Board of Education, visited the Diamond Jubilee Con- ference of
the National Union of Teachers at Bournemouth and made a declaration about the future of elementary education which was not at all to the liking of most of his audience. The truth is that the responsibilities of office have, as usual, brought clearer vision. Sir Charles sees now—what he was ready enough to dispute when Lord Eustace Percy was President of the Board— that if the school-leaving age should be universally raised to fifteen next year without remedying the shortage of teachers and the insufficiency of buildings, there would be confusion. The Government plead the press of busi- ness for their repeated postponements of the Bill raising the age, but Sir Charles's point at Bournemouth was that if the whole body of teachers and educational authorities would co-operate amicably with the non-provided schools the Bill for raising the leaving age could be introduced quite soon.•
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