“THE report (on secondary education) had dwelt on the absurd lengths to which specialism has gone in the qualifications of teachers in secondary schools.”
“Unfortunately there were still far too many people in Scotland whose educational ideal was the ‘lad o’pairts’ but who made no mention of the many who were ignored and who left school without the development of which they were capable.”
“The biggest loss (was) to understand him as a child and give him that security that we would expect from a good primary school.”
“Opposition to any change would come from the less enlightened element within the senior secondary school.”
“Amendments of the national scales would be necessary to give us flexibility in staffing.”
“The whole conception of a rigid timetable divided into subjects and departments of study should be abandoned.”
The above comments, we hasten to add, are not the early thoughts of the McCrone committee of inquiry on the teachers’ dispute. Nor, alas, the contents of another Cabinet leak.
These are some of the exchanges which took place during a meeting held by the Association of Directors of Education - on March 21, 1947.
So Sam Galbraith, the Children and Education Minister, is totally wrong to say that talks on those issues have been dragging on for a year.
