HIGHER SCHOOL AGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 139, 14 June 1932, Page 6

HIGHER SCHOOL AGE.

THE MINISTER'S DEFENCE. (To tlie Editor.) It would appear from the report of the remarks rcceii'tiy made by the Minister of Education at OtaTiuhu that the Education Department had, from an investigation in New Zealand, showed that the later a child entered tlie primary school the more quickly would he (or she) pass the proficiency examination. This is quite incorrect. The figures quoted by the Minister obviously come from Toronto, in Canada. Further, the inference to bo drawn from the statistics is not that the child should commence school at the age of six years, but that lie should not go to the primary school at all. He should simply wait for the "psychological moment" when he will be able to pass the high school entrance examination (in Toronto) without ever attending a primary school. Surely the decision as to the best age of entry into school life has not been decided by the assumed saving of a few months in passing the proficiency examination from the figures supplied by the Toronto Board of Education. Moreover, since when has the cramming f'or an examination ibeeome the supreme test of our primary school system? The teachers of New Zealand have been emphatically told in the Department's syllabus of instruction that their main aim is to be the formation of character. Of all examinations, the proficiency would appear to be the least desirable as a test of a system if such a test must be substituted for character formation. It was roundly condemned at the recent conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute. It has been changed so often that it is quite impossible to regard it as a "standard." It is utterly inconsistent with all the recent movements towards guiding the adolescent child towards his future educational or vocational career. And finally, it gives no indication whatever of the character qualities which arc so essential for good citizenship and which tlie syllabus so emphatically prescribes. JOHN CITIZEN.