The Daily News FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1934. SCHOOL CERTIFICATES.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 1934, Page 4

The Daily News

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1934. SCHOOL CERTIFICATES.

OFFICES: NEW PLYMOUTH, Currie Street. STRATFORD, Broadway. HAWERA. High Street.

An announcement made at New Plymouth on Wednesday by the Director of Education, Mr. N. T. Lambourne, will give satisfaction to many who are interested in the development of the Dominion’s education system. It Was intended, said Mr. Lambourne, to inaugurate this year an examination for a certificate for post-primary school pupils. The new examination is to be designed, he added, for the specific purpose of helping those who want to take more practical subjects than is possible in the lists of subjects for the University entrance examination, usually known as the matriculation examination. This is a step in the right direction. It will enable pupils who have no intention of taking a university course to obtain evidence that they attained a certain degree of efficiency in subjects that are more likely to be of service to them in the calling they propose to adopt than the academic subjects required for the university entrance examination. Employers and public bodies having employment to offer have been almost obliged to require a matriculation certificate from candidates for' any position as an indication of their good conduct and progress during school years. Yet in a great number of cases the subjects studied for that examination are promptly forgotten by the ex-student, who finds them of little service in his new appointment. A “leaving certificate” gained by examination should alter this. It will give the necessary proof of diligence and intelligence by ex-pupils seeking employment, and in regard to such subjects as agriculture and stock-rearing will enable pupils taking up farming after they leave school to concentrate upon training likely to stand them in good service when they begin to earn a livelihood on the land. To appreciate the issue of a leaving certificate is not to desire that teaching shall be over-special-ised. True education does not mean the mere accumulation of certain more or less technical teaching. It means the preparation of the mind to think and act for itself and its introduction to methods and information leading to that ideal. The original intention of the university entrance examination was that it should indicate a preparedness for the more advanced and wider instruction obtainable at the university, but it has become quite as much a certificate of character as a certificate of fitness to proceed to a university course. Testimony as to character and ability is essential for ex-school pupils, and matriculation seemed the only way to obtain it. Hence much effort on the part of teachers and taught has been wasted. Mr. Lamboume’s statement showed that the arrangements for the new examination have not been finalised. It is to be hoped that in arranging for the new test there will be some allowance for the classification of pupils according to effort as well as according to examination results. There are some pupils who work hard, are diligent, and have as much ability as their fellow pupils but who seem unable to pass examinations. It is obvious that nothing must be done to Weaken the value of the “leaving certificate,” and that there is much to be said for an examination that will apply throughout the Dominion. Nevertheless, if a scheme can be devised whereby the teachers’ estimate of a pupil’s work and ability can have some share in the award of a certificate it will make the new proposal even more attractive than it is. ,