7515.  You  think,  then,  that  this  inspection  should  be  a  local  one  rather
than  an  Imperial  one  ? — I  think  on  the  whole  it  would  be  better ;  the
local  bodies  are  quite  capable  of  appointing  good  men,  and  then  I  think
teachers  would  be  less  afraid  of  such  local  inspectors  than  of  those
appointed  by  Whitehall.  There  is  at  present— I  do  not  say  whether  it  is
weU-founded  or  not — an  extreme  dread  on  the  part  of  secondary  teachers

I  2


132  SECONDABY   EDUCATION   COMMISSION:

that  they  will  be  subjected  to  the  same  sort  of  inspection  that  elementary
schools  are  subject  to  now.
7516.  You  wish  to  preserve  the  local  colour  in  schools  P — Yes ;  and  I
think  that  would  be  better  preserved  with  local  inspectors.
7517.  Would  you  then  enable  the  Central  Authority,  if  such  a  one  were
formed,  to  send  down  occasional  inspectors  P — ^If  there  were  any  cause  for
dissatioEaction  or  complaint,  they  should  be  the  supreme  referee,  and  have
power  to  send  down  their  own  inspector,  who  should  be  over  the  head  of
the  local  inspector.    I  think  that  is  very  important.
7518.  Do  you  feel  strongly  with  regard  to  the  publication  of  the  reports
of  these  inspectors  and  examiners  P — I  think  parents  are  now  left  very
much  in  the  dark  as  to  what  a  child  is  doing.  It  is  the  exception  for  the
reports  of  examiners  to  be  published,  and  if  those  reports  are  unfavour-
able, certainly  they  are  suppressed.  I  do  not  see  any  reason  why  the
reports  of  these  inspectors  and  these  examiners  should  not  be  obtainable
by  the  parents.
