English School Population Falls in Elementary Grades

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 184, 6 August 1938, Page 11

English School Population Falls in Elementary Grades

MANCHESTER—A marked decline in the pupil population of English elementary schools coincides with a rise in the number of newly certificated teachers unable to secure jobs. Manchester provides a striking example of the decline in the number of children embarking upon their school career. In 1920 its elementary class- i rooms housed 124,411 scholars, compar- ' cd with 96,614 at the end of last year. Until 1934, the decline averaged about 1,000 children a year, but since then the yearly loss of pupils has reached 4,000/ Representing a 9 per cent decrease J in pupil population, elementary schools throughout the country now find accommodation for 500,000 fewer pupils than in 1934. At Stockport, near here, where the population has risen from 129,000 to 135,000 during the past 20 years, tho elementary school population has dropped from 18,000 to rather more than 14,000 over a similar period. Despite a reduction in the number ,of would-be teachers admitted to training colleges since 1935, something lik<> 1,300 qualified teachers in England have failed to obtain situations during the year in which they qualified. Nevertheless numerous local authorities are going ahead with big school-building programmes. This is largely accounted for by tho transfer of thousands of families from demolished slums to new estates, and whereas schools were overcrowded a decade or more ago classroom population has in many cases been whittled down from GO to 30 or 40 scholars. This latter factor tends to counteract tho eff3ct of shrinking school registers, although teachers claim there is ample room for further improvement in that direction. I On the whole educationalists do not seem to be unduly alarmed at tho decline in school-population. j J A popular explanation is that shortly after the World War there was an abnormal bulge in school rolls, and that what may be regarded a 9 more or less normal pupil-populations arc now being reached. j If school populations continue to drop, so far as tho employment of teachers is concerned the effect will probably be balanced by further cuts in tho size of class rooms and by the raising of the school-leaving age. Teacher: “ What is a tannery?" j Pupil: 44 The place where they make J sixpences,"