means taking steps to satisfy ourselves that we are getting full value for the vast sums we are paying, and rightly paying, for education. The Under-Secretary to the Board observed pertinently that education was cost-
ing the 'country three times as much to-day as before the Witr; and he only wished he could believe it were three times as good. The efficiency of both education authori- ties and staffs differs notoriously in different districts, as must be the case with any service locally administered, and while the total of expenditure must be kept down to a figure that forbids expansion for the moment, there is plenty of room still in many centres for an increase of efficiency without enhanced cost. Economy may have its uses if it gives an impulse in that direction.
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