NATIONAL EXTENSION COLLEGE
Sus,--The Spectator is surely right to welcome the initiative taken by ACE, but if this is to lead to a genuinely national extension college then both the scale of the operation and British educational tradi- tions probably require the participation of the Minis- try of Education as soon as possible. It is true that in America this kind of long-distance education, whether by correspondence, television or both, is largely in private hands; but America has preserved, as we have not, the tradition of paying for edu- cation directly from one's own pocket. The cor- respondence colleges and the public schools arc the last vestiges of this in our system and it has always seemed odd to me that those who are so keen on nationalising the latter should never have thought of the former.
ACE is pioneering in this country what is clearly the most promising line of development--the com- bination of .television, correspondence and short residential courses. What will be needed next is some kind of mixed body representing the Ministry, local authorities, universities, BBC, ITV and the correspondence colleges to build on this pioneer- ing experience and provide a genuinely national service. It would hardly be possible for a wholly 'private' body to do this. Some of the essential partners to the operation are already 'public' and if students' fees are to he met by grants from public funds there will be a legitimate demand for some degree of public control.
A. 0. C. PETERSON University of Oxford, Department of Education, Oxford
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