FREE-PLACE PUPILS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 49, 27 February 1913, Page 2

FREE-PLACE PUPILS

. *O THE, EDITOB. ' Sir,—My objeot in writing to the Education Board regarding the matter of free places for proficiency certificate, holders was to find out how the difficulty had arisen, and co, if possible, to prevent a similar difficulty in the' future. Tho question as to whether tho free place ia too easily earned, and therefore whether a good many of the proficiency certificate holders will ever repay the money, spent on. thorn, is beside the mark ,in connection with the subject of lny letter. On the present standard of. examination the»e certificates were , granted end f roe place* earned. All I contended for was equality of opportunity for all. Naturally lam not anxious to appear at loggerheads with my employer's. t I simply applied to them because' I considered they were the body most likely to see justice done, if injustice existed. You, sir, appear, to be under some misapprehension in regard to the dateu of examination for proficiency certificates. 'I |hmk I „am right in. saying that ajl tne»e examinations were over in afnplo'titt& toenable 'proficiency c'artifidftte winners ' to make application to thfc College authorities beforo 18th December.' 1912. Our difficulty lay in the fact that nobody here knew anything about an alleged Departmental regulation that applications for admission must be made by that date, Who posscs6eß a copy of that regulation ? Was it over made public to those concerned about knowing? Apparently some schools knew of the "existence of ' Borne such regulation, and wisely onongh made the application before tho -18th December. We were ignorant of it, and so did not make application untjl too late. We | ought to have guessed the existence of .suoh a, regulation, of course, but then we aro slow at our end of the town. We were uaiiophwtioa,ted enough to follow the suggestion of those in authority over us, and co "lost the number of our ' mess," but we shall be wiser hi time. ■What I. want to make clear is that lat was not lack of time which prevented our Si i 5? ndin ? in their applications before 18th December, but simply because, out Of deference to the suggestion of the Chief Inspector, we did not make known the result of the examination until the day of breaking up (19th December). I should like to Bay, however, that lie suggestion of the Inspector was made in good faith, Inasmuoh, as he himself appeared to bs ignorant of any fixed date for eendfng in applications, and also that the suggestion was in the interest of the schools.— l am, etc., . GEO. FLUXi Wellington, 26th February, 1913.