5 JULY 1902, Page 34

An Introduction to the Study of Rural Education. By E.

H. Rycroft. (Warren and Son, Winchester. 4d.)—Mr. Rycroft makes some thoughtful suggestions for the improvement of rural educa- tion. Make the children really interested in what they learn ; connect it with their actual surroundings. This is about the sum of the matter; it can be put into a few words, but it admits of endless extension. Of course there are difficulties. There is the limited supply of good teachers. How, with the poor resources of a small parish—and there are thousands with less than two hundred population—can the good teacher, who will always be the exception, be secured? And one caution we would suggest. No change must be made that would take away whatever literary character rural education now has.