SIR,—Your correspondent Julia Green, whose letter "Education Now" you published
on November 24th, is evidently unaware of the experiments already carried out in certain centres to extend the education period beyond the present school-leaving age of 14.
The Fisher Act in 1918 provided that Local Education Authorities, if they so desired, might make bye-laws extending the school-leaving age to Is in their own areas, and required them to set up day continuation schools for boys and girls between the school-leaving age and 18 (16 for the first seven years), to provide for the compulsory attendance of each pupil for a maximum of 320 hours in one year.
An account of a most successful experiment on these lines is to be found in Mr. P. I. Kitchen's book, published this year, From Learning to Earning (Faber and Faber, 8s. 6d.), which gives a description of the aims, foundation and development since 1920 of the Rugby Day Con- tinuation School. This school is the only one of its kind which has survived the collapse of the original scheme, but fortunately it is not to be the last of such experiments.—Yours faithfully,
RUTH S. DONNISON.
University Women's Club, 2 Audley Square, W. a.
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