SCHOOL FEES AND INDEPENDENCE
SIR,—Of the boys who joined this school at the beginning of this term the fathers of nearly one-third are on active service, a proportion which is probably typical of the great majority of schools, both independent and direct-grant, which are represented on the Headmasters' Conference and on the Association of Governing Bodies. It is therefore doubtful whether it would be right. for the House of Commons to reach a final decision in the near future upon a matter which is 'highly controversial and upon which the fathers of a large proportion of the boys con- cerned cannot make their opinions known.
This does not imply that the introduction of the Education Bill into the House should be delayed. The Government's proposals as set forth in the White Paper have received such a large measure of general approval that delay is neither necessary nor desirable. The figures mentioned above do, however, provide a further argument in support of the view that the future of the Direct Grant Schools should not be debated until later when, moreover, the full and final report of the Fleming Committee will be available.—Yours faithfully,
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