Dispossessed Schools
So much has evidently been thought out in the utmost detail about official measures which were to be taken on the outbreak of war that we are compelled to ask, to what extent was the requisitioning of premises for the use of officials a matter of deliberate premeditation? Was the commandeering of hotels in certain areas planned? Was the dispossession of important boys' and girls' secondary schools part of the scheme? The thoughtlessness, the unfairness and disregard of important civilian interests with which buildings have been taken over indicate bad planning if the decision was taken in advance, but are not the more justified if the decision should turn out to be a last-minute one. Lord Stanhope's defence in the House of Lords on Wednesday was unconvincing. Much has been said about the losses inflicted by such action upon the hotel industry. Even graver is the apparent indifference to education revealed in the requisitioning of schools, which has drawn forth protests from the Headmaster of Winchester, from Sir Cyril Norwood, and from the President of the Association of Headmistresses. The allegation that in some cases no serious attempts were made to find alternative accom- modation is a very grave charge. The necessities of evacuation provide difficulties enough in the work of education without the additional hardship caused by the compulsory removal of schools from safe areas. It should be a first care of the Government to do all that is possible to safeguard the vital interests of education.
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