LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week " paragraphs. Signed letters are given a preferencs over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must be accompanied by the name and address of the author, which will be treated as confidential.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR] LIGHT ON THE PREPARATORY SCHOOL [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
regret that The Spectator should have published such an article as that which appeared on June 3rd under the title " Light on the Preparatory School." The writer omits everything that can be said in favour of the Preparatory Schools and supports his attack on them by statements which are either incapable of proof or capable of disproof by the facts.
He says " The standard of teaching is usually below that which obtains at a grant-aided school." This can only be a question of opinion, and I believe that the best opinion is against Mr. Clarke.
He goes on to say " The Assistant Masters are in most cases innocent alike of University Degrees and Teachers' Certifi- cates." I have no statistics with which to answer this statement, but I have made some personal enquiries since the article appeared. The number of men who hold Certificates of Training is still regrettably small in the independent schools as a whole, including the Public Schools, but the man without a degree is an exception on a preparatory school staff, although many schools have one or two. I hope that someone better informed than I am will let your readers have figures, both as to this point and as to salaries.
Later Mr. Clarke says " His Majesty's Inspectors have not seen the inside of the vast majority of prep. schools." This is a question of fact. Of the twelve schools which Mr. Clarke quotes to establish his point about fees, eight have been inspected and recognised as efficient by the Board of Education. Of the 426 English preparatory schools which appear in The Public and Preparatory Schools Year Book, 262 have been inspected and-recognised. Anyone who knows the preparatory schools is aware that the proportion which ask for inspection by the Board is rapidly increasing.
Mr. Clarke quotes a seven-years-old report on " private schools," but he does not tell his readers that this report was fargely concerned with schools which are not " preparatory " at all, in the sense of preparatory to the Public Schools. The Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools works con- tinuously for the raising of standards within that part of the profession which it controls, and although preparatory schools, like grant-aided schools, differ widely in character and quality, anyone who deals with large numbers of them knows that the general level of efficiency among them is high and becoming higher.
I have been in close touch with preparatory schools, both as a housemaster and as a headmaster, for more than twenty-five years. I know many of them intimately and can judge many more by their product. I believe that among their headmasters are to be found some of the most devoted and efficient men now teaching in this country, and that the work they do is in most cases as deeply appreciated by their Old Boys as it is ill- rewarded financially.—Yours faithfully,
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