THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION.

This article focuses on various initiatives and developments brought by the Ministry of Education of Great Britain during its first ten years which was completed in August 1954. During that decade there were five ministers and three permanent secretaries; three miscellaneous provisions acts were passed; and the face of education was re-planned at an unparalleled rate and on an unparalleled scale. The Ministry of Education evolved from the Education Department of the 19th century and the Board of Education, which had existed since 1899. The Education Bill in its original form preserved the tradition of a Board and a President. The new bill imported a distinction between the minister and the Ministry which called in practice for a division of functions. The largest achievements of the bill were two: Firstly, it defined education as a series of stages in the child's life and thus put an end to the old distinction of "elementary" and "higher" with its Poor Law associations. Secondly, it re-planned the system of county and voluntary schools. The Special Services Branch of the Ministry covers a wide field embracing medical and dental services, the health and nutrition of pupils, and the provision of special educational treatment for the physically and mentally handicapped.