Burnside View Of Revised S.C. Exam

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31421, 14 July 1967, Page 10

Burnside View Of Revised S.C. Exam

“One of the soundest proposals, to my mind, is that the revised school certificate examination should check the level of attainment of candidates in each subject without reference to pass or failure,” said Mr C. Cross, headmaster of the Burnside High School, reporting to his board last evening on the recent meeting of 130 principals which objected to present proposals.

Mr Cross said the meeting was urgently necessary because of unrest about what the Minister of Education (Mr Kinsella) had said in the press. There was a lot more in the proposals than met the eye, especially in view of the acute shortage of teachers. “There are grave doubts whether the Minister’s scheme can be worked because of staffing difficulties,” Mr Cross said. Christchurch seemed to be the favoured spot of New

Zealand. Board members should be acutely aware of staffing problems elsewhere.

: Newspaper reports had not - made enough of the sugges- : tion to abolish the passfail ’ concept and replace it with a : certificate of attainment in i each subject on which employi ers could exercise their own : judgment of capability. Mr Cross said he had re- ; cently told some businessmen > that they had a responsibility ' to give a premium for some i non-examination qualities » such as reliability and good ' manners.

In a brief discussion on recruitment of secondary teachers, Mr Cross said there was “quite a reaction against bonding.”