SYSTEM CONDEMNED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 230, 28 September 1936, Page 7

SYSTEM CONDEMNED.

Scathing Indictment of Modern School Exams. EDUCATIONISTS' VIEWS. LONDON, September 24. A scathing indictment of the modern examination system was made out by leading British educationists in a discussion on the psychology section of the British Association's conference. According to Dr. L. Wynn Jones, one of the greatest weaknesses is the fallibility of the examiner. An examination system implied flexibility and compromise. Laxity and abuse on the one hand and "cast-iron pig-lieadedness" on the other must not be allowed to clog the wheels. Professor H. R. Hamley, of the Institute of Education, said that much examination strain would be obviated if tests were on standard subjects, shorn of subtleties, and made straightforward and practical. Elementary mathematics examinations were often, "unnecessarily useless." Mr. Hepburn, W.A., said that often the ignorance of the examiner was the trouble. He was imperfectly aware of what he was measuring and ignorant of the conclusions that could be drawn from his judgment. The chief function of examination should not be approval or rejection of candidates, but to provide a means of studying the child and finding out what he could do in order to give him an opportunity of doing it. Professor J. Drever said that the leaving examination at the termination of the secondary course could be taken as marking a satisfactory conclusion of the course; but it was really regarded as a qualifying examination for admission to a university. The result was disastrous to the industrial and commercial sections of the community. Secondary education was inevitably dominated by the view that its main function was to prepare for the university. In an ordinary qualifying examination, as opposed to a competitive examination, the aim should be to discover what the examinee knows and can do instead of what he doesn't know or can't do. He should be credited with what he knows rather than penalised for omissions, "mistakes, and failures. Competitive examination was in an entirely different category. It should aim to select the best candidate for a particular future.