AN EDUCATIONAL YARD-STICK Sia,—Janus describes the list of entrance scholarship
winners at Oxford as bearing witness to the high standard of grammar-school education, in that four of the first six places in the list are occupied by famous day- schools. It should be noted, however, that these four schools, being in receipt of direct grant from the Ministry of Education, stand partly outside the State scheme ; their governing bodies enjoy a fair measure of independence, and a large proportion of their pupils pay fees. By the same test of scholarship successes, the condition of the free grammar schools within the State scheme is less reassuring. The following figures show the scholarships awarded to boys during this academic year at both Oxford and Cambridge, distinguishing those won by the independent and direct-grant schools, which charge fees, from the schools aided or maintained by local authorities, which now charge no fees:—
Total awards 603 Independent and direct-grant schools 392 Aided and maintained schools 211 The figures for the County of London show that nine independent schools gained 26 scholarships, while 35 schools controlled by the L.C.C. obtained only eight—a marked decline from their record in pre-war years.
It would appear that those grammar schools in which all places are open without fees have yet -far to go before they can offer their pupils the same measure of opportunity as the independent schools. At present the movement is in the reverse direction, and the schools controlled by local authorities are suffering the lowering of their standards which Janus fears. This is due to the loss of independence by their governing bodies under the new Education Act, to a tendency to equate their con- ditions with those of the new secondary (modem and technical) schools, and to the poor salaries paid to graduate teachers under the present Burnham agreement. One consequence is an alarming flow of the best qualified teachers out of the grammar schools into other branches of educational service or into other occupations. The grammar schools within the State scheme are being levelled down, not levelled up.—Yours
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