SCHOOL CERTIFICATES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22256, 8 May 1934, Page 8

SCHOOL CERTIFICATES

THE NEW EXAMINATION STANDARD EQUAL TO MATRICULATION. (Per Unitkd Pbesb ASSOCIATION.) WELLINGTON, May 7. ' Reference to the institution of the school certificate examination was made by the Director of Education (Mr N. T. Lambourne), in an address to the Educational Institute. " The standard of the school certificate,” he said “will be that of the university entrance examination. The certificate will indicate a degree of mental ability, aptitude, and diligence, and of general education at least as high as that of the so-called matriculation, but the pupil will have an opportunity of reaching this standard in subjects in which he is interested, and for which he has an inclination. It remains, therefore, for the principals of postprimary schools to convince parents and employers that possession of the school certificate is evidence of as good a ■general education' as, that which has come to be regarded as being indicated by the university entrance examination. It is only right to say that throughout the preparation of the regulations the department had the willing and wholehearted co-operation of Professor Hunter and other officers of the New Zealand University. THE ENTRANCE FEE

CONSIDERED TO BE TOO HIGH,

Commenting to a Daily Times reporter yesterday on the regulations recently framed by the Education Department for the awarding of school leaving certificates, Dr G. E. Thompson, chairman of the High Schools Board of Governors, expressed the opinion that whilst the general conditions under which the examinations were to be conducted appeared to he satisfactory, the entry fee of £2 2s was too high. Under the new scheme, many of the papers for the leaving examination were the same as those set for matriculation, the fee for which was £2 2s, but as the candidates in the former examination would not be going on to the university, an entrance fee of £1 Is should, in their case, be sufficient. It was doubtful, however, if it could be brought any lower, for the examiners had to be paid, and other expenses met; but in order that as many good pupils as possible should be encouraged to sit, some reduction should, if possible, be made. It is understood that the examination is to be conducted by the New Zealand University under the auspices of the Education Department, and that the University will undertake the examination of candidates in subjects which arc also included in the syllabus of the university entrance examination.