UNIVERSITY REFORM

Evening Star, Issue 14413, 8 July 1910, Page 3

UNIVERSITY REFORM

—What New Zealand Lacks.—

DEMANDS OF THE REFORM PARTY.

CONSIDERED BY THE CHANCELLOR;

The following is a continuation of Sir Robert. Stout’s address (published by us yesterday) at the capping ceremony at Victoria' College, Wellington, on June 30.

The great difficulty in university training, considering the vast number of subjects that now claim our attention, is to decide when to specialise and when to allow 'students to select one or two subjects and ignore all others. Until wc can get an agreement on

—What the Aim of a University Should

Be,— it is hopeless for us to talk about reform and I regret to say that in the discussions we have had lately, what a university should he seems not to have been kept i; view. 1 recognise that nowadays the most important subjects for consideration ate classed under the head of science. In Ne" Zealand we ought ever to keep in view tlu_ limitations of our colony, and tho need o' our vounc people being trained in science, m that trie industries of this colony mn; be fostered. I believe that a training!' science can give as good mental training as the classics, and that if science is some thing more than a mere “manipulation o matter," it would fit men for tlre struggl in life belter than any other subject the; could study. But science so taught mu? be more than mere laboratory work. Yn must try and get an idea of the universe and you must get a conception of the unity of knowledge, 1 further believe that ; training in science is most important t make people truthful, and to make thci cease to be "gullible," and_ that scienct perhaps of all knowledge will_inst.il int the minds of her students ‘an intense an self-sacrificing enthusiasm for truth.” Bm along with science there must go som* reference to history, and some reference tf humanity, fur we must ever remenib; that .we are not mere individuals, but th; we are members of a society having Urn-, to that society, and wo ■ ■anhot perform o: citizen duties properly if the whole cd m; attention is directed to any one bnurh > knowledge. We have to govern ourscive and wo have to help to govern our com try: but L do not think we can fitly do * without consideration of ..ot-h history m. literature.

-A Scheme of Study must be Formulated.--

It seems to me, therefore, that the lirr step that University Reformers should lal would be to lay down what should be th scheme of the University studies. It. rna be that if wo allow a person to speckilis too soon in any one science we may mar him useless as a member of the comnu nity. One eminent man. who was as. mi list, as well as a philosopher, haa sail that to obtain a senior wranglership c Cambridge may have to mean an inr med table waste of human strength, uselertn the man. and useless to the conuiioni'y and sn may intense specialisation in any oif i ! (he sciences, as iJain has no nted out in his book on ‘ bid neat ion as a Science.' —A Comparison of Syllabuses.--Having defined what the aim and goal cl University Reform is. ilie reformer -ffiiir see wherein the syllabus fails. I haw compared iiir syllabus with those ol all the Kngli.-h. Scottish, and Irish •,iniv-‘r«i-tics, and I confess that 1 do not think on; svllabns is second to any of them, f nav.

also spoken to university authorities in most of tho English and .Scottish universities, and from all that I could gather on syllabus is one of which we have every reason to In* proud. I believe, however, hat if could be made more logical. I think that the science degree should be more strictly a science degree than it is now ; tint that we cannot get, unless we •an obtain Art degrees, that make neither nalhenmtics nor Latin compulsory. Ido ■lot know if the, prciessOrs are prepared to go to that length. I have urged such -eform for many yeJ.rs. I ilso le’ieve that this system of ‘‘major’' studies, which ; s in lone in many American universities, and. which.is now in force in a modified form in, Edinburgh, might now be. adopted bv us.. .

—Limitation of Compulsory Subjects Neco.?9.irv.—

But that will fail unless we have our compulsory subjects mors limited than they now aro. Ido not intend, nor have I the time at present, to deal fully with this subject. I would rather now deal very briefly with some of the statements that have been made by those who desire University Reform. So far as I can gather, the main reform demanded is that the university professors should examine their own students, and if they certify that the students are fit for a degree, a degree should be granted by the New Zealand University If this scheme be adopted, 1 do not see the need of having a New Zca■Land University at all. Each college would 'have to grant degrees. Near, thus is in ' the tendency of University Reform in England at present. It is not how one of the most recent universities deals with the granting of degrees.

—Teachers as Co-examiners.— •Let me refer to the University of Wales., It has three University Colleges—one at Aberystwith, one at Bangor, and one at Cardiff—-and the law in Wales is that each of the colleges can appoint an examiner in each subject. The University appoints mi. examiner who is not a teacher at any of the colleges, who is termed an “ external " examiner, and no degree can ho granted unless the external examiner certifies that a degree should be granted. An article in the charter states that no ex«miner's report shall be received by the Court unless the external examiners ha.ru concurred in the said rep/rt I also find that it is (piite inaccimiffi to say that in fither Oxford or the teachers we the examiner*. I have gone carefully through Urn calendars of Oxford and Cambridge, and I find that there are scores of teachers who aro not examiners in both of these universities, and that in all the colleges very few of the teacher? are examiners. I ,ake two colleges as an illustration of what exists. Thev arc in what might he called the middle place in Cambridge. and are Emmanuel College and Jesus College, and 1 find that the triposes, mathemat kal. classical, moral natural •-atural science, theological, law, historical, Hebrew, Oriental languages, modem languages, etc.—that is. out of eleven subjects examined on in Cambridge—Jesus College had only teachers in two of these subjects who were examiners, and Emmanuej College the same—only two subjects in which they had examiners. I find die same thing at Oxford. Take, for example. the examination in physics there. T find that of the public examiners in phvsics and mechanics two colleges only were represent «1 in the preliminary, and onlv one college in the final honor examination. It is true that in the Scotch universities the professors and teachers are examiners, but there are external examiners associated with the teachers. The practice is the same iu Manchester. Manchester, for example, has fifty external examiners. To say, therefore, that in the universities of tlm world the teachers are always the examiners is absurd.

—Some Pertinent Inquiries.— would like to know exactly what is

anted to lie done in New Zealand. Are the tour professors, sav in Latin, to be enamiuera in Latin for’New Zealand? Is the examination to bo approved of by the majority, or must they all concur? It is incorrect to eay that our professors do not act as examiners. They are the main examiners :n Our matriculation examination, and no me can tret a degree in the New Zealand University unless ho has been passed by the professors, for everv student must sit for an examination before b’s- ruofewr—meet para terms, as it is called. - Farther. oral examinations arc provided -for under onr present evstefn. No one van r '"ee in modern Im'-unues— French and German—unless he has previously passed an oral examination bu.his piofr6sQ_r,, and no one can pass in science, in phvsics. or in chemktrv unless he holds a- certificate for practical work from his ■professor. There are, therefore, oraloxwdnsUocs >"h come subjects in out Uni*

vereity, and there is an examination in every subject by a professor before the student can sit lor bis degree. I do not think that L we left the whole of the examinations to the professors it would at'present.' be satisfactory, or that our degrees would bp more esteem-eel than they are now. Now, what is the other subject in which it is, said that we need ref6m? ] confess I have not vet been able to discover any subject in nil the discussion that has taken place; in fact, all the discussion of Reform seems to have centred round —The Question of External Examination.— I look forward to the time when wo shall not need to go outside of Now Zealand for cur examiners. When wo get a sufficient number of educated men, accustomed to examine and able to examine, wo shall be able to ’ely on ourselves, and considering the progress wo are making as a University tho number of students that are distinguishing themselves both here and elsewhere, wo may, I hope, soon be able to have local examiners; but that does no! mean having only the professors as examiners. Jt has been said by some that we have

—Too Many Examinations.— Perhaps wo do. I would like to know if tho professors are content to have no en■vanco examination at'.all, as was the case 'eng ago in the Scotch universities, and no enn or_ college examinations. Are these ■ o be -given up? I confess I do not see vhy our entrance examination, on being omewhat extended, should not serve ns 1 junior Civil Service examination, and lie two examinations in one year, and nlnost at the same time, which many stulents in secondary schools have to imdero, might not be made one examination, ’.vaminations for degrees are, in my ipinion, necessary. Might I give you a ■hort extract which a young New Zca'ander in England sent me about two yeans •go. dealing with the subject oi examinakms and of professors acting as examiners.

It has been eai-ci that cramming should be discouraged, and so should examinations, and that the students should receive their degrees according to the work they have done. How are you to tell what a man has done if you are not to examine 1 hin thoroughly? If there were no examinations, you would lower the standard of your degree to vanishing point. Wha' is meant by work done? Is practical work meant?—for that is the only work that a professor knows any tiling about. And how tan the professor tell what the student has really done in practical'work even till he tests him in hia work? It i common knowledge that the method of practical work varies enormously with different students, and whereas one nun can do ids work well, and do it so tha 1 it sinks in, another will do it in a slovenly manner. It may be slovenly done only so fa 1 ' as his brain is. eon corned, and so escape the professor's notice, and the very next clav ho may know nothing about it. Again, practical work is, as a rule, a small matter in comparison with that which must be (kmc by means of lectures and books—especially the latter. With legat'd tn lecture?,'if a check can lie kept over etu dents, yet some may he alert, and work hard to understand the lecturer. wh'lsi olhers bo mentally arieep. Again, wha 1 about reading? How is a professor to test what Ins student has understood in his reading? To abolish examination.? would te a splendid method of letting through all the clutters a"d slow-witted specimens of the University. . . .

hid ho adds; Ik not rile result aimed at the amount of knowledge the student has really absorbed, and the only way you can satisfy yourself that the student has obtained knowledge is to examine him, written examinations to be supplemented by practical examinations, to see if he can do his practical work properly. Oral examinations are tho least satisfactorv, as nervous men have more often failed in them than hi written examinations.

—The Value of Our University Education

Tested.—

As to what the _ effect of University xlucation has been in tho past, I think 1 may say this ; that the ordinary pass student iri' onr University as a B.'AUTs just as well educated as tho ordinary B.A. in the older Universities of Britain. Itifact. 1 heard from two of tho examiners we had in Britain that in some subjects out New Zealand students were better- prepared than students in Homo Universities. I was informed that one of the examiners had said that our LL.B.s gave better papers in Roman Law than those who sat for Roman Law in the University' of London. Then, again, one examiner in English who was a professor of one of the Universities in Britain said that as a whole tho University students examined from New Zealand were hotter prepared than those of tho University with which ho was connected. We can lest the value of our education by the success of our students who leave tho University and go to various institutions in Britain, and I venture to say that our graduates are as well equipped as. the ordinary pass student of any University anywhere. Onr Rhodes scholars, -considering their number, have done better than the German students, and tho German students have come from their secondary schools, which, some of the professors say, excel ours.

Of course we have not the advantages of large institutions like those in America and Europe. Wo have not tho meaik, we have not the population, and our wealthy men have not yet risen up to tho conception of what their duty should bo in the young community in giving tho highest possible education to its citizens. Every year in America'thereare millions of pounds given for University purposes. The amount wo have .got for University purposes from our wealthy men is very small. Tho only gentionian who left us anything largo for Victoria College was tho late Mr Jacob Joseph, and I hope his name will ever bo revered. He set an example which I had hoped many would ere this have followed. Tho only other large donation was, I think, that made by the late Mr Arthur Beverly to the Otago University. There arc many wealthy men in our midst, and many wealthy citizens have passed away, but you will search our University records in vain to find many benefactions for higher education.

—The Splendid Example of the United

States.—

If ws consider the private benefactions given yearly to higher education in the United States we will gee how little we have done to help University education. Taking tho three past years, I find that the benefactions were in 1907 £4,764,412, in 1908 £3,087,694, in 1909 £3,709,817. But in 1909 there wore large gifts bestowed of which tho returns had not been received by the Commissioner of Education when the amount was made up, and which are therefore not included in the amount put down for that year. The average, you will see, for the last throe years is nearly four millions—namely. £3,853,974. If we had given at the game rate, according to our population, our average would have been over £40,000. We have not only not got £40,000 each year, but wo have not got £40,000 altogether in the thirty-nine yeans since onr first University was opened. I have not included in these benefactions the sums granted to Normal Schools, Dental Colleges, and other educational institutions, nor grants to libraries, museums, etc. There is much need for the development of the enthusiasm for higher education in our midst, and it is to the students of the University that we must look to call that enthusiasm into being.