PUBLIC SCHOOL CUTS ITS FEES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19803, 19 May 1934, Page 7

PUBLIC SCHOOL CUTS ITS FEES

DR. CYRIL NORWOOD AND “IDLE TALK.” A definite lead in the reduction of school fees has been given by Ardingly College, Sussex, where, at the prize distribution, the headmaster, the Rev. S. C. Crosse, announced that boys entering the school next term would be charged £34 a year instead of £IOO. For many months there has been agitation among parents of publicschool boys for a revision of fees, and the matter has been discussed at conferences of the Parents’ Association and the Public Schools Bursars’ Association. Dr. Cyril Norwood, headmaster of Harrow, who spoke at the Ardingly prize distribution, said there was much hasty criticism of the public schools as to their expensiveness, and a great deal of idle talk suggesting that the public schools were making immense profits and layng by hidden reserves. Overdrafts, Not Profits. “I think one would find that the financial anxiety of most of the public schools is mainly confined to the size of their overdraft and how far the bank is willing to increase it,” said Dr. Norwood. To a “Daily Mail” reporter the Rev. E. C. Crosse said, “The reduction in fees at Ardingly will probably involve the college in a temporary loss, but we hope to balance this later by an increased number of students. “In my view there has been a real demand for reduction of fees for some time. “Since the economic crisis many parents have found their incomes reduced by 30 or 40 per cent., but in only a few cases have the expenses of public schools come down.” Another aspect of the question was expressed by Mr J. T. Christie, headmaster of Repton. “I do not think reducing school fees all round is always the best way of dealing with the problem,” he said.