RHODES SCHOLARS

Taranaki Daily News, 29 March 1933, Page 7

RHODES SCHOLARS

NO FAILURES AT OXFORD. “In view of the controversy which followed the decision not to nominate Rhodes Scholars from New Zealand this year, it is instructive to learn that no Dominion students who have been awarded such scholarships have failed at. Oxford,” said an Auckland educational authority recently. “New Zealand and Malta, alone among the Empire countries, enjoy this distinction,” he added. “That fact is pointed out by Dr. Charles Franklin Thwing, president emeritus of the Western Reserve University, Ohio, in an article, m Hibbert’s Journal, in which he points out that the American record is not quite so creditable.” The article in Hibbert’s Journal, based on official information from a recent report of the Rhodes trustees, gives the following information, showing the number of Rhodes Scholars from various countries and the percentage of failures: Canada: Total scholars 203, failures 3.35 per cent. Australia: Total scholars 145, failures 0.91 per cent. New Zealand: Total scholars 28, no failures. South Africa: Total scholars 228,, failures 5.62 per cent. Bermuda: Total scholars 22, failures 8.33 per cent. Jamaica: Total scholars 23, failures 10.53 per cent. Malta: Total scholars 3, failures —. Empire: Total scholars 677, failures 3.73 per cent. United States: Total scholars 755, failures 4.46 per cent. The percentage of passes is analysed in four classes, and the record of New Zealand scholars emerges in a very favourable light. The percentage of firstclass passes, 33.33, is higher than in the case of any of the other countries in the table. Australia is next with 30.91, and the United States third with 17.89. Whereas Malta, like New Zealand, has had no failures, its three students are all within the third-class.

The percentage of second-class passes among New Zealanders is 45.83, thirdclass 16.67, and fourth-class 4.17. The last-named figure is excelled only by Canada, with 2.24 fourth-class passes, but, offsetting that, is the fact that some failures were registered by Canadian students. Not only did no New Zealanders fail, but 79.16 per cent, of them gained either first or second-class passes.