Staffing the Industry: Some Reflections on the vexed Problem of Education

WE cannot help envying those who have achieved fixed and definite views on the question of education and training. There is no subject on which opinions differ more widely. It is as many sided as a dice—and there are moments of pessimism when we feel that the results depend almost equally on chance. The real truth is, we suppose, that mental outlooks and temperaments differ to such an extent that what is the perfect curriculum for one student is totally unsuitable for another. In a perfect World, where time and expense were limitless, each candidate would follow his own course with tutors specially selected to care for his own particular needs. But unfortunately this is not possible and it is necessary for each student to be treated as one of a mass and pressed into the chosen mould. If he is so unfortunate as to be incompressible into that particular shape, then so much the worse for him and he cannot avoid the fate of being thrown out as a reject.