LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. 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 confidential.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR]
THE SPENS REPORT
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
SIR,—Dr. Terry Thomas does not like the too per cent. special place system, nor apparently do many of his col- leagues, as they think it " will destroy the character of their schools." Presumably he assumes that if entrance to grammar schools were thrown open on equal terms to all, very few middle-class boys would gain places, and so he wants the present system to continue. That system means that a certain number, varying from under 25 per cent. to too per cent. of vacancies in grammar schools, are thrown open to children whose parents cannot pay fees, and as competition for these places is necessarily very keen, a high standard has to be reached by successful candidates. The rest of the places are filled on a purely qualifying examination of a much lower standard by children whose parents can afford to pcy the full fees. But these fees do not cover the whole cost of education, and so grants of public money from the Board of Education and from the local authority, are given to make up the deficit. The result is that many children gain admission " merely because," as the Report says, " of the greater wealth of their parents." The Consultative Committee objects to this system; Dr. Terry Thomas and many of his colleagues apparently • do not. He asks me what I mean by equality. I mean a system of entrance to grammar schools which depends upon the child's capacity to profit by the education, and not on his parent's capacity to pay fees.
The too per cent. special place system advocated in the Report is subject to the provision that there are sufficient
grammar school places in each area, so that all children who
can profit more by that type of secondary education than by any other shall be offered it. This condition should safe- guard the middle-class child, who, it seems to be assumed, with what justice I do not know, could not hold his own in the present highly competitive t r + examination. The character of these schools, therefore, may not be so com- pletely destroyed as the headmasters fear.
Each year more schools turn over to the too per cent. system because, in spite of the headmasters, public opinion is moving against privilege in education. Last summer I visited Sweden and Denmark and found the system in force there. Teachers and administrators alike expressed surprise at our system—which struck them as being extremely un- democratic.
I agree with Dr. Terry Thomas that the adoption of the too per cent. special place system will widen the gulf between the " public schools " and the grammar schools. But the gulf is already so wide that I cannot believe that that would much matter. On the other hand, it would reduce the gulf which now exists in many areas between grammar schools and municipal secondary schools, in so far as the difference is a social one. As these are both part of our national system of education, whereas Eton, Winchester, Rugby, &c., are excrescences upon it, this seems to me of more importance.
In spite of its soo pages, Dr. Terry Thomas has evidently
read • Report very thoroughly, but where does he find any recommendation for compulsory transfer against the wishes of the parents and of the heads of the two schools?— Broomcroft, Ford Lane, Didsbury, Manchester, 20.
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