Mature student
Sir: I am sure all our hearts must bleed for Mr Stewert Gore (16 February), a 'mature' student on a weekly grant of £9 of public money at a college of education, at the mercy of a dried-up gnome of a principal and of a tutor whose chin and lips he so quickly recognised as sadistic.
All his fellow mature students seem to be a pathetic lot. They 'threw themselves with en- thusiasm' into their teaching practice in village schools. How he must have suffered, accustomed as he was to the flattery of his own voice as he discoursed on the 'charms of literature and the fascination of history to a roomful pf more or less attentive boys'! And having to attend classes in mathematics and PE (which would be useful to lesser mortals teaching in village schools) instead of dissecting novels, at which lie feels him- self so able.
And then, to crown it all, when all, he needed was a crash course of tips for teachers, they re- quired him to undertake a study of educational psychology, sociology and philosophy. He knew it all. He only wanted to 'acquire the jargon,' a harmless enough request.
A 'mature' student is defined by the 'DES as a student over the age of twenty-five. Mr Gore is, of course, mature in that sense. He would have a much smaller grant if he weren't.
A. A. Evans
General Secretary, ATCDE, 151 Gowrr Street, London WC!
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