And Now, Sir . . .

I thought for a while that your worthy predecessor had broken four minutes, and that the record he set for ill-informed and childish editorial comment, with his verdict on Indo-China and his reply to David Scott's letter, would stand for many years. But we have a Landy, and it is you. Sir, with your observations on accrediting.

"It is well agreed." you write Who agrees the Senate Entrance Committee, the four Professors of Education, the ill-informed public, or some headmasters too lazy to make the effort accrediting requires of them. You wouldn't be trying to bulldoze us into agreement? The universities are not overcrowded because there is accrediting. It is, believe a or not, because no new buildings have been put up for over twenty years Your assertion that accrediting "means generally a major lowering of the entrance standard" is completely untrue. Have you not taken the trouble to look up the relevant facts or are you deliberately trying to mislead the reader. I would quote from an address prepared by Dr. J. Williams for the 1953 Congress of Universities of the Commonwealth and printed in the New Zealand University Journal. Vol 2. No 1. The operation of the new system (accrediting) has been twice considered by University Committees, in 1950 by a committee set up by the Senate and in this current year, by a committee appointed by the Academic Board. Each committee reported that there was no evidence to show that accrediting had lowered the standard of entrance to the University. Possibly, indeed, the contrary may be the case." Perhaps it should be explained to these gentlemen that the Editor does not agree.

I am not attempting to say that accrediting is perfect and that exams have no merit at all. It is my impression that the only way of Judging the average person's capacity for benefiting by university study is to try it and see but, I would hasten to repeat, that is only my impression. I am not attempting to deny you or anyone else the right to express their opinions, but I would implore you. Sir, to make an attempt to base your assertions on facts. If you have not time to look up those facts, keeping quiet is not a bad policy.