RETARDATION OF SCHOLARS

Evening Star, Issue 17488, 20 October 1920, Page 6

RETARDATION OF SCHOLARS

DEPUTATION TO EDUCATION BOARD.

This morning a deputation from the School Committees' Association waited upon the monthly meeting of the Education Board to make a request that the board should publish in the annual report each year a summary of inspection results for eaoh school, showing the percentage of children who had spent over two years in the preparatory classes, the percentage of promotions or passes in the standards, and the average for the standards, m Steele, who presented the case on behalf of the deputation, said that if the efficiency of a school in the past had been judged by the percentage of proficiency and competency passes this created a falso impression, because the information was incomplete. The efficiency of a school as they understood it was judged by the all-round excellence of the teaching and the results gained throughout all classes and standards of the school. They had ro desire to alter the present svstem of classification, but contended tfiat each head master, using his own judgment, adopted a system of retardation more or lees severe and it was necessary that the figure should be published annually so that teachers could judge whether their idea of fair retardation was in keeping with the ideas of other teachers. With this extra knowledge they would have a better chance of adopting a uniform system of classification m Ota go. It was considered that a* the present time there was a certain amount of racing for 100 per cent proficiency passes, and, although it was never intended, the system of publishing only the proficiency and competency results encouraged this racing. The figures for 1919 showed that it was possible" for a school to show 100 per cent, of these passes and yet be tar below the average as fa" general proficiency was concerned bv judging the efficiency by the peramtaee ofPromotions (Standards 11. to VI. inoWe). lie quoted figures in support of his contention.

Messrs Sanderson, J. Hope, and L. D. Ritchie also spoke. After the deputation Lad withdrawn the Board decided to ask a deputation of sis head masters to meet them in conference on the subject on the Wednesday nirfit ot the next monthly meeting. *