ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Norwood Report, which expresses that the maintenance of the present spirit and professional competence of His Majesty's Inspectors, and a generous development of their numbers, are so essential a foundation for the success of the proposals. In early 1939 the Board of Education held planning meetings with education authorities concerning the number of children to be evacuated. Inspectors discussed complaints with the billeting officers and wrote reports on the progress of the evacuation during the Second World War. In 1944 Her Majesty's Inspectorates (HMIs) had to carry out a further survey of educational premises and, later that year, the return of evacuees in large numbers to the cities necessitated the release of requisitioned buildings. The inspectors in the technological branch were also playing their part, encouraging co-operation between technical colleges and local industry in order to use equipment efficiently. The Educational Reconstruction Committee addressed the problems of the school leaving age and the age of transfer between schools.
