LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suita5le length is that of one of our " News of the Week " paragraphs. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must be accompanied by the name and address of the author, which will be treated as amfidenticd.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR.] SENIOR SCHOOLS IN RURAL AREAS [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Martin rightly suggests in his latest letter that all will be well if Local Education Authorities administer the Education Act of 1936 in a spirit of fair-mindedness. Everyone would agree with this general proposition. But the trouble arises because there are widely differing conceptions as to what is fair. This correspondence will be of real service if those responsible for new administrative decisions can discover some guiding prinCiple which is equitable.
It may be granted that where there is a reasonable prospect of establishing a Senior School which is denominationally homogeneous, such a school may rightly be established. That is to say—if all the children likely to attend a particular Senior School, or say no per cent. of them, are of Anglican parentage, there is justification for a Church of England School with a denominational atmosphere.
On the other hand, if a considerable proportion of the chil- dren come from homes unattached to the Church of England, it is not fair to send them (whether the parents like it or not) to a school in which the atmosphere is denominational in character.-
Lt.-Col. Martin points to Section 8.2.B. as a protection to the Non-AngliCan. That again depends upon the spirit in which it is interpreted. Its intention quite evidently is that Senior denominational schools shall not be supplied except for those children whose parents desire them. But the underlying assumption seems to be that parents have sent their children to non-provided schools as the result of a free and deliberate choice. But the fact is notorious that in large numbers of villages the only elementary school hitherto available has been conducted under a Church of England trust. Clusters of vil- lages may be found where no Council or Provided School has been within reach. A tour of such a countryside, where all the schools are Anglican, will usually reveal the fact, by the existence of many Free Church places of worship, that the population is by- no means homogeneous in a religious sense.
Pressure of Diocesan Boards on one side and a " Sympathetic attitude " on the part of the Local Education Authorities on the other, may result in the establishment of many Single Senior School areas in which all the children of a mixed population are bound to enter an Anglican School. No one wishes to rouse again the intense animosities of an earlier generation, but there is no doubt that in some country districts strong feeling has already been aroused by inordinate sectarian claims, which, if adopted, will drive into a denominational atmosphere children whose parents strongly resent the idea. Such parents may often find difficulty in giving public expression to their feelings. It is, therefore, the more necessary that the Local Education Authorities should understand their point of view.—Yours
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