MATRICULATION PAPERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 30 May 1914, Page 3

MATRICULATION PAPERS

REPORTS OF EXAMINERS

The reports of examiners for matririllation and entrance scholarships in 19_3 have been printed and i'sued fcr the guidance of schools and teachers. Following are some of the remarks of the examiners: Latin.—"The great bane of cur classical t-ea.'hing to-day is the over-annota-tion of texts. ... I would suggest in extension cf the time devoted ?n class to uiresn translation, and the .principle of making home prepai-ation rather i revision of textual work -done in clasrthan a breaking cf new ground. 'For nercy's sake let me pass, please,' was ;he despairing elo. c e of one of th-s poorest of the papers. Such a direct address o the examiner i» uncommon ; more inistent is the mute appeal of the comparatively large number of candidate? who have probably worked hard. but. handicapped by lack of natural aptitude. ,-T cf opportunity for stud v.' rof adequate direction, have just falk.j shcrt of the standard." English.—"Twenty-five r>er cent. of the candidates failed in Paper A, and 45$ per cent, in Pa.ner R. A total cf papers was mcon-tcd. but there was not a sing'.e really brilliant candidate. the highest marks being 78 out of 100." Mthem it ics.—'' R roadly considered, tho results may be regarded as satisfactory. The number of candidates quite unfit to fa-re the ordeal of fin & x * in" i nation suitable fox* the end cf a four-year's course at a secondary school is comparatively small, while the person ta? e cf candidates that obtain not 'jess than the maximum of marks required for a pass is somewhat greater this year than lart. The .st-v.e of the papers is, on the whole, satisfactory, tne work in the majority cf ca c es ) being set out clearly and methodically. Historv" —"On the whole, it seems to me that I can trace a distinct improvement in the quality cf the work done in this subject for matriculation durint; the past four or five years. But the general character of the work f-tiU, in mv opinion, leaves much -to ibe desired, and the papers show i,u a great many wavs lack of pi-op'.r for examination purposes." The examiners in other subjects ,including geography, physical science, natural science, agriculture, and drawing, report generally favourably on the papers which were submitted to them.