Classes too big?

Thus we must consider the question—Are we not having too many lectures in classes that are too big? Would it not be better to have a lecture once a week or once a fortnight in some subjects and use the two or more hours thus freed for intensive preparation for that one lecture.

Then again arc we not endeavouring to cover too wide a field in some subjects inadequately? We must bear in mind that the spread of education opened up by the university to students who hitherto would never have had the opportunity to attend it. Naturally many of this class of students are inferior in ability to the few who against greater odds found their way to higher education previously, through their superior talents.

Therefore now the span of ability is greater and it is unfair to expect the average student of today to attain the level of the students of the past selected from the very best.

Would it not be preferable to endow students with a real understanding of their subjects through a limited sphere than to scan vast fields which even the most erudite scholars could scarcely fathom within such a limited period? These are some of the points that come to my mind after a lecture which was quite beyond me, and thus from my point of view quite futile.

If these lines get others to reflect upon the teaching they receive they have achieved their purpose!