THE EXAMINATION INCUBUS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 184, 2 May 1929, Page 11

THE EXAMINATION INCUBUS

SWITZERLAND’S WAY THE WEEDING-OUT PROCESS Swiss educationists, like the educationists of other countries, are feeling their way towards the solution of the examination problem. Not much has been done in abolishing examinations for the selection of pupils for the secondary schools; the adoption of other methods appear rather in the awarding of the matricula tion certificate. Swiss primary education, fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be, is left entirely to the Cantonal authorities. As there is only the vaguest attempt at Federal control conditions prevailing in these schools are bound to differ widely with regard to the standard and the kind of work done. This does not apply to the secondary schools that prepare for the universities, or for the technical high school, which is a Federal university. As their curriculum has to cover a certain prescribed ground, the secondary schools must obviously restrict their numbers to pupils that seem Ct for the more advanced work. This selection is made in the majority of Swiss secondary schools by .an entrance examination which combines s ■written test in different subjects with an interview in the same subjects. The latter is generally given preponderance over the result of the written examination. In case of doubt the candidate 'is given a chance to prove his mettle 'in a so-called probationary term. In some cases the headmaster relies on the record brought from the last school attended. but some find this unsatisfactory, as the method of keeping records is not yet systematic enough. As there are in Swiss secondary schools no scholarships in the English sense of the word there is not the same need as in England for competitive examination. Financial help does not depend on the outcome of any test-paper, a free place being given to any pupil applying for it, provided he shows promise in his work. In awarding the matriculation certificate, however, the Swiss, authorities have departed from the ordinary examination system. In the first place most of the State secondary schools and a tew private ones (there are, of course, only a few private schools) are entitled to award their pupils the matriculation certificate on the completion of their course. To prevent an indiscriminate use of this right an agreement has been reached between the universities on the one hand and the boards of the various secondary schools on the other. Scholastic institutions desiring to come under the above agreement have to fulfil certain minimum demands as regards the number of subjects taught and the standard of the work done, and they are subject to inspection by the Federal Board of secondary education. Pupils are to some extent weeded out during the school course. If a pupil fails to secure a sufficient percentage in his year’s work lie is sent down —a procedure more easily carried out where the majority of schools are run by the State. The examination at the end of the school career, set bv the staff and corrected by the staff, is followed by an interview in at least four subjects which may vary according to the type of school. The interview is supervised by members of the school board. For the matriculation certificate the year’s marks count at least one-half, sometimes even two-thirds, and the examination results count for the rest. To eliminate still further the danger of putting n premium on mere memory work examiners are particularly required to try to ascertain the candidate’s judgment and his power of reasoning rather than the amount of knowledge he has acquired. This last stipulation, and the fact that the school work of the candidate is taken into account, should go far to make examinations what they should be —an effort to gauge the mental ripeness of the future student. To l entrust the examination to the secondary schools puts indeed no mean responsibility on its shoulders; on the other hand, as experience shows, confidence in a man calls forth the will to justify the trust placed in him.