MATRICULATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21544, 16 January 1932, Page 13

MATRICULATION

THE ENGLISH EQUIVALENT. , , f The school. certificate system which is in use in the secondary schools in Eng- fland, roughly corresponds to the matriculation examination in New Zealand. It f , has become such a generally recognised test that boys going into business and, commerce are expected to have it. , Mr’’ R. J. Richards, the new headmaster of, Christ’s College, described the working of the system to a Christchurch Press re-, porter on Thursday evening. ;! r V “The examination is very well con-? ducted by the joint Board of Oxford and Cambridge.” said Mr Richards. "The system has grown up gradually and has taken a tremendous hold on English education. In fact, it has become a great machine. In 1921, 20,000 boys and girls took certificates, and in 1929 the number nad increased to 70.000. “ Parents throughout the country expect their children to sit the examination. It has developed into an obsession. A parent is almost ashamed if his child leaves school without securing a certificate. At most universities the certificate can take the place of the matriculation certificate, and the former examination is rather more difficult than the latter. “The ordinary boy sits the papers at about 16 or 17, and this system has undoubtedly provided something for average students to work for. < “Its weakness lies in the fact that it has led to a great deal of cramming and some rather stupid methods of teaching. Some boys and some parents tend to think that it is the ultimate goal in educational life, although it should not be. The fact that business men and employers are insisting on the certificate has meant that quite good students—who may be rather slow at their work —have had .to be crammed by the schools. They expect the schools to get them through and, with slow pupils, this means years of grinding in a rather narrow way, ia some subjects at least.”