SECONDARY EDUCATION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 12 April 1929, Page 5

SECONDARY EDUCATION.

FOR BACKBLOCKS CHILDREN. CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL ENLARGED. (By Telegraph—Special to The Star.) WELLINGTON. April 11. Further development has taken place in the correspondence school established bv the Education Department in 1922 to meet the needs of children Hire mote country districts. A secondary division lias now boon organiso-d hi Wellington, so that the benefits of fuller education may he available to backblocks children who desire it- lhe primary department, which caters for children who are. too far away from a primary school to attend it each day, has now passed the experimental stage, and many of the pupils have taken the course from primer 1 to

standard 6. . , ~ Requests that the- department should extend its courses to meet the requirements of children whose' parents wished them to continue with secondaryschool studies began to he made, and the department finally decided to meet the demand for a secondary correspondence department. Four courses have now been drawn up from which the children may choose, and already the first two sets of fortnightly lessons have been sent out to the 80 pupils enrolled. The courses have been evenly patronised, and are: (1) A four year’s course, at tlie end of which pupils could he well qualified to sit for the matriculation examination, which gives entrance to the university. (2) A three years’ course which prepares the oupils to the standard required for the public service and senior free place examinations. (3) A one year’s course of a purely cultural nature,- which does not prepare the student- for any examination whatever.

(4) A one year part course to meet the case of pupils'who, while desiring to continue their studies for another year, are pressed for time. Agricultural science and housecraft are included on the syllabus for each course.