TECHNICAL EDUCATION
SIR,—Mr. Boris Ford's review of Dr. Cotgrove's book Technical Education and Social Change in the Spectator of August 8 shows a singularly poor spirit. Whatever the virtues or defects of the book—which have not yet had a •chance to read—the. continual insistence that some subtle distinction must be maintained between education and technical educa- tion shows up the narrow mind. Practically all our national difficulties, economic and social, external and internal, derive from the lack of help from the established educational system in our early efforts in the wider spread of education.
The older system as represented by the public schools and universities, with all its centuries' of teaching tradition behind it, not only made no attempt to help and guide the new systems, .repre- sented by the primary schools and the Victorian mechanics' institutes as they developed, but sneered at and obstructed them, in spite of gallant attempts by individuals to fill the gap. This is the basis of most of our present difficulties. One might have thought that it was not too late to make amends, but to judge by Mr. Boris Ford, this seems unlikely.— Yours faithfully,
Previous page
