VPRS 892 Special Case Files

This series was created as a subset to the Education Department's central policy files. The term 'special case' was applied to certain policy areas or individual policy files for various reasons. Such policy files were determined to be special because of their excessive size, their delicate or important subject matter or due to the seniority of staff using the files eg: ministers, directors and their assistants. It is not clear where the decision was taken to determine which files were to be given the 'special case' classification.Special Case Files were created by the collation of relevant information from various parts of the Education Department's correspondence systems. For example the special case file for JM Sexton's insolvency (special case number 1172) contains correspondence originally maintained within VPRS 640 Primary Schools Correspondence Files as well as other departmental memoranda. For Special Case Files numbered 1-1149 it is possible to consult VPRS 5676 Register of Special Case Files to note document registration numbers as allocated from the original registers in the Education Department.Once created in this way, a special case file was allocated the next sequential number from the Register of Special Case files (VPRS 5676). To aid departmental retrieval the Index to Special Case files (VPRS 5675) was also created.A cursory glance at the special case files will reveal a seeming lack of consistency in those files selected as special. Some files refer to a particular incident, teacher or official eg: JM Sexton's Insolvency, 1931-1933 (special case number 1172) whilst others document a large scale policy concern eg: school committees 1930-1975 (special case number 1144).Depending on the nature of the policy referred to in these files they will contain inwards and outwards correspondence of the Education Department, notes from departmental case officers, reports and numerous other attachments.

本系列数据集是教育部核心政策文件的一个子集。“特殊案例（special case）”这一术语因多种原因被应用于特定政策领域或单个政策文件。这类政策文件被认定为特殊案例，原因包括篇幅过大、主题敏感或重要，或是使用文件的人员级别较高（如部长、主任及其助理）。目前尚不清楚由哪个部门或人员决定将哪些文件归类为“特殊案例”。

特殊案例文件（Special Case Files）是通过整理教育部通信系统各部分的相关信息创建的。例如，JM Sexton破产案的特殊案例文件（特殊案例编号1172）包含原存于VPRS 640小学通信文件中的信件及其他部门备忘录。对于编号1-1149的特殊案例文件，可查阅VPRS 5676特殊案例文件登记簿（Register of Special Case Files）以获取教育部原始登记簿中分配的文件登记编号。通过这种方式创建后，特殊案例文件会从特殊案例文件登记簿（VPRS 5676）中获得下一个连续编号。为便于部门检索，还创建了特殊案例文件索引（VPRS 5675）。

粗略浏览特殊案例文件会发现，被选为特殊案例的文件似乎缺乏一致性。部分文件涉及特定事件、教师或官员（如：1931-1933年JM Sexton破产案，特殊案例编号1172），而另一些则记录了大规模政策问题（如：1930-1975年学校委员会相关事宜，特殊案例编号1144）。

根据文件所涉政策的性质，这些文件可能包含教育部的往来信件、部门案件官员的笔记、报告及大量其他附件。