NA TURE 



537 



SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1922. 



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The Education Estimates. 



THE Estimates for Civil Services for the year 

 ending March 31, 1923, have been issued, and it 

 is expected that Class IV., which deals with Education, 

 Science, and Art, will be discussed in Parliament almost 

 immediately after the Easter recess. While it is now 

 clear that the drastic cuts recommended by the Geddes 

 Committee will not be made, the Estimates in this 

 class still show a reduction of 7,979,154/. for Great 

 Britain— Ireland being omitted from this calculation. 

 We propose to examine three items in which economies 

 are indicated. 



First, the estimate for the Ordinary Services of the 

 Board of Education shows a reduction of 4,898,970/. 

 on the corresponding estimate for the year 1921-22, 

 which means a cut of rather more than 10 per cent. 

 Next, the estimate of the grant in aid of Universities 

 and Colleges for the year 1922-23 is 300,000/.! jggg 

 than the sum granted to these institutions for the year 

 1921-22, which means a cut of 20 per cent. And, 

 thirdly, the estimate for Scientific and Industrial 

 Research is reduced by 118,486/. — a cut of 28 

 per cent. 



It will be observed that the cuts for higher education 

 and research are proportionately much greater than 

 for the Ordinary Services of the Board of Education, 

 and it would seem that this is the considered policy 

 of the framers of the Estimates. A closer examina- 

 tion of the estimate for the Ordinary Services of the 

 Board of Education seems to confirm this opinion. 

 Here we find that the proposed reduction in the 

 grants to local education authorities for elementary 



• The proportion of the decrease for Great Britain is estimated at 247,000/. 

 NO. 2739, VOL. TC9] 



education amounts to 1,916,307/. on 36,900,000/., 

 which works out as a cut of about 5 per cent. ; 

 whereas the proposed reduction of grants to local 

 education authorities for higher education amounts 

 to 954,920/. on 6,647,920/. — a cut of more than 14 

 per cent. 



If further confirmation were needed it is to be found 

 in the treatment of technical colleges and the grant 

 towards students' fees. The grant to the former is to 

 be reduced from 50,000/. to 40,000/. — a cut of 20 per 

 cent. ; while the students' fees grant, from which 

 scholarships, studentships, and exhibitions tenable 

 at the universities are drawn, is to be reduced from 

 15,000/. to 12,600/. 



Obviously these facts point to the conclusion that 

 higher education and research are bearing a greater 

 proportion of the proposed reductions in the Education 

 Vote than the remaining educational services. Such 

 a discrimination requires further consideration. At 

 the outset we may say that we have no fault to find 

 with the rejection of the Geddes proposals regarding 

 the salaries of school teachers. In our opinion there 

 was ample justification for refusing to adopt proposals 

 of that character. Rather are we concerned to point 

 out that the proposals regarding higher education and 

 research, if carried into effect, will, in the long run, 

 be most injurious to education and the development 

 of our national life. In the debate on the Consolidated 

 Fund Bill in the House of Commons on March 28, Mr. 

 Asquith warned the Government of " the extreme and 

 criminal inexpediency at this time of cutting down 

 the Education Estimates." He then proceeded to ask 

 " Was there ever a moment in our history when it 

 would be more suicidal to cut down the facilities which 

 were not by any means ample enough for this great 

 national purpose of securing the best intellectual life 

 for the boys and girls who were most fitted to profit 

 by it } " Far from the facilities being ample enough, 

 we understand that at the present time 20,000 children, 

 well qualified for higher education, are excluded from 

 secondary schools for lack of accommodation. Yet at 

 this particular juncture the Education Estimates, as 

 we have indicated above, show a reduction of more than 

 14 per cent, in the grants to local education author- 

 ities for higher education. 



While the attack upon secondary education is bad, 

 that upon the universities is worse. A cut of 20 per cent, 

 will have far-reaching effects. Already one university 

 is proposing to reduce its staff, and others are preparing 

 to follow suit. This will mean impaired efficiency and 

 the sacrifice of future developments. A temporary 

 and trivial economic gain will cripple the universities 

 for many years and inflict irremediable hardships upon 

 many deserving students. We cannot understand 



