New School Tie

"Limey!" hooted toughies. "I say, ole chahp," they drawled, making monocles with their fingers. With such normal antics, pupils in many a U. S. school this month greeted their small British guests. But by last week most of Britain's 2,700 young evacuees in the U. S. had begun to feel at home in U. S. schools. Teachers and pupils chuckled over differences in U. S. and British education.

Because they had attended prep or "public" (British for private) schools in England, most of the 2,700 were placed in U. S. private schools. Little Britons were surprised to find that most U. S. pupils wear no school uniforms. Skinnier than their U. S. contemporaries, they found the food much better than in British schools, quickly put on weight. They missed tea, got used to drinking milk instead, were delighted with unaccustomed shower baths and pencil sharpeners.

British boys found classes more informal and discipline less strict in U. S. schools, were shocked to discover that U. S. pupils are never caned. They startled strangers by tipping their hats, surprised their classmates by jumping to their feet whenever a teacher entered their classroom. In classes, British pupils showed they knew more of world affairs (more even than some of their teachers), were far ahead of their classmates in vocabulary and foreign languages, not so good in mathematics and spelling, pretty bad in Western Hemisphere geography and U. S. history. On one thing they all agreed: they had to study harder in Britain. Said one of them: "In our country, they give you more than you can do in the way of studies, and then do not expect you to do it all. Here they give you just enough, and expect you to do it."

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