28 DECEMBER 1934, Page 3

Public Schools and Private The State of Hamburg is proposing

to abolish private schools altogether as a step to a purely democratic system of education, and the final aim is said to be the abolition of all fees at secondary schools and univer- sities. The educational ladder will thus be constructed in all, its entirety, and everyone will have an equal chance to reach the highest rung. According to the Nazi Governor of the State of Hamburg, it is healthier and better for a nation if its leaders are selected, not from some 10 or 15 per cent, of the total population, as today, but from the whole. Logically it is, without a doubt. But can the stereotyped State education be counted on to produce leaders in the same degree and with the same success as the private schools of Germany or the public schools of this country ? That, to say the least, is very doubtful.