UNIVERSITY REFORM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15821, 21 July 1913, Page 2

UNIVERSITY REFORM.

TO THK EDITOR.

Sir— In your sub-leader on University Reform .in to-uay s issue you suite tnat a isiiiall group ot professors w mauuy res|K)ns;ble tor iiio prccent agitation tor reform. _ The feeling m lavour of reform is widespread throughout all the colleges in New Zealand. This is shown by the lact that, at the Professorial Conference lie&l lass November, at which all lour colleges were represented, a motion in lavour of the abolition of the external examination system for .degrees in arts, as lar as the pa£6 standard is concerned, was supported by roughly two-thirds of the delegates, and carried; while a bare majority of the delegates was in favour of tho abolition of tho external system also in the case of scholarship and honours examinations. As regards the broader questions of reform, tno fooling in the lour colleges is shown by tho petitions for a Royal Commission which have recently been presented to Parliamout. Tho petition from Auckland University Colleco was 6ignod by more than half tho council, and moro than half the staff of the oollece. The petition from tho University of Otago was signed by 16 members of the Professorial Board .out of a total of 24 members. The petition from Canterbury College was oJeo strongly' supported. These facts show that tho desire for reform is no longer confined to 60 small a group as you suppose.—Wo are, etc., Wm. B. Benham, John Malcolm. University ot Otago, July 19. [Tho information which Dr BonJiam and Dr Malcolm afford u«, while it shows that tho agitation for University reform has spread, does not render tho Btatomout by tho London University Commission that " Tho University of New Zealand is at present agitating for reform" any the less loose and' misleading.—Ed. 0. D. T.]