WORK STANDARDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22319, 17 January 1936, Page 12

WORK STANDARDS

UNIVERSITY PROBLEM VIEWS OF CHANCELLOR PROFESSORS' DISABILITIES The question of entrance, and decree standards in the New Zealand University was discussed by the chancellor, the Hon. J. A- Hanan, M.L.C., in his address at the opening of the senate yesterday.>• Mr. Hanan said he had drawn the senate's attention eight years ago to the alleged disparity between the New Zealand entrance standard and that set by Australian and, more particularly. British universities. He had mentioned that the Scottish higher leaving certificate was based on a syllabus almost identical with that for the New Zealand B.A. degree. The opinion had been expressed that teaching in the university colleges of tho Dominion had been made im re difficult becai.se in the .school subjects the attainment of entrants varied greatly. Tho standard oi New Zealand degrees and the quality of the material received from the secondary schools had recently been severely criticised, it was asserted that school and uni\eisit\ training lnic. some breadth but no depth, and that the interests of the best brains were being subordinated to those of the mediocre majority. Training of Specialists Put in another form, the question was, should Now Zealand attempt to train specialists? It might also be asked whether the Dominion had the facilities lor doing so or the openings needed by specialists when thev had been trained. It seemed to Mr. Hanan that in the production of teachers the New Zealand University should aim not so niuc.ii at tho measure ot specialisation that was required of those joining the statis of English secondary schools, but rather at something like the ideal Scottish degree, which had been held to be one which certified to a cood standard in one branch of learning and to some acquaintance with other important or kindred branches. At the same time, reasonable provision should bo made, by means ot travelling scholarships, to enable graduates ot particular ability to take specialist courses abroad. Just Grounds lor Criticism It. must be conceded that there were just grounds for criticism of the present New Zealand standards. The pass B.xl. in school subjects was generally on a level with the entrance examination in British universities, and it was probably not an exaggeration to suggest that pass classes were doing what might be fairly considered as secondary school work. Complaints had been made that students who could pass degree examinations before they entered the uni\ersity were held back in their first vear and sometimes, it was to be feared, acquired injurious habits of slackness. Apparently, said Mr. Hanan, a raising of the standards of both entrance and degrees was a question that called for attentive consideration. Overlapping and anomalies, such as admittedly existed, must be dealt with. " Tine Record of Achievement " The chancellor then discussed the difficulties imposed upon New Zealand university teachers by the broadness of degrees and the varied types of students. A New Zealand professor's burden of teaching and reading, he said, was greater than that of a professor in a British university. The University Commission of 1925 had mentioned the disabilities of isolation, large classes and lack of facilities for reading and research. It had stated that these should be compensated for by means of attractive salaries, security of tenure and satisfactory provision for retirement. It could not be maintained that these conditions were fulfilled at present, lhe commission had given its opinion that salaries wore insufficient. Security of tenure was affected by tho college council's lack of autonomy, lhe defects and injustices of the present pension scheme had been made widely known throughout the university world and its reform was long overdue. "While it is true that our university colleges are open to criticism, remarked Mr. Hanan, "it must be recognised that New Zealand is a younsz country with conditions of life and work all its own, and that, in the circumstances, our university colleges ha\e already to their credit a tine record of achievement in higher education."