PREPARATION OF PUPILS

Southland Times, Issue 23772, 21 March 1939, Page 6

PREPARATION OF PUPILS

EXAMINATIONS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS “BRIGHTEST ENTRANTS A SPECIAL CLASS” A statement that in bigger city schools the brightest entrants were formed into special classes and coached for university scholarship examinations from the day they entered the school was made by the rector of the Gore High School (Mr E. H. W. Rowntree) in his report to the Board of Governors yesterday. Mr Rowntree was discussing examination results. “There are still some people who are inclined to judge a school by its examination results,” said Mr Rowntree. “The formation of manly, self-reliant characters is of far more importance than the passing of an examination. How many of the great private schools, both in England and New Zealand, with all their advantages, attempt to justify their existence by examination results? And yet good teaching should result in satisfactory examination results. “A study of the lists will reveal that, with very rare exceptions, all the leading candidates for university scholarships are from the bigger city schools. These schools have a big new entry each year and from this big entry it is possible to choose the 25 brightest entrants. They become a special class, coached from the day they enter the school with one object in view, the obtaining of a university scholarship. In a school of the size of the Gore High School no special coaching is possible, hence the fact that our two entrants gained places on the credit list in this examination is very creditable. In the special examination for university bursaries our one entrant was placed seventh out of 54 candidates. VALUE OF MATRICULATION • Mr Rowntree stated that the matriculation examination was a specialized examination for pupils who intended to carry on with a university career and should be taken only by pupils who had such an intention. The university calendar stated definitely that the standard of this examination was the result of four years’ secondary work. “Indeed, in many schools no pupils are allowed to sit the examination unless they have completed at least four years,” the report stated. “In other schools no pupils are allowed to sit unless in the opinion of the rector they have a reasonable chance of passing. In this school no restriction at all is placed on a pupil and each year we have third-year pupils sitting the examination for various reasons, whom the staff know have no chance of passing. This position was brought before the governing body of the Otago Boys’ High School by the rector recently when he stated that some 90 boys wished to sit the examination, and of these some 50 were certain to fail. The fact that the highest percentage of passes for many years is 46 shows that at least 54 out of every 100 pupils sitting the examination will fail. When it is considered that this average of 40 odd per cent, includes many schools where entries are strictly restricted, a school that places no restrictions and has between 40 per cent, and 50 per cent, of passes is doing quite satisfactory work. In this school 29 pupils sat and 14 passed, this being 48 per cent.” The report was adopted.