TURNED AWAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 72, 27 March 1937, Page 10

TURNED AWAY.

STUDENT FROM FUI. N.Z. PAPERS INADEQUATE. MADRAS UNIVERSITY ACTIO*. (From Our Own Correspondent ) SUVA, March 17. A peculiar situation has been disclosed in a letter from an Indian student, Mr. J. C. Pillai, who left Fiji and passed his Matriculation examination in the Dominion, and then went on to Madras to t.ike the medical course at the local university. He discovered that the examination is not recognised by the Madras University. He left no stone unturned, he writes, to pet himself admitted. The L.M.P. course was barred to him on account of age. Xo exception could be made. Then he turned to the M.8., B.S. course, but found that the university would not recognise the New Zealand Matriculation. The registrar said the exemption rules and regulations contained no mention of the Xew Zealand qualications. When Mr. Pillai wrote to the Xew Zealand authorities the reply was that the matter rested with the universitv into which he wished to enter, and that they could taVe no hand in the matter. In reply to his letters to Bombay and Calcutta Universities he got replies to the same effect as that from Madras. Later he went to the Medical College and was told that his only means of entry was by ]>assing the intermediate course in arts and science, known as the F.A. He went to Trichinopoly and arranged to join the local course at St. Joseph's College.

After looking through the Xew Zealand papers the principal said he was very much surprised, and assured him that the examination was quite equal to the Indian F.A. The principal agreed to his request to admit him only to the third group of tlie F.A. course in physics and chemistry, but the Lniversity Senatc refused to accept him on su<~lp terms and demanded that he take the whole course —a matter of two more years. It was stated that the Xew Zealand matriculation would make no difference.

As this would be time wasted Mr. Pillai has decided to {live up the idea of taking medicine, and hopes to retiyn to Fiji, where he is much thought of by a large circle of j>eople.

Mr. Pillai's experience will liave considerable influence upon many Indian youths who contemplate following in his "footsteps. It would seem that some agreement between the New Zealand an,l Indian Universities regarding matriculation examinations (if not more) iffeild afford great relief to a situation which is to-day full of difficulties and is a course of concern to many students from Fiji and probably other centres in the Facific.