UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15919, 3 May 1912, Page 4

UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Supporters of the present system of examination for degrees of the University of New Zealand, whereby degrees are granted on the reports of examiners resident in England, commonly declare that no alternative scheme worthy of consideration has ever been suggested. The statement appears, for example, in the recently issued address of a candidate for election to the University Senate; I therefore venture to lay my opinions on the subject .before you. (1) With the many defects of the present system I do not now intend to deal, but may say in passing that it appears to me entirely unfair both to the students and to the teachers; to the students, because it makes their future career depend, not on the whole of the work they have done at college, but on the judgment of a complete stranger upon the work of a few hours; and to the teachers, in that it offers to them almost irresistible inducements to becomo ' examiners' of the worst type. (2) The only alternative which has, so far as I know, been seriously considered by the Senate contemplates the replacement of tho English examiners by residents of New Zealand unconnected with the colleges. I believe I am speaking for' my colleagues here when I say that such a system, would be intolerable. The proposers are presumably the highest authorities on their .subject in tho dominion, and if they are, the suggestion that the University should not avail itself of their services for the purposes of the only important function it performs, seems to be ludicrous.

(3) The scheme that commends itself to me is bound up more or less closely with tho establishment of an intermediate examination, a reform which this college has for a long time demanded. Tho "annual college examination in its present form should be abolished, and matriculated students should pass two examinations, the intermediate and tho linal, before obtaining a degree. The intermediate examination, which might be taken at the end of the first year after entrance, should bo conducted by the Colleges separately on a syllabus laid down by the University. Tho final examination in any subject should be conducted by a special board, ordinarily consisting of the four teachers of that subject. This board should _be jointly responsible for the setting of the papers (some such system as that of the mathematical tripos might be adopted) ; and no student should " pass " in a subject without consent of a majority of the Board. Degrees should hegranted by tho Senate on the recommendation of a general Board, consisting of representatives of all tho special Boards, and no degree should be granted without the consent of the mniority of the goneral Board. The college examination having been abolished, the professors and lecturers would doubtless be willing to undertake the conduct of the University examinations without fee.—l arn> e t c J. P. GABBATT, Professor of Mathematics in Canterbury College. • Canterbury College, Christchurch, May 2.