DOWN THE 'C' STREAM
SIR.—Mr. Holbrook's article, 'Down the "C" Stream,' tells the truth but not the whole truth. I can well believe all he says about the group of submerged and rejected children which he taught and I share his pasionate refusal to accept them as sub-human. But our schools are not staffed by Holbrooks. If they were there would be little need for examinations at any level, a daily ration of phenobarbitone might be more necessary. The fact is that our teachers are ordinary people of well above average intelligence doing a job according to their lights. They are working within a system, social as well as educational, in which status is established by being able to point to a group of lower status. The function of the proposed new examinations for secondary modern children will be precisely this—to establish a 'better' and a 'worse' group. The 'better' children will, with laudable exceptions, get the 'better' teachers, who will perhaps follow the example of some grammar school teachers and demand 'better' salaries.
The drive towards this ranking of pupils, teachers, schools (and universities?) may be profoundly un- educational but I do not think it will be effectively halted by refusing to accept the fact that it exists and, for the lucky ones who secure a high ranking, brings many creature comforts. If all present examination-based priorities were abolished many would lose not only their income but also any sense of direction in their work. Hence 11 plus, '0' and 'A' levels, open scholarships, degree classes and. now, Beloe.
To convince people that they were following false gods would be like trying to convince th tribes which stretch the necks of their women with successively added brass rings that there were other standards of beauty than neck length. One would ave
Ian simply removing the rings. They would just to approach the problem by another way op.
C. D. BUTLER
Staff Tutor, Institute of Education In versify of Exeter
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