MATRICULATION AND AFTER.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20412, 5 December 1931, Page 10

MATRICULATION AND AFTER.

OVERLAPPING IN EDUCATION. SCHOOLS STRANGLING UNIVERSITY. EXXPVCT VKO.M TRB KYIMBM* OF Puo.esso.l G. K. Thompson. LITT D Cuaiu MODERN LAN(TAi;Vs'' AT TUB- I'NIVEIISITy OF Otago and Chairman ok the •Otago' High Schools Boawi) or Governors übfoue the 1930 llF.ci>t Commitiek. As a University professor, 1 wish to make a statement regarding the relationship between the soeondary-se-buol system and the University. Any enquiry into our education system must take cognisance of the dislocation .that 'exists between these two stages. Attention has often been drawn to the importance of avoiding overlapping between the primary, technical, and secondary schools; and s as a result of this attention overlapping at. this point has been largely, if not entirely,/e hminatod. But it is a striking fact that little I heed has so far been paid to the much more serious overlapping to be fonpo in the passage from secondary schools to the University. At preseDt, the stuI dents who come to the University are of three grades:—(1) Those who have just matrjeu- : lated; ' (2) Those who have had a further post-matriculation year, and who come with a higher leaving corticate and a University bursary; i (3) Those who have had a further | year or two years, and who have | roached the standard of .the Jun-. : ' ior Scholarship. ; These students have to-be taught side by side in University, classes. The inevitable. results are that the standard of University tuition is lowered to the J level of the lowest of these three grades, and the professor is compelled to spend much ,of his time in doing work which could be quite as well" performed in the higher forms of secondary schools. The higher forms, under the -most experienced of our secondary teachers, havg still to be maintained' for the comparatively few pupils who remain at school to complete their secondary instruction. We.have thus large and expensive departments of two separate institutions overlapping in their work, and it stands to reason that a secondary school with its relatively small classes (fifteen to thirty) could do work at this stage better than a university with its classes of 100, 150, and 200. Under an ideal system no boy or girl would leave the secondary school until he or she had exhausted all the resources Ol the school before proceeding to a secondary. Possibly fami.ly or financial considerations would be an obstacle to the full attainment of such an ideal system, but every effort sliould be made to get near to it as possible. The. Tccent University Commission (in 1925) emphasised thp importance of "training the community to appreciate the fact that a full secondary-school course up to the age of 18 is the only satisfactory preparation for the University on the one hand, and on the other hand for -many occupations, requiring a good preliminary education."'

' Remedies. j One might suggest remedies for tfte present state of affairs:— j (1) Raising the standard of the Matriculation examination. This is a matter for the University of New Zealand, and is presumably outside the scope of this Committer (2) The crux of the' whole question, in my opinion, is the , too early stage at which the higher leaving certificate and its attendant university bi.rsary are awarded by J the Education Department. - Instituted years ago with the mostlaudable intentions, this system has had , the effect of enticing away from second- ] ary schools hundreds of pupils eaeli year who sho Id be encouraged to remain longer at school, with greater advantage to themselves, to their school, and to tho university. The awarding of the university bursary at. least a year later would improve the situation. The' pupil would benefit by coming to the university classes with a > mind .mature enough to derive full bekefit from them. The secondary school would benefit by ■ having a great upper stratum of senior pupils to increase and deepen its formative influences. The university would be relieved of th, deluge of elementary school work which ip most seriously hindering its progress. Stranglehold on University. In my opinion the stranglehold which is now almost throttling our university work is the extent to which ;-we are doing secondary work of a int.rmediate character. This opinion is shared by my colleag'.es. It means extra expense. In my own class 1 teaeh French to a class of 100. That is mass education. The regulations state that a class must not exceed" thirty. In some cases it docs not press us hard, because if I am lecturing in History I can lecture to as many as can hear me; if in Economics or English Literature, mv audience is conditioned by the ex-, tent of niy voice; but in Mathematics, Latin, or French you lose all individual influence by having such immense classes.