NOTES FROM LONDON

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 32, 6 August 1921, Page 6

NOTES FROM LONDON

THE PRINCE AS A "HUSTLER"

(PROM OUR OWN COKRBSPONDBNT.)

LONDON, 16th June.

..' The Prince of Wales, who visited Bristol last week, crowded into liig five hours' stay eleven engagements. He was presented with the freedom of the city, he inspected ex-servicemen in ,the main square, received in private the'freedom of the Society of Merchant Venturers, and lunched with the master and the members, saw the cricket match between Gloucestershire and the Australians, laid the foundation-stone o£ a homoepathic hospital at Gotham, received an address at Bristol University, opened the Bristol School of Architects at the Royal West of England Academy, visited Clifton College, and the Zoological Gardens, and attended an "at home" given by the Lady Mayoress. Of all the incidents of the crowded hours, none; struck the imagination of the people so much as his greeting to the ex-servicemen and his openly-expressed sympathy with them during the present dark days. Scenes of the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. The men themselves gave him a rousing reception, and were delighted with that unerring Royal tact which led him to make inquiries of many of their 1 number. But it was the form of address to the men—"Comrades"—which raised the' greatest enthusiasm and gave the greatest satisfaction to the men. / VIRTUES OF DULL GIRLS. Among the matters which were dis-» cussed at the annual conference of thel Association of Headmistresses at Manchester was the problem of the dull schoolgirl and her virtues, and the danger she runs \>i exclusion from educational opportunities through the standardising tendencies of examinations conducted on hard-and-fast lines. The 1 dullgirl had found many warm defenders, which shows that women rightly appreciate the qualities that in the long run best serve the paramount interests of their sex. One speaker deprecated the tendency to .insist upon compulsory subjects in examination, and urged that the guiding principle should be for girls to work at subjects in which they showed ability.; She questioned the soundness of - the results obtained by the "first examination" conducted on the lines of compulsory, subjects, and 'said that girls who either did not take part in the examination or failed in it were among the most interesting and valuable workers in, the community. In her view, headmistresses should fight against the atttempt to pass all \.gir& through the same mill, and to turn out an educationally standardised product. Another headmistress declared her enduring optimism so far as dull children were concerned. Her experience had taught her that girls who were dull, at school often develop into most valuable workers, housekeepers, and the most happy amongst the mothers. CHANCE TO MAKE GOOD.

It is the view of the Daily Telegraph that the more elaborately national education is organised, the greater is the danger of the tyranny of uniform standards.It is of the fir_st importance to recognise that children are not.necessarily dull, because they have no aptitude for literary subjects, or no head; for mathematics, or aTe without interest in natural science, j Yet we cannot abolish the meed for some j acquaintance with all these things, and j its inevitable consequence of oensur* of i the children who are slow at one or other. ", What should be aimed at is to make education generous and highly individualised, and appreciative of any and every kind of capacity. .Dr. Kimmins, Ohief Inspector of the L.0.0. Schools, declares it a very rare thing to find an all-round, dull child. Those who are dull in some subjects often succeed brilliantly in others. A child, he says, who does not respond to ordinary academic teaching may shine at handicrafts. "For that reason w© have handicrafts classes in the L.0.0. schools, and they turn dull children, who fail at ordinary lessons, into bright youngsters, who love their work, and ai-e so bucked up by their success that often they are able to go back to the conventional curriculum. It depresses a child to find itself always at the bottom of the class. But if yon give a boy or girl the chance to make good in some lina which hitherto has not been followed, self-confidence is restored, and. the sense of failure goes. ' The intelligence test* which we are now using are of great help to the dull child, for they dis- ' cover, not educational achievement, but native" ability." i WOMEN AT CAMBRIDGE. Ever since Oxford admitted women to degrees, Cambridge, in its combat with, equal rights for both sexes, has been in the losing position of a man who fights with one hand tied behind his back. A 'Dniversity, like everything else, has to stand comparisons. Before entering Oxford or Cambridge women weight the advantages which each offers. Their choice is emphasised by Miss Jex-Blake, the head of Girton, who presents Campridge with the challenging statement that'the "clever girls" are going to Oxford; This she tells Cambridge voters and old students in an electioneeringl leaflet! •

A woman must now be almost up to scholarship level to'get into an Oxford college. One reason is thgt the degree is an invaluable aid to professional advancement. Another is that women enjoy being on , equal terms with men in their membership of the university. They like the dignity. They like the academic dress (which is very becoming). They like the' degrees. Is Cambridge to permit this supremacy? The choice is before the university. Another vote on the question is to be made this term, and two proposals are to be put forward. "Recommendation 1.," as it is called, gives degrees and membership to women; and though it does not concede full equality or much control in the general government, it gives the bulk of women's demands; and all friends of the sex are urged to vote for it. The drafterg of Recommendation 11., which the women scorn, offer "titular degrees" to women, who describe the offer as useless and meaningless. Feeling, is more intense than ever. Hot canvassing has begun among graduates; and once again the undergraduates are going to organise a vote on their own.

''The best friends of Cambridge must desire that it should attract to itself a full share of the ablest young men and women in the country," says the Daily Telegraph, in a leading article. "If that is to be done the refusal of last year must be rescinded in the coming vote,, and the recommendation which grants degrees and membership be passed. We are ready to admit that in the abstract there is a good deal to be said for keeping Cambridge, or any other of the old ' nniversties, s&cred to men. It might have been wiss fifty years ago to establish a different system of university education for women.. But the time has gone by. The development of onr social life now makes it inevitable that the universities should be open alike to women and men. The party of exclusion at Cambridge cannot hope to succeed in the end, and a temporary success must be injurious to the university."