28 
.. CHAPTER III. 
properly in a school after that work ends or before it begins. This is 
true of all children, but especially of those whose heredity and environ- 
ment do not pre-dispose them to mental work. The half-timer, from his 
own point of view, is merely undertaking an extra task until the law 
permits him to earn a higher wage, by which time he is too often ready 
to forget what he has learned. A further factor which diminishes the 
value of concentrating on half-timers is that in some industries they are 
few or unknown, and in others their numbers are diminishing. 
Education of Workers’ Children. 
We recognise that the education of the industrial population on a 
large scale must, to some extent, wait on developments in the bigger 
world outside industry, and that in any event the process must be 
gradual ; but employers in many cases would be making a valuable 
contribution if they were prepared to develop the education of their 
workers’ children in their factory schools. The non-working child is likely 
to get much more advantage from such education than the half-timer. 
The difficulty here is the economic pressure which tends to drive the child 
to work at an early age. But we believe that employers who, as some 
have already donc, make the small outlay necessary to keep such children 
at school will be doing a real social service ; moreover, they will probably 
reap the benefit later by introducing a better type of worker, thus 
paving the way for selected men to rise higher. 
Assignment of Responsibility. 
At the same time, the main responsibility for education in indus- 
trial areas cannot be thrown upon employers. In this, as in other matters, 
some employers have done admirable work in the attempt to remedy 
the deficiencies of the responsible authorities, and we believe that few 
would be unwilling to co-operate if definite and reasonable schemes 
were put before them. For example, the Indian Jute Mills Association, 
while emphasising the view that it was not the employers’ duty to educate 
labour, expressed its readiness to co-operate with Government in the 
matter, if invited to do so. Without doubt the task is primarily one for 
the community, acting through local bodies and Government, and 
we would repeat, in the interests of Indian industry and labour, that the 
industrial areas have a special claim to attention. We recognise the 
difficulty created by the fact that most industrial workers spend their 
childhood in villages and not in cities ; but there are many children in the 
industrial areas who will subsequently enter industry. There is a strong 
case for the preferential treatment of those areas in view of the economic 
results to be obtained. It is for the education authorities to take the 
lead, but the end in view justifies them in calling on emplovers’ associa- 
tions and individual employers to assist. 
Application of Compulsion. 
For rapid progress, the application of compulsion is desirable. We 
regretted to find that in some parts of India there was a tendency, in 
applying compulsory methods, for municipalities to exclude wards peopled 
hy factory labour on the ground of the backwardness of the population.