The House of Commons on Tuesday had an interesting debate
on education. Mr. Asquith paid a high tribute to the old Universities and mentioned that nearly half the scholarships were won by boys from elementary schools. Yet he thought that more should be done to help clever lads to pass from the elementary to the secondary school. Mr. Fisher thanked Mr. Asquith for the good work that he had done as chairman of the Universities Commission and announced that the State grant of £30,000 a year to Oxford and Cambridge would be made permanent. He would consider the question of increasing the grant to £110,000, as the Commission desired. Mr. Fisher reminded the House that the Government had accepted only a few of the Geddes Oommittee's proposals for cutting down the expenditure on schools. He thought that money might be saved without Seriously impairing the value of the work done, but economies could not be effected in a moment. Mr. Fisher insisted on the fundamental importance of education to the community. We cannot afford, in fact, to neglect it.
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