University and Educational Intelligence

Abstract

BIRMINGHAM.—At the annual general meeting of the Court of Governors, a report of the Principal for the session 1922-23 was presented. There had been a marked diminution in the number of students. For this there were three evident causes: first, the inflation due to ex-Service students has passed away; secondly, circumstances have not been normal: “To any one really behind the scenes the result of the economic depression both on the students who can just manage and on the many who are debarred from a university course is unmistakably and pathetically clear. And the reduction in spending power necessarily affects the provincial Universities more severely than it does Oxford and Cambridge.” Thirdly, “Government ‘economy,’ with its repercussion on the expenditure of Local Authorities, must not be forgotten. The reduction of grants and the suspension of State scholarships put the finishing touch to the limiting causes.” The number of students redding for higher degrees has, however, been well maintained, and the percentage of such students on the total number shows a very marked increase as compared with the percentage either of 1913-14 or 1919-1920. The Report of the Joint Standing Committee for Research shows that a large volume of research work has been done in all departments. The most urgently needed development in the Faculty of Science is the transference of the Biological Departments from Mason College to Edgbaston, and it is hoped that the present session will see this long-delayed transfer to Edgbaston actually under way. The relief that a new block would provide will not be confined to science. Arts and medicine urgently need further and better accommodation, which would be available in the quarters vacated by the transferred departments. Chairs in biochemistry and geography are also greatly to be desired. In conclusion, the Principal pleaded for many more scholarships: “Scholarships are a bounty on brains and work. It is my conviction that our nation will find that bounties on brain and work, through the discipline of mind and character, that is the secret gift of a liberal education, are the best of all national investments, particularly for the situation with which our nation is confronted.” The balance-sheet for the year shows the remarkable fact that the expenditure has been slightly exceeded by income.