THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 1907. PRIMARY SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14002, 7 September 1907, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 1907. PRIMARY SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS.

"Bored."—We have Boirt a copy of your letter to the person you refer to.

The opinions which, in response to a request from us, bavo been expressed by Education Boards throughout Now Zealand—either by their' secretaries or by thoir inspectors on. their behalf— upon the point of the adrentpgos and

disadvantages of tho suggested institution of a, synchronous examination of the Sixth Standard in the primary Schools of the colony in the month of December in each year will, as published by'us on Thursday last, havo been read with deep , interest. Wo supplement them this inorning by tho publication of tho opinions entertained Oil the same- subject of. tho secretaries of tho district , branches of tho New Zealand Educational Institute—opinions which may, we think, be taken as representing the <view of tho branches' as a whole. The information, which wo have thus collected reveals the existence of diversities in, methods, of discrepancies 111 tho timo occupied in the examination of schools, and of differences 'in the periods of .examination such as should not'obtain in a' primary system that feeds tho secondary schools and 1 universities when the work of these begins and ends with the calendar year. It is tho desire of tho Education • Deparbnout that the school year in all schools should .begin in January. Moreover, as the secretary of the Wellington Education Board pointed out to [us reply to us, it was decided at the latest Conference' 'of Inspectors that arrangements should be made whereby the school year in all schools should begin in .January. Action has been, or is being, taken in Hawke's Bay, "Wangaliui, Wellington, 1 Marlborough, South Canterbury, and Southland to give effect to this determination. For the present, howevor, for reasons which have not been sufficiently disclosed, the Education Boards in Auckland, North Canterbury, arid Ofcago-have, in this particular, ignored alike the wishes' of the department and tho resolution of. the Conference of Inspectors. Isen by those who nro apparently making no effort to introduce the "reform it -is admitted that educational advantages would be the outcome of the closing of tho school year at this end of ,tlie calendar year. While the Christmas and midsummer season is incontestably the best period for a long holiday, an interruption of any -great duration is regarded as inadvisable during the-work of a school year, since the.effect is to necessitate revision 'upon the resumption of school duties. Moreover, the. year for secondary school work begins at the end of January or beginning bf February, and isV ended with ; the scholarship, civil service, matriculation, tochers', and university examinations, and it is an anomaly that the examina- • tion of the Sixth Standard, upon whichdepends the issue of proficiency and com-' potency certificates, should take place • at any other time. As the High Schools, are now practically filled with "free." pupils, arid as entrance to them can bo grfirted only at-the. beginning, oP'tlie year, the end of the year is clearly tile natural timo to qualify for entrance. Besides, were all pupils to enter, the High Schools simultaneously and upon an equal footing, the effect woufd be to -increase the efficiency of these institutions, in which work has been hampered in the past through the admission to them of pupils in various stages of readiness for their work It would mure,'also, that candidates for scholarships would be placed on equal terms, whereas, under existing conditions, some children in the towns obtain the benefit of special coaching—pos-sibly-'for a period''as long as" fivemonths. Tile work of scholarship candidates would, moreover,' represent the' standard work of the school instead of being the result of special effort. (The case of pupils taking the Technical Classes Association's course should also be considered. Under a- system of December examinations tbey wonld lose the minimum (iittount of time. A pupil passing his standard examination in June can- 1 not now get. the full benefit of' the classes until the following March ot April, for it is useless for him to join them in the middle of tho winter session, And, whereas the three months' interval between December and March , would bo an agreeable relaxation, it is probable that a inino ' months' interval throws many pupils out of touch with study. ( But since all pupils who pass the Sixth Standard,examination do not continuo their studies, perhaps the 1 strongest point of all is this, that promotion at Christmas means that the period for the advancement' of pupils is approximately tho same throughout tho colony. In any case, any children migrating from one sohool district to another or from one educational district to another will suffer a minimum of inconvenience. It was pointed out at the conference of inspectors that' in ono large school in Wellington onethird of the pupils were "birds ol passage." And we imagine that right throughout the colony the number of children whose parents shift about from one district to another is so large as to entitle their interests to corfsiderdtion. Mr Hill, the chief inspector in Hawke's Bay, supports the change we have advocated for these reasons/ which seem to us to be fairly conclusive: " T'io teacher's work is easier" (and we presume more agreeable and effective) ; " effective classification is possible, • schools can bo tested on a common basis; pupils remain at school until the end of the year, and regularity is encouraged; it will encourage admission of new pupils at the beginning of the sohool year, and thus improve the working conditions of tjbe infant schools." Moreover, he does not admit that any difficulties lie in the way of the adoption of the reform. Certain are, however, indicated in the opinions supplied to us. It is, we are told, inconvenient for inspectors to travel country districts in winter; pupils in country schools cannot attend well in winter; and it is impossible for inspectors personally to supervise the examination of the Sixth Standard in shell a short spaco of time as has been suggested. If, however, we were to agree that it would be necessary to examine country schools in the winter months in order to give effect to the reform, we do not think it probable that pupils of the Sixth Standard would be absent from school when the possession of a- certificate of proficiency pr competency was at stake. But the information which has been afforded to us shows that the inspection , of country schools during the winter mouths is not at all necessary. Even if. the inspectors could not personally suporvise the written work of the classes, what can bo accomplished in other districts in the colony can be done here. If il is necessary that the inspeetois should take the oral work, that can bo dono at any time of the year, and such supervision of written work as cannot be undertaken by the inspectors, assisted by the office staff,' can be performed by honorary supervisors, appointed by the Board, as is, the case oli'M'here. Believing, aa we da-

that the adoption of the change will be of distinct benefit to' primary and secondary we hope that the Board in this distriot will seo its way to introduce the reform.without any further delay.