THE MATRICULATION EXAMINATION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1705, 24 March 1913, Page 5

THE MATRICULATION EXAMINATION.

Sir,—ln your issue of to-day we are favoured with two interesting letters on the above subject. One is from Mr. Hector, who points out that in the case of certain schools CO per cent, and over of the candidates have been successful, and in one-instance as high a oercentage of nassps as 90 per cent, has broil .obtained. Surely this bears out my contention that the examiners are not to .blame for the "debacle" and that if only candidates who. are fully prepared were to sit they would have every prospect of success. Your correspondent "X" is, evidently suffering from mental myooia. He accuses all and sundry of failing to grasp a subtle point in your loader, and then fails to comprehend the force of my letter. , All that I set out to prove was that tho mere fact of 40 per cent., of candidates failing in any examination was not unusual, and was not consequently indicative of irresponsibility on-the part of the examiners, but rather of unpreparedness on tho part of the sitters. He then proceeds'to oppn up a field of speculation which was not touched upon by your leader. Are examinations a proper method of testing one's knowled?" in Reneral or in any particular branch of study, or should some other system be applied. ' . . This is a point on which opinions are bound to differ, and I am one of the manv who hold that though examinations are somewhat of an evil, y?t they are a neccssnry evil, and are the only moans at out . disposal of testing knowledge in o fair and : impartial manner. It is true that occasionally two people of equal sit, and one luclcier than his fellow nin r manage to scrape through, but this occurs only when tlio of both is dr-ficieni There is a certain element of chance which it is praet*rally invpossible to eliminate in everything.that attempt*, but he who has thorough and profound knowledge of subiect has nothing to fear in any examination. "X" hn* discovered a canker, but a 'very insignificant and necessary one, moreover he has not shown us how it to he eradicated. Until we thing more henithy, I shall be quite ran-, tent: to give "the examination n^croije housing.—l am, etc., t LUM-biN.