SCHOOL CERTIFICATES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12732, 24 August 1934, Page 3

SCHOOL CERTIFICATES.

PREPARATIONS FOR EXAM. I | MISUNDERSTANDING CLEARED. Electric Telegraph.—Press Association WELLINGTON, August 22. 4 ‘Preparations for the Holding of the school certificate examination under the regulations gazetted earlier in the year are well in train,” stated the Minister of Education (Hon. K. Masters), in an. interview this evening. He said the first examination for the certificate would be held about the first week in December. “As in the case of any new development there has been some misunderstanding concerning the examination and the results the examination is liikely to achieve. In some of the comments which have appeared in the Press it has been suggested that the tendency of the new examination will be to encourage early specialisation in postprimary schools,” Mr Masters Continued. “This view, no doubt, arises from the fact that the schedule of subjects for the examination covers a much wider range than the other public examinations of an equivalent standard. The effect of the wider choice of subjects is actually to remove the restrictions from the courses of study which pupils may be encouraged to follow, and really enables the pupils to select both for examination purposes and for their courses of study subjects for which they have aptitude. A high standard of attainment in the additional subjects introduced into the examination will be required. This, however, does not necessarily suggest that specialisation and a high standard must be established in order that a. certificate may be acceptable to employers and others interested.

“There seems to be a slight misunderstanding of the conditions under which the school certificate will be issued to those candidates who nass the joint examination to be held by the universitv and the Education Department. The regulations provide that every candidate lor the , \! 11 u €r i sity entrance examination shall be regarded also as a canclidate for the school certificate, provided he has satisfied the preliminary conditions by taking at least a three years’ course of secondary instruction in English, history, science r,nc J. mathematics (including arithmetic). Those pupils who satisfv the requirements for university entrance and also qualify for the school certificate will, therefore, possess credentials acceptable to trie university and, in addition, a certificate of having taken a satisfactory course of secondary education and of having reached a satisfactory standard in each of tlie subjects taken. A school certificate taken in subjects which also qualify for university entrance will, therefore, oe a niore valuable qualification than

a university entrance pass alone.” Air Alasters said that, in regard to the acceptance of a school certificate by employers, it was obvious from the above that employers who had previously required proof of a pass in the university entrance examination would accent a school certificate where the subjects taken were such as would satisfy the requirements for university entrance. The extent to which the school certificate would be accepted by the employing and qualifying authorities was already very encouraging. The Public Service Commissioner, as the appointing authority for positions in the Public Service and the General Past Office, was prepnred to accept the certificate as the equivalent of the university entrance examination for appointments to positions in which the appointees were not- likely to stnclv toward a university degree. The New Zealand Government Railway Department was prepared to accept the' certificate as qualification for appointments in the railway service,- subject to the usual powers <>! discretion in the selection of applicants for particular hranc-het of the serv i ee. Ihe Now Zealand Rank Officers’ Guild had decided at a recent conference to accept the examination in place of the New Zealand university entrance examination as a preliminary test for the diploma in banking, where the subjects taken were selected from the* prescribed list. The Association of Accountants of Australia recognised the certiftifionte in lieu of the preliminary examination of the association in cases where the subjects passed included mathematics as well as English. The Australian Institute of Secretaries (New Zealand division) had agreed to recognise the school certificate examination in addition to the matriculation examination as a preliminary educational test. Tim examination also had the approval of the Association of -Commercial Science of New Zealand.