208 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



SECONDARY EDUCATION 



In 1896 a great deal of correspondence appeared in 

 The Times on the burning question of education. I 

 stated my views on the subject in the following short 

 letter on November 6th, 1896 : 



To the Editor of" The Times" 



SIR, Permit me to endorse with one observation the 

 admirable remarks in your columns of to-day on the prospects 

 of legislation both for primary and secondary education. 

 What is required for the one is not and cannot properly be 

 suited to the other. Thus the object of primary education is to 

 bring up the level throughout the country to the same height. 

 The children in Dorsetshire and those in Manchester ought 

 to be served alike. Secondary education, on the other hand, 

 is a totally different affair, and specialised education is needed. 

 The children of the Dorset peasant and of the Manchester 

 mechanic require different treatment, and here specialisation 

 and local requirements come in. Hence it is that, whilst 

 decentralisation and local authority are the watchwords for 

 secondary, a uniform system and centralised authority are the 

 principles upon which our primary education has rested and 

 ought still to rest. This points to the severance of legislative 

 action. "To organise our secondary schools," following the 

 recommendations of the late Commission, is a necessary and 

 is certainly a much easier course for the Government to 

 pursue than to attempt joint legislation on the lines of the 

 late Bill. Surely after the experience of last session, the 

 Government would do wisely to take the path of least 

 resistance, and at any rate put our secondary education on a 

 systematic basis. 



One of the most important steps which have been 

 taken since the publication of the Report of the Com- 

 missioners was the establishment, under the Presidency 

 of Lord Hartington (now the Duke of Devonshire) of 

 the National Association for the Promotion of Technical 

 Education, for the purpose of embodying the views of 

 the Commissioners in suitable legislation. It is not 

 too much to say that the Association and its Executive 



