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When this piece was written, the annual Public Expenditure White Paper was awaited, as ever, with bated breath in every corner of the land. As few will read it as have read its pre‐decessors. More should. The developing series of White Papers reveal much about the deficiencies of educational planning in Britain.

The boys and girls who left school this summer with good ‘A’‐level passes in Maths, Physics and Chemistry are a particularly interesting group on whom much attention will be focused. This does not imply that these are the only important subjects, or that boys and girls with different ‘A’‐levels are less worthy. Nevertheless, for those with good ‘A’‐levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry almost all options are open. They can become doctors, dentists, lawyers, acountants, engineers, physicists, chemists — the list, if not endless, is certainly agreeably long. What is certain is that many of them will go on to become highly qualified and valuable members of society.

Gerry Fowler looks at ways of reorganizing the salary structure of further education.

The first session was taken by Gerry Fowler MP, and I doubt whether a better qualified person could be found to talk on higher education finance. He started by outlining seven weaknesses in the present system of management and financing of advanced further education; the weaknesses can be summarised thus — AFE meets a national need, but management responsibility lies locally and is financed from the “pool”. As a result, management responsibility residing with the local education authority is effectively divorced from the financial responsibility residing with all LEAs collectively.

A choice of school or college, and the right to opt for employment for half the year. Gerry Fowler argues that this is the only way to introduce compulsory education to the age of 18.

We have great pleasure in announcing the appointment — for a two‐year period — of Professor Gerry Fowler as President of ABE. As a former Minister of State at the Department of Education & Science in the last government, nobody could be better qualified for the position, and Gerry has been a good friend of the Association — and of Education & Training to which he is a regular contributor. Although he is well known to most of our readers, it is nevertheless hoped to include a Profile at an early date.

Gerry Fowler looks into the problems and conflicts of college government.

The James Commission, it is widely asserted, will recommend the creation of a two‐year course, to be called ‘the Diploma in Higher Education’, which will be provided by existing Colleges of Education, and perhaps other institutions. If this vacuous title is finally adopted for the new qualification, we shall doubtless refer to it as the DHE.

A small group is proposed to be set up shortly under the chairmanship of the Minister of State, Gerry Fowler MP, to consider two questions:

The Arthur Edwards Building was opened on the 30 October 1982 by the Rt. Hon. Harold Wilson, KG, OBE, FRS, MP in the presence of local and civic dignatories. The occasion was something of a reunion in that Gerry Fowler, Director of the Polytechnic, served as a Minister of State under Sir Harold; and the brother of Lady Mary Wilson was formerly on the staff of West Ham College, which was a constituent college of NELP.