UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND (REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION ON).

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1925 Session I, E-07a

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1925. NEW ZEALAND

REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION ON UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Leave.

WELLINGTON. BY AUTHORITY : W. A. G. SKTNNER, GOVERNMENT PRINTER. 1925.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Commission .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ~ 1 Method of Inquiry .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ~ .. 3 Historical Retrospect .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 Petition of F. C. Simmons, 1867 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 University Endowment Act, 1868 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 University of Otago founded 1868 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 University of New Zealand Act, 1870 .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 Opinion of Mr. H. J. Tancred, first Chancellor .. .. .. .. .. 5 Establishment of Canterbury College, 1873 .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 Amalgamation of Universities of New Zealand and Otago .. .. .. .. 6 University first to admit Women to Degrees .. .. .. .. .. .. 6 Original Provision for Agriculture and Mining .. . . .. .. .. 6 New Zealand University Act, 1874 .. . . .. .. .. .. .. 6 Royal Charter .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6 Royal Commission on University Education .. . . .. .. .. .. 7 Establishment of Northern University Colleges .. .. .. .. . . 8 Outstanding Events, 1880-1910 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 University Reform Movement .. . . .. .. .. .. .. 9 Education Committee's Report .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 Mr. Hogben's Report .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 New Zealand University^Amendment Act, 1914 .. .. .. .. .. 10 Constitution of Senate .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10 Constitution of College Councils .. .. - .. .. .. .. 11 Workers' Educational Association .. .. .. .. .. .. 11 General Impression : Undue Emphasis upon Examination : — University Degrees do not necessarily involve University Education .. .. .. 11 High Proportion of University Students in New Zealand .. .. .. .. 12 University originated as Association of Teachers and Students .. .. .. .. 12 History of London University .. .. .. .. .. .. 12 Effects of External Examinations upon Teachers and Students .. . . .. . . 13 Examinations should not be the Sole Test for a Degree .. .. .. .. 14 Some Shortcomings of the Present Organization of University Teaching in New Zealand 14 Necessary Limitations under a System of working Four University Colleges . . .. 14 Close Contact between Teacher and Student essential to Real University Teaching .. 14 University Education cannot be provided wholesale .. .. . . .. . . 15 The Evil of the Large Class is accentuated by the Practice of Evening Classes .. .. 15 Questionable whether Part-time Students are so by Financial Necessity .. .. .. 15 Restriction on Evening-work necessary .. .. .. .. .. .. J 6 Change in the [deals of the Public necessary . . . . .. .. .. .. 16 Confusion of Thought as to Essentials and Non-essentials .. .. .. 16 Is it wise to send so many Students to University under Present Conditions ? .. .. 16 Adult Education through Extra-mural Instruction advocated .. .. . . . . 17 Extra-mural Instruction " Normal Work" of a University .. .. .. .. 17 True University Education involves more than Attendance at Lectures .. .. .. 17 Evening Lecture System .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 Evening Courses dominate University Work .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 Effect Evening Lectures on University Standards .. .. .. .. .. 18 Effect on Physical Health of Students .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 Effect on University Staff . . .. .. .. .. .. . . 18 Effect on Student Activities .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 Quality of Candidates inevitably affects Standard of Examination .. .. .. 19 In other Countries Students work during Vacation to Finance University Course .. . . 19 Professional Schools demand and secure Full-time Work .. .. .. 20 Suggestion by a Students' Association .. .. .. .. .. 20 State as Employer should lead the way .. .. .. .. . . 20 Standard and Scope of Degree Examinations .. .. .. .. 20 Opinions of External Examiners .. . . . . .. ■ . . .. 20 Degrees in Arts and Science compared with those in Britain and Australia .. .. 21 Alternative Courses for B.A. Degree .. . . .. .. ~ 21 Standard of New Zealand Degrees .. .. .. .. .. .. ..21-22

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PAGE University in relation to Secondary Education .. .. .. .. 22 Universities have not sufficiently appreciated the Developments made in Secondary Education 22 Secondary-school Curriculum .. .. .. .. .. .. 22 Secondary Education in New Zealand dominated by Matriculation Examination .. .. 22 Exaggerated Public Estimation of Matriculation Examination .. .. .. 23 A School Leaving Certificate advocated .. .. .. .. .. 23 Opinion of President Eliot, of Harvard .. .. .. .. .. 24 University should demand full Secondary Course of Education . . .. .. 24 System of Public Examinations involving Two Tests at different Stages recommended .. 24 Advantages of Two Examination Stages .. .. .. .. .. 25 Training for Secondary Teachers .. .. .. .. . . .. 25 High Standard of Preliminary Work and Maturity of Mind essential .. .. . . 25 Secondary School Examinations Board recommended .. .. .. .. 26 Co-operation of University, Education Department, and Secondary-school Teachers . . 26 Schools Board of Melbourne University .. .. .. .. .. 27 Difficulties of External Examination .. .. .. .. .. 27 Details of Scottish Leaving Certificate Examination .. .. .. . . 28 Leaving Certificates are a step towards Accrediting System .. .. .. 29 Accrediting demands Adequate Safeguards .. .. .. .. .. 29 Recommendation re New Zealand Matriculation Examination .. .. .. 30 Entrance Requirements of Harvard University .. .. .. .. 30 University and the Technical Schools ■ .. .. .. .. 30 Differentiation of Technical Education .. .. .. . . . . 30 Technical High Schools should have a Technical Orientation .. .. . . 31 University and Technical-college Courses overlap .. .. . . . . 31 Necessity for training Teachers of Applied Art.. .. .. .. .. ..31 University School of Architecture .. .. .. .. .. .. 32 Training of Teachers in the University .. .. .. .. .. 32 Teacher training a Feature of Modern Universities .. .. .. .. 32 Special Department of Secondary Training .. .. .. .. .. 32 University Study and Professional Training should, not be concurrent .. .. 33 Present Period of Training too short to allow of Highest Results . . .. 33 University Schools of Education not yet satisfactorily organized.. .. . . 34 Training Courses of Short Duration advocated for certain Students .. .. 34 The Professor of Education should also be Principal of Training College.. .. 34 Close Co-operation between Universities and Training Colleges essential .. . . 34 A System of Training Secondary Teachers needed in New Zealand .. .. 35 Arts Degree not necessarily a Good Qualification for Secondary Teaching .. .. 35 Raising of Standards conditional upon Quality of Teaching Staff .. .. 35 " Method " better learned from Good Teachers .. .. .. .. 35 College Students should be advised as to Studies .. .. .. .. 36 Difference between training of Secondary and Primary Teachers .. . . 36 A Special Secondary " Practice " School necessary .. .. .. .. 36 Reaction of Secondary Education on Primary and University Education.. .. 37 Present Cost of Training Colleges .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 37 Discussion of Advisability of giving Allowances to Students .. .. .. 37 English Opinion on the Subject of Allowances .. .. .. .. 37 Supplementary Courses for Teachers .. .. .. .. . . 38 University Courses for Experienced Teachers .. .. .. .. 39 Recommendations with regard to Teacher-training .. .. .. .. 39 University E dotation in Agriculture .. .. .. .. .. 39 Agricultural Progress requires expert Scientific Leadership .. .. .. 39 How Denmark trains Scientific Agricultutalists .. .. .. .. 40 Denmark owes most to Skilled Leadership . . .. .. .. .. 40 New Zealand has no Efficient University Course in Agriculture.. .. .. 40 Defects in Degree Course in Agriculture .. .. .. .. .. 41 Economics of Agriculture should be stressed .. .. .. .. .. 41 Opinion of Professor C. F. Peren . . ... . . .. . . .. 41 Two new Schools of Agriculture began without Adequate Financial Support .. .. 41 Danger of obtaining Second-rate Results .. .. .. .. .. 42 Some American and Canadian Schools of Agriculture .. .. .. .. 42 Three Schools of Agriculture must result in Failure .. .. .. .. 43 Recommendation for a Central School of Agriculture .. .. .. .. 43 Possibility of Ultimate Development into Residential University .. .. .. 43 The City Drift .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 43 Training for Rural Teachers .. .. .. .. .. .. 43 Necessity of Education of Rural Women and Girls .. .. .. . 43

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P^GE L>?qal Education : Unsatisfactory Condition .. .. .. .. 44 Requisites of Professional Education .. .. .. .. .. 44 Defect in New Zealand Legal Education .. .. .. .. .. 44 Function of Legal Practitioners in the Community .. .. .. .. 44 Legal Education entrusted to Judges . . .. .. .. .. 45 Council of Legal Education suggested .. .. .. . . .. 45 Legislation governing Admission to Legal Profession .. .. .. . . 45 Legal Education in New Zealand of too low Standard. . . . .. .. 46 Importance of Liberal Studies in Professional Education .. .. .. 46 Comparison with Sydney and Melbourne .. .. .. .. .. 46 Law Students in New Zealand are Part-time Students .. .. .. 47 Regulations for Law Degrees in Victoria . . . . .. .. . . 47 Interests of Legal Profession demand Higher Standards .. . . .. 47 Law Students in New Zealand are Part-time Students .. .. .. .. 47 Part-time Work should be strictly conditioned .. .. . . .. 47 External Students in Law .. . . .. .. .. .. 47 Practical Training essential .. .. .. .. .. . . 47 Class-room cannot supersede Practitioner's Office .. . . .. .. 48 Abolition of Examination in Practical Details recommended .. .. .. .. 48 Abnormal Number of Law Students in New Zealand .. .. .. . . 48 Recommendation for raising Standard of Legal Education .. .. . . 48 Evidence of Professor Algie .. .. . . .. .. .. 49 Testimony of Professors of Law as to Defects in the Course .. .. .. 49 Students take too many Subjects .. .. .. .. .. .. 49 Failure to grasp fundamental Concepts .. .. .. .. .. .50 Protest by N.Z. Law Societies .. . . .. .. .. . . 50 Evidence of Mr. J. B. Callan .. .. .. .. .. .. 50 Resolution of Otago Law Society .. .. .. .. .. .. 50 A Special School of Law desirable .. .. .. . . .. .. 51 Law Libraries .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 51 University Education in Engineering .. .. .. .. .. 51 All University Colleges provide some Instruction in Engineering .. .. 51 Other University Courses grouped around Engineering .. .. .. 52 Mining School should be worked with Engineering School .. .. .. 52 Removal of Mining School recommendod .. . . .. .. .. 53 How Engineering School developed at Auckland .. .. .. .. 53 Refusal of Senate to recognize Auckland School of Engineering .. .. .. 53 Recommendation in favour of Auckland Engineering School .. .. .. 53 Non-university Courses at Canterbury College should cease .. .. .. 54 Faculties of Engineering should be established .. .. .. .. 54Provision foe Special Professional Schools .. .. .. .. 54 Special Difficulties which confront New Zealand in developing Professional Schools .. 54 The Problem of the Allocation of Special Professional Schools .. .. .. 54 Developed Professional Schools all in South Island .. .. .. .. 54 Opinion of Professor Hunter .. . . .. .. .. .. 55 Opinion of F. A. de la Mare .. .. .. .. .. .. 55 Location of Special School a Complex Question .. .. .. .. 55 Disproportionate Number of Law Students in the North Island .. .. ~ 55 A Local Subsidy suggested .. .. .. .. .. .. 56 A Long-range policy desirable .. .. .. .. .. .. 56 Evils of Duplication .. .. .. . . .. .. .. 56 Every Legitimate Concession should be made to Distant Students .. .. 56 Should Clinical Teaching be provided at Auckland Hospitals .. .. .. 56 Opinion of Dr. Marshall Macdonald .. . . .. .. . . . . 57 Opinion of Dr. E. B. Gunson .. . . .. . . .. .. . . ' 57 More than One University School of Agriculture would be a Mistake .. .. 57 Two University Schools of Forestry not needed in New Zealand .. .. 57 Special Maintenance Allowances recommended .. .. .. .. 57 Finance of Special Schools .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 58 Four Universities or One : Separation of Federation .. .. .. 58 Shortcomings of the Present System.. .. .. .. .. .. 58 The Geographical Factor .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 59 Academic freedom possible under a Federal System .. .. .. .. 59 Separation might be accompanied by Large Benefactions . . .. .. 59 Conditions in New Zealand not favourable to such Benefactions .. .. .. 59 The State has assumed the whole Burden of Educational Expenditure in New Zealand .. 59 Otago University has received most from Private Sources .. .. . . 59 Feeling in Auckland favourable to a Local Autonomous University . . . . 60

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Four Universities or One: Separation or Federation—continued. page Danger of Multiplication of Special Schools .. . . .. .. .. 60 Checks on University Expansion .. .. .. .. .. .. 60 A University Grants Committee not favoured .. .. .. .. 60 Limitation of Charter not permanently effective .. . . .. .. 60 Fear that Separation would lower the Value of Degrees .. .. .. 60 The Arts and Science Faculties in favour of Separation . . .. .. 61 Federal Principle not in itself objectionable .. .. .. .. .. 61 University Ideals to-day not such as to justify Separation .. .. .. 61 « The Teaching Staff and its Place in the University .. .. .. .. .. 61 Importance of choosing the Right Man as Teacher .. .. .. .. 61 Academic Freedom essential to a University.. .. .. .. .. 62 Professors on the Governing Body of College and University .. .. .. 62 The Selection of Professors should be made on Expert Advice .. .. .. 62 The Qualifications which should be demanded . . .. .. . . 62 Salary and Tenure of Professors .. .. .. .. . . .. 63 Too many Professorships have been created in New Zealand .. .. .. 63 Too ambitious a Programme has been attempted .. . . . . .. 63 Example of the Four Scottish Universities .. .. .. .. .. 63 Disabilities of New Zealand Positions .. . . . . .. .. 63 Complaints of Inequitable Treatment .. .. .. .. .. 63 Alleged Unfairness of the Superannuation Scheme .. .. . . .. 64 The Sub-professorial Staff should be classified . . . . . . . . 64 Vacancies should be filled only after careful and searching Inquiry for the best Man available 64 The Staff of Lecturers is on the whole underpaid . . .. .. .. 64 Problem of a Satisfactory Junior Staff .. . . .. .. .. 65 " Sabbatical Year " recommended . . . . . . . . . . .. 65 Considerations to be kept in mind in dealing with Finance of the University .. .. 65 Proposed Changes in the Constitution of the University .. .. .. 66 Time not ripe for Establishment of Separate Universities .. ~ . . 66 Conclusions of the Royal Commission of 1879. . . . .. . . .. 66 Union of Four Constituent Colleges has advantages .. .. .. .. 66 Example taken from University of Wales .. .. . . . . .. 66 Reformed Federal System best for Present Conditions .. .. . . . . 67 Faults ascribed to Wrong Basis of University Organization . . .. .. 67 Effect of Fifty Years of Examination Regime .. .. . . .. 67 A reformed Constitution outlined .. . . . . .. . . .. 67 Governing Body should be called " Council" .. .. .. .. 67 Academic Board recommended . . .. .. .. .. .. 68 Principal of University recommended .. .. .. .. .. 68 University must have Share in Appointment of Professors .. .. .. 68 Value of Degree depends upon Teachers .. .. .. .. . . 68 Expert Selection Committee necessary .. .. . . . . . . 68 Constitution of Selection Committee .. .. .. .. .. 68 The 1879 Commission made a Similar Recommendation .. .. . . 69 How Freedom of Curricula can be assured .. .. .. .. .. 69 Function of the College Faculties .. .. .. . . .. .. 69 Geographical Difficulties in way of University Faculties .. .. .. .. 70 Co-option of Distinguished Graduates upon Faculties recommended . . .. 70 An Academic Board essential in New Constitution .. . . .. .. .. 70 Constitution of the Academic Board .. .. .. . . .. 70 Difficulties in way of Ideal Representation .. .. .. .. .. ..71 Academic Board and Faculties . . .. .. . . . . .. 7.1. Council in relation to Academic Board judicial, not executive .. .. .. . . 71 Governing Body of University . . .. .. .. .. .. 71 Basis not representation of Localities or Interests ... .. . . .. .. 71 Opinion confirmed by New Zealand Experience .. .. .. .. .. 72 Composition of Council suggested for London University .. .. .. 72 Conditions not analogous in New Zealand .. .. .. .. .. 72 Recommendation for Constitution of Council .. .. .. .. .. 72 Analysis of Proposed Membership .. .. .. .. .. .. 72 Opinion of University of Wales Commission .. .. .. .. . . 72 Limitation of Representation of Professors justified .. .. .. .. 73 Responsibility of Convocation .. .. .. .. .. .. 73 Membership of Council a great Opportunity for Service .. .. .. .. 73 " Special Interests " should not be represented on University Council .. .. 73 Recommendation regarding Examinations .. . . . . . . . . 73

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PAGE A Principal of thr University .. .. .. .. .. .. 74 Duties of Principal .. .. .. .. .. ~ .. 74 The Cultivation of the Research Spirit in the University .. .. .. 74 Nature of University Research .. .. .. .. .. .. 74 Definition of University Education .. .. .. .. .. ~ 75 Effect of Evening-lecture System .. .. .. .. .. .. 75 Work of Professor .. .. .. .. ~ ~ .. 75 Advantage to Undergraduates of Professorial Teaching .. .. .. .. 76 Effect of Research on Nature of Teaching .. .. .. .. . . .. 76 Opinion of Professor Denham .. .. .. . . .. 76 Present Encouragement of Research .. .. .. ~ .. 76 Necessity for Libraries . . .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 Research in Special Schools .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 Four separate Universities involves Academic Isolation .. . . .. 77 Professors should travel .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 State Archives .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 University Press advocated .. .. .. .. .. .. 78 Degrees in Divinity .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 78 Proposal for Degrees in Divinity by Representatives of Protestant Churches .. .. 78 Divinity Degrees should be restricted to Graduates in Arts, &c. .. .. . . 78 No Educational Reason for Refusal to grant Degrees in Divinity .. .. .. 79 Example of London, Manchester, and Wales .. .. . . .. .. 79 Degrees in Divinity recommended .. .. .. . . . . .. 79 University Colleges not to teach Theological Subjects .. .. .. .. 79 Recommendation based on Educational Principle only . . .. . . 80 The Students in their Relation to the Colleges .. .. .. .. 80 Students' Representative on College Councils .. .. .. .. 80 Students' Representative Council part of University Organization .. .. ..80 Privileges accorded to Students' Representative Council . . . . .. 80 Student Activities in New Zealand . . .. .. .. .. .. 80 Urgent need for Residential Hostels .. .. .. .. .. 80 Quotation from Cardinal Newman .. .. .. .. .. .. 81 Hostels cannot be financed out of Fees .. .. .. .. .. 81 A suitable Form for Benefaction .. .. .. ... .. .. ..81 Students' Union .. .. ■ • • • ■ • • ■ •. .. 81 " University Campus " .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 82 The Exempted Student .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 82 The problem of Exemption from Lectures is a vexed one .. .. .. 82 Under Present Conditions Exempted Students do not get a University Education .. .. 82 A different Degree for Exempted Students .. .. .. .. .. 82 Difficulty of dealing with, the Two Classes of Students .. .. .. .. 83 Can the Number of Exempted Students be lessened .. .. .. .. 83 A possible Cause of " Exemption " .. .. .. .. .. .. 83 Teachers are a great Proportion of the Exempted Students . . .. .. 83 The University should recognize its Obligations to the Exempted Student .. .. 83 Tutorial Supervision is essential .. .. .. . .. .. 84 Conditions which should be imposed.. .. .. .. .. . . 84 Students' Loan Fund recommended .. .. .. .. .. .. 84 University Extension .. .. .. - • - •. .. 84 Development of English University Extension .. .. .. .. ... 84 Conference of Universities and W.E.A., 1907 .. .. .. .. . . 85 W.E.A. Work should be of High Standard .. . . .. .. .. 85 Policy of English Board of Education .. .. .. .. .. 85 Application to New Zealand .. .. .. • ■ • • .. 85 More than Average Ability required .. .. .. .. .. .. 85 Value to the Community of Extension Work .. .. .. .. .. 86 Importance of Humanistic Studies .. .. .. .. . . . . 86 Additional Staff required .. .. .. .. • • • • .. 86 Half-time System .. .. .. .. .. . • .. 86 Possible Provision for the " Exempted " Student .. .. .. .. 86 Junior Staff Appointments .. .. .. . • ■. . . 86 National Importance of Extra-mural Side of University Work .. .. .. 86 Extra-mural Instruction part of Normal Work of University .. .. .. 87

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PAGE Libraries .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ~ 87 Report of Inspector-General of Schools, 1912 .. .. . . .. .. 87 Present Facilities wholly inadequate .. .. .. .. .. • .. 87 Recommendation of Grant of £10,000 for Libraries .. .. .. .. 88 Recommendations :— Changes recommended in the Constitution of the University .. . . .. 88 Standard of Degrees .. . . .. .. . . .. . . 89 Evening-lecture System .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 89 Exempted Students .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 90 The Teaching Staff .. .. . . . . . . . . .. 90 The University in relation to Secondary Education . . . . ~ .. 90 The University and Technical Education .. . . . . . . .. 91 The Training of Teachers within the University .. . . . . .. 91 University Education in Agriculture.. .. .. .. .. .. 92 Legal Education .. .. .. .. . . .. . .. 92 Engineering .. .. .. .. . . .. .. .. 93 The Establishment of Special Schools .. .. .. .. .. 93 Research .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . 93 The Students in their Relation to the Colleges .. .. .. .. 94 Extra-mural Work of the University .. .. .. .. .. 94 Degrees in Divinity .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 94 Conclusion .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 94 APPENDICES. I. Requirements for B.A. Degree, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide .. .. 96 11. Statistical Appendix : — 1. Number of Students and Occupations .. .. .. .. .. 97 Free Tuition .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 98 Years at University .. ~ .. .. .. .. 98 2. Secondary-school Course .. .. .. .. .. .. 98 3. Age of Students .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 99 4. Number of Subjects .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 100 5. Hours per week, Lectures and Laboratory .. .. .. .. .. 100 6. Hours per Week, Study .. .. .. .. .. ~ .. 101 7. Employment-hours and Salaries .. .. .. .. .. .. 102 8. Place of Evidence .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 102 9. Non-academic Activities .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 103 10. " Mortality "in Examinations .. .. .. .. .. * .. .. 104 111. Form of Questionnaire submitted to Students .. .. .. .. .. 105 Index .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 106

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1925. NEW ZEALAND.

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND (REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION ON).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Lecwe.

G () M MISSION. Charles Fergusson, Governor-General. To all to wliom these presents shall come, and to Sir Harry Rudolf Reichel, M.A., LL.D., K. 8., of Wales, and Frank Tate, Esquire, M.A., C.M.G., 1.5.0., Director of Education, Melbourne : Greeting. Whereas the Government is desirous of obtaining the fullest information regarding the provision for the administration of university education in the Dominion of New Zealand : And whereas it is expedient that a Commission should be appointed to inquire into the present position and into the necessity for amendment and improvement: Now, therefore, I, General Sir Charles Fergusson, Baronet, Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, in exercise of the powers conferred by the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908, and all other powers and authorities enabling me in this behalf, and acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said Dominion, do hereby constitute and appoint you, the said Sir Harry Rudolf Reichel, M.A., LL.D., K. 8., and Frank TATE, M.A., C.M.G., 1.5.0., to be a Commission to inquire into and report on the following matters : — (1.) The present facilities for university education in New Zealand. (2.) The working of the present organization of the University of New Zealand, its affiliated colleges, and recognized professional schools. (3.) The constitution of the University Senate, together with the question of whether special interests such as agriculture, industry, and commerce should be represented on the Senate. (4.) The question of whether the present system of four colleges federated under the New Zealand University is satisfactory or is capable of improvement. In particular, whether each of the present four University colleges should become a separate University ; and, if so, under what conditions. (5.) The standard and scope of the degree and other examinations conducted by the University.

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(6.) The question of whether University examinations should be conducted by internal or external examiners, or by a combination of both. (7.) The question of accrediting students for entrance to the University in lieu of the Matriculation Examination. (8.) The relation of university education to that provided in secondary and technical schools. (9.) The provision that should be made in New Zealand for university teaching and research. (10.) Any other matters concerning higher education which the Commissioners would feel worthy of report to the Government. And, with the like advice and consent, I do further appoint you, the said Sir Harry Rudolf Reichel. to be the Chairman of the said Commission. And, for the better enabling you, the said Commission, to carry these presents into effect, you are hereby authorized and empowered to make and conduct any inquiry under those presents, at such times and places in the said Dominion as you deem explicit, with power to adjourn from time to time and place to place as you think fit, and to call before you and examine on oath, or otherwise as may be allowed by law, such person or persons as you think capable of affording you information in the premises ; and you are also hereby empowered to call for and examine all such books, papers, plans, documents, or records as you deem likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject-matter of the inquiry hereby directed to be made, and to inquire of and concerning the premises by all lawful means whatsoever. And, using all diligence, you are required to report to me, under your hands and seals, not later than the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five, your opinion as to the aforesaid matters. And it is hereby declared that these presents shall continue in force and virtue although the inquiry is not regularly continued from time to time or from place to place by adjournment. And, lastly, it is hereby declared that these presents are issued under and subject to the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908. Given under the hand of His. Excellency the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand ; and issued under the Seal of that Dominion, at the Government House, at Wellington, this fourteenth day of April, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five. Approved in Council. C. J. Parr, Minister of Education. F. D. Thomson, Clerk of the Executive Council.

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KBPORT. To His Excellency, General Sir Charles Fergusson, Bart., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand. May it please Your Excellency,—We, the members of the Royal Commission appointed on the 14th day of April, 1925, to inquire into the present facilities for university education in New Zealand, have the honour to submit our report. The following is the scope of our Commission : — " To inquire into and to report upon — " (1.) The present facilities for university education in New Zealand. " (2.) The working of the present organization of the University of New Zealand, its affiliated colleges and recognized professional schools. " (3.) The constitution of the University Senate, together with the question of whether special interests, such as agriculture, industry, and commerce should be represented on the Senate. " (4.) The question of whether the present system of four colleges federated under the New Zealand University is satisfactory or is capable of improvement. In particular, whether each of the present four University colleges should become a separate university, and, if so, under what conditions. " (5.) The standard and scope of the degree and other examinations conducted by the University. " (6.) The question of whether university examinations should be conducted by internal or external examiners, or by a combination of both. " (7.) The question of accrediting students for entrance to the University in lieu of the Matriculation Examination. " (8.) The relation of university education to that provided in secondary and technical schools. " (9.) The provision that should be made in New Zealand for university teaching and research. " (10.) Any other matters concerning higher education which the Commissioners would feel worthy of report to the Government." METHOD OF INQUIRY FOLLOWED. We met for the first time in Wellington on the 24th June. We have since visited all the University centres in turn, spending about a week in each, and devoting the time almost continuously to the taking of evidence bearing more or less directly on the subjects referred to us. This evidence has been tendered, in most cases voluntarily, in response to a general invitation issued by the Minister of Education, by witnesses of every class whose position and work bring them in contact with the activities of the University of New Zealand, and of the four University colleges. Our object has been to secure as full and wide an expression as possible of the views formed by responsible persons respecting the existing University system ; and in particular to ensure that no opinion which is held by any persons

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who might be regarded as speaking with authority, either from their own distinction or from the interests they represent, should fail|to|receive full consideration. The witnesses have in the main been members of the governing bodies of the University and the colleges, University professors and other teachers, University students, representatives of commerce and industry, and public men. We feel much indebted to these gentlemen for the evident care and thoroughness with which their evidence was in general prepared. In almost every case it was presented in the form of a detailed typewritten statement, which your Commissioners had an opportunity of perusing before meeting thejjjwitness, and were thus|enabled to make it the basis of their oral examination. Had this course not been followed it would have been impossible for us to have dealt with so large a volume of evidence in the brief time available for our inquiry. In all no fewer than 171 witnesses were heard—s7 in Wellington, 39 in Auckland, 38 in Dunedin, and 37 in Christchurch. We have also been furnished with copies of important papers, documents, calendars, &c. During our stay in each University centre we visited the colleges, inspected their class-rooms, laboratories, and libraries, and formed some idea of their general equipment. We have, further, taken the opportunity r of jvisiting certain schools—the Rural High School at Rangiora, the two High Schools, for boys and girls respectively, at Timaru, and also the Lincoln Agricultural College. One of your Commissioners also visited the Waitaki High School at Oamaru, and the District High School at Matamata. As our inquiry proceeded we have been increasingly impressed with the wide extent of the ground to be covered, and the number of important supplementary questions which have arisen from time to time and seem to demand treatment in any exhaustive report, but which the limited time at our disposal renders it impossible to deal with adequately, if at all. We have been fortunate in being able to make use of the reports of three recent Royal Commissions upon University government—the University of London Commission, 1912, the University of South Africa Commission, 1914, and the University of Wales Commission, 1918. As these universities were at the time of the inquiry working under a federal system of organization the reports contain much valuable matter applicable to the problems of the New Zealand University. The conclusions we arrive at in our report agree substantially with those of the three Commissions mentioned. At the request of the University Senate, Professor T. A. Hunter attended the meetings of the Commission when evidence was being taken, in order to advise the Commission upon questions of fact in regard to University administration. We desire to place on record our great appreciation of the services rendered by Professor Hunter, whose wide and accurate knowledge of every detail connected with the constitution and working of the University proved invaluable to us. We also desire to acknowledge the assistance we have received from Mr. R. M. Campbell, 8.A., LL.B., of the Education Department, who has tabulated statistics for us and prepared the appendices to this report. HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. It would appear that the first practical steps towards the establishment of a university in New Zealand were taken as a result of the deliberations of a Committee of both Houses of the General Assembly in 1867, on a petition by Mr. F. C. Simmons, Rector of the Otago Boys' High School, that scholarships should be awarded to New Zealand pupils and tenable, at universities in Great Britain. The order of reference of the Committee was " To consider whether it would be advisable to endow scholarships to enable pupils from the leading schools of the colony to obtain a university education in the United Kingdom, and to establish one or more universities in the colony." The following is an extract from the Committee's report: — " With respect to the foundation of a colonial university, the Committee consider that the colony is not yet sufficiently advanced in population and other material particulars to allow of its being undertaken immediately with any

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prospect of success. But they are also strongly of opinion that the colony should look to the establishment of a university of its own, as an absolute requirement for the future, and to be undertaken whenever practicable. In the meantime, they earnestly recommend that a portion of the lands at the disposal of the public be immediately set apart as an endowment for such a university, the proceeds, until its establishment be practicable, being appropriated for the exhibitions above suggested. They believe that an exceedingly favourable opportunity for such an endowment offers itself to the Government at the present moment, as it has at its disposal some very large tracts of valuable lands in the confiscated districts, which belong to the colony, and should be applied to some purpose beneficial to the whole colonial community. It is not easy to conceive any purpose of more general and permanent benefit than the appropriation now recommended." In the following year —1868 —legislation was passed validating the setting-aside of a reserve of 10,000 acres in Taranaki (Opaku Reserve), 10,000 acres in Auckland, and some small blocks in Hokitika and elsewhere as endowments for a future university. News of the investigation of the parliamentary Committee excited keen interest in Otago, where the proposal to found a colonial university seemed to bring within reach of realization the ideas that had long been current. The matter was brought before the Provincial Council in J 868, in the opening address of the Superintendent. This led to a Provincial Ordinance in 1869 incorporating the University of Otago. Following closely on the founding of this institution came the establishment of the University of New Zealand under an Act of the General Assembly, " The New Zealand University Act, 1870." This Act provided for the merging of the University of Otago into the University of New Zealand, which it was intended should be established in Dunedin, at that time the most populous centre in the Dominion. The union between the two Universities was for some time retarded on the question of the inclusion of ministers of religion on the Council of the proposed common University, and the six-months period allowed for the arrangement of amalgamation by the 1870 Act was allowed to lapse. In consequence, the new Council of the New Zealand University did not consider itself bound by the letter or spirit of the 1870 Act—i.e., that the University was to be situated in Dunedin— but proceeded to affiliate to itself certain provincial colleges of secondary-school rank and to encourage higher teaching in some of these institutions by grants, the sole condition of affiliation being that the college should be competent to supply adequate instruction in at least three of the following subjects : Classics, mathematics, natural philosophy, English language and literature, modern languages (other than English), physical science, general history, mental philosophy. The colleges so affiliated were : Auckland College and Grammar School; Wellington College and Grammar School; Nelson College; Canterbury Collegiate Union. Speaking before the 1879 Commission, the first Chancellor, Mr. H. J. Tancred, stated : " The principle of the University of New Zealand is that facilities for higher education should be distributed among as many centres as possible . . . it is desirable to bring the benefits of higher culture within the reach of the great mass of the population ... If the university teaching is confined to one place no student living at a distance and not possessed of considerable private means, will be able to avail himself of that teaching ... It is too much the custom to assume that the role and object of a university is to pick out the cleverest students on whom it can confer degrees and bestow other rewards and honours, leaving the rest of the community to grope in the dark. In my opinion the conferring of degrees and other distinctions is not an end in itself but merely a means to that end, that end being the diffusion of learning and culture over as wide an area as possible and the establishment of university education on a really national basis."* The establishment of the Canterbury College in 1873 by a Provincial Ordinance introduced a new complication, and the Canterbury College Board entered into negotiations with Otago University "to ascertain if the Otago University and the College can arrange to take common action in applying for affiliation with the University of New Zealand."!

University of Otago established 1869.

University of New Zealand Act, 1870, contemplated merger with Otago.

Opinion of Mr. H. J. Tailored, first Chancellor.

Establishment of Canterbury College leads to amalgamation of universities.

* 1879 Commission Report, p. 14. f Resolution of Board of Governors, Canterbury College, March, 1874.

E.—'7a

6

The University of New Zealand and the University of Otago had each made application to the Crown for a charter to grant degrees, since degrees awarded under local legislation could not without a special charter command recognition throughout the British dominions. The reply (in 1873) from the Secretary of State for the Colony was that the circumstances did not justify the granting of a charter to more than one University in New Zealand. This reply undoubtedly helped towards amalgamation. It is interesting to note that even after amalgamation the same reply was received in 1879 and again in 1887, when the petition was renewed by the University of Otago. The substance of an agreement arrived at between the University of Otago and the University of New Zealand in 1874 was that the former body should hold in abeyance its power of granting degrees, should waive its claim to a Royal charter, keep its own endowments, and receive as an additional endowment 10,000 acres of land in the Southland Province. The University of New Zealand for its part was to be restricted to the examination of candidates for matriculation, for scholarships, and for degrees : it was to be a non-teaching body. The University of Otago was also to retain its title of " University." Clause 4of the 1874 Act reads, "It is hereby expressly declared and enacted that the University hereby established is so established not for the purpose of teaching, but for the purpose of encouraging, in the manner hereinbefore provided, the pursuit of a liberal education, and ascertaining, by means of examination, the persons who have acquired proficiency in literature, science, or art, by the pursuit of a liberal course of education, and of rewarding them by academic degrees and certificates of proficiency as evidence of their respective attainments, and marks of honour proportioned thereto." It is interesting to note that one of the claims of the Otago University was that it should, in addition to retaining its existing buildings and endowments, participate in the grant from the consolidated revenue in proportion to the population of the province.* It was in this manner that the University of New Zealand started upon its initial career as a purely examining body and it may fairly be claimed that this unfortunate limitation of function was largely due to provincial jealousies and to fear of denominational ascendancy. It is worthy of note that the New Zealand University was the first academic institution to admit women to its degrees, the first woman graduate obtaining her degree in 1877. The Otago University Council had also in 1871 decided that women should be admitted to all classes and allowed to compete for all certificates equivalent to degrees. In the original agitation for a University of Otago the Superintendent of the province emphasized the necessity for university teaching in mining and agriculture. This view was again expressed at a later date when an endeavour was made to found a Chair of Natural Science, the Council giving preference, ceteris paribus, to the candidate who should produce the most satisfactory evidence of ability to teach chemistry and mineralogy and the application of these sciences to agriculture and mining. Moreover, 100,950 acres were set aside in 1873 for the endowment of an agricultural college in Canterbury at thejtime when Canterbury College was founded. It is apparent, therefore, that the original founders were fully alive to the importance of linking up the University with the prominent industries of the country. Unfortunately, this sound principle was subsequently lost sight of, and it is only now that New-Zealanders are once more awaking to the absolute necessity of providing for their main industry by establishing facilities for University teaching in agriculture. The Act of 1874 authorized the New Zealand University to confer degrees of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor in Arts, Law, Science, Medicine, and Music, and in September, 1874, an application for a Royal Charter was made accordingly. The Colonial Secretary, however, replied that Her Majesty was quite ready to grant the request for a charter so far as it related to Arts, Law, Medicine, and Music only, as had been granted in the case of Melbourne and Sydney. Accordingly a New Zealand University Amendment Act was passed in 1875 imposing this limitation, and the Royal Charter of 1876 gave authority for the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, Bachelor and Doctor of Law, Medicine, and Music.

New Zealand University Act, 1874, sec. 4.

New Zealand University first to admit women to degrees.

Original provision for agriculture and mining.

* See Thompson, " History of Otago University," p. 42.

7

E.—7 a

It was not until 1884 that the charter was extended so as to cover the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Science. No further charter has been obtained, and the degrees now conferred by the University —Master of Science, Law, and the various degrees in Commerce, Agriculture, &c. —are awarded under New Zealand legislation only, and may be said not to have legal status in other parts of the Empire. After the Act of 1874 discontent grew ; the number of affiliated colleges, exclusive of the two University colleges at Dunedin and Christchurch, had by 1878 increased to eight, by the addition of the Church of England Grammar School (Parnell), St. John's College (Auckland), Wellesley College (Three Kings), and the Bishopdale Theological College (Nelson). Some of these were purely secondary schools, others theological colleges, but they had all become affiliated by virtue of the addition to their ordinary secondary work of classes giving university instruction. A lowering of the status of the main University colleges seemed inevitable from this association, and in 1878 a Royal Commission was set up to make a full investigation of the condition of university education in the colony and its relation to secondary schools. The members of the Commission were : Mr. (later Sir) G. Maurice O'Rorke (Chairman), Professor Macmillan Brown, Professor C. H. H. Cook, Mr, W. H. Cutten, Rev. W. J. Habens (Secretary), Dr. J. Hector, Dr. William Macdonald, Professor G. S. Sale, Professor J. Shand, Professor G. H. F. Ulrich, Rev. J. Wallis, Hon. W. Gisborne, Mr. W. E. Mulgan, Mr. J. A. Tole, M.P. The Commission began this work in January, 1879, and visited, throughout 1879 and 1880, all the chief centres of population in the colony, taking careful and voluminous evidence. Most of the observations and conclusions of the Commission were far-sighted and apply to the circumstances of the University to-day. Many of the evils of the present situation would never have developed so far had the report of that Commission been adopted by Parliament. The following are extracts from the report "We propose that the Government should invite the Legislature to make immediate provision for the establishment of two colleges—one at Auckland and the other at Wellington." (This contemplated, in all, four colleges.) " Our desire is that each college may acquire a marked individuality, such as to demand recognition in the form of the examinations, and to secure for it a special reputation, which may at some future day be the foundation of its success as a separate and independent university." " In order that the Senate may have at its command a staff of competent examiners, we recommend that the professors of the University colleges be professors of the University, and be ordinarily its examiners. By selecting examiners from among the professors of the University the Senate will be enabled to have its examinations conducted wholly within the colony, and the delay which ensues from the transmission of the examination-papers to and from England or Australia will be got rid of, and the results of the examination made known with much greater promptitude than heretofore. At the same time, the Senate should be at liberty to avail itself of the services of the college lecturers as examiners, and also to appoint persons who are not connected with the teaching staff of any college, or who may ordinarily reside beyond the limits of the colony ; but in no case should any part of the examination be conducted by persons who, for the time being, are not resident in the colony." " In Otago University and Canterbury College the time-table for the ordinary lectures is so arranged that classes for subjects of general interest are held in the evening, or before the usual working-hours of the day begin. It is found that some students, especially those who are engaged in the profession of teaching, have not only the desire to obtain a degree, but also the necessary preliminary knowledge for entering upon a university course, as well as the tenacity of purpose which will enable them toocontinue in it, while at the same time theyjj cannot afford toj give up their appointments and to devote their whole time to study. Owingj to the system of classification of teachers adopted by the?" Education Department, the number of such students is rapidly increasing. There are others who are glad to

Royal Commission commence sittings, 1879.

Extracts from report of 1879 Commission.

E.—7A,

8

Result of 1879 Commission.

Outstanding events, 1880-1910.

avail themselves of the lectures in single subjects, without entering upon a full course of study. There can be no doubt that by offering these facilities to irregular students the colleges are effectually promoting the cause of higher education, so long as these evening classes do not lead to a sacrifice of the interests of those students who devote their whole time to university work." "We think that the members of the Senate should not have the right to vote by proxy." "Great importance should be attached to the attendance of undergraduates upon college lectures ; but there is no good reason for disturbing the existing arrangement whereby the Chancellor may, in exceptional circumstances, grant exemption from such attendance." " Considering the large expenditure involved in founding and carrying on professional schools . . . the Councils should have power to associate with themselves committees, composed of persons, not being members of the Councils, who may have special knowledge of the institutions in question." The Commission suggested a draft Bill giving effect to their recommendations. However, probably because of the appropriation clauses — i.e., £12,500 each for Auckland and Wellington University Colleges for buildings, together with annual grants of £4,000 — Parliament did not proceed with the proposed legislation. Discouraged by the delay, Mr. G. M. O'Rorke, M.P., who had been Chairman of the Commission, drafted legislation which was introduced as a private member's Bill in 1880 by Mr. J. A. Tole, another member of the Commission. The Government was unable to support the Bill, which was accordingly dropped. The establishment of the Auckland University College, as recommended by the Commission, was, however, carried into effect in 1882, the College being housed in the old Grammar School buildings. Victoria College, at Wellington, was established in 1897, the classes at first being conducted in the evenings in the Wellington Girls' College and the laboratories of the Technical College. Thereafter, the two northern colleges developed rapidly, in a manner somewhat similar to the early development of the southern colleges, mainly by the inclusion of large numbers of teachers and other evening students. The establishment of the northern colleges was the cause of a falling-off in the attendance at those of the south, particularly Canterbury, which, even up to 1895, could claim that more than half of the higher degrees in arts and science had been awarded to its graduates. Beyond the establishment of the new University colleges and the shedding of the affiliated secondary schools, the main events of outstanding interest to the University during the period 1880-1910 were the establishment of the Canterbury Agricultural College (1880), the recognition of the Otago Medical School as giving hill degree courses in 1883, the establishment of the Canterbury College of Engineering (1890) under Professor R. J. Scott, and its recognition along with the School of Agriculture in 1892. Lincoln College was separated from Canterbury College in 1896. In 1902 a University Amendment Act altered the constitution of the Senate to that at present obtaining. In 1904-5, as stated in another section of our report, there was a " battle " for possession of the Mining School. In 1907 the Dental School was established as a result of the Dentists Act, 1904. From 1906 to 1911 there were negotiations between Mr. John Studholme and Canterbury College and Otago University for a School of Home Science, resulting in its establishment at the latter place. "The somewhat haphazard way in which University institutions have sprung up in New Zealand accounts for the inequitable distribution of the various special schools among the colleges. Had these colleges arisen simultaneously, equally endowed and equally supported, it is possible that co-operation and organization might have produced a more satisfactory solution of the problem. But the attainment of this symmetrical ideal has been complicated by various historical and accidental factors, not the least of which is the later development of the North Island and its relatively larger increase in population than the South. The older colleges —Otago and Canterbury —had already founded the more important Special Schools before the northern colleges were established, and any attempt of the latter to secure the same privileges for themselves involved duplication and a serious risk of failure."*

* See Thompson, " History of Otago University," p. 155,

E.—7 a

As a result of the increasing population of the North Island, the distribution of Special Schools has become a vexed question, which, since 1910 has introduced a very undesirable element into the discussions of University affairs at the Senate meetings and elsewhere. For similar reasons arising mainly from their past history, the relative amount of Government support to the four institutions has been a difficult question. From the beginning Otago University and Canterbury College possessed land endowments ; while, on their foundation, as recommended by the Royal Commission of 1879, the University Colleges of Auckland and Wellington each received a grant of £4,000 per annum to make up for insufficiency of endowments. From 1909 this was increased by £1,200 and £1,500 a year respectively. From 1907 each of the four colleges received in addition a " specialization " grant of £2,000. Meanwhile, a movement grew which served for several years to focus attention upon the University and to make its teaching and constitution the subject of vigorous debate. This was the so-called " University reform movement," which came so prominently before the public in 1910-13. The objects of the movement were various : some were academic, some financial, some had relation to the constitution of the University. On certain points, more particularly the method of examination, the vigour with which the agitation was conducted begat a similar vigour of opposition, and resulted in bitter and prolonged controversies, of which we do not yet see the end. But the " reformers " did an immense service to higher education in the Dominion, by showing that the colleges were institutions of national importance, and should be supported by the State in a more regular and systematic manner. In some directions the movement was a revival of the old debates on University constitution that had accompanied the birth of the New Zealand University in 1870-74. The British institutions that had served as a model for the New Zealand University of that time had 11 since altered the constitution they then possessed. Nearly all the Federal universities of Britain had changed their form ; and one of the leading points at issue in this new movement was how far the unique geographical circumstances of the New Zealand University, and the wide distribution of the community it had to serve, justified it in retaining a constitution of which it was almost the sole remaining example. A pamphlet setting forth the views of the association was published, containing the opinions of various authorities throughout the world on the several points submitted to them. In 1910 the association petitioned Parliament to set up a Royal Commission to inquire into the state of the University administration and education in New Zealand. Consideration of the petition was deferred for further investigation until the session of 1911, when the matter came before the Education Committee of the House of Representatives, of which Mr. T. K. Sidey was chairman. The main defects found by the Reform Association in the New Zealand University constitution and methods may be classed as follows : — (1.) The external examination system. (2.) The elimination of the professorial staff from all active share in the framing of syllabuses for degrees. (3.) The constitution of the New Zealand University as a purely examining body, and the want of close relation between the University and the Colleges. (4.) The absence of any considered and co-ordinated scheme for placing the finances of the colleges on a sound basis. The Education Committee, after exhaustive inquiry, reported " That a case had. been made out for reform in the constitution of the New Zealand University, more particularly in the direction of utilizing in a larger measure than at present the professorial staffs of the colleges in the framing of curricula and syllabuses, and in the conduct of examinations." The Committee further recommended that the Inspector-General of Schools, Mr. Hogben, be asked to report on the financial position of the University colleges and on the library facilities. This inquiry was made in 1912, and the Education

2—E. 7a.

University reform movement.

Education Committee's report

Mr. Hogben's report.

9

Establishment of Board of Studies.

Financial provisions of 1914 Act.

Constitution of Senate.

E.—7a.

10

Committee thereupon recommended the Government to bring in amending legislation. The final outcome was the New Zealand University Amendment Act of 1914. This Act placed the control of the University in the hands of three bodies—a Senate, a Board of Studies, and a General Court of Convocation. The Board of Studies was to consist of five representatives from each of the Professorial Boards. The financial provisions of the Act are of great importance. These are as follows : — (1.) The Minister of Finance shall, in each year, without further appropriation than this Act, pay out of the Consolidated Fund to the four affiliated institutions of the University the sums named below : (a.) To the Auckland University College the sum of five thousand pounds in addition to the sum of four thousand pounds as provided in the Auckland University College Act. 1882 ; (b.) To the Victoria University College the sum of five thousand pounds in addition to the sum of four thousand pounds as provided in the Victoria College Act, 1905 ; (c.) To Canterbury College the sum of two thousand pounds ; (d.) To the University of Otago the sum of five thousand pounds. (2.) Notwithstanding anything in the Land Act, 1908, the Minister of Finance shall, out of the money available for the purposes of education under sections two hundred and sixty-three and two hundred and sixty-four thereof, pay, without further appropriation than this Act, one-seventh part thereof to the four affiliated institutions and to the University of New Zealand, in the following proportions : — (a.) To each of the institutions—namely, the Auckland University College, the Victoria University College, Canterbury College, and the University of Otago—for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of such institutions, p one-sixth part of the last-named sum ; and (b.) To the University of New Zealand, one-third of such sum, in trust, to be distributed to the four colleges or affiliated institutions as occasion may arise and as the Senate shall decide, for the support of libraries, for the establishment of new chairs, schools, or faculties, and in other ways for extending the work or usefulness of such colleges or institutions. (3.) In respect of all voluntary contributions received by any University college or institution affiliated to the University of New Zealand from any local authority or from any person (not being an Education Board, or a secon arv school or a technical school, or a University college, or the University of New Zealand), and available for such purposes of the institution as may be defined by regulations, subsidies shall, without further appropriation than this Act (but subject to such other conditions as may be prescribed), bo payable out of the Consolidated Fund to such colleges or institutions as follows : — (a.) A subsidy at the rate of one pound for every pound of voluntary contributions in money (other than bequests). (b.) A subsidy at the rate of ten shillings for every pound of bequest of money : Provided that in no case shall the«eubsidv in respect of any single bequest exceed five hundred pounds. (c.) A subsidy at the rate of ten shilling for every pound of the value of voluntary contributions (whether gifts or bequests) of land or of apparatus or material : Provided that the Minister shall be the sole judge of the value of such land, apparatus, or material, and of its suitability for the purpose for which it is given ; and no subsidy shall be given unless the Minister is satisfied that such land, apparatus, or material is suitable for such purpose : Provided further that in no case shall the subsidy in respect of anv single such gift or bequest exceed five hundred pounds." Further Government assistance has been given to the University colleges by the New Zealand University Amendment Act (passed in 1919;. By the terms of this Act each of the four colleges is to receive an additional annual grant of £2,500, with a further grant of £2,500 made to the Otago Medical School. The Public Expenditure Adjustment Act of 1921-22 reduced these additional grants by, roughly, one-third. The University Senate (or " Council," as then called) was constituted by the New Zealand University Act, 1870, and consisted of twenty persons nominated by the Governor in Council, of whom twelve should be laymen. This constitution continued after the Act of 1874. In 1902 the Senate was remodelled to consist of—Four persons nominated by the Governor in Council; eight appointed by governing bodies of College Councils'(two by each); eight appointed by District Courts of Convocation (two by each) ; four appointed by Professorial Boards (one by each). This constitution has not been since altered.

E.—7A

The present appointees to the Senate are : — Professors .. .. .. .. 10 Ex-professors .. .. .. . . 2 Director of Education .. .. .. I Inspectors and teachers.. .. .. 4 Business and others .. .. .. 7 Total .. .. .. ~ 24 The present constitution of the College Councils is as follows : —

Constitution of College Councils.

The Workers' Educational Association movement commenced in 1915, when eight classes were started with 240 students. In 1924 there were eighty-eight classes and 8,355 students, while, in addition, public lectures were arranged and summer and winter schools organized. The association receives support from the Government by grants of £750 to each of the four colleges, together with £1,000 to the Dominion Council for organizing-work. In addition, £1,250 of the national-endowment revenue is earmarked for the association, while voluntary contributions are subsidized pound for pound. In the cities the association works chiefly through tutorial classes, and in the country districts by tutor organizers. All appointments of teachers and organizers are made by the College Council, on the recommendation of the Tutorial Classes Committee. GENERAL IMPRESSION—UNDUE EMPHASIS UPON EXAMINATIONS. The general impression left on our minds is that the New Zealand University offers unrivalled facilities for gaining university degrees, but that it is less successful in providing university education. Degrees are open not only, as in the universities of all other countries, to regular students who devote their whole time and attention for a prescribed period to their university lectures and studies, but to others who attend lectures and pursue their studies while following some whole-time occupation, such as school-teachers, clerks in offices, &c. There is, in addition, a large class of " exempted " students who, for various reasons, are excused attending lectures altogether, are subject to no oversight, and receive no help in their studies from the University colleges. It is not surprising that under a system such as this, which opens its doors so wide and does not insist upon training, but makes everything • depend on the result of an external written examination, the number of University students in proportion to the population (320 per 100,000) greatly exceeds that in countries like Germany (178) and Scotland (173), where the University has been the training-ground of the national intellect for the last four centuries, or in new countries like the United States of America (171) and Australia (150), where the whole-time student is the rule and the part-time and exempted

Workers' Educational Association.

University degrees do not necessarily involve university education.

11

Body making the Appointment. Auckland. Victoria. Canterbury. Otago. Government .. .. .. .. 3 2 3 2 Convocation .. . . . . . . 4 4 6 4 Professorial Board . . . . . . 2 2 2* 2 Members of Parliament .. . . . . 3 .. 3 • Education Boards .. . . . . 1 2 .. 2 City Council .. .. .. .. 1 1 .. 1 Secondary School Boards .. .... ] . . 1 Primary teachers . . .. . . .. 2 3 1 Secondary and technical teachers .. . . . . 1 . . j 1 School Committees .. . . . . . . .. 3 1 Hospital Board . . .. . . .. . . .. .. 1 Totals .. .. .. 14 15 I 20 16+ * Rector and one other. f Together with one life member.

B.—7a,

12

student is the exception. This high proportion may at first sight seem ground for legitimate pride ( and jself-congratulation, but closer scrutiny suggests that it is capable of a less favourable interpretation : that it may be a symptom of weakness rather than of strength. It may mean, and in our opinion does mean, that the University in New Zealand is working at a lower level and with inferior ideals. It is quite clear from our inquiry that in New Zealand there is, as the London University Commission found was the case in England, " confusion in the public mind between university education and a university degree : people believe that every one who has the latter has in some way or other also had the former, and that the examinations that have been passed are a proof of it."* There are, 110 doubt, certain subjects which cannot be memorized —e.g., mathematical problems, composition, and unseen translation in such a foreign language as Latin, in which the examinee has to produce a result of his own out of his own thought; but apart from these subjects (which are usually avoided, if possible, by the candidate who wants to get through on easy terms) it is true to say that external written examination is a test of memory alone, and that the crammer will always be able to produce a higher percentage of passes in such a test than the real teacher. In other words, examination separated from teaching does not by itself adequately test the quality of the work, and " can be more effectively and easily prepared for by means that are not really educational." This idolatry of pure examination is a modern product, the result of the unfortunate accident wliich in 1836 placed a purely examining body on the University throne in London; but to-day the belief in the potency of examinations has been almost universally discredited, and London University is now a teaching institution and no longer a mere examining body. The European educational institution known as the University came into existence in the early Middle Ages, and was in origin simply a society or guild, 011 lines similar to the craft-guilds of the time. Like them, it consisted of full members, masters of the craft, and apprentices who were learning the craft and aspiring to mastership. The test in each case was the same — viz., ability to perform the skilled work which was the raison d'etre of the guild. In the case of the University the craft was teaching, and the apprentice proved his ability by disputing or maintaining 111 debate some philosophical, ethical, or theological thesis with several of the most learned of the masters. Like the craft apprentice, he had to go through several years of probation before he was admitted to the test. This disputation, which has left its mark 011 university nomenclature in the term " wrangler," applied to members of the First Class in the Mathematical Tripos at Cambridge, is the lineal ancestor of the viva voce examination which once formed an important and necessary part of degree examinations, but is now little more than a vestigal survival. This conception of the university as a society or corporation consisting of teachers and learners prevailed everywhere in Europe, and in the distant lands colonized from Europe, right down to the establishment of the so-called University of London hi the first half of the nineteenth century. Even then there was at first no other idea. In 1826 University College was founded as the University of London for students who were debarred from entering the old universities either by religion or by poverty. It was a teaching university that was planned : a non-teaching university was an idea that had never occurred to any one. Before, however, the university could get its charter a rival teaching institution, King's College, also intended for poor students, was started by a number of persons who wished to have university life informed by Christian teaching of the Anglican type. No one at the time conceived the possibility of having two universities in one city ; the choice therefore seemed to lie between selecting one as the university and placing both under an independent Examining Board, whicn should " perform all the functions of the Examiners in the Senate House of Cambridge." The latter was chosen as the line of least resistance, and the Examining Board was established with the title of "jThe University of London." It was at first confined to examining students trained in the two colleges, but pressure was soon brought to bear by other teaching institutions 111 various parts of the country which, as the Examining Board was independent of the two London colleges and not a federated institution

The. University originated as an association of tsachers and students.

London University originally planned as a teaching university.

* London University Commission, 1913, seo. 86, p. 37.

13

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formed by their combination, could not long be resisted : these were affiliated in increasing numbers, and finally the attempt to discriminate between institutions seeking affiliation was found unworkable. The logical result was reached by the abolition of the certificate that the candidate for examination had been trained in some recognized institution, and the door was thrown open to the private student. It is a singular fact that the examining University of New Zealand came into existence through a similar collegiate rivalry and an unfortunate compromise. In 1869 the Provincial Council of Otago established and endowed a teaching university in Duuedin on the old Scottish model —-the University of Otago. In 1870 the General Assembly of New Zealand formed a University of New Zealand. A bitter controversy arose between the Councils of the two Universities as to the constitution, site, and endowment. While the legislation of the General Assembly provided that the new University should be at Dunedin, it provided also that of the twenty members comprising the Council at least twelve should be laymen. This provision was obnoxious to the Otago University Council, which objected to what was regarded as an invidious distinction against ministers of religion. Ultimately, in .1874, Otago accepted a compromise and agreed to suspend its degreegranting powers and to become one affiliated college of an examining University on the London model. Thus, as one witness (Professor T. A. Hunter) remarks : " The university system as it exists in New Zealand is truly an accident; it was never supposed by the men of the day that it was the proper method of dealing with university education. The circumstances and passions of the times, the lack of vision of the men, and not educational foresight gave us the system." The formidable and far-reaching effect of the decision of the London University not to require the certificate of some recognized institution was not realized at the time, least of all by its authors. Several of these were men eminent from their ability and writings, who had been precluded from attending the old Universities by the religious disqualification, and had gained their higher education by private study. They were naturally inclined to favour the method by which their own success had been won, forgetting that though self-education can perhaps produce the highest results, it is only minds of great originality and power that are capable of it. Others can only win high mental cultivation by the aid of instruction, on the quality of which everything therefore depends, and this quality, external written examination is unable to distinguish ; indeed, it even tends to foster the wrong type of teaching, and to depress the teacher in favour of the crammer. In the view of those who supported the plan of an examining university, they were only carrying further the process of educational emancipation in resolving " no more to tie down the deserving student to a few privileged colleges than to a particular religious creed." It is the same cry which was raised when the question of a Welsh University was mooted forty years ago : " The University is for the whole of Wales and not merely for the colleges" — a cry which was started in certain political circles, but to which the good sense of the Welsh public refused to listen. After a series of efforts at reform and several Royal Commissions a teaching university for London has now been organized, though the old external examination system still continues side by side with it. The report of the last of these Commissions, that presided over by Lord Haldane, which was issued in 1913, and is a mine of valuable information and suggestion on university problems in general, summarizes effectively the evils of a purely examining system in language which could not be bettered and which we shall therefore quote in full. The report is of especial interest to New-Zealanders, for the University of New Zealand was founded in 1870 on the pattern adopted for London, and the shortcomings attributed to such a system are, in our opinion, exactly those which may be found within the New Zealand University. " We are convinced that both a detailed syllabus and an external examination are inconsistent with the true interests of university education, injurious to the ' students, degrading to the teachers, and ineffective for the attainment of the ends > they are supposed to promote. The insistence on a system of external examinations is always based upon want of faith in the teachers. Even the so-called internal examinations of the University of London are practically external, because of the large number of institutions involved, and the demands of the common syllabus ;

Rivalry between Otago University and the New Zealand University.

Belief in the potency of examinations.

London University not a teaching university.

Effects of external examinations upon teachers and students.

E.—7 a

14

and the syllabus is a device to maintain a standard among institutions which are not ail of university rank. The effect upon the students and the teachers is disastrous. The students have the ordeal of the. examination hanging over them, and must prepare themselves for it or fail to get the degree. Thus the degree comes first and the education a bad second. They cannot help thinking of what will pay ; they lose theoretic interest in the subjects of study, and with it the freedom, the thought, the reflection, the spirit of inquiry which are the atmosphere of university work. They cannot pursue knowledge both for its own sake and also for the sake of passing the test of an examination. Moreover, the teachers' powers are restricted by the syllabus ; their freedom in dealing with their subject in their own way is limited ; and they must either direct their teaching to preparation for an examination which is for each of them practically external, or else lose the interest and attention of their students, indeed, the best teachers are apt to lose their students' attention either way, for if they teach unreservedly by the syllabus their own interest must flag, and consequently that of their hearers also. We shall make recommendations which will dispense with the necessity of the syllabus, by ensuring the appointment of teachers who can be entrusted with the charge of university education. Teachers who can be trusted with this far more important and responsible duty can also be trusted with the conduct of examinations, in so far as they are accepted as proper and necessary tests for the degrees of the University. But examinations, even when conducted by teachers of the University, and based upon the instruction given by them, ought not to be the only tests for the degree. It is not right that the work of years should be judged by the answers given to examination-papers in a few hours. It cannot be fairly tested in this way. However conducted, such examinations are an insufficient and inconclusive test of the attainment of a university education ; and when account is taken of individual idiosyncrasies and the special qualities which examinations favour, and when allowances are made for the accidents which inevitably attend such limited and occasional tests, it appeal's to us only fair that due weight should be given to the whole record of the students' work in the University. If the academic freedom of the professors and the students is to be maintained—if scope for individual initiative is to be allowed to the professors, and the students are to profit to the full by their instruction —it is absolutely necessary that, subject to proper safeguards, the degrees of the University should practically be the certificates given by the professors themselves, and that the students should have entire confidence that they may trust their academic fate to honest work under their instruction and direction. There is no difficulty whatever in the University providing for such control, regulation, and publicity as will be an adequate guarantee of impartiality, and of such a measure of uniformity as may be considered desirable."* SOME SHORTCOMINGS OF THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHING IN NEW ZEALAND. One of the handicaps under which New Zealand labours by rea'son of having four University colleges instead of one central University is the necessity of requiring eacii professor to cover a very large field and to lecture to a great number of classes. When tfie number of students in these classes is large, the strain becomes so heavy as to prejudice tiie quality of the work. The circumstances of the New Zealand University, therefore, demand that every care should be taken to admit only students of well-proven capacity, so that to tlie ordinary difficulty of teaching a large class tfiere snail not be added the task of overcoming the inertia caused by ill-prepared students of insunicient mental ability. We consider that in many cases complaints of understating of departments of University colleges and consequent inability to do effective work nave been amply demonstrated. The position should be met either by tne provision of much more liberal grants for the purpose of adding to the staffs of tne colleges, and thus aflowing more intimate tutorial work to become the rule, or by some restriction upon the number and calibre of students entering. The testimony in favour of substantially raising the standard of matriculation was practically unanimous. True university teaching involves a close and continuous co-operation between the teacher and student in study and investigation, and trains the student to work

Examinations should not be the sole test for a degree.

Necessary limitations under a system of working four University colleges.

Close contact between teacher and student essential for real university beaching.

* London University Commission, 19i3, sec. 85, p. 30.

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in a spirit of inquiry and not of blind faith in the authority of teacher or text-book. This cannot be effective when no real contact is possible between professor and student. Lectures to large classes may have their use, but lectures which are not associated with more intimate teaching and discussion in the tutorial class and the laboratory can never in themselves do much to produce the highly trained mind which is one of the main objectives of university teaching. When teaching in a subject consists wholly of lectures, and students are hardly known to their teachers, as we were assured was the case, it is more than likely that such classes contain a majority of those whom Newman in his " Idea of a University " describes as " those earnest but ill-used persons who are forced to load their minds with a score of subjects against an examination, who have too much on their hands to indulge themselves in thinking or investigation, who devour premise and conclusion together with indiscriminate greediness, who hold whole sciences on faith, and commit demonstrations to memory and who too often, as might be expected, when their period of education is passed, throw up all they have learned in disgust, having gained nothing really by their anxious labours, except perhaps the habit of application," and, we may add, a university degree which should count for very little. The Royal Commission on Oxford and Cambridge Universities, 1922, expresses similar opinions in regard to large classes : "We agree with the opinion expressed by the Committee of Cambridge graduates to the effect that the highest type of university education cannot be provided wholesale, and that the - + andard of instruction must deteriorate if laboratories are overcrowded, if the number of pupils is too great for personal supervision, and if lectures have to be given to too large an audience. An increase in numbers at Oxford and Cambridge beyond a certain point would probably necessitate the abandonment of the tutorial system on which the greatness of both Universities has been largely built up."* The position in New Zealand clearly calls for remedy in this respect, for otherwise the country is deluded with the idea that it is getting the results of university training when in fact it is not. The evil effect of large classes and necessary adherence to the method of the lecture, not reinforced by tutorial or seminar work, is further accentuated by the practice so greatly in vogue among students in this country of devoting only part-time to university study. The considered opinion of the London Commission is valuable in this connection : "A university education is most effective when it is given before the struggles and pre-occupations of life in the world have begun. It is a training which ought to make great demands both upon the intellectual energy and the time of the student; on his energy because he is learning the methods of independent work carried on in an inquiring spirit; on his time because mental habits cannot be formed rapidly, nor if the mind is distracted by other cares and interests, and because if he is to get more from the instruction of the class-room or laboratory than notes in preparation for an examination, a considerable amount of leisure is essential for independent reading, for common life with fellow students and teachers, and, above all, for the reflective thought necessary to the rather slow process of assimilation."f We have the greatest sympathy with and admiration for the genuine seeker after a university education who by reason of his circumstances must necessarily become an evening student. But we are by no means convinced that all of the part-time students are unable to give full-time to their university work. Habits and customs grow up insidiously in a community, and the concessions rightly made to meet the circumstances of a special and small group of potential students have, we are assured, been taken advantage of by those who could, by the exercise of moderate self-denial, take the better course. Moreover, we learn from the statistics just prepared that 60 per cent, of the evening students are in the Government service or the teaching service. If the authorities could be induced to give to such of their young employees as were thought suitable for university work the necessary facilities for attendance at day courses, as is the practice in many other countries, the evening students would soon be reduced to manageable numbers and the emphasis of university work would be placed, as it should be, upon the day work. We are convinced that a thorough scientific and educational inquiry into the results of the practice of attending University classes on four or five

University education cannot be provided wholesale.

The evil of the large class is accentuated by the practice of evening classes.

Questionable whether many part-time students are so by financial necessity.

* Oxford and Cambridge University Commission, 1922, see. 185, p. 167. f London University Commission, 1913, sec. 65, p. 27.

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evenings a week after a day's work, and of giving in addition many additional hours to necessary private study, would prove that the physical and mental wellbeing of the student suffers, and that neither the day's work nor the University work is of sufficiently high quality. We are of opinion that the University should not allow part-time students to enrol as a matter of right. Permission to do so should be granted only after inquiry, and enrolment should be associated with definite and well-considered restrictions as to the number of subjects to be taken and presented for examination and the number of evenings to be attended. By such a method the legitimate needs of a deserving class of students would still be met, while other students now giving only part-time to their university studies would, in their own interests, and in the interests of their future service to the country, receive much more substantial benefits from university life and teaching. Certainly in a country like New Zealand, with a well-diffused prosperity, the part-time students should be in a minority, and their supposed necessities should not, as is the case in some of the colleges, dominate the position. The change will come only when the public realizes more fully what sound education in a university can give, and when it is determined that nothing short of this will be regarded as satisfactory. Among the worst effects of a university system dominated by external examination and rigidly imposed syllabuses is the fact not only that these tend to make the teaching formal and lacking in stimulus, but that they also confirm and strengthen the popular view that a university is a place which students attend merely to secure degrees which have definite occupational values. The effect of such an idea strongly held in the community is most insidious and makes progress towards the realization of truer ideals of university life and work very slow and difficult. The late President Wilson, formerly head of Princeton University, pointed out that a university was not to be regarded as a great department store where each student came to purchase with the smallest outlay of time and money some definite commodity. The ideal was a university with the twofold objects of " the production of a great body of informed and thoughtful men, and the production of a small body of trained scholars and investigators." These two functions were " not to be performed separately, but side by side, and informed with one spirit, the spirit of enlightenment."* The University of New Zealand is merely an examining body and, as has been pointed out elsewhere, it was established in imitation of the University of London when that institution was simply an examining body. The recent London Commission puts the matter very plainly when it says, " Much that is defective in the present organization of the University of London can be traced ultimately to confusion of thought about what things are essential to university education and what things are non-essential. For example, whatever importance may be attached to examinations, an examining Board can never constitute a university ; and, again, technical instruction and advanced courses of study may be multiplied indefinitely without providing university education. Of course, any educational institution may be called a university ; but, as Dr. Rashdall says, ' the name has to be associated with education of the highest type :to degrade the name of a university is, therefore, to degrade the highest educational ideal.' We do not mean, however, that what we call non-essential things ought not to be provided, but only that they can be done without a university, although some of them can be better done by a university and in as close connection as possible with the woik which only a university can do."+ Another consideration which should form, the subject of special inquiry is the number of graduates in the professional schools which the Dominion can profitably absorb. A convincing case can be made out to prove that the burden of maintaining University colleges in four centres is necessarily a heavy one for a comparatively small population. As we have stated, the work in these colleges is lacking in effectiveness by reason of insufficient sta.ff and unduly large classes. The true interests of the Dominion would be best served by a steady improvement in the quality and quantity of the teaching staff and in the conditions under which they

Restriction necessary for evening work.

A change in the cleals of the public necessary.

Confusion of thought as to essentials and non-essentials.

Is New Zealand wise in sending so many students to the University under present conditions ?

* See " Higher Education in England and Scotland," G. E. MacLean. t London University Commission, 1913, sec. 62, p. 25.

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work, by a limitation of the classes to an effective size, and by the provision of more individual work with small groups of students. The contribution of university education to the life of a State is measured rather by the quality of university graduates than by the number of them. The progress of a nation depends more upon those who are highly trained or highly endowed, or both, than upon the general average of its citizens. In a new country offering so many opportunities to capable men in the work of developing its resources, it is a disservice to divert too many bright young men into the ordinary professions for which they may not be specially qualified, and in which they may find it difficult to maintain a footing. One of the great educational advances of modern times is the discovery of the potency of organized adult education as a form of university extension. The possibilities which lie ahead of such an educational movement are almost illimitable. It is conceivable that a far greater addition to the intellectual and moral resources of the Dominion may emerge from a higher standard of university life and teaching in the professional schools (and to-day even the arts and pure science schools are in a sense professional schools), together with a vigorous and well-conceived scheme of adult education through a special staff of efficient university teachers, than by a system which encourages so many to work under imperfect conditions for university degrees. Of course, it is assumed that the men and women studying in extension classes such as those established under the Workers' Educational Association are engaged in the disinterested study of a subject in co-operation with university tutors, and that they desire additional knowledge and culture for their own sakes, and not as a qualification towards a university degree. Whether a sufficient number of men and women are prepared to undertake such a continuous course of study for its own sake remains to be proved, but, in our judgment, culture so obtained is likely to be a real and vital thing. It is worthy of note that one of the recommendations of the recent Royal Commission on Oxford and Cambridge Universities is that " the future success of extra-mural instruction depends, in our opinion, on its definite acceptance in all universities as an established and essential part of the normal work of a university. This change of view should have far-reaching results."* We are well aware of the fact that an increasing number of university graduates are finding their way into commercial and industrial life. " But the fundamental reason of the change is the fact, now tested by experience, that the intellectual and moral qualities of the university-trained man often render him peculiarly capable of dealing with big economic and business problems, and with the social and human factors which they involve."'!' It must be remembered, however, in applying this to our local problems, that the " intellectual and moral qualities " above mentioned are those which are developed by a student life rich in student activities, and by a system of education not confined to the lecture-room, but reinforced by close and intimate intellectual companionship with cultured men giving individual instruction as tutors. Of this student life the Commission's report states : "We understand that of recent years the intellectual activity among the body of undergraduates has been very remarkable ; among its features are a widespread interest in social questions, an increase in societies for discussion, speculation, and study, and for literature, music, and the drama, and an increasing connection with many activities of the outside world."t Our concern is that the New Zealand University shall be able to build up gradually a university system favourable to a full and abundant university life, rich in the intellectual stimulus of the class-room, the laboratory, or the tutorial class, and rich in opportunities for the many-sided activities of student life. EVENING LECTURE SYSTEM. The system of evening lectures for university students who are engaged during the day in some whole-time occupations is not peculiar to New Zealand. Such lectures are given in the Australian universities, and also in the large city universities

Adult education through extra-mural instruction advocated.

True university education involves more than attendance at lectures.

Evening courses in New Zealand dominate the university work in certain schools.

* Oxford and Cambridge Commission. 1922, sec. 148, p. 123. f Oxford and Cambridge Commission, 1922, see. 31, p. 44. { Oxford and Cambridge Commission, 1922, see. 30, p. 43.

3—E. 7a.

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Effect on university standards.

Effect on physical health of students?

Effect on the university staff.

Effect on the student activities

in Great Britain, though in the latter case they are rarely if ever organized for degree purposes. What distinguishes the New Zealand system is the completely dominant position these evening classes hold in the University. It is not a little surprising to any one acquainted with the normal working of the universities in the rest of the English-speaking world to learn that in two at least of the New Zealand colleges there are, apart from the special schools (medicine, dentistry, engineering, mining), virtually no lectures at the pass stage between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and that the degree work in each college is mainly organized for the convenience of the evening student who is engaged in some full-time occupation during the day, and that the whole-time student has to adapt himself to these conditions and take all his lectures between 5 and 8 p.m. The inevitable result of such a system is to lower the standard of the "university work and impair its ideals. There is here a singular consensus of opinion among the witnesses. Practically all university teachers who were questioned on the subject, even those who thought that the system would on other grounds have to be continued, admitted that the effect was to lower the standard ; nor did any witness seriously attempt to maintain the contrary. " If you have a large class, and the larger percentage of your students are working during the day and come at night with more or less jaded faculties, it must make a difference in the standard of the work." "By having day-work you would naturally maintain your classes at a higher level." "Mv opinion is that the standard of passing has come down : I would attribute this very largely to the night-work." (Professor Segar, Auckland.) " Neither staff nor students are in a state for really effective work when the maximum intellectual strain is thrown upon them." " I give my pass lectures from 4t05 or from sto 6. Neither my students nor myself are really fit to do our best at that hour after having been on duty at some work from 9 in the morning." (Professor Denham, Canterbury.) Mr. T. U. Wells (member of the Auckland Council) gave as his opinion, " If a student were engaged during the day earning a livelihood his scholarship would suffer." The same witness pointed out the unfairness of school-teachers taking their degree in this way : "A man who studies at night is not able to give his class the best of his services during the day." Several witnesses insisted on the bad effect on the health of the students. " The expenditure of,energy both ways, except in cases of very robust adolescence, is a very bad principle " (Professor Sperrin-Johnson, Auckland) —adding that night-work in laboratories is injurious to the eyesight: " Artificial light has a cumulative bad effect on the eyes." " Night-work is particularly harmful in science owing to the ill effects of artificial light in judging colour, &c." (Professor Burbidge, Auckland.) There is in consequence a tendency on the part of science teachers to change their classes to the daytime. Professor Worley, of Auckland, who has already carried out this change in the Chemistry Department, stated that it had " greatly improved the College standards," and that the numbers in his classes had actually risen notwithstanding. The effect on the staff is equally unfortunate, particularly where the teacher endeavours to do justice to full-time students by taking them earlier in the day. He has to run two systems of teaching concurrently. Such a programme leaves him neither time nor energy for the original work, which is not only important for the reputation of the University, but essential if the ordinary degree teaching is to be maintained at a high level of vitality. Evidence generally supports the statement of Professor Powell (Canterbury) : " Day-work plus evening-work leaves no room for research, or even for keeping abreast of the knowledge of one's subject." It may be mentioned that it is the invariable rule in Great Britain and. in Australia that to avoid duplication of lectures by professors through the necessities of the evening lecture system a supplementary staff is employed. But, if it inevitably impairs the quality of the studies, evening instuction. has an even more injurious effect on the corporate student life which forms so valuable a part of university training. It has been said that at least half the benefit which a student gains from his university is derived not from his professors, but from free intercourse with his fellow-students on the athletic fields, in student committees,

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in debates, and in all the various activities of college life. It is obvious that where the great body of the students are engaged in vocational work all day up to 4 or 5 o'clock, and have then to rush off for a couple of hours to lectures, after which there is barely time left for a hasty meal and the necessary preparation for the lectures of the following day, little time and opportunity remain for social meetings and committees. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that at Auckland, with over ! ,000 students, " at the annual election of officers of the Students' Association only about 150 (15 per cent.) usually vote, whilst a general meeting seldom attracts more than 50 (5 per cent.)." Mr. H. McCormick, a representative of the students of Victoria University College, gave striking evidence in the same direction : " The very great majority of the students are working all day earning their living. The lectures are held at night. Students rush from their daily work, arrive at the University five or ten minutes at the most before their lectures commence ; and five minutes after their lectures cease they shake the dust of the University off their feet, rush to their separate and scattered homes or lodgings, where they devote a few more hours to ' study.' And the University does not see them again until five minutes before their next lecture commences. . . These students thus miss the real benefit which they might get from belonging to a university. Look at the ' Intellectual' Clubs of the college —the Debating Society, the Free Discussions Club, the Historical Society—the clubs whose real aim is to foster independent thought, to foster an interest in current affairs, in literature, and the things that really matter in a university training. The membership of these clubs is deplorably small. I should put the active membership of the largest of them at not more than twenty or twenty-five, and it is very largely the same small band that takes an active interest in all these societies and in college affairs generally. I should estimate that the number of students who take a real active interest in the University, in university problems, and in intellectual affairs, apart from their own special line of study, is certainly less than fifty. And the number of students attending the College is somewhere in the vicinity of eight hundred." No doubt, distinguished positions have been subsequently attained by men who studied for their degrees in this way. Exceptional men wilt come to the front under any system. But it would be contrary to common sense, as it is contrary to all the evidence, to suppose that a body of young men who come to their studies after a full day's work at some whole-time occupation can engage in them with the same freshness of mind and keenness of interest as they would if they were able to devote to them their undivided energies, free from all outside distractions. A student witness who was pleading in favour of retaining the eveningclass system tacitly admitted this by urging at the same time that the standard should be set by the whole-time and not by the part-time student. Such a solution, however, is based on the common misconception that the standard of work is maintained by the examination, whereas experience shows that the standard of the examination is in the long run set by the quality of the candidates entering for it. If the bulk of the students are working on the part-time system and only a small percentage are full-time students, it is inevitable that the former will set the standard. The evil effects of the part-time system are, indeed, open and palpable. It lowers the standard of the degree, tends to degrade the university teacher into a pass - degree coach, and reduces corporate student life to an anaemic shadow. Several witnesses have, however, defended it on the ground that it is necessary in a democratic country like New Zealand. They argue that if university education is to be accessible to all of proper intellectual calibre, irrespective of their private means, the poor student must be given the opportunity of paying his way through the University. They seem to forget that in other countries no less democratic than New Zealand and equally concerned with the problem of the poor student the part-time system is either non-existent or altogether subsidiary. Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Scotland, recognize that it must be possible for the poor student to pay his way through college by taking paid employment, but this is done not by carrying on the wage occupation day by day concurrently with the university study, but by putting the two classes of work

Quality of candidates inevitably affect-s standards of examination.

11l other countries students work during vacation in order to finance University courses,

E.—7 A.

20

Professional schools demand and secure full-time work;

Suggestion by a Students' Association.

State as employer should lead the way.

Opinions of external examiners.

into different parts of the year, keeping the university session exclusively for study and throwing the wage-earning into the vacations. In most cases witnesses, when pressed with this comparison, admitted that it was not so much positive inability tha£ kept students from pursuing whole-time study as unwillingness to face the gather more stringent conditions of living which such a course would involve. And this seems confirmed by the fact that the Special Schools insist on whole-time day-work, and have no shortage of students. If the New Zealand student can give whole-time study to the Medical, Dental, Engineering, or Home Science degree, it appears that the reason for his refusing it to the Arts degree course must be sought in the admission of the Rector of Canterbury College, Professor Chilton, that students think full-time study " worth while " for a special school which gives a valuable professional qualification, but do not think it worth while for an ordinary B.A. or B.Sc. degree. It is no doubt the more exacting conditions under which the work of the special schools is carried on that is in large measure responsible for the much higher regard in which they are held. A Special School whose degree involves four or five years of whole-time study and training naturally turns out a superior product to that which can be expected from the part-time Arts course. Ultimately it is the quality of the product that determines the reputation of the school. The higher estimation of the Special School was very evident all through the inquiry. It was not confined to any class of witness. Where not definitely expressed, it always seemed to be assumed, often unconsciously, that the Special School was the university school par excellence, in which the university spirit found its truest expression, and the possession of which gave the university college to which it belonged not merely an added sphere of usefulness, but higher rank as a university institution. The most helpful suggestion we received on this subject throughout the inquiry came from the President of the Students' Association at Auckland, and its value is enhanced by the fact that it represents the point of view of a body of students the great bulk of whom are working on the part-time system : — " With respect to the lack of full-time students, we feel that, while giving due credit to those who are studying and working at the same time, any system which encouraged students to give all their time to college work would be an improvement from the point of view of our college. This applies especially to the Arts students, who are numerically the strongest faculty. Science and Engineering students are almost necessarily full-timers : Law and Commerce require practical experience. "We should like to see inaugurated a scheme whereby a student could secure employment, preferably out-of-doors, at a good wage through the summer vacation. His savings would then carry him through part, at any rate, of the academic year. The Students' Association would readily assist the Council in organizing a scheme of this kind." We may add that a very large number of part-time students are teachers and public servants. If the recommendations we make elsewhere are adopted and students in the training colleges are given opportunities for full-time attendance in the university, the number of teachers taking evening classes should be greatly diminished. A recommendation is also made that selected public servants should be given opportunity to attend evening classes under better conditions than at present. We feel strongly that the Government and quasi-governmental bodies should set a good example in affording to their young employees adequate facilities to obtain university qualifications regarded as necessary or very desirable in their occupation. STANDARD AND SCOPE OF DEGREE EXAMINATIONS. The papers of candidates in degree examinations have hitherto been marked by distinguished scholars in Great Britain, who report to the University on the quality of the work sent in. From the reports on the Advanced and Honours papers for the degrees of M.A. and M.Sc. submitted in the years 1922-24 it appears that, so far as written external examination can test the quality of candidate's work, which, as has already been pointed out, it can do only partially, the standard of

21

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attainment in the various subjects of examination is in general on a level witli that in the universities of Great Britain, and that for the higher degrees research work of excellent quality has been sent in, such as would entitle those who had produced it to the award of similar distinctions in any British university. (It is interesting to note that one of the Examiners, whose report goes into considerable detail and evinces a specially sympathetic interest in the New Zealand University, states that his task was in several cases rendered unusually difficult by the fact that the regulations precluded him from consulting with the professors under whom the candidate had studied.) When, however, the scope of the examinations is considered, it seems impossible to maintain that the New Zealand initial degree in Arts or Science is up to the level of the corresponding British or Australian degree. In planning initial degree courses universities recognize first year's work is intended for the freshman straight from school, the second for the student who has had one year's experience of university study and is abie, therefore, to approach his work in a more competent way, and the third for the still more mature student of the final year. Hence, to ensure that there shall be provision for the expanding powers of the students, degree regulations usually prescribe that one subject at least must be studied continuously for three years. In the University of New Zealand it is possible for a student to take a degree entirely on work of first year's grade. The regulation runs as follows : " Every course for the degree shall consist of —(a) Four Bass subjects and two Advanced subjects, or (b) live Bass subjects and one Advanced subject, or (c) six Bass subjects/' (A Bass subject is pursued for one year only ; an Advanced subject for three years.) In the British Universities four first-year courses are generally regarded as a fair allowance for a full academic year. On this basis one and a half years womd be sufficient time for covering six such courses, and judging from the syllabuses given in the calendars of the Universities, it would appear that the amount of work required for a Bass subject in the New Zealand University is about equivalent to a one year's course in the same subject in a British or Australian university. If this be so, the third alternative would involve only about half the work required for the B.A. degree in England or Australia. But even assuming that the New Zealand Bass subject is somewnat more extensive, alternative (c) could hardly be held as equivalent to more than two-thirds of the work required for the B.A. degree elsewhere. It is to the credit of the New Zealand students that this " soft option " is selected only by about one in four of the students. Of the entrants for the linal section of the 15. A, degree (1921) the numbers taking these courses were respectively (a) 36 ; (b) 143 ; (c) 68. These alternatives, again, are in themselves very unequal in scope and character. Taking as the unit of study one subject pursued for a single year, alternative (a) contains eight units, (b) seven, and (c) six. It appears that (c) represents the original degree course, which by the abolition of compulsory subjects has been progressively weakened, and that (a) and (b) were subsequently introduced for the purpose of strengthening the degree, but that the authors of this reform were unable at the same time to secure the closing of the old avenue. We understand that the University has before it a proposal for the abolitionof (c), and we desire to express the strong opinion that this most necessary reform should not be delayed. But, apart from this, alternatives (a) and (6), though forming a great advance on (c), can hardly be placed on a level with the requirements of the universities already referred to. In Great Britain and Australia a minimum of nine units is required, giving a rate of three units per year : the two improved alternatives fall short of this standard by one and two units respectively. Again, from the study of the syllabuses it would appear that the New Zealand unit is not appreciably larger in scope or more difficult in character than the British or Australian. We would suggest that the requirements for this degree should be equalized and brought up to the British standard by the adoption of a nine-unit minimum; also that freedom of option in the selection of subjects should be curtailed, so far as may be necessary in order to secure a proper balance of study. To enable a comparison to be made, we furnish in the Appendix to this Beport an outline of the conditions prescribed for the B.A. degree in the Universities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide.

Degrees in Arts and in Science compared with British and Australian degrees.

Number who take easiest course.

Standard of Arts degree.

-8.~7a

22

The course for the B.Sc. degree corresponds closely in arrangement with that for the 8.A., except that the vicious principle of allowing the degree to be obtained without continuous study in any subject extending over three years is excluded, and that a working knowledge of a foreign language is required. The other alternatives, (a) and (b), are on the same lines as those for the 8.A., and open to the same criticism : (i) They are not themselves of equal extent, inasmuch as (a) contains eight units and (b) only seven ; (ii) they fall short of the requirements for similar degrees in Great Britain and Australia. We recommend that the nine-unit basis should be adopted as for the Arts degree, and that two Advanced courses should be obligatory. At the same time the B.Sc. degree examination suffers from a defect by which the B.A. examination is untouched. Being purely a written examination, it is unable to test adequately about half of the candidate's work, and that part which scientific opinion seems increasingly disposed to regard as the most important- — viz., the practical work in the laboratories. This defect can be removed only by giving the teacher, as we recommend elsewhere, an effective share in the examining of his own students, and by providing that a candidate's work in the laboratory throughout his whole course shall form an essential part of the examination. He unsatisfactory nature of the law examinations is set forth in the section on legal education in the University, in which the radically unsound condition of that branch is dealt with at some length. The examinations for the Medical and Engineering Schools are of a good standard, which has secured the recognition of the British Medical Council and the British Institute of Civil Engineers respectively, and given their graduates good professional status throughout the civilized world. In the Engineering School the papers are set and marked by external examiners in Great Britain. In the Medical School the teacher, together with an external examiner, sets and marks the papers of his own pupils. We recommend that this sound educational practice be introduced also into the examinations of the School of Engineering. UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN RELATION TO SECONDARY EDUCATION We are of opinion that universities have not sufficiently appreciated the fact that during the past thirty years a great change has been effected in the organization and method of secondary education. The work of secondary schools nowadays ought not to be concentrated almost entirely upon training pupils for admission to university courses, nor should the requirements of the university, some of which are merely survivals of tradition, condition the school courses arranged for the large majority of pupils who have 110 intention of becoming university students. How different the modern situation is from what it was even twenty-five years ago, may be illustrated from the example of New Zealand, which is in this regard typical of other countries. Before 1905 the number of pupils taking secondary courses was 5,200 for a population of 858,000; to-day, thanks to the liberal provision made for " free places," the number has increased to 19,800 out of a population of 1,316,000. Those who are responsible for secondary education will best secure a satisfactory result if they aim at providing a curriculum and an organization designed to give a broad general education, well balanced in its details, but not directed specially to qualifying for entrance to the university. 111 other words, secondary education should be regarded from the point of view of its own special problems, and not merely as a stage precedent to university training. Moreover, it is necessary in planning the education of certain groups of secondary-school pupils to provide for definite occupational needs, as, for example, the education of rural workers through well-developed courses in agriculture. Common courses in general education tend to divide off into specialized courses in the highest forms of the secondary school, and this is justified if the schools are to have that contact with life and reality which vitalizes teaching. Now, the fact is that in New Zealand the schools are, from a variety of causes, in the grip of the Matriculation Examination, for an ill-informed public opinion, nourished by the practice of external examinations in both university and schools, demands passes at this examination as an evidence of successful secondary educa-

►Science.

Law.

Medicine. Engineering.

Universities have not sufficiently appreciated the developments made in secondary education.

Secondary school curriculum should be adapted to school conditions.

Secondary education i domtoIted'by d Matriculation Examination.

23

E.—7A,

tion. The examination is wholly external to the schools. Secondary - school teachers, and even those controlling secondary-school organization, have no share in making the necessary arrangements for it ; nor is their counsel taken in framing the conditions of the examination. The examiners are not concerned in any way with the school records of candidates. They must judge them entirely by the work done in the examination-room. Such a system is not in accord with the best educational practice, and is unfair to the school, to the examinee, and to the examiner. How great a hold this examination has in the Dominion is evidenced by the fact that in 1924 no fewer than 4,982 candidates entered. It is certain that an exaggerated public esteem given to such an external test of the work of a school, together with the cumulative effect of such a system upon the ideals of the teaching staff, must produce in both teacher and student the attitude of mind which regards examination values as all-important in both teaching and learning. Naturally, therefore, progressive teachers chafe under the restrictions imposed, and clamour for the introduction of a system of accrediting so that they may be free to adapt their teaching to the necessities of their school and attest the qualifications of their pupils. In fairness to the university authorities it must be stated that the evil is not inherent in the Matriculation Examination as such, but in the popular demand which has resulted in the examination being used for a purpose for which it was not designed. But there is another aspect of the matter which demands serious consideration. New Zealand is a young and undeveloped country offering abundant opportunities for developmental work of the most varied character. It should be the part of the high schools to send out keen and capable students trained, so far as secondary education can train them, for occupations in which they can render the Dominion great service. But the fact is that under the influence of educational habit and of the exaggerated social esteem given to the Matriculation Examination the schools are responsible for diverting these bright pupils, by means of a bookish and unreal education, into occupations in which many are not needed and for which some are ill-adapted. Every one who is familiar with school-work will readily admit that the prescriptions for an examination which meets a popular demand do govern absolutely the course of study in the schools. It is true that from time to time the university authorities have included in the list of subjects examined, those newer studies regarded by the school authorities as necessary for a modern school curriculum, but while this makes the position more acceptable to the schools it complicates the issue for a sound matriculation test. The question is nearer solution if it is practicable to make one examination serve satisfactorily for both entrance to the university, and for a school leaving certificate. The experience of other countries shows that this is quite practicable, especially if the name " Matriculation Examination. "is not attached to the test. The object should be to devise a scheme of public examinations for secondary schools which shall allow of a large number of options, which shall satisfy the natural demand of the public and of students for a school leaving certificate, and shall at the same time under carefully considered restrictions serve as a qualification for entrance to the university. The different University Faculties usually demand evidence of proficiency in certain fundamental compulsory subjects as a preliminary to entrance, but in recent years, with the steady improvement of secondary education, these compulsory subjects have been steadily reduced in number. In this connection we quote with approval from the report of the Royal Commission on University Education in London : "We agree with the Consultative Committee in thinking ' that a good general education should be sufficient to secure admission to a university,' and, provided the spirit and methods of university studies are such as they ought to be, and furnish the student with a purpose and a responsibility in his work through the emphasis that they lay upon the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, we believe he may be entrusted to acquire the necessary acquaintance with those ancillary subjects requisite to the mastery of his main line of study which his school curriculum mav not have given him."*

This stresses examination values of subjects.

Bookish education promoted.

A school leaving certificate advocated.

Compulsory subjects in preliminary qualifications for entrance to special courses.

* London University Commission, 1913, sec. 92, p. 39.

E—7a,

An example in illustration of this may be given from tlie practice of some universities in no longer requiring for the preliminary examination qualifying for entrance to some of the science courses a school course in French or Geiman, and in providing, at a later stage, instruction designed to give the student a good reading knowledge of the language for a definite practical objective. We believe that this practice is a sound one. As far back as 1898 President Eliot reported to the Board of Overseers of Harvard University : " The ultimate principle on which Harvard College tends to act in the matter of admission requirements is this : The College inclines to count for admission any subject which is taught in the secondary school long enough and well enough to make the study of it a substantial part of a training appropriate to the child's capacity and degree of maturity. The future attitude of the College is likely to be, not continued insistence upon certain school studies as essential to preparation for college, but insistence that the gate to a university education shall not be closed to the candidate in consequence of bis omission, at school, of any particular studies, provided that his school course has been so composed as to afford him a sound training." The solution of the problem will come more readily if there is close co-operation between the university and the secondary-school authorities in the endeavour to find a way out, which will allow the schools to secure their objective while entrance to the university is carefully safeguarded. One of the difficulties of such a solution in New Zealand lies in the fact that the Matriculation Examination is taken too early, and that the standard is too low for its avowed purpose of university entrance. If the community could be trained to appreciate the fact that a full secondary-school course up to the age of eighteen years is the only satisfactory preparation for the university on the one hand, and on the other for many occupations requiring a good preliminary education, a much more satisfactory organization of the public examinations would be possible. This may, of course, raise other difficulties, and many secondary schools may find it impossible for the present to undertake the higher work. Here the opinion of the London University Commission may be again cited : "If the universities of the country were to agree to require the higher school examination as a condition of matriculation we have little doubt, with the experience of Scotland before r us, ! "that the schools would very soon reach the necessary standard." The evils of a low entrance qualification and an examination conducted with great publicity are well summed up in a recent bulletin of the Bureau of Education, Washington, " The Trend of College Entrance Bequirements" : " Attention is centred on study as something not particularly worth while in itself, but merely something with which to get something else. So the pupil learns to look upon his secondary education only as a means of entering college. When he gets into college he in turn looks upon college-work merely as a means of obtaining a college degree. The result is that he is inclined to seek both ends at the minimum of time and energy, and to the extent that he is not doing his best, to that extent he is being miseducated." We are of opinion that the interests of the schools, and incidentally of the university, demand a leaving-certificate and a matriculation qualification taken in two well-marked stages. The secondary school of to-day is usually organized on the basis of a broad cultural common course for all pupils up to the age of sixteen years at latest. Following this comes a period of two years' further study devoted to a much smaller number of subjects involving specialization. If, then, a system of school examinations provides for a test at about the age of sixteen years, it affords evidence of the successful completion of the first stage. As experience shows that a large number of secondary-school pupils leave the school at about this age in order to enter employment, the lower certificate is valuable for them. The first examination is taken in a comparatively large number of subjects, but in the second examination the number is restricted by the necessity of studying them at an advanced stage. Naturally those pupils who look forward to university entrance, and have now definitely chosen their objective, will select subjects necessary for the requirements of the course they propose to take.

Example from Harvard University.

University should demand preliminaryj education over full secondary course.

Evils of popular examination.

System of public examinations involving two tests at different stages recommended.

24

E. —7a.

Where, as in New Zealand, one examination only is held for matriculation, each student must necessarily be required to take only a comparatively few subjects, or, alternatively, the standard must be kept low. Jll a well-balanced curriculum of secondary education there are several subsidiary subjects which are very necessary in the earlier stage of the secondary school, but can be dropped after a couple of years' study of them. In New Zealand the curriculum of secondary schools which receive financial aid from the State must include provision for singing, drawing, physical exercises, manual work, and, in the case of girls, instruction in home science. If, however, a school is working under strong pressure to secure examination results, there must be a great temptation to concentrate during the whole course upon those subjects which will ultimately be taken at the public examination, and the " balance "of the curriculum therefore suffers. Schools which are closely supervised by the inspecting officers of education authorities may be kept up to the mark by this means, but the temptation will always exist, and though the subjects appear on the time-table, they may receive very perfunctory attention. The dual examination removes tins temptation, for the lower examination must be passed before the higher one may be attempted. Where a system of junior high schools exists, or where secondary education begins for all pupils at about the age of twelve years, the first examination may be taken at about the age of fifteen years. Such a system of school certificates would be appreciated by the general public, and would take the place of the present Matriculati n Examination Certificate. The certificates should be based upon generously planned school curricula, admitting of many options and thus suited to the occupational needs of different groups of pupils. At the same time it could be provided that in certain subjects or groups of subjects, both at the earlier and later stage, passes must be gained in order to qualify for matriculation. We feel assured that with the steady improvement in the quality of secondary education which would result from greater co-operation between the University and the Education Department in such matters as the better organization of the education and training of secondary teachers, and in the supervision of such special branches of school-work as the teaching of science, the day would not be far distant when, as is done in other countries, a school leaving certificate would be accepted with little or no restriction, as a satisfactory guarantee of fitness to enter upon degree courses. The permanent residuum which a boy takes from a good secondary school is to be looked for in certain intellectual and moral qualifications, the possession or absence of which makes or mars his university work. The university teachers are not concerned so much with what a freshman knows in certain subjects as whether, in addition to a sound general knowledge gained by a full course of secondary education, he has developed the j)ower to think clearly and express himself accurately, and whether he has been trained to work purposefully and diligently and to take pleasure in intellectual exercise. External examinations, fixed syllabuses, and indispensable preliminary subject requirements are founded upon distrust of teachers. It is well to remember that secondary teachers and administrators are to-day as never before, studying with vigour and. earnestness the problems which condition their work, and that recent years have seen a marked change of opinion in regard to the necessity for professional training. With every improvement in the quality of the teaching it will be found as practicable, as it is desirable, to free the schools and the teachers from many restrictions now imposed upon them, and to take without question the finished product of their work. University teachers rightly claim for themselves freedom from external control affecting their teaching. Other earnest and capable teachers may as rightly claim the same freedom. The matter resolves itself into the question, " What is the quality of your teachers ?" As to the propriety of raising the standard of university entrance requirement, as suggested above, and of lengthening the school course, we feel that no other alternative is possible if worthy standards of university work are to be secured. We have been impressed by the unanimity with which witnesses have condemned the present standard of the New Zealand Matriculation Examination. To allow a boy or girl to enter upon a university course at sixteen or seventeen years of age with the minimum entrance requirement is a very doubtful privilege. Before a

Advantages of two examination stages.

Greater freedom to adapt school curricula.

Not knowledge only, but mental and moral qualifications needed.

Training for secondary teachers now becoming the rule.

High standard of preliminary work and maturity of mind essential.

4—E. 7a,

25

E.—7 a

26

student can appreciate the free life of the university, as distinct from that of the school, and the responsibilities of the university class-room, he must possess a certain maturity of mind, intellectual independence, and developed self-control. Young, immature students, and students inadequately prepared, cannot enter properly into the true spirit of the university, which is a free community of teachers and students working in co-operation. Too often " they continue in a state of pupilage and receive instruction of much the same kind as at a school though under conditions of greater individual freedom." It is not asserted that such students, following with reprehensible docility the work of the lecturer, may not be able to pass external examinations and secure degrees ; but the degree alone should not be the real purpose of attendance at a university. The great aim of a university course should be the acquisition of a university education and all that it includes. The possession of a university degree may or may not be a guarantee of this. Any system of granting degrees upon external examinations alone rather accentuates the doubt. If it be agreed that the Matriculation Examination should be abolished and two public examinations be substituted therefor, the question arises whether the university, or the Education Department as representing secondary education in New Zealand, should be responsible for conducting them. It must be remembered that the interests of all the pupils in the secondary schools and not merely those looking forward to university courses are bound up in this question. There appears to be no necessary reason why the university alone -should be entrusted with the duty, and there certainly is 110 guarantee that the university teachers who may be expected to take part in the work are sufficiently acquainted with the special problems of secondary-school work. For secondary education has its own special problems, and these must be considered in any adequate scheme of public examinations. There are, however, many reasons why university men and the university organization should, in such a community as New Zealand, be actively associated, with the scheme. Nor should the Education Department alone undertake the duty of conducting it. The course which commends itself to us :'s for the University to take control of the new examinations, and to entrust the administration under the governing body of the University to a Secondary Schools Board, appointed under university statute. Upon such a Schools Board there should be strong representation of the whole of the secondary-school interest (both State-aided and private schools), and of the secondary-school administrative staff, as well as of the university teaching staff. Such a Board would come to its work with a real knowledge of secondary-school conditions and possibilities, and we should hear less often of " freak " examinations and of courses prescribed which are either too difficult or too easy for effective work. In our opinion the fundamental consideration in any system of public examinations for secondary schools should be the joint representation of university interests and of secondary-school interests upon the administrative body. Under such an organization the well-being of the schools and the well-being of the university are both kept in view to the advantage of each. The London Commission, 1911, dealing with the question whether the university should be responsible for school examinations, says, " In any circumstances, the influence of the university will ultimately be paramount in regu ating the standard of proficiency in special subjects to be required of students for admission to the degree courses in each Faculty, but the secondary schools are similarly entitled to arrange their curricula in the interests of all classes of their pupils, and the school examinations must be based on these curricula. The central education authority, on the other hand, is concerned to see that its grants to the schools and to the university are effectively used, and in the ultimate issue it is that authority which must provide for the co-ordination of secondary schools and universities, and must give the necessary assurance to the universities that the pupils seeking admission to their degree courses have reached the required standard of education."* This statement covers the ground very well, and, in our judgment, justifies our recommendation to create a Board representative of the three interests mentioned.

►Secondary School Board recommended

* London University Commission, sec. 93, p. 41,

27

E.~ -7A

Such a Schools Board has been operative within the Melbourne University since 1911, and similar Boards have been instituted in other Australian universities. Under the regulations of the Melbourne University,— " The Board shall consider all questions relating to school studies, the inspection and examination of schools and public examinations, and shall advise the Council upon all such questions. " The Board may consider questions relating to the conditions for matriculation and for admission to courses for degrees or diplomas, and shall transmit its recommendations under this section to the Professorial Board. " The Board shall prescribe annually all books and details of subjects for the public examinations, and shall transmit its resolutions under this section to the Council and to the Professorial Board. " The Board shall report to the Council on all applications for appointment as examiner in the public examinations. " The Board shall from time to time recommend for appointment by the Council the names of persons whom it considers suitable to act as Inspectors or Examiners of Schools, and from those so appointed the Board shall choose persons to conduct such inspections or examinations as it thinks fit. " The Board shall, subject to the Council, exercise a general control over the conduct of all public examinations and school inspections and examinations." It is further provided that there shall be a number of Standing Committees of the Schools Board, which shall deal with special subjects or groups of subjects : — " Each Committee shall consist of persons who may or may not be members of the Schools Board, chosen on account of expert knowledge in the particular branch of educational work." I'll esc Standing Committees, we are informed, have exercised an important and most beneficial influence in minimizing the difficulties incidental to an efficient system of external examinations as a test of school work. The duties of a Standing Committee are, — " (a.) To take into consideration early in the third term and report upon the courses of study for the school intermediate and leaving certificates, and upon the details of subjects for the public examinations of the next year but one. " (b.) To report annually to the Schools Board on the public examinations last held. The report should be made early in the first term, and should deal mainly with matters of general educational importance arising out of the examinations and with any special features or defects in curriculum, teaching, or examination that require attention. " (c.) Generally to advise the Schools Board, and to consider and report upon any matters referred to it by the Schools Board." The Schools Board has been an important factor in bringing about improvement in the courses of study followed in secondary schools in Victoria, and in the general organization of these schools. The Board has from time to time issued time-tables and syllabuses, but these are " neither prescriptive nor mandatory : they are suggestive only." But, after all, even with a representative Schools Board watching over the examinations, the evils of an external examination are in some subjects as evident in a secondary school as in a university. In this connection the report of the University Commission, South Africa, contains some excellent advice : "In many respects the influence of external examinations exercises a not less prejudicial effect on the methods of schools than on those of colleges. The work of both teachers and pupils appears to be better tested and controlled by judicious inspection than by uniform examinations conducted ab extra, sometimes by examiners with little practical experience of the conditions of such work. The function of the university is to maintain an adequate standard of admission, to satisfy itself that the students whom it admits shall be capable of profiting by its teaching. Should such a level

Example Of Melbourne University-.

External examinations have many defects.

E —7a,

be maintained we are inclined to agree with the view that ' when the universities are prepared to leave secondary education to the schools, the schools will rise to the standard which the universities demand.' "* Such an opinion may be regarded as favourable to a system of accrediting, but it is worth while to consider whether the examinations themselves cannot be improved still further by taking into account the school record of the candidate as attested by his headmaster. The school examinations conducted by the Scottish Education Department for the intermediate certificate and the school leaving certificate, the latter of which is the accepted qualification for entrance to the Scottish universities, are conducted under this method. Mr. M. P. Hansen, Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools, Victoria, states in his Report upon the leaving certificate of the Scottish Education Department, " There is a necessary, close, and continuous connection between the Scottish Leaving-certificate Examination and the curriculum and general work of the school at which the candidate has attended ; in fact, the passing of the actual examination, if that were possible, without satisfying the pre-entry conditions would give no claim whatsoever to the award of the certificate. 'No leavingcertificate will be issued except on satisfactory evidence of the successful completion of the course as a whole.' Throughout the details of every subject, and practically in each paragraph of the regulations governing the conduct of examinations and the issue of certificates, the central idea is the well-trained pupil who has pursued an approved curriculum at an approved school for at least a prescribed minimum period. The passing of the Leaving-certificate Examination is a test of knowledge and capacity —-■an incident in a school career rather than the final aim and consummation of all the school work. Consequently the presentation of isolated subjects is much discouraged, and, even where this is permitted, there is no relaxation of the official rule : ' Only those pupils will be admitted to the examination who have been in regular attendance at the school at which, or in connection with which, they are examined from January to the date of the examination, and no certificate will be awarded and 110 pass recognized in the case of any pupil who does not continue in attendance until, the beginning of the summer vacation.' " '' Every school is required to submit its course of instruction to the Department, and reference to the details of subjects, especially in history and geography, Spanish and Italian, Gaelic, drawing, domestic science, music, and commercial subjects, shows how firm is the official control in this respect. In science and drawing, music, and domestic science, 110 written examinations are held, and candidates are examined orally and practically by the inspectors at the schools. The whole school work and records of each candidate are taken into account before a pass is awarded. Even in the subjects of written examination it is provided that, ' To assist the Department in coming to a decision, the headmaster will be asked to record his deliberate judgment on the merits of each pupil's work as a whole, that judgment to be based on a careful collation of the opinions of the various teachers.' Pupils are examined at their own schools, though the teachers have nothing to do with the papers or conduct of examination. It will thus be seen that there is a very real and intimate relation between the examination and the work of the school." Naturally, there is an immense amount of detailed organization in carrying out so elaborate a scheme of examination for about eighteen thousand candidates. After explaining at length the arrangements for marking the papers, Mr. Hansen concludes, " I was greatly impressed with the thoroughness with which all the details of conducting this examination are carried out, and the way in which the standards are maintained. A purely external written examination is, apart altogether from hampering the freedom of a school in developing courses and methods, an uncertain measure of the actual attainment of pupils even in those subjects best adapted to this method of testing. When to it are added the teacher's judgment of a candidate's work in each subject, the checking of this judgment by qualified and experienced inspectors, and the testing by inspectors of subjects uusuited for written examination, a greatly improved method of measuring attainments is secured. I did not, however, find in Scotland any marked tendency at the leaving certificate stage to substitute the verdict of the responsible teachers

Proposals to make external examinations more effective.

Details of Scottish 1 saving certificate.

* Union of South Africa Royal Commission 011 University Education, 1914, p. 5, sec. 17.

28

15. —7 A®

entirely for that of the written papers. This, as I understand the -position, is the ultimate aim of the Department." Such a scheme as that outlined above, worked in conjunction with a Schools Board and a greatly enlarged system of inspection of secondary schools, would be a great step forward for New Zealand, and also a step along the road towards " accrediting " or the recognition of school certificates as a qualification for entrance to the university. The aim should be educational freedom exercised by scholarly and capable teachers working in co-operation with a highly trained and sympathetic body of inspectors. But it should be pointed out that men and women need training for the responsibilities of freedom. The evil effect of the imposed syllabus and the external examination is to be found in the inevitable debasing of the ideals of the rank and file of the teaching staff, and in the formation of false notions of the purpose of education in the minds of parents and school governors. A school system cannot pass from the tyranny of an external-examination system to one of certification by the school authorities without much, preliminary preparation. For an accrediting system the quality of the members of the staff must be of a high order. The courses of study must be skilfully drawn and as skilfully supervised, and there must be an insistence upon the successful completion of the course as a whole, thus involving attendance at a school for a definite number of years. These demands involve the establishment of an effective system of training secondary-school teachers, and the prohibition of the employment of teachers who are unqualified either in respect of scholarship or professional training. They further involve close and continuous inquiry by expert bodies into school curricula, and into methods of testing the results of education, so that teachers may be kept advised of the best opinion. And they involve such a change in the attitude of the public towards secondary education, as will recognize that the schools will not tolerate the present practice of allowing pupils to attempt in two years work which should rightly take three or four, and to take a " shot " at an examination for which they are inadequately prepared. In our judgment, a system of accrediting is the ideal to be aimed at in secondary education, but it should not be rashly adopted. 111-informed opinion often asserts that systems of accrediting are discredited in America, whereas the facts are that excellent results have been secured wherever the system has been adequately safeguarded and supervised, and where the schools and School Committees have been properly prepared for the responsibilities imposed upon them. The adverse opinion referred to is based upon accounts of years ago, when accrediting was introduced without the safeguards and previous preparation above recommended. A system of accrediting has been very cautiously and conservatively introduced in Victoria by the University of Melbourne. It is administered by a representative Schools Board appointed under regulations of the University. One of our witnesses, Professor I!. Lawson, Professor of Education in the University of Otago, stated, " The Schools Board system makes for improved standards because it gives leading teachers an official opportunity of discussion and recommendation with other teachers, professors, lecturers, and headmasters as well as departmental representatives. The system of Standing Committees (two of which I served on) makes in the same direction— better books, better methods, better standards. I may say it was not uncommon for a pupil who failed to be accredited in his school to pass the corresponding university examination a few weeks later. The higher standard of work demanded of pupils results largely from the higher nature of secondary inspection conducted under the Board. I was closely connected with secondary education in Victoria from 1899-] 923 and saw the improvement noted above, arising out of compulsory training of teachers. lam of opinion that a well-thought-out system of accrediting does not lower school standards—it raises them. Besides, it gives freedom of syllabus (within reasonable limit) to the schools accepting it." But it should be pointed out that the number of schools accredited in Victoria after years of the system is still small, and that the conditions to be complied with are many and difficult. Victoria has a developed system, of training secondary teachers, it has legislation which prohibits the employment of unqualified teachers in secondary schools, and it has a fairly complete staff of secondary-school inspectors. Nevertheless, the best opinion is in favour of developing the system slowly and of including only those schools which can satisfy severe tests.

Intermediate and leaving certificates a step towards *' c accrediting " system.

System of training secondary teachers necessary.

Accrediting demands adequate safeguards.

29

E.—7a

30

Recommendation for New Zealand.

The patli-of advance for New Zealand should, we consider, he the substitution for the Matriculation Examination of two school examinations taken at the school ages of about sixteen years and eighteen years respectively and held under the direction of a representative Secondary Schools Board appointed by the University. The examination and inspection methods of the Scottish Education Department should be adopted by co-operation with the New Zealand Education Department, through a numerically stronger staff of secondary inspectors than is at present employed. In this examination the record of the candidate as certified by his headmaster should be before the examiner. Both University and Education Department should insist that adequate time be given to the educational process, and that candidates should not be examined until they have successfully completed courses in the prescribed periods. We are of opinion that ten years of the operation of such a system of evaluating the work of secondary schools would produce a change of attitude towards examination and teaching in both teachers and public, and that it would be the best possible preparation for the introduction of an accrediting system. In support of our recommendations for the adoption of the Scottish system of examinations we cite the example of Harvard University, which in 1911 approved of an alternative method of testing entrance requirements in substitution for the usual type of examination in all subjects.* The plan is as follows : — Candidates for admission to Harvard College may apply for admission by the plan described above (the usual examinations in all subjects), or by the following alternative plan. This new plan does not take the place of the old plan ; it provides another method of admission for good scholars. To be admitted to Harvard College a candidate— (1.) Must present evidence of an approved school course satisfactorily completed ; and (2.) Must show in four examinations, as explained below, that his scholarship is of satisfactory quality. School Becord The candidate must present to the committee on admission evidence of his secondary-school work in the form of an official statement showing— (a.) The subjects studied by him and the ground covered : (b.) The amount of time devoted to each : (c.) The quality of his work in each subject. To be approved this statement must show - (a.) That the candidate's school course extended over four years . (b.) That his course has been concerned chiefly with languages, science, mathematics, and history, no one of which has been omitted. (c.) That two of the studies of his school programme have been pursued beyond their elementary stages —i.e., to the stage required by the present advanced examinations of Harvard College or the equivalent examinations of the College Entrance Examination Board. The Examinations. If the official detailed statement presented by the candidate shows that he has satisfactorily completed an approved secondary-school course, he may present himself for examination in four subjects, as follows : — (a.) English. (6.) Latin, or for candidates for the degree of 5.8., French or Germar. (c.) Mathematics, or physics, or chemistry. (d.) Any subject not already selected under (b) or (c) from the following list: Greek, history, chemistry, French, mathematics, physics, German These examinations must be taken at one time, either in June or in September. UNIVERSITY AND THE TECHNICAL SCHOOLS. In regard to the relation which should exist between the technical schools and the University, we desire to say that we have found the term " technical education " very loosely used in the Dominion. If the term is held to include artisan training in the various skilled trades, the preparation of stenographers and typists, the training of young girls in domestic duties and in home dressmaking, millinery, and the like, there can be little contact of such work with the University save in the training of some of the teachers employed. But there ought to be a definite field of teaching in the higher technical schools which approximates to, if it does not occasionally overlap, university teaching in the same subjects. In the teaching of engineering in a technical school, for example, mathematics, science, drawing, and

* "Trend of College Entrance Req uiiemen f-s," loc. cit.

31

E.—7a,

workshop practice up to the standard of the first two years of the university course may well be the rule in a well-staffed and well-equipped school. The technical high schools ought undoubtedly to be directed more definitely along the line of real technical work. At present they are not far removed in outlook and in syllabus from secondary schools of conventional type. Each technical high school should work in close connection with a technical college and courses should be provided in this college for diplomas in engineering and other skilled trades. There is an abundant field for this work which does not, trench upon university courses. It is essential that the technical college should offer the higher courses. For just as the research work and honours work in a university school affect the more elementary work, so the close contact with the higher technical work will give an orientation and an aim to both the technical high school and the technical college courses which they now greatly need. One hindrance, however, to the development of engineering trade courses in the technical colleges at Christchurch and Auckland is the competition of the departments of engineering within the university colleges. Professor Powell, giving evidence on behalf of the Engineering School at Christchurch, said, " The handicaps under which the School of Engineering suffers are large. Although the school is particularly well equipped with apparatus, this apparatus is continually in use for the ordinary teaching work of the establishment. Modern engineering research usually requires special apparatus of an expensive character, and New Zealand is geographically so far away from the centres of engineering activities that the time spent in ordering and procuring such apparatus is prohibitive. The staff is so fully occupied with instructional duties that no time is available ; even the vacations are largely taken up with routine work.'" Later, in answer to questions, he stated, " The eveningclasses, of course, are attended by local apprentices generally, and included in those are what we call the extra students —i.e., students who may possibly take day classes or evening classes, as the case may be, but who are not matriculated." It is difficult to understand why a University School of Engineering which is professedly suffering from overwork on the part of the staff, leading to the almost total abandonment of one very necessary function of the school, should continue to enrol non-matriculated students and give them instruction which should more properly be the concern of the technical school half a mile away. The total enrolment in the Engineering School at Christchurch is as follows : Day students, 115 ; evening students, 110. Of the latter only twenty-three have matriculated. We think that there are very good reasons why university colleges should cease to enrol non-matriculated students for engineering courses, which are only trade courses and not professional ones. If the time and energy of the teaching staff are diverted from necessary university work, that fact alone should justify the College authorities in handing over the classes to the Technical College. But the interests of the technical college and of the technical high school demand that they also should have a field for development in higher technical work. Engineering is the best subject for this purpose, for the term Engineering " comprises varied courses of training ranging from that required for the most highly skilled professional man to that required for the high-grade artisan. The Director of the Christchurch Technical College and Technical High School, when asked, "How can your institution, under present conditions, be anything else than a secondary school of a type very little different from the ordinary grammar school, but with associated trade classes in the evening ? " replied, " No, there is not much chance of its being anything else." A very valuable link between the technical college and the university should be effected through the institution of a representative Technical Schools Board to act with the advice of local and other special committees as a Board of Technical School Studies and Examinations. This proposal has been elaborated by one of your Commissioners (Mr. Tate) in a recent report furnished to the Minister of Education. We therefore consider it unnecessary to deal with the question further. Another matter requiring attention is the relation which should exist between the existing art school at Christchurch and the university and the technical college. Every technical college should have its department of applied art staffed by welltrained teachers. It was pointed out that no satisfactory training for expert art

Technical high schools should have a technical orientation.

University courses and technical-college courses overlapping.

University schools should keep to university work.

Necessity for training teachers of ipplied art.

E.—7 A

32

teachers can at present be obtained in New Zealand, and that the schools must rely upon engaging men who are trained in Great Britain or elsewhere. This must necessarily be unsatisfactory, for a junior staff of locally trained men and women will be found necessary, and it is bad administration to engage such a staff and retain them as non-promotable teachers. A really efficient institution for training senior teachers of applied art will require additional expenditure, but the technical schools cannot progress without such a provision. We are, however, of opinion that care should be taken to provide a course definitely directed to the production of skilled teachers of arts and crafts, and that little is to be gained from the proposal to add art subjects to the present B.A. degree course. Under present conditions the Christchurch School may be described in the words of the Principal as " rather a school of fine arts than a school of applied arts and crafts." What, is needed at present is capable teachers of art subjects for all types of schools, and especially trade and technical schools, and while it is agreed that some training in line arts is essential to their education, the application of art to life and to industry must be an ever-present objective. We are not sufficiently informed with respect to the development of art work in the different types of school in the Dominion, but there can be no doubt that art should have a prominent place in all courses of study. We would also point out that a School of Architecture is established in the University College at Auckland. While much of the training of the architect is to-day associated with the Engineering School, much must be associated with the work of a good art school. We are not aware whether the art and applied art subjects prescribed for the architectural courses are taken in the University College or in the art department of the Technical College or in a special Art School. We consider that a strong department of art should be the objective of every technical college, and that the students in the School of Architecture should receive training there under a proper system of co-operation between University and Technical College. THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS IN THE UNIVERSITY. One of the most interesting and profitable developments in university work during recent years has been the introduction of a system of training for teachers, and more especially for secondary teachers. Nearly all British universities have a School of Education or a Day Training College, offering courses of four years' duration to candidate teachers. In the Australian States the universities co-opeiate closely with the State teachers' colleges, and, as a rule, the Professor of Education is the head of the University School of Education, and is at the same time Principal of the Teachers' College. He is thus able to organize and direct the various types of training—primary, secondary, &c.—and to bring all of them into organic connection one with another. At the present stage of development of State education it is not practicable, even if it were desirable, to give all candidate teachers a full or even a partial university course together with a course of training in practical education. The best that can be done is to select groups of students for full or partial university courses, and the Australian organization allows this to be done easily and effectively. The regulations of the Education Department provide, as a rule, that while all students admitted to the Teachers' College must receive a minimum of, say, two years' training, selected groups may have their course extended to a third, a fourth, or even a fifth year. In this way it is possible to give the most advanced students a full university course for a Bachelor's degree in Arts or in Science, as well as a training in teaching, while other students who show promise in their college work may be given partial courses, which may be completed later as circumstances allow. Where, as in New South Wales and in Victoria, complete arrangements have been made for training secondary teachers, well-marked and necessary differences in the training of these teachers are provided, and both in the subjects taken for the degree course and in the type of training given, the future work of the student as an effective teacher in a special department of a secondary school— e.g., classics, modern languages, mathematics, science —is kept in mind. It is recognized that, while there is room in a secondary school for teachers of good.

University School of Architecture.

Teacher-training a feature of modern university.

Special department of Secondary Training.

33

E.—7 A,

average qualification in scholarship, there must also be a strong leaven of specialist teachers to compass the work of the highest forms, and so enable the secondary school to play its part as a sound foundation for university work. Accordingly, the students chosen for university courses are expected to secure a good degree and not merely a pass degree, and, moreover, they must take groups of subjects qualifying them for their future work. Naturally, it is wrong to expect teacher students to gain distinction in their university studies if they have to undertake heavy duties for the Teachers' College, and every effort is made during the years devoted to study for degree to free them from such duties and obligations. As a rule, any training in practical teaching taken concurrently with the degree course is given in the vacations, and the student is set free during university terms to devote his whole time to his culture stixdies. When the degree course is completed the year's course of professional training begins, and the student is required to give full and undivided attention to this. Any system which involves the carrying on of university study and professional training concurrently during a period only long enough to secure a degree is liable to many abuses and shortcomings. When the organization and supervision are so complete that professional training is not scamped or taken indifferently, the strain upon the student is such, that there is more than a likelihood that at the end of his course he has acquired neither adequate scholarship nor adequate professional training. The purpose of university training is to equip the young teacher so that he may teach in a thorough and stimulating way. He must know his subject in itself and in relation to others, and must be able to apply this knowledge to the facts of ordinary life. To realize these aims he must have leisure for related reading, for discussion, for browsing. The educational ideals of a teacher student so driven by multiplicity of duties and shortness of time, that he must inevitably think only of examination values in his studies, are being steadily sapped, and he is likely to become a mechanical, uninspiring teacher, efficient only for getting results under an examination-ridden system. The two desiderata, therefore, are ample time for the study of culture subjects and relegation of professional training almost wholly to a special period devoted entirely to it. The period of professional training is usually taken as a post-graduate course. It may be mentioned that the invariable practice in Great Britain is to concentrate upon professional training during the year following upon graduation, and that this plan has developed after a thorough experience of the defects of the concurrent method. We were interested to learn that in New Zealand no fewer than four Professors of Education have been appointed, one in each university college. There are also four training colleges, each offering courses of two years' duration and allowing selected students to attend university lectures. We were surprised, however, to find that two years was the limit of training, and that, while some of the students were able to take part of a degree course, none could complete a course unless they had qualified for part of it before they entered the college. We learned further that students of the training college attending lectures for degree courses were required to devote a very considerable part of their time to training-college activities, including attendance at lectures, teaching in the practice schools, &c. The fact that university courses are taken in the late afternoon and evening has been favourable to the development of the custom above described, but we cannot too strongly urge that not only is it unfair to the student teacher, but it inevitably tends to defeat the aim of a true system of teacher-training, the production of capable and inspiring teachers. | Moreover, as the group of training-college students attending university courses is a large one —viz., 564 for the four University centres — we would urge that any change in the direction of allowing students to devote full time to these courses, would have a very important bearing upon the question of improving the standards of university life and education by increasing the number of full-time students. The Education Department and the School Boards may confidently be expected to do all in their power to aid in securing this desirable result.

University study and professional training not concurrent.

Over-pressure on teacher students.

Period of training too short to allow of highest results.

5— E. 7A.

E.—7A,

34

University schools of education not yet satisfactorily organized.

The evidence showed clearly that the position of the Professors of Education in relation to the national scheme of training teachers is unsatisfactory. It is unfortunate that Chairs of Education were established, and professors appointed, without a clear definition of the relationship which should exist between the professor and the local training college. So far as we could judge, any connections he may have made with the college, or any facilities which he may have secured for entrance to the practice schools, are dependent upon the good will of the college authorities, and at any time he may be deprived of them. We were impressed by the fact that representatives of the Education Boards, the authority governing the colleges and employing the students trained therein, were by no means hospitable to the idea that directive power over the training system should be given to the professor. This attitude is, perhaps, natural, for the Boards are concerned with the supply of a sufficient number of practical teachers efficient for the jobs awaiting them in the primary schools, and it is by no means certain in the present state of pre-college education, that university classes afford the most suitable training for the great majority of training-college students. The training colleges can in a two-years' course provide for such students a very efficient preparation for the work of a primary teacher, " based upon subjectmethod rather than upon philosophic theory," and, moreover, they can give the young students such an insight into the content and significance of the course of study for elementary schools, and such practical guidance in problems of organization, that they are able to do effective work from the time they leave the training college. Members of Education Boards and of the staffs of the training colleges expressed the opinion that there was a danger lest the sound, practical preparation, now the rule, should be lost in the endeavour to bring all teachers under the influence of one whose main concern appeared to them to be educational theory studied along the lines of its historical development and philosophy. We are, however, convinced that the practice of combining in one person the positions of Professor of Education and Principal of the Teachers' College followed in Australia is the most suitable form of organization for New Zealand. As Principal, the professor should be assisted by senior officers taking charge of sections of the college-work —e.g., Vice-Principal (primary), Vice-Principal (secondary), VicePrincipal (infant-school), Vice-Principal (rural school). Such an organization, associated with a longer period of training for selected teachers than the New Zealand regulations now provide, would allow many necessary variations of training to be secured and would produce for the employing authority the types of trained teachers the service requires. We offer no opinion as to the method by which the change we advocate is to be brought about. It is regrettable that professors were, apparently, appointed before a full scheme of training was thought out. It is, of course, conceivable that a man may be appointed to a University Chair in Education by the governing body of a university because he gives proof of the possession of a scholarly knowledge of the philosophy of education, and yet he may be quite unsuitable to direct the practical affairs of a training college. This latter qualification cannot be overlooked by the authorities who employ teachers, since they must be assured of the worth of the training of the young teachers whom they are to employ. It is this consideration which justifies the Australian practice of making all appointments to senior positions in the university department of teacher training on the recommendation of a joint committee representing the University and the Education Department. The position calls for close co-operation between the university and education authorities. The common practice in Great Britain is to have two kinds of training colleges —the older type of residential training college, generally unconnected with a university and offering only a two-years course, and the University Day Training College, offering a four-years course for both primary and secondary teachers. In New Zealand each of the four training colleges is in close proximity to the local university college, and the practice of sending students to the University for instruction is general. During the present year 564 student teachers were attending university classes. Naturally, therefore, conditions are favourable for the organization of teacher-training by full co-operation between the university and the training

Training courses of short duration advooated.

The Professor of Education should also be Principal of the Training College.

Close co-operation between university and training colleges essential.

E.—7a,

35

college, if only difficulties as to the duties, responsibilities, and relative seniority of principals and professors can be adjusted satisfactorily. It is, of .course, assumed that the men already appointed to be Professors of Education are such as would have been appointed by a joint committee representing the university and the education authorities. If they are not, and if it is considered that they are not suitable for taking the general direction of the scheme of teacher-training, the position should be faced and changes should be made. No responsibility should be shirked in providing the most effective scheme of training, since the efficiency of the whole educational scheme rests upon the ability and enthusiasm of the teachers. The standard of work of the teachers determines the height to which any scheme of public education can rise. We desire especially to direct attention to the necessity for establishing a definite system of training for secondary teachers. We have learned that the sources of supply of secondary teachers in the Dominion are mainly (1) trained primary teachers who are graduates or have passed partially through a university course, (2) graduates who have taken a course of training, and (3) graduates who have not undergone any professional training. The first desideratum for a secondary teacher is that he shall have a thorough knowledge of his subject or subjects as attested by a good degree. It is not enough that he has graduated B.A. ; the quality of his degree is an important matter. Unfortunately, the conditions for this degree in New Zealand are, we think, far too liberal, and it is possible for a man to have a B.A. degree and yet possess small qualification in point of knowledge for effective work in a secondary school. For it must be remembered that to-day an Arts degree is not ordinarily an end in itself or a preliminary qualification for a degree in some professional subject. It is itself part of a professional training—that of the teacher. The New Zealand University degree in Arts contains a much greater number of subjects than the similar courses in Australian universities, and, further, it admits of many options and has comparatively few compulsory subjects or groups of subjects. Several of the subjects included in the Arts course cannot conceivably be of the same use to teachers as an advanced knowledge of the subjects of the school curriculum would be. Under a training system which does not free the candidate teacher from professional studies while he is taking his Arts or Science course, it is natural to expect that he will take as many subjects as possible at the lower stage, and be on the lookout for " soft options." As a rule, his degree course must be completed after leaving the training college, either as an " exempted student " not attending university classes, or as an " evening student" attending after a full day's work. Such arrangements tend inevitably to a low standard of degree. We learn that while, as might be expected, headmasters of secondary schools regard the trained primary teacher who has graduated as at first the more capable, they yet feel that the teacher who has graduated as a full-time university student, and later has taken a course of training, or has come to the school untrained, ultimately develops, by reason of his better scholarship, into the more effective teacher for the higher forms of the school. We cannot emphasize too strongly the necessity for advanced scholarship as a qualification for a secondary teacher. The evidence in favour of raising the standard of matriculation and of lengthening the course of secondary education was overwhelming. It must be remembered, however, that all such advances are conditional upon the quality of the teaching staff. A properly organized system of training for secondary teaching is essential if adequate scholarship is to be guaranteed. Experience in all countries where secondary training is carried out is in favour of a course of at least four years — three years of university study for a degree almost entirely unhampered by other obligations and a post-graduate year of special training. Here it 'may be mentioned, that if the quality of university teaching were what it should be, a student might at the end of his course need comparatively little training in the method of his subject. First-rate teaching within the university contributes, over and above academic values, a distinct professional quality, and no training in method under a professor of method can equal participation in classwork under a master of his subject who is at the same time an inspiring teacher.

A system of training secondary teachers needed in New Zealand.

Arts degree not necessarily good qualification for secondary teacher.

Raising of standards conditional upon quality of teaching staff.

" Method " better learned from good teacher.

E.—7A,

36

It is not enough merely to arrange for facilities for university study. If the community agrees to finance a costly system of training for four years it must have some guarantee that at the end of this period it will have the kind of teacher the necessities of the schools demand. A strict limitation of the right of choice of subjects is therefore necessary. On entrance to the college students should be carefully classified, and after full consideration of their qualifications, aptitudes, and interests, they should be advised as to the groups of subjects in which they should take advanced courses. There should also be provision for taking into the postgraduate year of professional training suitable graduates, who are not students of the training college, but who have elected to become teachers and whose subjects qualify them for work in a secondary school. In all countries where secondary education fulfils its proper function, and where it efficiently supports university education, boys and girls remain in the secondary school for the full course, which ends at about the age of eighteen. To provide such pupils with profitable work a staff of specialist teachers is necessary. These specialist teachers should be provided by a proper system of secondary training reinforced from time to time by " refresher courses." If, further, the system of public examinations of secondary schools involves, as it ought, the inclusion of leading secondary teachers upon the Board which deals with curricula, examinations, and inspection, another vitalizing influence will be brought to bear upon the secondary-school staffs. Next, as to the course of professional training. We find that the opinion is fairly general in New Zealand that no essential difference in training is necessary for secondary teachers, as distinct from primary teachers. We cannot subscribe to this opinion. Part of the training of secondary teachers, including teaching practice, can undoubtedly be taken with advantage along with that of primary teachers. But there are problems of the secondary school with which primary teachers are not concerned, and there is a method, an organization, and a life of the secondary school which is essentially different from that of the primary school. This truth is more apparent if, as we should, we confine the term " primary school " to schools attended by pupils of ages below twelve years. But it is in the wide domain of method wherein marked differences occur, and it is in this domain that special training is undoubtedly required. Methods of teaching young adolescents who are entering into the freedom and responsibilities of adult life are necessarily different from those adapted to children in the primary school. The problems of secondary education have not in the past received anything like the attention which has been given to those of primary education. For fifty years and more, training systems for primary teachers have been general, but secondary training is of much more recent growth. Capable lecturers in the method of secondary school subjects are not easy to find. They must have an advanced knowledge of the subjects they profess and be expert in teaching them ; they must have a wide knowledge of the principles of education, and a wide experience of the organization and life of the secondary school; and they must, in addition, be men and women with an inspiring personality. Little value is to be given to the claims of the " educationalist " " who discusses what he is pleased to call the pedagogy of a subject of which he knows little." In addition to a staff of lecturers in method a good secondary training-system must have a well-equipped secondary school for student practice. This involves a special staff of well-trained class teachers expert in their work and willing to do their best for the student teachers detailed for practice in the school by giving demonstration lessons for them or by supervising their practice. By reason of the large staff of specialists required it would seem best, therefore, to concentrate upon the training of secondary teachers at one university college for the present at least. It would certainly be better for secondary education in the Dominion that a well-equipped and staffed secondary training-system should be developed in alliance with the training college and university in one centre than that there should be a poorly equipped and staffed branch in each of the four colleges. So much depends upon the efficiency of secondary education and upon developing its higher reaches, that nothing short of the best possible should be attempted.

College students should be advised as to studies.

Specialist teachers necessary for pupils of seventeen or eighteen years of age.

Essential differences between training of secondary and of primary teachers.

Problems of secondary education now being studied closely.

A special secondary " practice school" necessary.

37

B.—7a,

In a very real sense the efficiency of the secondary schools reacts upon both primary and university education. Under present-day conditions all of the recruits to the teaching service come from the secondary schools. If those who are to teach in primary schools have had a full secondary course (and not, as at present, a partial one) under capable and inspiring teachers, the Training College and the University can make much more of them than they do now. And, if the University is to raise its standard without prolonging its courses still further, it must be able to build upon a sure foundation of sound secondary training. It is a reproach to the secondary schools that in some subjects which receive great attention in secondary schools, as, for example, the science subjects, many university teachers assert that they must begin their work de novo. In a well-ordered system each grade of education —primary, secondary, and university—should be properly related, and there should be no need to repeat work which should already have been completed at an earlier stage. The first step towards the accomplishment of this desirable end is a better education and training for the secondary teacher. The proposal to extend the training of secondary teachers and of some primary teachers to four years will probably be objected to on the grounds that already the cost of training is very great. But it is open to serious question whether this expenditure is in the right direction. The cost of the training of teachers during 1924 was no less a sum than £167,814. Of this amount £133,578 was incurred in respect of allowances to students, while only £34,236 was spent upon their instruction. We are aware that the allowances to students were increased in order to attract recruits for the service, and to cope with the competition of the Public Service for young students, but we are not convinced that it is good policy to pay such liberal allowances, if, by doing so, the period of training for special courses is kept at too short a period, and if money is not forthcoming to provide the most efficient conditions for training. We have one suggestion to offer in respect of the present twoyear period of training. Under present conditions many students enter the college without having secured a full secondary education. Accordingly, the Training College endeavours to supply this deficiency, and assumes, in addition to its function as a professional school, the function of a high school. Now, if it were proposed to give to pupils at a high school allowances ranging from £80 to £115 per annum, there would be a public protest. Would it not be desirable to insist upon a full high school course before entrance to the training college, with the object of shortening the course for many students ? These students will be quite efficient for all practical purposes, if after a really good, secondary education, they are well grounded in the leading principles of education, and in the method of the subjects of the primary school. There are in the school service hundreds of girls who in the nature of things will not remain in the service for more than five to ten years. Experience has shown that such girls can be made very effective teachers by the course above described. If the period of training for such teachers is shortened there will be less difficulty in providing for a great extension of the training of others. On the question of liberal allowances to student teachers our views have had a remarkable reinforcement in the Report of the Departmental Committee on the Training of Teachers for Public Elementary Schools, just published, April, 1925. " The evidence which we have heard, and more particularly the evidence from witnesses representing organizations of teachers, has urged upon us that the only sound principle for securing an adequate supply is the principle which relies upon the attractions of the profession itself. They urge that this is the natural principle, common to the professions generally, and that it takes account of the importance of giving free play to the factor of personal inclination ; that methods based on any other principle are artificial, and must lead, as they contend, to the presence in schools of teachers who find themselves unsuited for the work and discontented with it, who are there not because they were attracted to it as a calling, or chose it deliberately for what it offered, but because as boys and girls the way into teaching was made for them and their parents a far more open path to a livelihood than the way leading anywhere else. They suggest, too, that this highway makes a peculiar appeal to the less vigorous and enterprising spirits. The witnesses who have urged these views point out that in elementary school teaching interest and conviction are essential, and that the teacher's character and personality are continuously exercising profound and largely unconscious effects. Men and women, therefore, whose temperament is unsuitable, and who are out of tune with their environment, must be very undesirable teachers. It is also suggested that a calling to which admission is made easy by

Reaction of secondary education upon primary and university education.

Cost of Training Colleges.

Allowances to students discussed.

English opinion on the subject of allowances.

E.—7 a,

38

a system of State grants, and where the supply of entrants is secured mainly by this means, will thereby lose prestige and standing in public opinion, as compared with other callings, and that its power of attracting recruits will be diminished accordingly. Shortly put, they contend that methods of securing a supply which rely on anything but the inducements which the profession offers must be bad for individual teachers, for the standing and spirit of the profession, for the schools, and for the supply of teachers itself. " They mean by the attractions of the profession partly those inherent in the teacher's work, and partly those resulting from satisfactory conditions. They suggest that the desire to teach exists in many people, men as well as women, and that the capacity to develop into an efficient teacher is not so rare as to constitute any difficulty in securing an ample supply, provided that the conditions of teaching are satisfactory. These conditions include reasonable salaries, regulated on a basis assuring a full measure of stability and certainty, reasonable pension arrangements making adequate provision for disability and retirement, satisfactory conditions of work as regards, for instance, school accommodation and amenities, freedom from minute administrative control, and a more general recognition in public opinion of the value of the work which teachers do. " Such a principle fully carried out right through the system means, as its advocates contemplate, that there should be no provision of assistance to boys or girls, and young men or women, in consideration specifically of an intention to take up teaching, as distinct from any other vocation. They do not, of course, imply that the education, or, indeed, the professional training, of intending teachers should cease to be subsidized from the rates and taxes : what they urge is that the general system of aid through grants, the remission of fees, and maintenance allowances, ought to be such as to cover the needs of intending teachers along with the needs of all other young people who are being educated whatever their aim in life, and that special assistance in respect of this particular aim ought to be merged in the general provision available for all. Up to the point at which professional training began, no one intending to become a teacher would be under any requirement of declaring it, and no one would be in a position to obtain educational facilities better or more cheaply than others because he declared this intention. " The shortened course we suggest has the strong recommendation of an admirable minority report, which states, in justification of a one-year course based upon a full secondary course : " The plan we propose would certainly reduce the present heavy expenditure which goes to provide subsidized educational and professional training for women teachers who by reason of early marriage are prevented from giving service in the schools commensurate with the cost of their specialized training." Before leaving the question of teacher - training we should point out that in the report above quoted there is a strong advocacy for supplementary courses of training for teachers actively engaged in their profession. We quote from the report as follows : — Supplementary Courses for Teachers. "When a teacher has completed his course of training, and his year of practice, and has been definitely recognized as a certificated teacher, he then has before him the prospect of about forty years of teaching. We have now to consider the means by which, during this period of service, teachers may be provided with facilities for helping them to maintain and supplement their interest and efficiency. That the provision of such means is in the highest degree desirable, if not an absolute necessity, has been the unanimous opinion of all our witnesses who have considered the point. " There appear to be two main aspects from which the need of such means can be regarded. "No professional man," we were reminded, " can afford to be ignorant of the advances which are made in his own profession. For the teacher it is specially important that he should be familiar with the latest improvements in technique, and with those additions to knowledge which are constantly being made in the subjects which he has to teach." He must keep abreast of the developments of educational thought in their relation to his own work, and he must keep up, and if possible make progress, in his own subjects. " The second aspect, and perhaps the more important, is the general effect of such means of further education upon the teacher's mind and outlook. It is one of the first essentials of good teaching that it should come with freshness and vigour, yet the tendency of school teaching, year in year out, is to dull the teacher with its monotony and to narrow his interests to the ordinary school round. Most ways of life have their sameness, but there are perhaps few professions which make a more continuous tax upon the same powers, or where the natural effect of monotony is more inimical to good work. Thirty or forty years in the class-room teaching a succession of boys and girls, known only for a year or two, individually different, but hardly different in the mass, and learning the same things, is a prospect calculated at times of depression to dash even enthusiastic spirits, irrespective of difficult and sometimes worse than difficult conditions. Yet if the teaching is to be good it must proceed from minds actively interested, and continuously capable of seeing things in their right proportions. The mental tonic of knowing that, apart from the ordinary holidays, there is provision for some break in the monotony, which is not merely a break but also a means to better professional equipment, must clearly be a powerful effect, only second to the effect of such breaks themselves." Now, in many universities vacation courses largely attended by teachers, among others, have become a feature of the university work, and they are capable of

Shorter course of training approved.

Supplementary courses of training advocated.

E.—7 A

affording much help and stimulus. In Melbourne University excellent work has been accomplished during the past two years by these vacation schools. The report goes on :— " Holiday courses are very popular, but we do not think that supplementary courses should be confined to them. Change in one sense is rest, and to change from teaching to being taught is mentally refreshing ; but too much course and too little holiday is not good for bodily health. We look rather to an extension of existing facilities through the organization of supplementary courses, held not during the holidays but during the term. " It has been suggested to us that in courses of this kind " lie perhaps some of the brightest prospects for the increased effectiveness of the profession," and we are inclined to agree with this opinion." In this connection we would point out that the Education Department of Victoria has, for the past twenty years, been able to carry out a system of supplementary training for specially selected teachers. The Director of Education was given by the regulations of the University of Melbourne the privilege of nominating each year a number of teachers for the course for the Diploma of Education. Sixty teachers are so nominated after careful selection by a committee which has access to the departmental records of the applicants. The teachers selected are given full pay during their course, but are required to perform a certain minimum of teaching in schools contiguous to the University. Or they may be wholly set free from teaching-work if willing to accept half-pay. The privilege is greatly valued by teachers, and excellent results have accrued from the system. Having regard to the considerations above outlined, we recommend, — (1.) That the relationship of the Professors of Education to the Training Colleges and to the system of training of teachers be defined. (2.) That the regulations for Training Colleges be revised so as to provide — {a.) A higher standard of entrance qualification embracing a full secondary school course. (b.) One year's course of professional training. (c.) Provision for an extension of the course to two, three, or even four years in the case of specially selected students. (d.) Students selected under (c) above to be allowed to take up university or other courses and to give full-time study to such courses. (3.) That a system of training for secondary teachers be introduced in one university centre properly staffed and equipped, and provided with a secondary Practice School, also properly staffed and equipped. That such professional training be taken for one year as a postgraduate course, and that any of the training colleges or university colleges be available for students during their undergraduate period and for such professional training as may be undertaken in vacations during that period. (4.) That careful supervision over student teachers be exercised so that the subjects chosen by them during their university courses may be those necessary for effective service in secondary schools. (5.) That vacation courses be organized at the university colleges for the benefit of teachers and others. (6.) That a system of supplementary training for teachers be developed. UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE. Nothing illustrates better the difficulties incidental to the building-up of a sound scheme of higher education in a country with the geographical configuration and the distribution of population of New Zealand than the present position with regard to agriculture in the University. The prosperity of the Dominion rests upon its rural industries, and with the classical example of their great rival, Denmark, before them one would have expected the New Zealanders to have imitated Denmark in making the scientific education of the staff and intelligence officers of the agricultural army a most important branch of i niversity work. In Denmark during the past fifty years there has been a remarkably close alliance between the trained men of science and the great producing interest on which the national

University courses for experienced teachers.

Recommendations.

Agricultural progress requires expert scientific leadership.

39

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40

prosperity depends. The names of Fjord and Segelcke, among many others, are held in great honour among the Danes, for these men did notable pioneer work in bringing scientific methods into the daily routine of the farm and butter factory. The confidence of the farmers once won has never been lost, and to-day the co-operation between University and farm is loyal and complete. It is worthy of note, however, that Denmark was satisfied with no makeshift arrangements for the training of agricultural leaders and teachers. The Royal College or Institute of Agriculture and Veterinary Science at Copenhagen, although not a part of the University, is of university standing. It is splendidly housed, and has a staff of some forty professors, many of them—e.g., Westerman and Bang —of world-wide reputation. It offers advanced courses in the various branches of agriculture, and in veterinary science, in forestry, or other allied branches of rural industry, to students who have had a full course of secondary education, and who, in addition, have had two years' practical experience on a farm. The Institute supplies the directive power behind all the agricultural activity of Denmark. It controls the arrangements, carried on at selected farms, for making economic experiments in dairying, and in the feeding and breeding of animals. It makes continuous tests of butter manufactured for export. It distributes sera and vaccines necessary for combating disease in domestic animals. It is in organic touch with the Government experts in agricultural economics. Its graduates go forth as teachers, as research station officers, as counsellors employed by the farmers' associations and co-operative societies. So great is the appreciation of the work of the scientific agriculturalist that over one hundred counsellors are employed as advisers throughout the country. It is undoubted that the greatest factor in Danish success in dairying and marketing has been skilled leadership and guidance. The country has prospered not so much because' the average rural worker has been reasonably well educated, but because he has been well led and advised by men whose scientific training was the best that could be given. The Danes have realized fully that the rank and file of agriculturalists should have a good elementary education. They have made a wonderful success of their system of adult education, under which farm youths of from eighteen to twenty-five years of age attend the People's High Schools, and thereafter the People's Agricultural Schools during the five winter months, while farm girls attend the same schools during the three summer months. In this way they secure a good average of general education. But it is to trained scientific leadership that they really owe their success, and in leadership the second best cannot be tolerated. The sustained enthusiasm and the great expenditures which have been necessary to build up such an efficient school as the Royal College of Agriculture at Copenhagen have been amply justified by the great increase in national production. The history of this school illustrates the wisdom of concentrating upon one first-class institution capable of turning out first-class graduates. How has New Zealand faced the same problem ? It has endeavoured to create a degree course in agriculture by an alliance between Lincoln Agricultural College — a school designed primarily to train practical farmers —and the neighbouring University College at Christchurch. No professor is, however, at the head of the agricultural school, and, so far as we can learn, the science subjects taken at the University Colleges are not treated from the point of view of the needs of agricultural students. No special arrangements have been made for the agricultural students during their year at the University College. They attend classes in science subjects originally planned for students of pure science, or of medicine, or of home science. Naturally, therefore, the subjects are not treated from the point of view of the agriculturalist. While we agree that a wide knowledge of science is invaluable, and that a student who learns the truths of foundation sciences, such as physics, chemistry, and biology from an inspiring teacher has gained a great • asset, we believe that teaching and learning gain wonderfully in reality and interest, if the matter of the teaching is related to the practical concerns of the student's future vocation. Nothing is more evident in studying the product of schools and universities than the existence of a great gap between the knowledge of a subject and the power to apply this knowledge in practical affairs. . This is true of students

How Denmark trains scientific agriculturists.

Denmark owes most to skilled leadership.

New Zealand has no efficient university course in agriculture.

E.—7 a.

of literature, of history, and of philosophy, and it is equally true of students of science. A good teacher finds that the greatest stimulus he can give comes from relating new truths to old truths and to practical life. No one who reads the details of the science subjects prescribed for the first year of the course for the degree of Bachelor of Agriculture would, we feel convinced, regard them as a really good introduction to agricultural study. If they were treated as pure science, there would be less objection than there is at present. The whole arrangement is a makeshift, and is quite insufficient to provide the quality of agricultural leadership the Dominion requires. The university year is followed by two years of study and practice at Lincoln College. As the amount of practical farm work is apparently considerable, there must inevitably be a lessening of the time devoted to teaching and study. The time devoted to the degree course —three years —is in itself too short, and the emphasis laid upon farm work increases this shortage. Moreover, the great majority of students at Lincoln College are non-matriculated and are taking the lower course designed for practical farmers. If the teachers necessarily take both groups of students for common lectures and laboratory work, it is certain that the work must be kept at a much lower standard than degree students require. Or, alternatively, there must be a great strain on teachers and degree students in providing and receiving special tuition outside the ordinary time-table. The course at Lincoln College is by no means adequate for a, good degree course. Certainly the economics of agriculture should receive much more time and attention. If one fact stands out above another in the progress of Danish agriculture it is that every question involving changes in methods of production and of marketing has been considered in its economic aspect. A Danish " counsellor " in the employ of an association of farmers does not merely inquire into and advise as to an improved balanced ration designed to produce a greater amount of butterfat, but he goes minutely into costs and returns. The confidence of farmers will never be gained and kept until this is done by his advisers, for the farmer's problem is not merely to produce in quantity, but to produce with a satisfactory margin of profit. Since February of this year a School of Agriculture, so-called, has been established at Victoria College, Wellington The following evidence was given to the Commission by Professor C. F. Peren, Professor of Agriculture:— " The School opened at the beginning of the present academic year with twelve students. The permanent staff consists solely of myself, but lectures are also being given by three members of the Biological Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture. At present we have neither lecture rooms nor laboratories, such accommodation being lent to us when not required for its normal uses. We have neither land nor live stock, and must surely constitute one of the most extraordinary Schools of Agriculture which ever accepted students. During the present year we are confining our work to those subjects which can best be taken under the present conditions, but next year the situation will be extremely serious unless we are provided with proper facilities. There are, however, only eight months before the next academic year begins, and, therefore, unless- action is taken almost immediately there will not be sufficient time to make proper provision, as buildings cannot be erected and laboratories equipped in a day. jjs H* " I submit that the folly of this weakness in the system of education of an agricultural country should be strongly emphasized, and that agricultural science should be presented to those in higher quarters as a very valuable combination of science and practice, not merely as a hobby for scientists." The Commission learns that the establishment of a Chair of Agriculture at Victoria College was not part of a well-considered scheme of agricultural education adopted by the Dominion Government, but was the result of a gift to the College of £10,000. This sum, supplemented by a subsidy from the Government, is just sufficient to provide the salary of one professor. We learn further that the Auckland University College is also the recipient of a bequest of £20,000 to enable a School of Agriculture to be established in that city, and that a professor has recently been

Defects in degree course in agriculture.

Economics of agriculture should be stressed.

School of Agriculture begun at Victoria College.

Two new Schools of Agriculture begun without adequate financial support.

6 —E. 7a.

41

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42

selected. Tn this case also the amount is not adequate for the development of the school on satisfactory lines. Accordingly, if the present arrangements are maintained, New Zealand is committed to the maintenance of three agricultural schools within the University, not one of which can continue efficiently without a considerable increase in the national expenditure. The question which the Government of New Zealand must decide, and at once, is whether the example of countries which have made a success of agricultural education in its highest aspects is to be followed, and whether the principle is to be accepted that the best possible training for the future directive staff of the agricultural army is the only sound policy. Second-rate and third-rate agricultural " experts " are a hindrance and a danger to agricultural progress. New countries suffer greatly from such guidance. A properly equipped University School of Agriculture must have a staff adequate to provide a sufficient variety of courses to produce the different specialists the country requires. But to do this efficiently involves a very heavy expenditure on staff and equipment. Taking a few well-known college courses, we find that the Macdonald College of the McGill University, Canada, employs in its School of Agriculture no fewer than thirty-two professors, lecturers, and other teachers, all of them save three being university graduates. It is true that some members of the staff take classes in the two schools associated with agriculture in the College, the School for Rural Teachers and the School of Household Science; but the fact remains that the necessities of the agricultural students demand a very complete staff of highly trained specialist teachers. The College provides agricultural courses of varying duration, that for the Bachelor's degree extending over four years. The Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph is also one of well-established reputation. It numbers on its staff some fifty-seven professors and other teachers, the great majority of whom are employed in agricultural subjects. The College also provides a department of home economics. The purpose of this College is not to train university graduates, but to train the young farmers of Ontario in the best practices and the science of good farming, and, secondly, to conduct experiments in all branches of agriculture, the results of which are to be published for the benefit of the farmers of the province." It will be seen from the liberal provision of teaching staff that the authorities recognize that agricultural education that is worth while must be liberally financed. Lastly, we quote the example of one of the many colleges in the United States, the lowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. lowa is about two-thirds of the size of New Zealand and has a population of two and a quarter millions. The College offers courses in agriculture, home economics, veterinary science, engineering, industrial science, and advanced courses for graduates. Students are grouped in divisions, e.g., — (I.) Secondary course (three years), for those who cannot reach the standard of university courses. (2.) Undergraduate course (four years), for those who intend to take a degree. (3.) Graduate course, for training in advanced work as specialists in branches of agriculture. (4.) Winter short courses, for farmers and their wives and daughters. The staff comprised in 1916 some 55 professors, 57 associate professors, and 196 assistants ;in all, 308 members. Of these, 54 were members of the agricultural experiment station maintained in the College. The number of students in 1916 was as follows :— I. Agriculture : — (a.) Graduate Division .. .. .. .. 115 (b.) Undergraduates (four-year course) . . . . 975 (c.) Secondary course (three-year course) . . . . 213 (d.) Winter short courses .. .. .. .. 2,469 3,772

Danger of obtaining second-rate results.

Efficient School of Agriculture very costly.

State College of Agriculture in lowa, U.S.A.

B.—7A.

43

2. Home economics .. .. .. .. .. .. 987 3. Veterinary science .. . . .. .. . . . . 317 4. Science . . .. . . . . .. . . 2.14 5. Engineering : Undergraduate .. .. .. .. .. 746 Short courses .. .. .. .. 1 ,026 ■ 1,772 *7,062 Our purpose in quoting these examples is to impress upon New Zealand the necessity of facing the position and establishing one really efficient agricultural college of university standing. The attempt to maintain the three centres now in being must, in our opinion, end in failure. At best each school will be doomed to what one witness called " anaemic mediocrity." There are certain fundamental considerations which must be kept steadily in view. To-day the subject matter of agriculture is divided into large departments with specialists in charge of each—e.g., agronomy, animal husbandry, dairying, and horticulture. It is absurd to expect one man, however well informed, to profess and to teach the whole of the work of an agricultural course. And, further, the technical subjects should not be dominated by instruction in sciences taught without regard to their application to agriculture. We are of opinion that an agricultural college in association with the University should be established in some suitable locality in the North Island by a combination of the schools proposed for Wellington and Auckland, it should provide courses for degrees in agriculture and for post-graduate work, and, in addition, should offer such lower courses as diploma courses for farm youths and short practical courses for adult farmers. As in the American and Canadian colleges, departments of home economics and ultimately of training for rural teachers should be associated with it. Such a college will necessarily be a residential institution, and there i s no reason why it should not ultimately develop into a complete residential university grouped appropriately around the study of agriculture as its leading subject. This would be strictly in accordance with the fitness of things in a Dominion so dependent as is New Zealand upon the work of its farmers. Moreover, such a scheme, under which education in liberal studies would, be associated, with training in the more directly practical concerns of rural life and work, would do much to help towards the development of a culture of the country as distinct from the culture of the city. How to develop widely a taste for country life, and the power of finding happiness and interest in country pursuits, and in the natural life of the country is a very practical problem. Intellectual ability naturally gravitates to the quarter where it finds most scope for its powers. The modern city university thus attracts to itself like a powerful magnet the best intellect of the surrounding rural districts and converts it to urban uses. The present university system of New Zealand, if left uncorrected, must continue to undermine the basic industry of agriculture, on which the whole future prosperity of the Dominion depends, inasmuch as it tends to produce a progressive intellectual impoverishment of the countryside. Nothing can effectively stop this draining process, but an institution exerting an equally strong pull in the opposite direction, such as a well-equipped university or university college with agriculture as its central subject. The great output of engineers, doctors, and lawyers, from the university colleges is a direct result of the great facilities afforded for these courses. Why not, therefore, give bright young fellows in country schools the opportunity to become leaders in scientific agriculture and other great rural activities ? Agricultural education should be the concern of each type of school in the national scheme, and a great step forward will be taken when an efficient training for rural teachers has been developed, a training which will fit them to teach efficiently a course of study adapted to rural needs and to the interests of rural life. No better position could be found for such a training course than in association with an agricultural college of the kind above described. As to -a department of home economics and farm economics for women, we consider that provision should be made for such study from the first. The part played by the woman in rural industry is no less important than that of the man, * Quoted from " Agricultural liduuation in Amerioa," A. E. Riohardson, (Government Printer, Melbourne, 1918).

Three Schools of Agriculture will result in failure.

Large staff of spccialists rcq uirod

Recommendat i on for a central School of Agriculture.

Possibility of ultimate development into residential university.

The city drift.

Training for rural teachers desirable.

Education of rural women and girls should not be overlooked.

E.—7a,

and the State should recognize this by the provision of suitable education for her. There need be no duplication of graduate courses now provided at Otago ; but good diploma courses suited for farm wives and daughters would lie appreciated and would be most helpful. LEGAL EDUCATION : AN UNSATISFACTORY CONDITION. A great amount of evidence was tendered to show that legal education in New Zealand is at present upon a very unsatisfactory footing, and, although under present conditions the education and training of legal practitioners within the British Empire and America is not entrusted to universities so completely as is the education and training for other professions —e.g., Medicine we feel bound to comment at some length upon the matter. There are, we conceive, certain broad lines along which legal education, like all professional education, must travel, if the profession of law is to be a reality, and to fulfil its true function. Members of a "profession" are distinguished by three main qualifications : (1) They have undergone a sound and liberal course of general education ; (2) they have received an intensive training of high quality in the principles and in the practice of their special work ; and (3) they have accepted a body of ethical standards as a guide to professional conduct, it is essential, therefore, that the scheme of education for entrants to a profession, of the first rank should be generously planned and administered, and that a more or less empirical knowledge of the technique of practice in the various branches of the profession, superimposed upon a slender equipment of general knowledge and of principles, should not be accepted as satisfactory. Yet, according to several witnesses, such a description applies to the training of a great number of those admitted as solicitors and ultimately as barristers in New Zealand. Professor Algie (Auckland) asserted that candidate solicitors came to the law lectures fresh from school, and many managed to complete the seven subjects required in two years. The student had neither adequate general education nor maturity of mind and experience to appreciate fully the legal subjects. Mr. J. B. Callan, Dean of the Faculty of Law (Otago), stated, " The law professional subjects are concerned with the rules evolved by our Judges and enacted by our Parliaments to deal with the multifarious relations and duties of citizens in our complex social system. A boy or girl straight from a secondary school who attempts to master these rules of conduct necessarily labours under the disadvantage of being unaware of the very existence of many of the problems which the rules of law attempt to solve." " But," said Mr. C. P. Skerrett, K.C., " another factor, which is certainly peculiar to New Zealand, is that an admitted solicitor who has practised for five years, no matter what the extent of his practice, or, in the case of a managing clerk to a solicitor, no matter what the extent of that solicitor's practice may be, is as of right entitled to admission as a barrister after a period of five years." Mr. J. B. Callan, in his statement, asserted, " A substantial majority of the persons now holding the qualification of barrister have gained this distinction by five years' practice as solicitors, and not by any examination beyond those examinations which they passed originally to qualify them as solicitors." A low standard of education for solicitors therefore inevitably affects the standing of barristers. Legal practitioners have always been regarded as members of a learned profession, as, indeed, is shown by the customary courtesy of allusion to " my learned friend." It appears to us that, unless a marked change is effected in the legal education provided in the Dominion, this term runs the risk of being regarded as a delicate sarcasm. That the community should be vitally interested in seeing that lawyers are trained who are in the full sense of the term " professional men " follows from a consideration of the position which lawyers occupy in the State. " Practising lawyers do not merely render to the community a social service which the community is interested in having them render well. They are part of the governing mechanism of the State. Their functions are in a broad sense political. This is not due primarily to the circumstance that a large proportion of our legislative and administrative officials, and virtually all our Judges, are chosen from among this practically ruling class. Nor is it due entirely to the further circumstance that

Requisites of professional education.

Defects in education and training.

Function of legal practitioners in community.

44

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the growth of our law in the form of judicial decisions, that interpret and declare its actual content, is necessarily greatly influenced by arguments of counsel. It springs even more fundamentally from the fact, early discovered, that private individuals cannot secure justice without the aid of a special professional order to represent and to advise them. To this end lawyers were instituted, as a body of public servants, essential for the maintenance of private rights. From their earliest origins the law has accorded to these ' officers of the Court' certain special and exclusive privileges which set them apart from the mass of the people as truly as if they were, in a strict sense, public officials."* Legal education differs from other modes of professional training, as, for example, that of medicine and engineering, by reason of the practice, inherited from England, of vesting the responsibility for it in the leaders of the profession itself, in the Judges and others engaged in the actual administration of justice. Thus, in England the Inns of Court and the Incorporated Law Society have great powers in relation to their respective branches of the legal profession. In New Zealand the admission of practitioners is regulated by the Law Practitioners Act, and the Judges of the Supreme Court may make general rules and regulations "touching the qualification and examination of candidates for admission as barristers and solicitors, and may appoint such persons as they think fit to be examiners for the purpose of examining candidates and giving certificates that such candidates have satisfactorily passed examinations."f As a matter of fact, the Judges have, by approving of certain regulations, " in effect delegated to the University of New Zealand the appointment of examiners, and the prescription and standard of the examinations, so that the examination for the degree of LL.B. is identical with the examination for the admission of barristers, and the New Zealand law subjects of the LL.B. degree are identical with the examination in law of solicitors."! It is clear from the evidence submitted by professors and. lecturers in law, by members of the bar, and by the sub-committee of the New Zealand Law Society that, apart from any disabilities arising from the provisions of the Legal Practitioners Act which affect prejudicially the education and standing of the profession, the remedy for the present condition of legal education is in the hands of the Judges. The question arises how best to bring suggested reforms to a head. Mr. C. P. Skerrett, K.C., in presenting the report from the sub-committee of the New Zealand Law Society quoted above, said, " the experience of the profession in the past has been that the Judges have been very slow to move in the matter of legal education, and that their judicial work is of so great a volume as to prevent their devoting to this subject as much time as its importance demands." We suggest that the practice followed in Victoria of creating a Council of Legal Education representative of the Judges, the leaders among practising barristers and solicitors, and the university teachers of law is the most satisfactory method for providing and for watching over a course of legal education which shall comply with the requirements of a good professional education, and at the same time satisfy the demand for a training which is strong enough on the practical side. Professor J. M. E. G-arrow, giving evidence on this latter point, stated, — " The present position is that the admission of candidates to practise as barristers and solicitors depends entirely upon the passing of certain examinations. " The complaints are that the work for these examinations is not sufficiently mastered, and that candidates are admitted to practice without being required to produce any evidence whatever of having had practical experience." The root cause of the deficiency of practical training, appears to us to lie in the legislation governing admission to the legal profession. Apparently this legislation was passed at a time when what was regarded as the advanced democratic view demanded that no obstacles should be placed in the way of any citizen who wished to become a lawyer. " Articles " were regarded as an obstacle of this nature, and were in such disfavour that they were incontinently swept away, but 110 provision was made for the practical training which " articles " supplied.

Legal education entrusted to care of the leaders of profession.

Judges to prescribe conditions.

Council of Legal Education suggested.

Deficiency in practical training.

* The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: Training for the Public Profession of Law, Bulletin 15, p. 3. | Report of a sub-committee of the New Zealand Law Society.

E.—7a

46

Further, what is now styled by the legal profession " the back-door entrance " was opened, and any solicitor after five years' practice as a solicitor or a managing clerk can claim to be admitted as a barrister. In some of the American States the extreme democratic view went even further and resulted in the absurdly humorous position in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Maine, and Indiana that " every voter was entitled to be admitted to practice in these States merely on proof of good moral character." While three of the above States have now repealed this provision, the Indiana privilege was, unfortunately, embedded in the State Constitution, the amending process of which is so difficult that no means has yet been found to dislodge it."* In our judgment, the true democratic view is that the community should be able to command the services of well-educated specialists as its lawyers; that their training should be calculated to produce broadly and thoroughly trained experts; and that the facilities for education provided by the State should be such that this professional training is within the reach of all, without respect of class or financial position. New Zealand provides so liberally for education beyond the primary stage that any young man or young woman of ability who is prepared to make a reasonable sacrifice can, with the help of " free places " and scholarships, obtain entrance to any calling which demands as a qualification a course of higher education. We are of opinion that legal education in New Zealand should be brought into line with legal education in other countries, and that the prescriptions for general scholarship, legal knowledge, and training in legal practice should be added to and made much more satisfactory. While the student taking the LL.B. course must, in addition to his Matriculation Examination, pass in Latin and in English or philosophy at the pass degree stage, and also in his law professional subjects, it is possible for a barrister to be admitted who has not passed in Latin and in English or philosophy as prescribed for LL.B. As for solicitors, their present culture test is that of the Matriculation Examination (including Latin) or a special examination in general knowledge for which the matriculation test is regarded as an equivalent. It cannot be stressed too strongly that such requirements are inadequate for both barristers and solicitors. A good general education is invaluable to the young lawyer. Tt not only gives him the mental discipline acquired from and perfected by the liberal studies, but it is a corrective to " the dehumanizing effect of technical efficiency pursued as a single aim.'' It is, accordingly, not enough to demand an entrance qualification passed at the age of sixteen or seventeen years ; some liberal studies should be kept up during the university course. Otherwise, the student is deprived of something which is not only of as much value to him in his professional work as his technical training, but which if once dropped is not likely to be resumed, for. unlike technical training, it is not added to day by day by his daily experience as a practitioner. The custom of some universities of requiring the B.A. degree as a preliminary for the study of the professional subjects of the LL.B. degree has much to recommend it, for the mental habits engendered by liberal studies are an appropriate foundation for the more vocational studies. The New Zealand practice of allowing an immature student to take his law professional examination and later to take his general knowledge test is surely absurd and shows little belief in the need for general culture as a basis for professional study. It is to be noted that the New Zealand LL.B. is granted after a three-years course, and there is no stipulation as to a further course to be served as articled clerk. In other words, a student may become a practising barrister in three years. In Melbourne the course extends over four years, with a further year of articles ; in Sydney it takes four years, or, in the case of students taking a B.A. as preliminary (a very usual course), five or six years, followed by a period of articles. Mr. J. B. Callan, jun., the representative of the Otago District Law Society, after advocating the establishment of a Council of Legal Education on the model of that entrusted with the organization of legal education in Victoria,

True democratic view.

Legal education in New Zealand of too low standard.

Importance of liberal studies in professional education.

New Zealand training compared with that of Sydney and Melbourne.

* The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching : Training for the Public Profession of the Law. Bulletin 15, p. 88.

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stated, " Victoria has pointedly indicated that, in its opinion, our New Zealand requirements are inadequate. It will admit practitioners from England, Ireland, Scotland, or the other States of the Commonwealth of Australia without examination and without practical work. It will not admit a New Zealand practitioner unless he serves for five years as a clerk and is re-examined in law." New Zealand graduates suffer no such disability in respect of medical or engineering qualification, and the disability under which lawyers rest should be removed by the institution of a more satisfactory course. As regards barristers and solicitors who have not graduated LL.B., the Victorian practice is to require (1) matriculation (including Latin) ; (2) a pass in nine law professional subjects ; (3) four years' service as a pupil under articles to a person practising as a barrister or solicitor, or as a barrister and solicitor. In support of the claim that in order to promote solidarity in the profession and the maintenance of ethical standards, both barristers and solicitors should have a training embracing the three elements, general culture, professional study, and practical experience, we again quote from the Carnegie Foundation Bulletin 15 — Training for the Public Profession of the Law : " Between the product of a strong University Law School resting upon a certain amount of liberal education and a young man who has secured just enough training to be admitted to the Bar there is a gulf which their subsequent experience in practice is more likely to widen than to bridge. To expect individuals so different from one another to co-operate on an equal footing in a professional way is to expect what, except in the rarest instances, never can be and never ought to be, so long as we look to education to mould character. The comparatively untrained man may be equally worthy and in his own line of work equally competent. But if the one who has enjoyed the greater opportunities has not in many ways grown apart from the other, and if, in particular, he is not the better qualified to discharge professional responsibilities in a spirit of noblesse oblige, then American higher education lias failed." Another great handicap under which legal education suffers in New Zealand is the almost invariable practice of taking legal studies as evening courses after office work either in a law office or an office engaged in some other business. Over 90 per cent, of New Zealand law students are evening students only. Of the 190 evening law students who constitute the largest single group of students at Victoria College, Wellington, 52 per cent, only are employed fully or for part-time in law offices. The remainder are mostly public servants studying law subjects either to gain advancement in the service or to enable them later to start in legal practice. The amount of legal practice such students can obtain is probably very little indeed. We are of opinion that part-time education properly conditioned is in no way undesirable. But while it is certain that earnest students engaged in law offices during the day can do excellent work at an evening school, it surely cannot be argued that the result is so good as can be secured by the same students attending fulltime courses or that the pace of the class should be that of the class for full-time students. The difficulty should be met by insisting on such a limitation of the number of subjects taken as will allow sufficient time for both teacher and student to do justice to the work. Further, it must be remembered that in most countries where law students attend late afternoon and evening courses they are in a genuine law office under strict articles of clerkship. This cannot be said of New Zealand, where the only legal education which is under control is the work of the class-room. Some students may be receiving an excellent practical training, but of this there is no guarantee. It is well to point out that there is also a fairly large section of candidates for law examinations who do not attend University classes at all. One of the examiners, Mr. H. F. von Haast, stated : The evils in the case of non-University students are—(l) No practical training and no practical knowledge of the law, of the traditions or ethics of the profession; (2) often a lack of general education; (3) failure to grasp the meaning of what they are studying, and mere parrot repetition of stock answers with which, they have been crammed." All the professional schools should require definite and approved practical courses. These are provided for medical students in the hospitals associated with

Interests of legal profession demand higher standards.

Law students in New Zealand are .part-time students,

Part-time work should be strictly conditioned.

External students taking law.

Practical training an essential.

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the schools, for the engineer in the laboratories of the school and in great engineeringworks, for the teacher in specially staffed practising schools. So far there is no institution such as a " legal-aid institution " which can give to the law student the same opportunities for practice as the public hospital gives to the medical student. His practical training must be obtained in the office of the practitioner. " First, the training must be primarily and fundamentally a training in and for legal practice as such, and not a training that provides the student merely with theoretical acquisitions that he may be unable to turn to practical account. Its object must be to develop skill or discipline, as distinguished from information or knowledge. Second, it must give the student such a mastery of theoretical legal knowledge as may ultimately in any way assist him to attain the object in view. And to this end not merely must a large part of the law that he intends to practise be acquired by him first as a body of systematized legal doctrines rather than picked up in a practical or empirical way, but law itself must not be narrowly defined. Borderland and allied studies of a relatively non-technical nature, such as jurisprudence and government, must be included."* In other professional schools practical work supplements and interprets the work of the class-room. It should be so in legal education. There are very special and peculiar advantages which only the practitioner's office can supply. For, while the work of the lawyer is undoubtedly concerned with the application of legal principles to special cases, one of his most difficult tasks is to disentangle out of a complicated mass of facts those which form the real issue, and then to ascertain how the existing law affects the rights of his client. No law school can effectively bridge the gap that exists between the consideration of cases in the class-room and those which are dealt with in the world of affairs represented by the practitioner's office. But it is worth while to point out that failure to provide adequate practical training constitutes a serious defect in legal education ; it would be more serious still, if a merely superficial expertness gained by empirical methods in the office were obtained at the expense of more vital matters. The Melbourne University Commission, 1904, emphasizes the distinction between the field of legal education proper for the i niversity class-room and that to be relegated to the practitioner's office. "We think it undoubted that for the details of practice the careful practitioner would never rely, and does never rely, upon memory.'" i£ The skilled practitioner is one whose experience, gained partly before and partly after admission, is necessarily based upon an actual, as apart from a book, knowledge of practice, and who has to rely, after exercising his judgment as to procedure, upon the authorities and works of reference for the details of procedure." "We think that the examination itself should be divested of all technical matters, and matters of detail, and generally should be on broad lines, and that an oral examination of a broad character should be included, and that some reliance be placed upon the reports of the work done and proficiency attained by the counsel or solicitor in whose chambers the student served his articles, and that the University examinations should be looked to as authenticating a sufficient standard of legal education, and the examination as to details of practice be entirely discontinued."! New Zealand is distinguished by the great number of its law students. The figures for 1924 show that in the four University colleges there were 586 students attending law courses out of a population of 1,300,000. For the same year in New South Wales, with a population of 2,200,000, there were only 333 law students ; and in Victoria, with a population of 1,600,000, there were only 285. Even if it be granted that many of the students are taking legal subjects as a preparation for commercial and other pursuits, the questions naturally arise, " Can the Dominion properly absorb such a body of lawyers ? " and " Is there something wrong with the objective of the secondary education of New Zealand, in that it encourages so many to enter professions for which presumably many of them are not specially fitted and in which they are not needed ? " These questions are worthy of investigation. Apparently the standards of the legal course should be raised in regard to each of the three elem nts of professional training—general culture, professional know-

Class-room cannot supersede practitioner's office.

Abolition of examination in practical details recommended.

Abnormal number of law students.

Recommendation for raising standard of legal education.

* The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching : Training for the Public Profession of the Law, Bulletin 15. Log. cit. f Melbourne University Commission, 1904, pp. 60-61.

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ledge, practical training. Much evidence in regard to each of these will, be found in the statements submitted to us by professors and legal practitioners. The recommendation of the New Zealand Law Society that the standard of entrance to the course for solicitors and barristers should be the examination prescribed for the Junior University Scholarship appears to us to be a sound one, and we therefore endorse it. As regards the law professional subjects for solicitors and for barristers, we consider that these should be brought into line with the requirements in the Australian universities, and that for the LL.B. degree a greater number of culture subjects of general education should be included. This will naturally lengthen the course to one of four years" duration, but we see no reason why entrance to an important and honourable profession and one distinguished especially as a learned profession should be gained by. a course shorter in duration than almost any other. Part-time students should have their subjects each, year severely limited in number in order that approved methods of teaching and of study may be the rule. As regards practical training, the Legislature shouid be asked, to amend the Legal Practitioners Act and to provide for this essential portion of a lawyer's education. Further, in order that the important subject of legal education may be safeguarded and improved from time to time, we recommend that a Council of Legal Education be formed, consisting of representatives of the Judges, of the legal practitioners, and of the University, and that to this body be entrusted the powers now vested in. the Judges alone. That reform is urgently needed within the University itself is evident from the statement of Professor K. M. Algie. xlfter stating that the students who take the LL.B. course and the Law Professional Examination for solicitors come to the university direct from the secondary schools at the age of seventeen or eighteen years, he goes on to say, " The students —-in the full flush of youthful optimism— commonly take four subjects in their first year, and, if successful, they sit in the remainder iti their second year. My first submission is that a course of study extending over a period of only two years is too short to be of any real value. In fact, such a course is a reflection upon the general standing of the profession. A second submission is that the present course leads, and can lead only, to ' cram ' in the worst sense of that word. A law student must in the nature of things learn off by heart a great portion of his work ; he must have a large number of specific rules and principles at his command, and in many cases the actual words of such rules and principles are of paramount importance. But he may well be asked to do more than this. He must have an intelligent appreciation of the meaning of such rules, and an ability to apply them. Now, can it be contended that a lad fresh from school is able to plunge straight into the study of four legal subjects ? It is idle to say that he may take two if he likes ; he will not do anything of the kind when the regulations and time-table permit four or five to be taken and when his predecessors have taken four. And., again, will it be contended that such a student can understand the niceties and subtleties contained in the books he is reading ? To take a course of examples : imagine his difficulties in an attempt to master such doctrines as that of Past Consideration and that of Remoteness of Damage. And these are only two selected from the vast field of his so-called study. I believe I am right when I say that he does not really master his work ; he cannot do so. He has not the mental equipment at that age to understand and appreciate the points that baffle mature lawyers, and he has not the time to grapple fully with what may be termed the outstanding principles of his subjects. How can it be really expected of him ? He attends, at the Auckland College, one lecture a day on each day of the week and spends the rest of his day at work in the law office. In a subject like Contract he has, roughly, forty-eight lectures, and in that time he has to be piloted over the difficulties in the law of Contract, of Agency, Sale of Goods, Partnership, and Bills of Exchange. Last year I was able to devote four hours to the Sale of Goods Act, and two, I think, to the Bills of Exchange Act. This is only typical of what happens in other subjects. The law as to joint-stock companies forms a portion of the syllabus for Property, 11 : last year I explained the intricate problems of this subject to a ' will' class in three hours. My point here is that we ask too much of our students in the time they have available, and we necessarily force them to cram by memory what will suffice for an examination ; their work

Testimony of professors of law as to defects in the course.

Students take too many subjects.

7—e. n.

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is as a result superficial. I must not be understood as casting a slur upon the ability or application of our students : I know them, and respect them too much for that. But I am attacking the system under which they are forced to work ; it is a system which makes the examination the one and only goal, which offers no special inducement to a man to study his law for its own sake, and which, in fact, tends to concentrate his attention solely upon a process of unintelligent cramming for those examinations." Mr. E. M. White said of the same course, " It seems to be generally recognized that our law professional studies are hopelessly inadequate, and that a radical change is necessary to enable students of law who are not sitting for the LL.B. degree to obtain a grasp of the fundamental conceptions of our legal system and of the origin and growth of the principles of English law. At present there is nothing in our Law Professional Examination which suggests that our law is a system of an ever-expanding and developing nature with its roots fixed in the history and temper of the English people." Mr. F. A. de la Mare said, " As regards the Law Examination the New Zealand Law Society has felt compelled to protest against the present system. The commonest method of preparation for examination is to enlist the services of a coach, who supplies notes and model questions and answers. These questions and answers are built up 011 the questions set in various examinations, and one coach told me that in one year he had picked out ten of the twelve questions set. The text-books are not prescribed by the Law Society. Young men in the country solicitors' offices taking up university degrees do all their work by correspondence." Mr. J. B. Callan stated in evidence on behalf of the Otago Law Society, " Consideration by the Law Societies of legal education in New Zealand is, however, no new thing. The subject had already engaged their attention. For example, early in 1923 resolutions expressing dissatisfaction with the system of studying law by the aid of correspondence schools were passed by the Hawke's Bay District Law Society and forwarded to the New Zealand Law Society. The New Zealand Law Society concurred in expressing dissatisfaction and brought the matter before the University of New Zealand. " I n June, 1923, the University referred the matter to teachers in the affiliated colleges. It then came before the teachers of law in Otago University, and was fully discussed by them. As the result I was instructed by my colleagues, as Dean of the Faculty, to prepare an expression of their views, which made many criticisms upon the present inadequate system of training and testing aspirants to the legal profession. This was embodied in a letter to the University dated 16th August, 1923." The views of the Faculty then expressed were considered and approved by the Council of the Otago Law Society in August, 1923, when the following resolutions were carried unanimously : — " That this Council, having considered the representations of the Otago Law Faculty as to correspondence schools and legal education generally embodied in Mr. Callan's memo of 16th August to the Registrar of the New Zealand University, expresses its concurrence with the views set out in that memorandum, and in particular is of opinion,— " (1.) That the present state of legal education in New Zealand is extremely unsatisfactory. " (2.) That the Law Professional Examinations afford 110 sufficient test of a candidate's capacity to practise his profession in a manner creditable to himself or the profession generally or satisfactory to his clients. " (3.) That the matter is one for their Honours the Judges, to whom the appointment of Examiners and the making of regulations as to examinations is committed by sections 19 and 20 of the Law Practitioners Act, 1908. " (4.) That all the remedies suggested in the above-quoted memorandum appear desirable, useful, and practical, viz. " (a.) Lengthening the course for the Law Professional Examinations so as to make it impossible for a candidate to complete the same before attaining twenty-one years of age.

Failure to grasp fundamental concepts.

Protest by N.Z. Law Societies.

Agitation for reform.

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" (b.) Raising the standard of the Solicitors' General Knowledge Examination. " (e.) Ensuring that such questions are set in the Law Professional Examinations as test the candidate's grasp of principles and capacity to apply them as distinguished from merely memorized knowledge of the sentences in which principles are expressed. " (d.) The use of statutes and/or text-books in some of the examinations —for example, the use of Stout and Sim's Practice and Cruickshank's Magistrate's Court Act —by candidates in practice and procedure." It is, we think, practically certain that if a Council of Legal Education is formed to supervise the education and training of lawyers the Council will see the necessity of establishing a fully equipped and staffed Law School in the most suitable centre. Such a school, in addition to a strong staff of specialist teachers, would have a complete law library. On the question of a special Law School, Professor J. Adamson, Victoria. College, spoke very definitely : — " There is at present no Law School in New Zealand. Seventeen years ago I was appointed to Victoria College, one of my duties being to organize a Law School. When I arrived I found the Law School was a myth, and it has remained so ever since. It is probably now too late to determine whether or not provision for teaching for the law degree should be made in all four centres, but I am convinced that there ought to be only one Law School in New Zealand —i.e., a proper Law School in which every department is under the charge of an expert in his special branch of the subject." In regard to law libraries, the conditions under which law students and teachers work at present are very unsatisfactory. A Law School without a good library is as hard to conceive as a Chemistry School without a good laboratory. There could probably be no stronger condemnation of legal education in New Zealand than the striking omission of all guarantee of efficient practical training in legal methods, and the absence of library facilities, with its consequent lack of training in the use of books of reference. The Dean of the Faculty of Law, Otago, in reply to our request for information as to library facilities, wrote : — " The Otago University College library makes no provision for law students. No books such as are of use to the law students in their own studies have ever been specially provided. The library of the Otago District Law Society is, however, open during the daytime to all properly accredited students. Books of use to students are also placed in the lecture-rooms. But the point I make is the point I made when I appeared before the Commission —namely, that the course as at present contrived leaves the student no time, and encourages no inclination on his part to go into the law library. He takes his text-books. He knows that every generation of students before him for many years has passed the examinations on the study of these text-books and nothing else. As the course encourages undue hurry on the part of the student, he is not prepared to waste his time, as he looks at it, in cultivating an acquaintance with the contents of a law library." If this be the considered opinion of a responsible teacher, the urgency of reform in legal education needs little further argument. UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN ENGINEERING. The present provision of university teaching in engineering presents one of the most thorny problems with which we have had to deal. Professedly, the teaching of only one Engineering School, i.e., Canterbury, is recognized by the Senate as qualifying candidates to sit for the degree of Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering. Three of the four university colleges do, as a matter of fact, provide courses leading to engineering degrees or diplomas, while in the fourth college there are students who have vocational ambitions for engineering and who are studying for the B.Sc. degree, including the course in physical technology, as

A special School of Law desirable.

Law libraries.

All University colleges provide some instruction in engineering.

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qualification for the theoretical requirements of the profession. These latter students will probably qualify at a later stage for the associatesbip of one of the institutes of civil, mechanical, or electrical engineering. As stated above, the recognized School of Engineering is in Chris tchurch, and One witness, the president of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers, estimates the cost of tuition at about £12,000 per annum, including interest on value of buildings and equipment. The University of Otago also prepares candidates for the degree of B.E. in mining by means of a course which it is claimed forms a good training for civil engineering. We were informed, as a matter of fact, that several of the graduates are occupying positions as civil engineers upon this qualification only. The cost of this school to the University of Otago, in spite of Government grants totalling over £l ,000, involves a transfer from the Arts and General Account of over £1,900 per annum. Aucldand University College has about 110 students under training in its engineering department for civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering and for architecture, but this training is not recognized by the Senate as a qualification for engineering degrees of the University of New Zealand, but only for architecture. We were informed that many of the graduates of the Otago School, and to a less degree of the Canterbury School, have in the past, perforce, been compelled to seek employment outside the Dominion, so that in effect this country is supporting three institutions for the training of engineers, and'the output is so large that n has not been able to absorb the product. The whole situation would appear to have arisen from the failure of the Senate to control the situation adequately. The difficulty of preventing colleges from establishing classes in engineering subjects is no doubt partly due to the fact that engineering is becoming a necessary part of the training for the professions of mining, architecture, and, to a limited extent, forestry and agriculture. There is no doubt that instruction in mining and architecture can, nowadays, be given most economically in conjunction with a School of Engineering, and a glance at the prescriptions of examination for the degrees in these two subjects amply bears out this contention. It is probable, however, that when the School of Mines was first established in Otago, nearly fifty years ago, the condition did not apply with so much force as it does to-day. On this point we quote the " History of Otago University " (G. E. Thompson), Oh. XXIII, The Mining School. "As the Director wrote in 1912, .... everyday mining engineering is becoming more and more allied to civil engineering. The mining engineer is now required to construct roads, tramways, and railways, design and erect dams, bridges, and complicated metallurgical plant, and harness rivers for the generation of hydraulic and electrical power. In order to meet the demand for more specialized knowledge in structural engineering, it will be necessary to extend the scope of instruction, more especially in the departments of applied mechanics and practical electricity and surveying." On the general question of the duplication of costly facilities for education in engineering, and also in architecture, the evidence given by Professor Park, the Dean of the Mining School at Otago, is illuminating: " Candidates are also prepared in surveying and building-construction, strength of materials, graphic statics, hydrostatics, and hydraulics for the B.E. degree in Architecture, the Associateship of the Institution of Civil Engineers (England), the Diploma of Licensed Surveyor." And again : "At the present moment we have as many undergraduates taking the full course in mining and engineering as all the university mining schools in Australia taken together. Applied electricity is now, and rightly so, a compulsory subject for the associatesbip of the Otago School of Mines and B.E. degrees in mining and metallurgy. So far no provision has been made for teaching it. . . . . At present we are dependent on the good will of the Dunedin City Council both for a teacher and for the use of the electric machines and apparatus." Later on he states, " I think it would be better to centre all the engineering in one place." As there is, therefore, so much in common between the work of a modern school of mining and a school of engineering, it appears to be certain that, if the

Other University courses grouped around engineering.

Mining School should be worked with Engineering School.

E.—7A,

question of the location of a special school of mining were to be considered de novo, the best place for it would be alongside a school of engineering. We are well aware that the history of the Mining School of Otago is interwoven with that of the University of Otago, and that its graduates have in the past won a reputation beyond the bounds of the Dominion. In view, however, of the fact that mining in New Zealand has not to-day the importance it had formerly, and that despite the Government grants the maintenance of the school deprives the Arts and General Accounts of so large a sum, it appears that the best course will be to remove this school when a suitable opportunity offers. Before an opinion is expressed on the engineering courses conducted by the Auckland University College the circumstances leading to their establishment should be stated. Shortly after the opening of the Auckland University College the question of the distribution of special schools was brought forward. Just about this period, the Otago University was finding it increasingly difficult to finance special schools of both medicine and mines. In 1887 Dr. Coughtrey (ex-Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Otago University) wrote to the Auckland University Council suggesting that Otago should have the only special school of medicine, that Canterbury should concentrate on engineering, and that Auckland should establish a school, of engineering and mines. The matter made no progress, however, until 1904, when the Premier, the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, in reply to a deputation, promised assistance to the Otago Medical School, on the sole condition that the School of Mines should be closed down and transferred to Auckland. This proposal aroused considerable local feeling in Dunedin, and the transfer was successfully resisted, but a compromise was arrived at by which Auckland was also to have a school of mines, and a professor was accordingly appointed in 1906. The Government made a grant of £5,000 to start the school, and in 1909 gave an additional grant of £1,200 for an electrical laboratory. As there were four mining schools actually on the Auckland mining fields where the students could receive theoretical training, and at the same time work in the mines, the University school failed to attract a sufficient number of students. Accordingly, the equipment was used for the training of engineering students. In 1918, with the consent of the Senate, the Auckland University College started classes in architecture. With Schools of Mines and Architecture Auckland found that the College was authorized to teach all of the subjects of the first three years of the full B.E. course in mechanical engineering, and practically, also, those for civil and electrical engineering. The Senate has, however, persistently refused to acknowledge the School of Engineering at Auckland, and the anomalous position has arisen that for most of the examinations in the first two professional divisions of the degree in engineering an Auckland student may sit and count a pass towards degrees in Mining and Architecture, but he may not sit for Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering degrees, although the examination papers are identical. This evidence was tendered by the President of the Auckland University College, who was very emphatic in his protests. There would appear to be, therefore, some ground for the opinion expressed by witnesses that the Senate was influenced by provincial jealousies. One witness, Professor Hunter, expressly stated, " Whenever there is a question of Special Schools involved, educational principle is thrown to the winds." We were, however, much impressed with the evidence of Messrs. Furkert and Jones, who, representing the Engineers' Registration Board and Institute of Civil Engineers respectively, were both emphatic against the danger of weakening the usefulness of the School of Engineering, " if the available funds were divided, in place of concentrating on one thoroughly efficient establishment." We note, however, that Mr. F. W. Furkert states, " Whether Canterbury College is the most suitable location for the School of Engineering may perhaps be open to question, but the School is well established there, has done excellent work in the past, and has the advantage of being fairly central." There is no doubt that a school of engineering should be in vital touch with industrial development, and the rapidly increasing population of Auckland cannot be ignored. Moreover, it appears probable that the effect of the recently established Engineers' Registration Board should be an increased demand for college-trained engineers. On the whole, therefore, particularly in view of the establishment of Schools of Architecture and Forestry in Auckland, and the appointment of professors j

How Engineering School developed at Auckland.

Refusal of Senate to recognize Auckland School of Engineering.

Recommendation in favour of Auckland Engineering School.

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thereto, we cannot recommend that its School of Engineering be closed down. We consider that its students should be allowed to present themselves for the first and second professional examinations of the IS. E. degree in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering, but that they should proceed to Canterbury for the final year of their training at least. The Auckland School might well become, along with the local technical college, a technological department of the University College. Before this can be done, however, much closer relations must be brought about between the University College and the Technical College. This should minimize the likelihood of duplication of equipment and teaching. There should be no alienation of grant from Canterbury College in consequence of the above recommendations. The Mining School at Dunedin should, as stated above, be transferred to Christchurch or Auckland when opportunity offers. As stated in the section of our report dealing with technical schools, the evening classes at Canterbury College should be curtailed as much as possible, and the work handed over to the local Technical College, thus enabling the staff to devote more time to the degree students and to advanced teaching and research. We understand that the recent decision of the Education Department to discontinue the payment of capitation grants for these classes, with substitution of a fixed grant therefor, will facilitate the carrying out of this recommendation. Both at Canterbury and Auckland strong Faculties of Engineering should be established. In addition to the principal teachers there should be included on the Faculty a few persons who possess expert knowledge of engineering and are willing to give their services in an advisory capacity. PROVISION FOR SPECIAL PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS. The physical configuration of New Zealand and a distribution of population which has produced four main cities along a line of 850 miles, with by far the largest city at the northern extremity of this line, have greatly complicated the problem of university education. Colleges offering courses in Arts and in Science could be established and maintained without great expense. Accordingly, the facilities for education in such courses and those allied to them are probably more widely spread in New Zealand than in any other part of the Empire. The great enrolment of students is a proof of this. In the year 1924 out of a population of 1,350,000, there were 1,503 students taking courses in Arts ; 371 students taking courses in science; 586 students taking courses in Law; 279 students taking courses in Commerce. While it is true that the provision made for these courses can and ought to be bettered in many respects (and this does not apply only to New Zealand University colleges), New - Zealanders can claim that, on the whole, they have made a very good beginning. The reforms to be brought about in these courses depend mainly upon improving the teaching by the abolition of the rigidly imposed syllabus and the wholly external examination, by the strengthening of the teaching staff and improving its methods through the addition of a tutorial staff, by the development of the college libraries, and by other such means. The real difficulty ahead is the allocation of special schools among the our University centres, by a method which will be just to the different provincial districts and at the same time will be educationally sound. Dunedin has a Medical School, a Mining School, a Dental School, and a School of Home Science. Christchurch has a School of Engineering. Neither Auckland nor Wellington can claim to have a developed professional school, although a beginning has been made in architecture at Auckland, and in agriculture at Wellington and Auckland. Very much, however, remains to be done before these schools can be regarded seriously. In our conception of a university school there must be full provision for a Director of high academic standing, for a suitable staff of professors and lecturers, and for efficient laboratory, museum, library, or other equipment. Otherwise it cannot lay claim to being a professional school. Residents in the North Island, and especially in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, complain that there are no facilities for their young people to take professional courses in medicine, dentistry, and engineering, and remain at or near

Non-university courses at Canterbury College should cease.

Special difficulties which confront New Zealand in developing University professional schools.

The problem of the allocation of special professional schools.

Developed professional schools all in South Island.

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home. Accordingly there is a persistent demand for more special schools. So far the demand has been successfully resisted, but it is becoming more insistent each year. There is no doubt that a hostile feeling towards the national University has been engendered and fed in Auckland, by the belief that the representatives of the South Island in the governing body of the University have not been willing to assist Auckland in what are regarded as legitimate claims. The following extracts from evidence taken give some idea of the feeling :— Professor T. A. Hunter : " The problem of the special schools has become the football of university politics. The southern colleges, early in the field, listen with dull ears to the demand of the northern colleges for fair treatment on this question." Mr. F. de la Mare : " The nemesis of university politics is the special school. In my opinion, one very strong argument for four universities is the parochialism engendered both within and without the Senate. Otago and Canterbury profess to stand for a principle of specialization by colleges, no doubt with good cause. The effect is a bloc to preserve the vested interests of Otago and Canterbury in medicine and engineering. As soon as those interests are safeguarded, the bloc will make any concession elsewhere, and will vote cheerfully for two schools of forestry and three schools of agriculture, when it is safe to say that no well-informed person believes that more than one of each of university standing is either required or economically sound." Under the head " Education in Engineering " we deal with one result of the battle for the establishment of special schools, and we arrive at the conclusion that the Aucklanders have reasonable cause for complaint against the Senate. But such an opinion does not commit us to a policy of further duplicating expensive institutions. The matter of the establishment of special schools is not an easy one, even if it is not complicated by provincial jealousies. A medical school should be able to command clinical material, an engineering school should be in close touch with great engineering industries, an agricultural school should be in a farming environment. The interdependence of university schools must also be a factor in the decision. We have shown elsewhere how close a connection exists between education in mining and education in engineering, and how modern building methods have brought the training of the architect close to that of the engineer. Other connections will disclose themselves as the location of other special schools is under consideration. Another important question is the number of students of high mental calibre available for the school. It may be argued that the Dominion is one, and that a national professional school should draw its students from all parts of the Dominion. A liberal scheme of free places has, indeed, been provided, but unless there is added such a system of maintenance bursaries as would, probably be regarded as prohibitive, it is certain that the practical outcome will always be that the establishment of a professional school in a city will draw towards the school the most talented boys and girls of that district, while only those whose parents are able to afford the incidental expenses can attend from other centres. We note that even the Junior University Scholarship is not available for the full medical course, as its benefits are limited to four years, and the medical course extends to six years at least. The fact that the professional schools of medicine, dentistry, and engineering are in the South Island apparently limits the choice of professions available for the youth of the North Island. How else can we explain the fact that there are 434 law stndents in the North Island college classes, while there are only 152 in the South Island, although instruction in law is given in each of the four University colleges ? Parents anxious to do the best for their boys and girls will undoubtedly agitate for better facilities, and it may be very difficult, especially if short views are taken, to withstand the pressure. But the consequences of duplication in a country of necessarily limited resources and power of absorption are very serious. There will be an inevitable lowering of the standard of equipment of the two institutions, for the modern professional school is a costly concern, and its legitimate demands are ever increasing. As to the power of absorption of graduates by the community, attention may be drawn to the fact that there are in New Zealand 1,200 legal practitioners and 586 law students. Making due allowance for the students who are studying law subjects for purposes of commerce and industry, we cannot conceive that New Zealand requires such an output of lawyers,

Location of Special School a complex question.

Disproportionate number of Law students in the North Island.

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56

Undoubtedly a city gains enormously by the fact that a professional school is established within its area. This fact prompted one witness, Professor Park, of Otago University, to suggest that a local subsidy should be paid annually by the district in which the special school is situated. The proposal, in the absence of a satisfactory scheme of national bursaries for maintenance allowances, has much to commend it. Enough has been said to show how difficult is the problem, and to emphasize the need for an expert and impartial inquiry into this vexed question. We consider that, in the best interests of the Dominion, a very definite and long-range policy should be laid down by the Government in respect of facilities for special professional education, and that a decision should be come to at an early date as to the locality for each special school likely to be needed during the next twenty years. Either the governing body of the University, or a special committee of expert professional men, should go into the question ,and make recommendations which, when adopted, should become the basis of public policy. Unnecessary duplication in a young country involves a dissipation of resources, and produces as an inevitable result two schools of mediocre standard. A professional school of high standard will give to the community graduates able to serve it efficiently and creditably ; two schools of lower standard may flood the country with poorly qualified practitioners, who are a danger to society rather than a help. In subjects like medicine, dentistry, and engineering, in which the field to be covered by the teachers is ever widening the legitimate demands for increased staffing and equipment are very hard to satisfy at the best of times. Yet they must be satisfied, if professional men with the necessary outlook and training are to be forthcoming. It is essential that the Dominion should signify in no unmistakable terms that the unnecessary duplication of special schools must be avoided. But such a decision need not preclude the making of arrangements to lessen the hardship imposed on those students in distant centres who have to attend a professional school, e.g., medicine, several hundred miles from their homes. It should rather facilitate the making of such arrangements. It is already the custom to allow the medical preliminary year in pure science to be taken in any University college. But this alone does not satisfy those who ask for facilities nearer home. It is argued, and with force, that, given good will on the part of the Medical Faculty at Dunedin, there is no good reason why medical students in their last year should not take their clinical instruction in Auckland or Wellington. It is claimed that in Auckland not only are there doctors and surgeons of the first rank, but also better and far more abundant clinical material in the hospitals of that city than in the smaller hospitals of Dunedin. Our inquiry showed that there is no strong opinion against the proposal in the Medical School, but that there is at the same time no great enthusiasm for it, and no constructive policjf to give effect to it. It can readily be understood that a medical school desires to keep in close touch with its students right through their course ; but we think we are right in saying that in many university medical schools the last year of the course is taken almost entirely in hospital, and that such lectures as are prescribed are given by specialist practitioners, and not by the full-time medical school staff. If the arrangement asked for can be made without loss of efficiency, it seems highly desirable that active steps be taken by the Faculty to bring it into operation. Sir Lindo Ferguson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, in his evidence made the following statement : — " A difficulty which is less easily overcome than the need of buildings and staff is the matter of hospital facilities whereby the clinical teaching may be made more practical and a larger amount of personal contact with patients ensured than is at present the case. We endeavoured for a time to obtain this result by a system of intern work on the part of selected final-year students, but for various reasons, unconnected with the working of the system, this valuable opportunity for practical work is no longer available. Some method whereby closer contact with the clinical work is obtained is more than desirable, and it may be that the solution of the problem will be found in carrying on portion of the training in residence in other hospitals of the Dominion than the Dunedin one,"

A local subsidy suggested.

A long-range policy desirable.

Evils of duplication.

Every legitimate concession should be made to distant students.

Should clinical teaching be provided at Auckland hospitals ?

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57

In reply to questions Sir Lindo Ferguson stated, " It has been pointed out that there is a good deal of clinical material in the other hospitals, and we have been urged to send all students to take a year's clinical work in Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch. The people who urged that did not recognize the difficulties in getting practical teaching. If you send students away for any prolonged period they must be under the supervision of trained teachers." Dr. W. Marshall Macdonald, a member of the Council of the University of Otago, in reply to the question " whether clinical instruction could be advantageously taken at Auckland," said: " There are difficulties in the way; a student would be divorced from his school and his special teachers. I think that outside clinical work should be made use of, and that we should allow students to take part of their course under the very competent physicians and surgeons in Auckland and other towns. It would be wise to make use of the clinical material and encourage the men in other centres to take a personal interest in the Medical School and share in the teaching." We extract from a pamphlet, " Professional Education for the Children of the Auckland Province," tendered to the Commission by the President of the Auckland University College, the following opinion of Dr. E. B. Gunson, speaking on behalf of the Auckland Branch of the British Medical Association :— " The B.M.A. is strongly of opinion that by the time the six-year group of students (now in their second year) have reached their sixth or clinical year we should be prepared to undertake that teaching in Auckland for those students who wish to avail themselves of our undoubted advantages. This will entail a teaching staff and some special accommodation in the way of workrooms. The teachers are available. In this connection I would like to tell you that there has already been established in Auckland a post-graduate medical course, which has proved of immense benefit to country doctors. " In every branch of medicine and surgery, we have in Auckland graduates holding the very highest qualifications, men well fitted to undertake clinical teaching. In order that such clinical teaching may be given in Auckland, we consider that it is essential that there be established here an extra-mural school of clinical medicine under the aegis of the University. We understand that the authorities in Dunedin recognize the necessity of this step. At a recent meeting of the honorary staff of the Auckland Hospital a committee was set up to inquire fully into the matter, and to report, particularly in respect to requirements and the means to meet them. I can assure you that when this extra-mural school is established in connection with the University, and whether we are dealing with a dental or medical school, University status is essential, such an extra-mural school will not only be of the greatest assistance to Auckland students, but will raise the whole standard of medical work in Auckland." We consider that every effort should be made by the Faculty of Medicine to meet the wishes of the Auckland Branch of the British Medical Association. In regard to the special schools now contemplated or in the first stages of development, we have elsewhere expressed the opinion that one University agricultural school of high standard is demanded by the necessities of the Dominion, and that the proposal to develop and maintain three such schools will inevitably lead to a poor result for a great expenditure. If the Dominion desires to spend money on agricultural teaching over and above the cost of maintaining one firstclass school for training scientific agriculturists, researchers, and teachers, there is abundant opportunity in diploma courses for young people who intend to put their knowledge to use on their own farms, and in holding short intensive courses for farmers and their wives and daughters. As to the establishment of two University schools of forestry, we find it hard to understand how a responsible body could approve of such a proposal in the present stage of the country's development. A very important factor to be considered in establishing a necessarily expensive school is the number of trained graduates of the school which the country can profitably absorb. Employment in the Forestry Department of the Dominion would be the natural objective for the graduates. We learn from good authority that the Department could not absorb more than six graduates a year under the most favourable circumstances. It is, of course, possible with the growth of interest in afforestation that the growing of timber may come to be regarded as one of the profitable adjuncts of land-owning, and that a demand for education in forestry may arise; but that time is yet far-distant. As showing how differently the establishment of a special school, whose output should be necessarily strictly limited,

More than one University School of Agriculture a mistake.

Two University Schools of Forestry not needed in New Zealand.

B—E. 7a.

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is regarded elsewhere, we may mention that a recent Conference of the Australian Universities unanimously resolved that one University School of Forestry, to be developed at Adelaide, was adequate for the needs of the Commonwealth. Another consideration which should not be overlooked in any proposal to establish a special school is the welfare of the student. To tempt a young man or woman to devote years of study to a course when in the nature of things there must be great difficulty in finding profitable employment at the end of it, is both unjust to the student and uneconomical for the nation. The difficulties under which students residing in centres far distant from special professional schools labour, should, we consider, be met by the provision of a special maintenance allowance. The students awarded such special allowance should be those whom careful inquiry and examination show to be possessed of the aptitudes and educational attainments necessary for success in the course proposed to be undertaken. Our inquiry has convinced us that the finance of any Special School should be kept quite distinct from that of the other schools of the University college with which it is connected. As we have already pointed out, the cost of maintaining a Special School is necessarily much heavier than that of maintaining the ordinary College Faculties, and the fact that it gives a valuable professional qualification, which may be imperilled if defects are not made good, gives the demands of those immediately responsible for it special weight, when the distribution of moneys between the different branches of college work is under consideration. If, therefore, the Special School and the other schools of the college are maintained from a common fund, it is almost inevitable that the Special School will tend to appropriate an increasing share of the common fund, to the detriment of the other schools. This has occurred both in the case of the School of Medicine and the School of Mines at Dunedin. According to the accounts handed in, the Arts and General Fund paid over last year £2,250 to the Medical School and £1,900 to the School of Mines. This grievance is aggravated by the fact that a Special School serves the whole of the Dominion and not merely the district in which it happens to be situated. It is obviously unfair that the needs of a national school should be supplied in part from the funds required for the maintenance of the local college with which it happens to be connected. We recommend that in future the grants for the maintenance of every Special School shall be entirely separate from the grants for the maintenance of the ordinary Faculties of Arts and Science of the University college concerned, and that the finance of the two schools shall be kept entirely distinct. FOUR UNIVERSITIES OR ONE : SEPARATION OR FEDERATION. The discussion upon this question has produced the most conflicting evidence and it is the matter upon which we have found most difficulty in coming to a decision. On other points —e.g., examinations, accrediting, professional schools, degree courses, &c. —both educational principle and the weight of evidence on the whole concur, and have left little doubt in our minds as to the recommendations which ought to be made. But the points at issue in this case are not so much educational as practical, and even political. There is a general agreement amongst the academic witnesses that federation offers no permanent solution of the question and in this we concur. The position of those who oppose separation most strongly may be summed up in the words of the Vice-Chancellor of Otago, Mr. W. J. Morrell, speaking on behalf of the Council of that University : " While all will recognize that separation must ultimately come, the Council is strongly and with almost complete unanimity opposed to separation now or in the near future ... in twenty or twenty-five years' time, perhaps." Again there is a very general agreement with regard to the weak points of the present system —the absence of freedom of teaching, the dominance of external

Special maintenance allowances recommended.

Finance of Special Schools.

Shortcomings of the present system.

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examination and external syllabus, the slow working of the University machinery, which, as several witnesses put it, " is breaking down under its own weight." Of these shortcomings the last is mainly due to the geographical factor, the great distances separating the four University colleges, which, whatever development of the means of communication may take place in the immediate future, must always remain serious. Even in a country like Wales, where the greatest distance separating two constituent colleges, Bangor and Swansea, is under 250 miles, all of it by land, the tax on the time and energy of the college staffs which is involved in attending University committees is no light matter. The distance between Auckland and Dunedin is 850 miles, and communication between the University colleges of the North Island and those of the South is rendered additionally tedious, and even formidable, by a sea passage of twelve hours. With regard to the other shortcomings, some of the witnesses seemed to consider them as necessarily involved in the single university system for four teaching centres ; others held that they were independent of it, and could be eliminated by suitable reforms without having recourse to separation. In our opinion the latter is the correct view. There seems no reason why in a federal University the teacher should not act also as examiner and why the college should not be allowed to submit its own courses of study for the approval of a central Academic Board, whose function would be limited to seeing that such courses were academically sound and equivalent in .extent and difficulty to those submitted by the sister colleges. This is in fact the system actually in force in the federal University of Wales. The question at issue resolves itself, therefore, almost entirely into one of policy. On the one hand it was urged that the splitting up of a federal university into a number of independent universities has always been accompanied by a remarkable increase in local support and those local benefactions which have hitherto, with the single exception of Otago, been so lamentably lacking to the New Zealand colleges. Very striking evidence was offered of the results following from siich a development in South Africa, and also in the British Isles in the cases of Liverpool, Sheffield, and Belfast. The foundation of the many provincial universities in England within the past thirty years out of colleges often linked by a federal system is one of the most remarkable achievements of higher education in England. The movement is thus described by a writer in the Edinburgh Review, January, 1911 : " Not since the monastic revival of the twelfth century, or the scholastic revolution of the sixteenth, has England known an educational movement so rich in romance, in courage, in devotion, and in promise. The dreamer has dreamed, the founder has given land and gold, the public have subscribed, civic pride has been stirred, and the cry and need for knowledge have justified them all." It must be remembered that in England the newer universities obtained the financial support of very wealthy men or of great civic Corporations. In New Zealand the conditions are very different. Wealth is not concentrated in the hands of a comparative few, nor are there, as in South Africa, great and wealthy industrial concerns ; while municipal bodies have difficulty in commanding sufficient resources to undertake satisfactorily the many obligations they must carry in developing cities in a young country. We think that the analogy with Great Britain, South Africa, and other countries must not be pushed too far. We are not unmindful of the fact that the New Zealand people have been accustomed for many years to receive back from the Government the cost of public education, and that a considerable proportion of the students of the University are " free place " students financed by the State. A public so accustomed to depend on the consolidated revenue for the education of its youth is less likely to respond with enthusiasm to a proposal to contribute to a local university. It is, of course, probable that comparatively small amounts may be forthcoming, especially if they can command a corresponding Government subsidy, but the huge capital expenditure necessary to establish and maintain a modern university suitably housed and environed must, we think, still be looked for mainly from Government sources. The Otago University seems to have enjoyed from the very beginning steady local support, due no doubt to the fact that it was established not by the central

The geographical factor.

Academic freedom possible under a federal system.

Separation might be accompanied by large benefactions.

Conditions in New Zealand not favourable to such benefactions.

The State lias assumed the whole burden of educational expenditure in New Zealand.

Otago University lias received most from private sources.

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Government but by the original settlers, who brought with them to the new Edinburgh for higher education. At Christchurch and Wellington we. heard_ little that would lead us to expect an outburst of local generosity following the establishment of a local university. It is in Auckland that we think most could be looked for. Auckland is now by far the largest city in the Dominion, and is still growing very rapidly ; there has been developed an intense local pride in the city and its institutions, and moreover, owing to many causes incidental to the history of the Dominion, Auckland has fewer of the privilegesjof university education than any of the other cities. Under these there may be reason to expect more from Auckland than from any other centre should four separate universities be decided upon. On the other hand, alarm has been strongly expressed at the probable effect of giving a free hand to local ambitions and allowing fresh schools to be started in the supposed interests of a particular district, without reference to what is being done in other centres or to the general interests of the Dominion as a whole. A great many of the witnesses who opposed the four-universities plan gave as their main objection the multiplication of special schools which would in their opinion inevitably follow. It was pointed out that an independent university was not necessarily a free agent, as it must for a certainty depend upon financial assistance from the State, and that the Government must be consulted and must approve of all proposed commitments. The position was met in England by the formation of the University Grants Committee, a body of distinguished experts in various branches of Arts and Science, of independent position and commanding authority. All new developments projected in universities which receive State aid had to come before this Committee, and the Treasury was guided by its decision. The witnesses, however, while admitting that this plan might meet the difficulty in Great Britain, were in general very doubtful whether it could be brought into effective operation in New Zealand. Several expressed the decided opinion that the personnel for such a committee of commanding authority, entirely free from political influence, was not to be found in the Dominion, where almost all the experts of authority in university matters were already connected with one or other of the University colleges : in England, on the other hand, the old universities and bodies like the Royal Society formed a reservoir which might be drawn upon for such service. As to the suggestion that the regulation of the establishment of special schools might be secured by a limitation in the charters of the new universities, several witnesses of wide experience of public life expressed emphatically the view that under the parliamentary system of the Dominion, whatever limitations might be imposed by charter or otherwise, it would not be possible, once a locality had secured a university of its own, to prevent it starting any new activities it might choose. As we have stated in another section of our report, we regard the duplication of great professional schools as fraught with disaster alike to the finance of the university and the status of the profession concerned. Professional schools are necessarily far more costly than the ordinary university faculties ; they require larger and more expensive equipment, and have to provide salaries that will retain the services of the best teachers against the competition of lucrative professional practice. Again, a man trained in a profession is virtually confined to that career in after life. There is strong ground, therefore, for limiting the output of a professional school. Quality rather than quantity should be the aim. We have elsewhere expressed our opinion that university education in New Zealand has suffered from the tendency to cover too wide a field with the resources at command. An argument frequently heard from those who opposed the establishment of four universities was that the reputation of New Zealand degrees would suffer outside of the Dominion. We think there is force in this contention. We believe that the reputation of a degree is best founded upon the reputation of the teachers within the university which confers it. Those who are well informed will have no difficulty in estimating the value of such a degree. But when we are considering the proposal to split up a national university into four provincial ones, we must take into account the surprisingly small amount of knowledge of such a country as New Zealand

Feeling in Auckland favourable to a local autonomous university.

Danger of multiplication of special schools.

Checks on university expansion.

A University Grants Committee not favoured.

Limitation of charter not permanently effective.

Fear that separation would lower the value of degrees.

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winch is to be found even within the Empire of which it forms a part. It is questionable whether in the neighbouring Commonwealth of Australia there is any widespread knowledge of the provincial centres of New Zealand : there certainly is not in Great Britain or Canada. If, therefore, instead of a " degree of the University of New Zealand " someone abroad is asked to consider a degree of the Otago University or of the Canterbury or Auckland University, he may well have little knowledge of these centres to assist him. The tendency would undoubtedly be to lump all these degrees together as New Zealand degrees, and as a result their reputation would soon become that of the weakest among them. Even a great country like the United States of America suffers from ill-informed popular opinion as to the quality of its university degrees. It is unfortunate that many unworthy institutions granting degrees and diplomas have flourished, and do perhaps still exist in America. Despite the fact that some of the greatest universities in the world are American universities, popular opinion in Great Britain and Australasia stiil tends to speak in dispraise of " American degrees." This argument against separation at present appears to us, therefore, to have considerable force. We found, as might have been expected, that the opinion in favour of four universities was held most strongly by representatives of the Arts and Science faculties, that no strong feeling in favour of such a course was as a rule shown by representatives of the special professional schools, but that the opinions of these representatives were more often than not strongly against the proposal. The explanation is to be found in the fact that the curriculum and examinations of the special schools are really in the hands of the teachers, whereas the teachers in the other schools chafe under what they consider unnecessary and humiliating restrictions. With the greater academic freedom which we recommend the strong opinion in favour of separation is likely to be lessened. There is nothing in itself objectionable in the federal principle. The old historic universities, Oxford and Cambridge, have both developed on these lines. The Toronto University has worked under a federal constitution from the outset. Where a university is very large, the existence within it of smaller communities providing more definite opportunities for social and intellectual intercourse is undoubtedly an additional advantage. College life at Oxford and Cambridge is a most valuable element in the old university training, and it does not prevent that wider intercourse which is furnished by university lectures, the Union, and inter-collegiate competitions of various kinds. When, however, the constituent communities are geographically separated so that personal contact between them is lost, or at least reduced to a minimum, the federal university takes on a new character : its function is no longer to organize an overgrown community by building up smaller well-organized bodies inside it, but to give to a number of smaller communities, which are hardly strong enough to function freely by themselves, the support and encouragement that comes from co-operation in counsel and. action. In this case its role is purely temporary : when the communities it serves are able to stand on their own feet and move freely the helping hand becomes an encumbrance and should be withdrawn. We have elsewhere stressed what we regard as a strong argument against the early separation into four universities—viz., the effect of forty years of university work under conditions most unfavourable for developing a high type of university teaching, and a fine conception of the place and function of the university in the life of the community. The scheme we propose for the immediate future will, we consider, form an excellent preparation for the separation which will no doubt take place hereafter when the progress of the Dominion justifies it. THE TEACHING STAFF AND ITS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSITY. The teaching staff must in the nature of things be the very source and fount of the life of a university. Councils and Convocations have their importance and their use, but, after all, they are but adjuncts. So, too, are examinations and curricula. The essential fact in a university is the co-operation of keen and enthusiastic students with able and stimulating teachers in study and investigation. Unless the teacher be a man who knows and loves his subject; is zealous in endeavouring to extend its bounds, and in making converts to his own faith in it ;

The Arts and Science faculties in favour of separation.

Federal principle not in itself objectionable.

University ideals to-day not such as to justify separation.

Importance of choosing the right man as teacher.

E.—7 A

and unless he has the power of training his students in the knowledge and in the method of it, nothing that Councils can do, and that examinations can do, will ever make of it a university subject. If this be granted, the supreme importance of choosing the right teachers is manifest. A man of the right type can be left to himself, and the more he is left to his own methods the better for his work; the man of inferior type cannot by any system of supervision produce work of the first order. During our stay in New Zealand we have read much of the past history of the University, and we regret to find evidence of failure on the part of those charged with University administration to appreciate the fundamental fact that a teaching staff of high standard, trusted to manage the academic concerns of the University, is the best possible guarantee of success. On the contrary, we have found that suspicion and distrust of the professors, and a tendency to treat them as " employees," has net been unknown. In our view, governing bodies should take every possible precaution to select a high-minded, able man as professor or lecturer, and thereafter allow him all reasonable liberty to do his work in his own way. We have, we trust, made abundantly clear our attitude 011 the question of the imposed fixed curriculum, and the external examination in which the professor has 110 part in the testing and certification, of his own students. Both of these are, in our judgment, the negation of that academic freedom which is the very breath of life of a true university. " The spring of educational vigour is freedom ; and without freedom the best university work is impossible." Further, we urge' that the professors, through the Professorial Board and the faculties, should be charged, with the responsibility for all purely academic matters. The governing bodies are well advised when they either delegate large powers over such matters to their teachers, or habitually act only after advice from them. The College Council is charged with, the duty of maintaining policy and transacting business ; but in an educational institution the dividing-line between what are details of policy and business, and what are academic matters, is oft-times a very shadowy one indeed. This is the justification for the inclusion of a small representation of the teaching staff upon the governing body. If it be argued, as it has been argued strongly in New Zealand, that professors should not sit on a body which deals with their own salaries and status, the answer should be that common-sense and ordinary good taste should prompt members of a council to take no part in a discussion which involves their own. pecuniary interests. Unless such a principle be accepted, we feel that professors cannot expect to maintain the freedom and responsibility which should be theirs. We have elsewhere outlined a proposed method, for the selection of professors and lecturers. We are strongly convinced, that the governing body should be advised by a selection committee, largely composed of experts in the subject under consideration, or in cognate subjects. In other words, men of high academic standing should assist in making the selection. Having regard, to what we have said about the fundamental importance of research in its effect on all university teaching, as well as of its place in fulfilling the purposes of a university, we consider that one test of fitness for any senior staff position should be evidence of a close acquaintance with the methods of teaching and research, and some approved work done therein. The conditions laid down for appointment as university professor or as reader in the University of London appear to us to meet the case of New Zealand. " The Advisory Board shall have regard to —(1) the applicant's contributions by research to the advancement of science or learning ; (2) his powers as a teacher ; (3) generally, his eminence in his subject or in his profession." It is worthy of note that in the London University the Advisory Board is composed of the ViceChancellor, the Principal, the Provost, and six persons, of whom three are " external experts " appointed by the Senate of the University, and three are appointed by the Senate on the nomination of the Professorial Board. The recommendation of the Advisory Board is sent simultaneously to tlie Academic Council and to the Professorial. Board, and the former body, after receiving any comments from the Professorial Board, forwards the nomination to the Senate with its own report. Thus the governing body appoints only after a report by experts.

Academic freedom essential to a university.

Professors on the governing body of college and university.

The selection of professors should be made on expert advice.

The qualifications which should be demanded.

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The questions of salary and tenure of university professors have an important bearing upon the appointment of the right type of teacher. It will be conceded, we think, that for the highest quality of university work (and by this we do not mean advanced work merely), the qualifications demanded in the preceding paragraph are essential. But the number of men with such qualifications, who are available, is not unlimited, and universities and other teaching, scientific, and learned institutions the world over are on the lookout for them. New Zealand, by reason of its remoteness from centres offering special attractions to the student and scholar, must expect to have correspondingly greater difficulty in attracting the best type of teacher. This handicap is to be offset by making the conditions of salary, status, and tenure more than ordinarily attractive. But we do not find that this is the case. In the neighbouring universities of Sydney and Melbourne we think we are right in saying that no professorship carries a salary of less than £1,000 per annum, while many Chairs have much larger salaries attached to them. Another factor which, complicates the matter is the number of professorships necessary to staff four University centres, as against the fewer number required by one central University. But, while granting that a proportionately larger number of Chairs is necessary under the New Zealand system, we are of opinion that professorships have been established often without sufficient warranty. In a country with 1,350,000 people and such a geographical configuration as to necessitate four University teaching centres, some severe limitation of the number of courses offered was necessary from the outset. The supreme test of university work which is likely to contribute to national progress is quality, not quantity. But an examination of -the calendars shows that the New Zealand University provides a greater range of university teaching than does either of the centralized universities of Sydney and Melbourne, each of which serves a population far greater than that of New Zealand. Nor is the teaching of these varied courses, except in a few special professional schools, confined to one University centre. We believe that better results would have been obtained had the college activities been confined to fewer subjects and to fewer courses. It is not enough to adopt a curriculum and appoint a teacher. Work of university standing requires far more than this. In a university with limited resources, dissipation of educational effort over a large field inevitably leads to shortcomings. What is true of the number of separate courses is also true in some cases of the number of subjects contained within a course. The B.A. degree is a case in point. The analogy of the four Scottish universities is often urged by those who advocate four universities for New Zealand. It is argued that Scotland supported four universities when her population was no greater than that of the Dominion. But the strength of the smaller Scottish universities has been the strict limitation of the teaching to few courses, and to comparatively few subjects within these courses. Writing of the Scottish universities and applying the lesson to American colleges, President G. E. Maclean (Director of the American Universities Union in Europe) says : " Some institutions need to learn the virtue of thrift and of not creating improperly paid Chairs, others not to multiply subjects of instruction before they are able to give them efficiently."* Among the disabilities which confront a potential applicant for a Chair in the New Zealand University may be mentioned the necessarily wide scope of the subjects to be taught, owing to the impossibility of specialization within a small college ; the large classes to be taught at the pass stage ; the lack of opportunities and energy for private study and research due to pressure of teaching duties, spread over a considerable portion of the day and evening ; and absence from libraries, and from opportunities for association with co-workers in the same field of study. These disabilities are very real ones, and. unless they are compensated for by attractive salaries, security of tenure, and satisfactory provision for retirement, the best candidates will not persevere in their application. Some of the witnesses who appeared before us complained that owing to the change in the value of money their salaries were now worth very much less than

Salary and tenure of professors.

Too many professorships have been created in New Zealand.

Too ambitious a programme has been attempted.

Example of the four Scottish universities.

Disabilities of New Zealand positions.

Complaints of inequitable treatment.

* Bureau of Education, Washington, Bulletin, 1917, No. 16, "Studies in Higher Education in England and Scotland," p. 64,

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they were some years ago. This, of course, is true of all who are living on fixed incomes. We have neither time nor opportunity to investigate this complaint in relation to what has been done by the State authorities for other salaried persons who serve the community. But common justice surely demands that an equitable adjustment of salaries to the changed conditions should be made. We were also given a great amount of evidence showing that the existing scheme for superannuation presses very unfairly on newly appointed professors, owing to the small maximum retiring-allowance which may be received. It is contended that a professor must pay for a long period of years a heavy annual premium, and must then retire at a maximum allowance of £300 per annum —a sum considerably less than could be obtained from an ordinary investment in an annuity. This question, also, is bound up in the Government policy for the superannuation of all Government officers, and should be dealt with as affecting the whole body of officers included in the scheme. The position is set forth in detail in the memorandum submitted by the Otago Branch of the University Teachers' Association of New Zealand, printed in the evidence accompanying this report. The salary and prospects of the sub-professorial staff demand investigation and the institution of some definite system of classification. We consider that a classification of the teaching staff into professors, associate professors, senior lecturers, lecturers, and demonstrators, with definite salaries attached to each post, has much to commend it. The titles "professor" and "associate professor" should not be given to any officer who does not possess the qualifications laid down for these positions in other parts of this report; and when vacancies occur or new Chairs are to be created, lecturers should not be promoted to the position until it has been ascertained that they are the best candidates offering. On this point we quote from the evidence of Professor A. Wall : "In my opinion the interests of university teaching have suffered by the appointment to Chairs of men who happen to be in the position of lecturer when the Chair is established: men who could not have obtained such positions in open competition. Particular cases can be mentioned. I have grave misgivings on this ground when supporting the movement for four separate universities as I do on general grounds. Some sort of safeguard seems to be required to ensure that in every case the very best man should be appointed." While we agree with this contention, we feel that it strengthens the case for a more generous treatment of the staff of lecturers. Men and women appointed to full-time positions on a university staff must be persons of high academic standing, and they should be able to teach effectively. Their academic qualifications are, as a rule, greatly in advance of those of secondary teachers. Yet we find that assistant masters in secondary schools are paid larger salaries than University teachers. On this point Dr. I. L. G. Sutherland, Victoria College, stated : — " I wish to compare the salaries paid to University assistants with those paid to secondary-school teachers, to training-college lecturers, and to instructors in technical schools. The salary paid to full-time male assistants in secondary schools, Grade A, is £470, rising by annual increments to £520, plus an allowance of £40 in the case of married men. Married teachers may thus receive £560. In the same way training-college lecturers may, if married, receive £525, and instructors in technical schools £585. No assistant at Victoria College receives more than £400, and only three receive this amount. No woman assistant receives more than £300 ; nor is there any provision for increase in either case. And it may be pointed out that the academic qualifications of the University assistant are often much higher, and necessarily so, than those of the secondary-school teacher. " Regarding the future prospects of assistants, I should like to point out how different the situation is in New Zealand from that in Great Britain. In Great Britain there is a wide field of university appointments and many openings occur. A man of any ability can go from a junior lectureship to a senior lectureship in a large university, and then to a professorial appointment in some smaller provincial university. This, in fact, is the usual procedure. In New Zealand, small and so completely isolated, there is no such possibility. This makes it essential, if qualified assistants are to be secured and retained, that they should be given the opportunity

Alleged unfairness of the superannuation scheme.

The sub-professional staff should be classified.

Vacancies should be filled only after careful and searching inquiry for the best men available.

The staff of lecturers is on the whole under-paid-

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of a career within their own university. The needs of the colleges and fairness to the assistants themselves demand this." Another difficult problem in staffing University classes is that of providing junior positions of sufficient permanence. Professor W. N. Benson on this matter gave the following evidence : — " While supporting strongly the statements made that the junior positions in the University are insufficiently paid and are often £ blind alleys,' we would desire to emphasize the ill effect of these conditions on the progress of the University. No professor can safely plan any scheme of development of the work of his department or extensive researches involving specialization and partition of duties between his assistants and himself, as he has no assurance of their continued co-operation. Especially in. the smaller departments where only part-time assistants' positions are available, the professor is either without any assistant for lack of suitable candidates for the position, or his energies are dissipated in training a succession of assistants in the routine work immediately necessary, only to lose their services in a year or two." We are afraid, however, that in a comparatively small teaching centre there is no escape from the fact that the junior staff must necessarily change frequently. In educational institutions of all grades, senior teachers have to undertake the duty of training a junior staff, and naturally they desire to retain their services after they have become efficient. It is likely that in some subjects substantial assistance could be obtained by the professor, if young graduates in honours, and trained as secondary teachers, were given three years' work as junior assistants. During this period they would be extending and deepening their knowledge of their special subjects, and should in consequence become much more efficient in the work of the higher forms of the secondary school. In such a plan it should, of course, be provided that on entry to the staff of the secondary school the young teacher should receive at least the same salary and the same seniority as fellow-students who took up secondary work at the end of their undergraduate course. Professor Denham (Chemistry), Professor Stewart (Classics), and others expressed approval of such a scheme provided that graduates of sufficient academic worth could be obtained. In order to prevent their - teaching becoming formal and stereotyped, and to enable them to bring tlieir knowledge of recent developments in their subject up-to-date, professors should be given opportunities for visiting the great centres of learning. For this purpose we strongly recommend the institution of the practice of granting to the members of the senior staff, at suitable intervals, a period of leave of absence, it being understood that this leave shall be spent abroad by the professor in pursuing research or extending his knowledge of University life or methods. The so-called " Sabbatical Year system," which is widely prevalent in the United States, has been instituted for the above objects. Such a provision would tend to raise the ideals of the University, and would be a constant source of fresh inspiration to its teachers. The adoption of the recommendations throughout this report will necessitate new financial arrangements being made for the University. When these are under consideration, the classification, salary, and status of the teaching staff should be reviewed in the light of the considerations we have set out herein, and of those contained in the printed evidence. We should like, however, in closing this section to emphasize a number of points. The efficiency of a university rests absolutely upon the ability and good will of its teachers. New Zealand has, for a variety of reasons, good in themselves, adopted a system of University teaching which is necessarily more costly than a centralized system.. In the laudable endeavour to make the University available to the greatest number, it has in some courses adopted the system of evening lectures only. The size of the classes has therefore increased greatly. It has further, and we think unwisely, allowed the University to establish too many courses without adequate financial provision, and too many subjects income courses. There is evidence also to "show that many students enter the University inadequately prepared. It is good homely advice to cut one's coat according to the amount of cloth available. We fear that this consideration has not been kept sufficiently in mind by those most concerned.

Problem of a satisfactory junior staff.

A suggestion for junior assistance in some subjects.

" Sabbatical year " recommended.

Considerations to be kept in mind in dealing with finance of the university.

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PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSITY. Probably the most important question in the order of reference given to us is that relating to the constitution of the University, and " the question whether the present system of four colleges federated under the New Zealand University is satisfactory or is capable of improvement. In particular, whether each of the present four University colleges should become a separate university, and, if so, under what conditions." Having heard evidence tendered from persons holding very diverse views as to the best constitution for university government in New Zealand, and after careful consideration of the present-day circumstances relative to university life and teaching, we have arrived at the conclusion that the time is not ripe for the establishment of four separate universities. We, however, recommend substantial changes in the present organization of the University in order to make it a federal university charged with definite responsibility for teaching, but allowing to the constituent colleges greater freedom in developing their own curricula and in holding examinations. Under its present constitution the University of New Zealand examines but does not teach. The professors are professors of the colleges and not of the University. The University imposes the curriculum through its examinations, and these examinations take no account of the work done in the colleges, except so far as this may be tested by written papers. We have elsewhere endeavoured to set out fully the shortcomings of such a system, and to make it clear that in our opinion the highest results of university education cannot be secured so long as it endures. We have been impressed by the far-sighted conclusions of the Royal Commission upon the New Zealand University, 1879, and we feel that the higher education of the Dominion has suffered from the failure to give effect to these conclusions. Shortly put they are, — (a.) That, new University colleges be established in the North Island, and that the Otago University and the Canterbury College, together with the new colleges proposed to be established, be brought into a much closer relation with the University. (b.) That the professors of the University colleges be professors of the University, and be ordinarily its examiners. (c.) That the sanction of the governing body of the University should be obtained before new Chairs are established. (d.) That the tenure of office of professors shall, according to the ordinary custom of universities, be quamdiu se bene gesserit. The report further states, " Our desire is that each college may acquire a marked individuality, such, as to demand recognition in the form of examinations, and to secure for it a special reputation, which may at some future day be the foundation of its success as a separate and independent university." We feel that had the Dominion experienced since 1880 forty-five years of university teaching such as might have been expected to develop under the above conditions, the demand for separation might not have been made so insistently, and had it been made the granting of the demand would have been fraught with less danger of non-success than is the case to-day. We feel that the union of the four constituent colleges into one university organization has distinct advantages, and provided that freedom of teaching can be secured for the teaching staff, the advantages largely outweigh the disadvantages. The greatest obstacle to success lies in the strong provincial jealousies which have been so marked a feature of university development in this country. We have in our recommendations for the composition of the various University Statutory Committees, including the Council or governing body, kept the existence of this strong provincial feeling in mind, and have endeavoured to secure a composition of these bodies which shall be based upon the representation of the whole Dominion rather than of a province of it. We have read carefully the findings of the recent Royal Commission on university education in Wales 1918, and we are of opinion that the conditions in Wales are not very substantially different from those in New Zealand. In the principality there

Conclusions of the Royal Commission of 1879.

Union of four constituent colleges has advantages.

Example taken from University of Wales.

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are now within the Federal University of Wales four constituent colleges, situated at Aberystwith, Cardiff, Bangor, and Swansea. Although the distances separating these centres is not so great as the distance separating New Zealand colleges, the difficulties in the way of ready communication are considerable. Under the new constitution resulting from the recommendations of the Royal Commission, university education of a high standard is now proceeding smoothly and efficiently, and there is no apparent desire to change the federal system. The Commission's report states, in words which surely may be applied to New Zealand also, " In spite of all difficulties and drawbacks due to geographical conditions and defective means of communication, of differences in industrial and social conditions, of the spirit of local patriotism which does not always pull the same way as the larger national sentiment, we are convinced that Wales desires—and is right in desiring —a single national university."* It is true that there are comparatively few universities organized under the federal system, and that the system has serious drawbacks only to be overcome by tactful and sympathetic government on the part of the University, and willingness to co-operate on the part of the constituent colleges. But we see no reason for doubting that what is possible in Wales may be possible in New Zealand. With an equitable allocation of " Special Schools " among the four chief centres of population so that, while national economy is observed, the legitimate aspirations of each college to a share in providing special courses may be satisfied, we see no reason why the federal system may not work well for many years to come. It is perhaps inevitable, and in fact desirable, that in the fullness of time the constituent colleges may become separate universities ; but, in our judgment, the best interests of university education demand that the authority of the Dominion as a whole should for the present at least be behind the teaching and the degrees conferred. We believe that a most unfortunate decision was made, when the University was constituted in 1874 as a merely examining body, and that that fact alone is responsible for much which we regard as deficient in the teaching and life of the University, and for the extravagant belief which is held by the public in the value of mere degrees as distinct from, sound and efficient education. In this connection the London University Commission's report speaks very definitely : " We are convinced that both a detached syllabus and an external examination are inconsistent with the true interests of university education, injurious to the students, degrading to the teachers, and ineffective for the ends they are supposed to promote. The insistence on a system of external examinations is always based upon want of faith in the teachers." With this view we concur fully, and we believe that a fair and impartial inquiry into the details of university education in New Zealand—an inquiry which we cannot claim to have made in the time at our disposal—would substantiate it fully. We base our opinion mainly upon the evidence which is printed in the appendix to this report. The effect upon the teaching staff during the fifty years of the external examination regime is, unhappily, not easily remedied. Methods of teaching based upon such a regime and designed to produce " results " rather than develop the spirit of eager inquiry in the pursuit of knowledge, cannot be changed in a day. Nor can the popular estimation of what constitutes a university education be expected to change materially for a long time to come. These considerations have weighed with us in arriving at the opinion that a teaching university which allows all reasonable freedom to the college professors in regard to the curriculum, and gives them a due share in the examination of their students, while providing that each professor of a subject has the advantage of the advice and criticism of his colleagues professing the same subject in the other colleges, is really the best solution of the present problem. The proposal for four separate universities takes no account of the cumulative effect of fifty years spent in the pursuit of false ideals. We recommend that the University of New Zealand be reorganized as a teaching university with Constituent Colleges. These Constituent Colleges should be granted definite powers in relation to curricula and methods of & examination. We propose that the governing body of the University shall be called the Council,

Reformed federal system best for present conditions.

Faults ascribed to wrong basis of university organization.

Effect of fifty years of examination regime.

A reformed constitution outlined.

* Royal Commission on the University of Wales Report, sec. 174, p. 57.

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and that the Council shall in all academic matters act upon the advice of an Academic Board. The Academic Board shall be charged with the duty, under the Council, of approving all curricula and all standards and methods of examination. The Council shall appoint as professors of the University such teachers in the Constituent Colleges as it thinks fit, and shall, in all future appointments of independent heads of departments in these colleges, be entitled to appoint representatives to a joint committee formed to advise the College Council in making such appointment. The teachers in each college will be organized into Faculties as prescribed by the statutes of the University, and these Faculties shall have the right to submit, through the Professorial Board of the College, for the approval, of the University, courses of study in any subject within the Faculty. Such courses when approved shall be university courses, and shall qualify, as prescribed, for degrees and diplomas. Examinations shall be conducted by the senior teacher of a subject, together with an external examiner appointed by the Council on the recommendation of the Academic Board. There shall be a Principal or academic head of the University, who, in addition to being a member of the University Council, shall be Chairman of the Academic Board and a member of all Faculties. Let us now consider how the scheme of University administration just outlined would work out in practice. And, first, let us consider its effect on the teaching staff. Under a federal system such as we advocate, the professors of the colleges will become professors of the University, and the University will take a share of the responsibility in selecting professors, whenever a vacancy occurs on a college staff. Nothing makes or mars the fortunes of a subject or a department of university study more than the appointment of a senior teacher. Given the right man all is possible, but if a second-rate man is chosen, no action the Council can take to condition his work can improve matters much. For the height to which a subject can rise in the University is that of its principal teachers. As has been often said, a university works by the co-operation of keen and enthusiastic students with inspiring teachers in study and investigation, and the benefit the student receives is not so much the well stored mind as the developed, the inquiring mind. During the taking of evidence we often heard the argument, that the standing of the New Zealand degree was assured by the system of external examinations. We believe that the esteem in which a university is held is determined by the reputation of its teachers, and by the amount and quality of the original work which they and the students taught by them have produced. The man who has not developed the method and spirit of research, and who is not actively engaged in endeavouring to extend the bounds of his subject, should have no place in a university. Such a man may be an excellent coach for examinations, but no more. Keeping such considerations in view we feel, therefore, that, when a vacancy is to be filled, no effort should be spared to devise a method for securing a selection committee capable of going thoroughly into the claims of applicants. The matter concerns not only the college, but the University also, and affects education throughout the Dominion. To appreciate this statement one has only to realize how an able and stimulating professor of English literature, for example, may, through his effect on young teacher students, influence vitally the appreciation of simple literature among the children of the far back settler. The appointment of professors should not be affected by local considerations or by the fact that applicants are New Zealanders. The best man, and no one but the best man, should be the test of selection. We recommend that all vacancies for professors, senior lecturers, or for academic heads of colleges be filled by the College Council, after a report by an expert selection committee composed of, say, four representatives nominated by the College Council, and three representatives of the University. Such a selection committee might, conceivably, be composed as follows : The academic head of the college (if any), and the Chairman of the College Council, together with other persons nominated by the Council, one of whom should be a teacher in the college possessing expert knowledge of the subject in question or of cognate subjects. The representatives of the University should have expert qualifications, and should include the Principal of the University, if it is decided to appoint such an officer. To

University must have share in appointment of professors.

Value of degree depends upon teachers.

Expert selection committee necessary.

Constitution of selection committee,

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avoid delays on the part of the University, it could be arranged that fche Principal or the Vice-Chancellor might nominate suitable University representatives having the necessary expert knowledge for the consideration of the [particular appointment. It is, of course, understood that the practice followed in Australian universities, and as a general rule, in New Zealand, of making inquiries, or of calling for applications in Great Britain and elsewhere, before filling senior teaching positions will be continued, and that expert committees in Great Britain will still be asked to advise the joint committee above recommended as to the suitability of applicants, including, if possible, the applicants from New Zealand. It is interesting to find that the Royal Commission on the University of New Zealand in 1879 reported on this matter : "In accordance with the resolution cited above for securing the independence of the University colleges, the right of appointing professors will vest in the Councils of the colleges ; but we think it necessary that the sanction of the Senate of the University should be obtained before a new professorship or lecturership is established in any college. As the professors of the colleges will receive the status of professors of the University, and as the University examinations will be mainly conducted by them, it seems reasonable to give the Senate a voice in determining what professorships are most urgently needed, and also to give it a veto on the institution of new professorships, in the event of the salaries offered being, in its judgment, insufficient to secure the services of men of the requisite ability and acquirements. The power which it is here proposed to confer upon the Senate will be especially useful aS a means of preventing the undue multiplication of technical and professional schools, and of giving a special character to each college by attaching different schools of that class to the different colleges."* Again we express regret that this wise recommendation was not adopted. It certainly does not specifically mention the filling of vacancies in the teaching ranks, but it may be inferred that the Commission would have favoured our recommendation that vacancies should be filled only after the advice of a joint expert committee representing college and University has been taken. The greatest objection to the present federal system has been the rigid syllabus and the external examination. University teachingjjjannot live under such conditions. This has been adequately commented upon elsewhere in this report. We consider that under the new constitution of the University of New Zealand power should be given to the colleges to submit proposed courses of study for the approval of the Academic Board of the University, which will be concerned mainly in maintaining the equivalence of standards. As a matter of principle, the University which takes the responsibility of granting degrees should have also the responsibility for the syllabus and for standards. We propose that the governing body or University Council shall exercise such responsibility through the Academic Board, which will take the place of the present Board of Studies. The supreme governing body of the University, the Council, should have the right to confirm all decisions of the Academic Board relating to curricula and standards, but we cannot conceive of such a body undertaking the duty of altering or amending the details of academic matters. If it is not prepared to confirm a report, it will refer it, as a matter of course, back to the Academic Board for further consideration or for report to that body by the appropriate Faculty. There should be no insuperable difficulty in allowing to the colleges the necessary liberty to adapt curricula and in maintaining even standards within the University. Syllabuses may be equal in standard while differing in detail. Equality does not necessarily mean identity. In each of the constituent colleges suitable Faculties should be constituted under statute. These Faculties should play an important part in the development of courses, and in all administrative detail of an academic nature. The work of the different Faculties should be co-ordinated by the Professorial Board, and the reports of the Faculties should be forwarded to the College Council through the Professorial Board. The Faculties and the Professorial Board are advisory committees of the Council on academic matters, and the Council should delegate much administrative detail of an academic nature to them.

The 1879 Commission made a similar recommendation.

How freedom of curricula can be assured.

Function of the College Faculties.

* iioyal Commission on University of New Zealand, 1879, p. xiii.

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Geographical difficulties in way of University Faculties.

Unfortunately, the wide distances which separate the constituent colleges make it impossible to use the University Faculty as is done in universities where all teaching is centred in one locality. A University Faculty consisting of all the principal teachers of the subjects contained within the Faculty can, especially if distingished graduates outside the University teaching ranks are co-opted upon it, be made most effective in advising the Council or the Academic Board upon all matters pertaining to the studies within its scope, and the administration incidental thereto. But if the conditions in New Zealand make it impossible for single University Faculties to function, we think that every college should have its definite organization of College Faculties, which shall report on matters referred to it by either the Council or the Professorial Board, in addition to having concern over all matters pertaining to the studies and examinations within its scope. Moreover, if it is too expensive in money and in time to arrange for joint meetings of similar College Faculties except on special occasions when conditions for degree courses are under review, they should be able|to work out some suitable arrangement to keep in touch with one another, and with their representatives on the Academic Board. The case of the Special Schools, such as medicine and engineering, is different. They, happily, have only one Faculty to consider, and this can function in the mode usual in a well organized university. A few words on the principle of co-option upon the Faculties of persons other than University teachers may be offered. Normally, Faculty membership consists of the .heads of departments, professors, and independent lecturers within the school represented. In some of the Australian universities the practice has been adopted of inviting a strictly limited number of distinguished graduates to join the Faculty. This is especially valuable in the case of the professional schools. The men chosen are usually leaders in their profession, and the object in associating them with the Faculty is to bring to bear upon all questions as to the suitability of university courses and examinations, the matured opinion of the profession concerned. In Melbourne University all of the Faculties are broadened and strengthened by this method. The regulation bearing upon the matter is as follows: "With the object of obtaining the services of those who possess expert knowledge and who are not teachers in the University, the Council may, after consultation with the respective Faculties, appoint not more than four additional members of the Faculty of Arts, not more than three additional members of the Faculty of Science, not more than three additional members of the Faculty of Law, not more than twelve additional members of the Facility of Engineering, and not more than three additional members of the Faculty of Commerce, who shall hold office for three years, and shall be eligible for reappointment, provided that no member thus appointed shall be a member of any other Faculty." It is further provided that all members of the supreme governing body or Council of the Melbourne University who are legally qualified members of the various professions shall be entitled to a seat on the appropriate Faculty. This has been a very valuable means of keeping the governing body in close touch with academic opinion. The College Faculty should be the body to advise the Council of the College on all matters affecting staff and appointments within the Faculty. The considerations we adduce later which in our opinion should govern the relations of the University Council to the Academic Board are applicable to the relations between the College Council on the one hand and the Professorial Board and Faculties on the other. The most efficient college administration, we believe, will be found to be that under which the Council acts with the advice of the Professorial Board and Faculties and delegates academic details to them. An essential part of the constitution which we recommend is the Academic Board. This Board is to be representative of the teaching staff, and is to have the oversight of all academic matters and act as an advisory Board to the Council. In the evidence submitted to us will be found complaints that the present governing body of the University, the Senate, interfered unduly with academic details, to the prejudice of University teaching. In recent years a Board of Studies has been constituted, and we learn that, on the whole, this has worked smoothly and well. The Academic Board should consist of the Principal of the University, who should be Chairman, and twenty members, being professors elected by the professors

Co-option of distinguished graduates upon Faculties recommended.

An Academic Board essential in new constitution.

Constitution of the Academic Board.

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of the University in the following manner : Eight members should first be elected by the whole of the professorial staff of the University, and, when such election has taken place, the remaining twelve members should be elected by the several Professorial Boards of the constituent colleges, three members being elected by each Board. Such a procedure will enable each Board to make its choice, knowing the personnel of a considerable section of the Academic Board. It will thus be possible to secure representation for any special subject, or Faculty, which the Board desires to include in its representation. We consider that a good basis of representation for an Academic Board is representation by Faculties, but the difficulties in the way of such ace too great. Presuming that a fairly adequate balance of representation of Faculties can be secured, the ideal Academic Board would be made up by the inclusion of the strongest element of the professoriate, of men who in academic qualification and teaching power stand high in the regard of their fellows. They should be able to take a broad and liberal view of questions as affecting the welfare of the University as a whole, and not as affecting the real or supposed interests of their own College. We feel, however, that provincial feeling is so strong in the Colleges that at present the only course practicable is that the Colleges should be guaranteed, up to a point, equality of representation on the Academic Board. We have made no provision for a definite representation of the Special Schools. The Colleges concerned with such schools may, however, be looked to to provide for such representation by electing suitable representatives, and it certainly is their interest to do so. If the senior teachers of the University are animated by good will to" the University as a whole, they have the opportunity to appoint an Academic Board representative of the strongest elements of the teaching staff, and adequate in its composition to carry out the delicate and difficult work entrusted to it. The Academic Board should work as far as possible through the college Faculties, and through special committees called together by the Board for special occasions. On such special committees the Board should have power to include persons not on the teaching staff, and should use this power. The number and variety of subjects nowadays included in university courses, and the intimate touch which many of these have with practical affairs, afford excellent reasons why this practice should be followed. The Academic Board should advise the Council on all academic matters, but it should also have the right, on its own initiative, to discuss, and forward to the Council an opinion on any matter whatsoever relating to the University. The Council must have the right to the final decision on all matters of University concern, but it should, as a matter of administrative economy, delegate from time to time duties to the Academic Board, and, as a matter of principle, should give the greatest weight to academic opinion on purely administrative matters, or, as the London University Commission Report happily puts it, the action of the governing body in matters reported upon by the Academic Board " should be judicial rather than executive." Ihe governing body of the University should, we recommend, be called the Council. Its main duty will be to lay down and maintain a policy for the University. In this it will be guided by the Academic Board. It is of the greatest importance that the Council should be composed of men who are likely to take a broad, national view of University development, and who are keenly interested in the progress of higher education. They should be, essentially, men who can deal with a question judicially, and who have a good knowledge of administration, especially of such administration as is carried on largelv by delegation of powers. University administration rests upon this principle. The opinion of the London University Commission is in favour of a Council differing very greatly in constitution from that of the present Senate. It will not hear ] of the representation of special interests or of special institutions. " The Senate ' should not be in the main a representative body, and should not, as to any large part, consist of teachers. The teachers who have seats upon it should not be so elected as to represent particular studies or particular institutions, but merely to ensure a mutual understanding between the men of affairs and the men of learning. It is of the utmost importance that the Senate should be so constituted as to be able

Difficulties in way of ideal representation.

Academic Board and Faculties.

Council in relation to Academic Board judicial, not executive.

Governing body of University.

Basis not representation of localities or interests.

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to work out a carefully considered policy for the maintenance and development of university teaching in the Metropolis. Experience has shown that a body made up of representatives of a number of different interests is incapable of formulating a united plan of action, and all the members of the new Senate should, therefore, as far as possible, be appointed for their personal qualifications as men of business knowledge and administrative capacity. With this end in view a large proportion of its members should be nominated by the Crown and not selected by other bodies."* We would draw special attention to these opinions in the light of the past history of the New Zealand University. The Senate has been the battle-ground of factions, and we have been assured by many witnesses that instead of the national interest being the first consideration, unfortunate compromises inimical to the national well-being have been made in order to reconcile provincial jealousies. But while we agree with the view just quoted, we cannot see how such a representative Council is to be formed in New Zealand. As a matter of fact, the Senate recommended by the London University Commission consists of fifteen members, of whom five are appointed by the Crown, two by the London County Council, one by the Corporation of the City of London, one is the Chancellor (elected for life by the Convocation), one the Vice-Chancellor (a paid officer appointed by the Senate), one the Chairman of Convocation, two persons are appointed by the University Court, and two are members of the Academic Council appointed by that body. This proposal provides, in a Senate of fifteen members, for eight members appointed by the Crown or by two great municipal bodies. The Governor-General in Council may conceivably be given the power to appoint a number of members to the new Council proposed, but there are no municipal bodies analogous to those existing in the London University area. On the whole, therefore, we are of opinion that there is no possibility of appointing a Council unless through the principle of representation . We recommend the formation of a Council or governing body of the University consisting of twenty-one members. Of these, one member shall be the Principal of the University, six members shall be appointed by the GovernorGeneral in Council as being persons of business knowledge, administrative capacity, and interest in higher education ; four members shall be appointed by the Councils of the University Colleges, one member by each Council; five members not being professors or teachers in the University shall be elected by members of Convocation by postal ballot; three members of the professorial staff of the University shall be nominated by the Academic Board ; one member shall be the person for the time being filling the office of Director of Education ; and one member shall be a person co-opted by the Council above constituted. The Council shall have the power to elect the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor from among its members. The tenure of office of members of the Council should be five years, with the right to be reappointed or re-elected, as the case may be. The present practice of allowing members of the governing body to vote by proxy should not be continued. It will be noted that only one member of Council is proposed for each of the Constituent Colleges instead of two as at present. Only three representatives of the professorial staff are proposed instead of four as at present; instead of representation being given to each of the four distinct Professorial Boards, the nomination is to rest with the Academic Board, which represents the whole of New Zealand. Further, the representatives elected by the Convocation are to be elected by that body as a whole and not by the District Courts. j§| Our purpose in making these recommendations is to minimize so far as we can the operation of the provincial jealousies and strife which have in the past, we are convinced, operated prejudicially to the interests of the University. Under the proposed constitution of the Council only four members of a Council of twenty-one will directly represent a provincial interest. IP? We note that the Commission on the University of Wales comes to a similar conclusion in recommending the formation of the Council ': "In view of the recommendations we are about to make for giving greater freedom to the colleges in matters of teaching, it is important that the aim of its constitution should be to

Opinion confirmed by New Zealand experience.

Composition of Council suggested for London University.

Conditions not analogous in New Zealand.

Recommendation for composition of Council.

Proxies. Analysis of proposed membership.

Opinion of University of Wales Commission.

* University of London Commission Report, sec. 111, p. 49.

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make it as far as possible an impartial guardian of tlie national interests rather than a balanced representation of those of the constituent colleges." * In regard to the representation of professors upon the Council, we are of opinion that it is a great mistake to give too liberal representation to the teaching staff upon the governing body. What is necessary is that the opinions of the Academic Board, when received by the Council, may, if necessary, be enlarged or interpreted, and that, when matters which appear to be mainly of a business nature really affect academic concerns, there shall be present those who will draw the attention of the Council to the necessity or desirability of consulting the Academic Board before a decision is reached. We feel that if professors are represented strongly on the Council there will be an inevitable tendency to ignore the opinions of the Academic Board and to discuss academic matters in detail. A Council left to itself will rarely act without, or contrary to, the advice of its expert advisers, but, if strong academic opinion is expressed upon any and every matter, as is likely to be the case when the teaching staff are present in strong force, the Council will gradually move away from its dependence upon the Academic Board and begin to decide academic matters for itself. A small representation of the teaching staff nominated by the Academic Board appears to us to be the best means of maintaining the dignity and power of the Academic Board. A great deal will depend, upon the wisdom with which members of Convocation exercise their choice. If the graduates of the University really appreciate the value of the privilege of electing to the Council, they have the opportunity of selecting from among the best and most public-spirited citizens in the Dominion. A position upon, the Council of the University should be regarded as a great honour, and it should attract high-minded men and women of outstanding ability. Few positions carry greater opportunities for service, for a fine university affects for good every department of the national life. President Eliot, of Harvard University, in his " University Administration " says : " The kind of man needed 011 the governing board of a university is the highly educated public-spirited business or professional man, who takes a strong interest in educational and social problems, and believes in higher education as the source of enlightenment and progress. He should also be a man who has been successful in his own calling, and commands the confidence of all who know him. The faculty he will most need is good judgment." We have been specifically asked to report whether " special, interests " such as agriculture, industry, and commerce should be represented on the Senate. Our opinion, and we feel that it is supported by the opinion of the greater number of the persons who tendered evidence, is that special interests, as such, should not be directly represented. Under the power proposed to be given to the Governor-General in Council, he will no doubt consider carefully whether a person with the qualifications for membership of Council, which we have emphasized, has the further qualification of connection with some great interest which it is desirable to bring into closer relations with the University. In such a case he will no doubt exercise his power of appointment wisely. We consider that the best place for the representation of such interests is the College Council. In regard to examinations, we consider that the professor of a subject should be its chief examiner. We are not prepared to recommend the course followed in Australian universities of leaving the examinations entirely in the hands of the teaching staff. We therefore recommend that an examiner other than the professor shall be appointed by the Council 011 the nomination of the Academic Board. This examiner will in most cases be a professor or senior teacher in another University College. The professor of the subject should have the initial responsibility of drafting the paper, while the external examiner should have the duty of approvingit with such modifications as he may consider desirable. The external examiner should also have the right to veto the passing of any candidate. These suggestions are made from the point of view of the maintenance of standards. Under the plan we contemplate, the examination of his students will become part of the regular duty of the teacher, as much a part of it, indeed, as his ordinary teaching.

Limitation of representation of professors justified.

Responsibility of Convocation.

Membership of Council a great opportunity for service.

" Special interests " should not be represented on University Council.

Examinations.

* Royal Commission University of Wales, p. 64, 1918.

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It will no doubt be necessary for the University to arrange for the payment of the external examiners, and it may be practicable to find one external examiner in a subject who will undertake the duty for all of the colleges, or all of the colleges save his own. At the inception of this scheme, and for the first years of its operation, it will be necessary for the Academic Board and the Principal of the University to supervise the work carefully until the scheme is working smoothly. We are of opinion that the circumstances of the University of New Zealand demand the appointment of a chief executive officer or Principal. We have during this report taken several occasions of stressing what we believe to be the bad effects upon the teaching staff, the students, the public, and university life in general accruing from the cumulative effect of fifty years of a system which has been roundly condemned by every competent inquiry of recent years. We propose that there should be a return to greater freedom in teaching and in examination, and greater trust in the teaching staff, who, after all, are the life of the University and on whose efforts the success of the institution depends. It is not an easy thing to change a point of view which has operated for so long. Many of the teachers may not be ready for the freedom which it is proposed to confer upon them. The first few years of a new system demand that a vigorous and inspiring influence should be breathed through the whole life of the University, and that the public should be taught to realize what the true function of a university is. We believe that the appointment, as academic head of the University, of a young and vigorous man of high academic standing, of lofty ideals of university life and work, and of inspiring personality, would inaugurate a new era in the higher education of the Dominion. Many universities in Great Britain have their paid Yice-Chancellor or Principal. Most of the American universities have their President. It would be the duty of the Principal to keep himself informed of the proceedings of all departments of university work in the constituent colleges, to be a connectinglink between them, to promote their harmonious working, and secure their due coordination within the University scheme. He would keep himself in touch with all the educational institutions in the Dominion, and would be ever on the watch to seize opportunities for extending the sphere of usefulness of the to the community. He should be the chief executive officer and leader of the University. As President of the Academic Board, he would watch over the essential work of the University, and would soon realize where its strength and weakness lay. He should be a member of the Council, and its President in the absence of the Chancellor, and should have the right to attend all Faculty meetings, A high-minded, zealous, able man whose university standing secured respect, both within and without university circles, could exercise a very great influence for good in the years of transition which we foresee. Unless there is such a guide and inspirer we may find that opportunities for reform have been given but that reform lias not materialized. It is, of course, not an easy matter to get the right man, and it is fair to point out that if the wrong man were appointed the second state of the University might be worse than the first. But if the right inducements of salary and status are offered and adequate care is taken in the selection we do not doubt that a suitable man will be forthcoming. It would be a magnificent opportunity for a young, vigorous, and distinguished student to make a name for himself and render good service to New Zealand. THE CULTIVATION OF THE RESEARCH SPIRIT IN THE UNIVERSITY. Our order of reference includes the question of the provision that should be made for university research. That; advanced teaching and research are of supreme importance for the vitality and progress of a university institution should be fully recognized, for a university can flourish only if it is a seat of learning as well as a school for undergraduates. University research, however, consists not only in the collection and study of new material and in extending the bounds of knowledge ; it includes the promotion of thought and learning in the widest sense. The function of a university

A Principal of the University.

University research.

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is not so much to conduct researches as to train students to that inquiring attitude ofjmind^which inevitably makes them investigators. In Huxley's words, " The chief business of the teacher is not so much to make scholars as to train pioneers." No better means of kindling the spirit of research and of inculcating the research method can be more effective than university teaching of the kind indicated by the Inspectors of the Board of Education in 1910. "We may assume that university teaching is teaching suited to adults ; that it is scientific, detached, and impartial in character ; that it aims not so much at filling the mind of the student with facts or theories as at calling forth his own individuality, and stimulating him to mental effort; that it accustoms him to the critical study of the leading authorities, with, perhaps, occasional references to first-hand sources of information ; and that it implants in his mind a standard of thoroughness, and gives him a sense of the difficulty as well as the value of truth. The student so trained learns to distinguish between what may fairly be called matter of fact, and what is certainly mere matter of opinion, between the white light and the coloured. He becomes accustomed to distinguish issues, and to look at separate questions each on its own merits and without an eye to their bearing on some cherished theory. He learns to state fairly, and even sympathetically, the position of those to whose practical conclusions he is most stoutly opposed. He becomes able to examine a suggested idea, and see what comes of it, before accepting it or rejecting it. Finally, without necessarily becoming an original student, he gains an insight into the conditions under which original research is carried on. He is able to weigh evidence, to follow and criticize argument, and put his own value on authorities."* It would appear, however, that university teaching in New Zealand is not always actuated by these high ideals, and that the cause of this has been largely the external examination system with its rigid syllabus, resulting in the conception of the aim of education as the obtaining of degrees rather than culture and mental discipline. So long ago as 1886f the Eight Hon. Sir Kobert Stout, for many years Chancellor of the New Zealand University, said, " The main fault in our university system is that it regards examinations as the beginning and end of the function of a university." If this be correct it is idle to expect much in the way of research. Under the evening-lecture system too many of the students are engaged also in earning a livelihood. They have t(.o much on their hands to indulge in independent thinking or investigation, or in gaining an insight into that scientific method which is so much more important than text-book information. They have a definite practical objective, the passing of their final examination. When the examination is over, the inevitable tendency for such students is to cease to read or to work at a subject. They will have gained from their university little mental training and little interest in knowledge for its own sake. The popular view of the work of a professor is that it is his duty to get students veady for examinations by giving them lectures, whereas his work should be concerned " not so much with filling the mind of the student with facts or theories as with calling forth his own individuality and stimulating him to mental effort." " The best teacher is one who imparts to his pupils his own sense of the living interest in their common subject. The subject should be regarded not as a fixed body of knowledge, but as a territory increased day by day under the accretion of new discoveries and new speculations. The proper interaction of teaching and research is of the very essence of the highest education."! When scholarly men have been appointed to be professors in a university, the first condition for developing the research habit in the university is to make the conditions such that they can teach in the best way. They must be free to teach the subject they profess in the manner that appeals to them ; they must not be cribbed ani confined by external examinations ; their classes must be of such a size that they can come into intimate mental touch with individual students. Lectures must be supplemented by " tutorials. ' The professor will not confine his teaching to the work of the advanced students. The position is admirably put by the London University Commission : —■

Definition of University education.

Work of professoj

* London University Commission .Report, sec. 67. p. 28. f N.Z. Parliamentary Debates, Vol. liv, p. 601 (18th June, 1886). } Oxford and Cambridge Commission Iteport, sec. 38, p. 50.

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"Advantage to Under-graduates op Professorial Teaching. " Teaching will, of course, predominate in the earlier work, and research will predominate in the advanced work; but it is in the best interests of the. University that the most distinguished of its professors should take part in the teaching of the undergraduates from the beginning of their university career. It is only by coming into contact with the junior students that a teacher can direct their minds to his own conception of his subject, and train them in his own methods, and hence obtain the double advantage of selecting the best men for research, and getting the best work out of them. Again, it is the personal influence of the man doing original work in his subject which inspires belief in it, awakens enthusiasm, gains disciples. His personality is the selective power by which those who are fittest for his special work are voluntarily enlisted in its service, and his individual influence is reproduced and extended by the spirit which actuates his staff. Neither is it the few alone who gain ; all honest students gain inestimably from association with teachers who show them something of the working of the thought of independent and original minds. ' Any one,' says Helmholtz, ' who has once come in contact with one or more men of the first rank must have had his whole mental standard altered for the rest of his life.' Lectures have not lost their use, and books can never fully take the place of the living spoken word. Still less can they take the place of the more intimate teaching in laboratory and seminar, which ought to be beyond the range of the ordinary course of a university education, and in which the student learns not only conclusions and the reasons supporting them, all of which he might get from books, but the actual process of developing thought, the working of a highly trained and original mind."* The conditions under which New Zealand was colonized and developed ensured the selection of a population animated by a love of adventure and of investigation. Throughout its history its people have been constantly face to face with new situations requiring original thought and initiative for their solution. New Zealand has established a reputation throughout the world for experimental legislation. One would, therefore, expect that the spirit of inquiry and research would flourish in and be encouraged among such a community. We venture to suggest, however, that, largely owing to the causes we have mentioned, university-trained men in New Zealand are not contributing sufficiently towards the solution of the many local problems which are demanding attention in every branch of knowledge. Teacher and student hi a university should be engaged jointly in a voyage of discovery in search of truth, and so long as their actions are controlled by an external authority this is impossible. The teacher should have ample leisure for his own researches, both because it is the duty of every University to take its share in the work of extending the boundaries of human knowledge, and because only thus will his teaching be informed with vitality, inspiration, and the spirit of inquiry. We agree with the evidence of Professor H. G. Denham where he states : " In. my opinion, there is 110 more vitalizing force in the hands of the teacher than research. A teacher of science who is himself untouched by the research spirit is, in my opinion, incapable of fulfilling the higher ideals of his position; the advanced and honours men pass through his hands comparatively uninfluenced---unstimulated.'' It must be borne in mind, however, that research cannot be gauged by volume of output in printed pages : it is the quality and spirit of the work that counts, and the researcher's success in breathing the same spirit into students. We are not in favour of the provision of special research staffs apart altogether from the teaching staffs. Much research of high quality cannot, however, be expected from university teachers if an exacting round of lectures, examinations, and correction of essays leaves them no reasonable amount of leisure in which to prosecute their investigations. While we believe that the work of the professorial staff under present conditions is unduly heavy, owing to large classes and an inadequate staff of assistants, we are of opinion that, except in the natural sciences, too little research is attempted even in the long vacations, it appears that too much of the time of professors is occupied in marking examination-papers for the various University Entrance and other examinations, time which might conceivably be spent to greater advantage. In one direction the Senate has realized the necessity for research in that it has provided post-graduate scholarships to enable selected students to travel to places abroad for study. This is an excellent provision, but it is still more important to create a spirit of inquiry and research in the Colleges themselves. We note that efforts have been made in this direction also; the National Research Scholarships, the recently inaugurated Research Scholarships in Otago, the thesis require-

Effect of research on nature of teaching.

Present encouragement of research.

* London University Report, 1918, sec. 69, p. 29-

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ment in the Master's degree, the introduction of the Ph.D. degree, &c„ are all desirable methods towards the encouragement of research. They should be supplemented, if possible, by the introduction of Research Demonstration Fellowships. But it may fairly be asked, how much research of real value, in proportion to the expenditure and effort involved, has been published as a result of these methods. The key of the position is the teaching of the undergraduate classes. This teaching should be of such a nature as to awaken the true spirit of inquiry and love of knowledge for its own sake. In this connection we note with regret the extreme inadequacy of the college libraries. Unless a student is taught while in college to look beyond his professor's notes and the prescribed text-book, and to use a library properly, he is hardly likely to develop the habit later. The poverty of the libraries is but another indication of the lack of the proper kind of university teaching, and so long as the professor is looked on as a crammer and coach the College Councils will not consider it necessary to make any serious effort to remedy matters by providing and other facilities for research. The necessity for a research spirit applies with particular force to the special schools, which are definitely charged with the duty of furthering knowledge in their particular branches. There must be local problems for the Medical, Dental, Home Science, and Engineering Schools, and, above all, for Agriculture. In fact, there is hardly a subject within the Arts, Science, or Law Faculties which has not local problems calling for investigation. It is not sufficient to provide laboratories, and libraries replete with works of reference and current periodicals. Unless members of the professorial staff are actively engaged in research the stimulus .towards the reading necessary for research is lacking. There are certain problems of research, too, which need the combined team-work of numbers of workers in various branches of study ; only a University can usually undertake such tasks. It is true that a fairly large amount of research is done in New Zealand by institutions outside the University—e.g., Department of Agriculture, Cawthron Institute, Dominion Laboratory, Museum staffs, &c. The workers in these institutions should be invited periodically to deliver lectures to University students ; but research, being absolutely essential to university teaching, must also be carried out in the Colleges themselves. The original creation of four University colleges with four small staffs, instead of one central University with one large staff, has probably contributed largely to the lack of research atmosphere in the teaching. Professors have been faced with the difficulty of teaching the whole extent of their subject, instead of specializing in a portion of it, as would have been possible with a larger staff. This defect has been accentuated by the necessity of teaching to an imposed syllabus. Moreover, with a larger staff concentrated in one central University there is the opportunity for discussing problems with colleagues. In this connection it is probable that the annual meeting of the Board of Studies has done something to bring professors together, and that the introduction of the new system of examination by two professors acting together in rotation will be helpful in mitigating the academic isolation inherent in the present system. Exchanges of professors between the colleges might well be tried for short periods for the purpose of dealing with special aspects of subjects. Furthermore, professors should be encouraged to travel for study and to attend conferences abroad. Anything that will tend to keep the teaching vital and bring it into touch with reality and progress should be fostered. In particular, professors should visit Britain or America at suitable intervals, and, in the case of those specially concerned, the Pacific islands, for which New Zealand has now accepted definite responsibilities, cultural as well as political. We were much impressed with the plea put forward by Dr. G. H. Scholefield that the State archives should be collected and made available to research students. It should be remembered that the present is a critical time for placing on record the history of the stirring events of the early settlement of the Dominion, especially in its relation to the Maoris and their culture. When we learn that there is a danger, unless prompt action is taken, that many invaluable records may be destroyed, we would urge that 110 time should be lost in carrying out this essential work of collecting and reducing to order the early documents and archives.

Libraries.

Research in special schools.

Four separate universities involves academic isolation.

Professors should travel.

State archives.

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In spite of the information supplied to us that 35 per cent, of the Honours degrees in arts during the last six years have been awarded in history, and that the test may include a thesis relating to New Zealand history, it does not appear that the various University Schools of History are sufficiently active in such a fruitful field. We agree with the Viee-Ohancelior in his advocacy of a University Press, and are strongly of the opinion that provision should be made by the University itself for the publication of investigations which are carried out under its auspices by its teachers and senior students. Shorter scientific papers are perhaps best made known by publication in the recognized periodicals devoted to the subjects to which they relate, but the publication of longer original works cannot be made on a commercial basis. A University Press should therefore be subsidized from the funds of the University. Publication of research is as important as the actual carrying-out of the work. In this connection we may point to the success of University Presses at other universities. At Melbourne University, for instance, the recently established Press has already been the means of placing before the public some very valuable publications in history and law. A University Press under the full control of the University itself is, in our opinion, an almost essential adjunct of the University and a great stimulus to research. DEGREES IN DIVINITY. Influential deputations of theologians, representing the various Protestant churches —Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational, and Baptist—appeared before us at three of the centres —Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin—to urge that the New Zealand University should, be empowered to grant degrees in divinity, as is now done in some of the modern British universities, especially London, Manchester, and Wales ; and it was understood that a similar deputation would have attended at Christchurch had not the time-table of the Commission at that centre been somewhat congested. They represented that there was a strong desire on the part of the best ministerial graduates to work for degrees in theology, that at present this could be satisfied only by going to Great Britain or Melbourne, though "ad would prefer academic status from their own University." This was a hardship to the students themselves, and often had the unfortunate result for the churches that their best men, having thus gone abroad, were drawn into ministerial life elsewhere and were lost to the Dominion. One of the Presbyterian representatives at Auckland stated: "We have a certain scholarship which has been operating in the past whereby we have sent men away to train for the ministry, and we have not received those men back." They pointed out that the degrees proposed would be simply a test of proficiency in theological study of a scientific or historical character, and in no way a certificate of orthodoxy or a profession of belief in any particular set of doctrines. It was a hardship that while other learned or skilled professions—medicine, law, engineering—had special schools, the studies of the ministerial profession were absolutely excluded from the University. Apart from the interests of theological study and theological students, it was a defect from the cultural point of view that the great Hebrew literature should find little or no place in the studies of the national University. This would be remedied by the establishment of the proposed degrees. The degrees should be of high standard, and should be restricted to graduates. The deputations would prefer the designations " B.Theol." and " D.Theol." to the older B.D. and D.D., as more definitely marking the scientific characters of the studies it was proposed to recognize. The teaching of the subjects for the degree could be left to the denominational colleges, though a hope was expressed that in time some professors or teachers might be attached to the University. The alternative of a theological degree-granting body entirely independent of the University as at Melbourne was suggested, but was not received with favour : " We would infinitely prefer a University degree." The belief was also expressed that " the teaching can be entirely free from denominational bias." Whether this be so is doubtful, but in any case it is

University Press.

Proposal for degrees in divinity by representatives of Protestant Churches.

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immaterial. Tt is sufficient if the examination be free from denominational bias, and this experience shows can be secured without difficulty. The churches they represented were thoroughly united in the demand they were making. They embraced all the churches in New Zealand which had theological colleges of their own, with one exception, and represented 85 per cent, of the population of New Zealand. From private inquiry they understood that the Roman Catholic Church, which formed the one exception, offered no objection to the proposal, though it was not prepared to take advantage of it. They were also convinced that their proposal, in the words of the Bishop of Dunedin, " rather than emphasize difficulties, would tend towards unity." We are impressed with the strength of the case laid before lis. Tt is certainly an anomaly that the special studies of the oldest and not the least important of the learned professions should be the only professional studies which receive no recognition from the national University, an anomaly, too, which is based on no educational principle. No branch of study which is based on the pursuit of knowledge by free unfettered inquiry can be legitimately refused entrance into the University domain. Scientific theology is such a study, for it consists of linguistic, historical, and philosophical studies carried out by precisely the same methods and subject to the same critical standards as the corresponding studies in language, history, and philosophy on the arts side. Nor can it be maintained that though unobjectionable in principle it has been found unworkable in practice. One of the most remarkable university developments of recent years in Great Britain has been the growth of scientific schools of theology on the interdenominational basis, and that not only at Oxford and Cambridge, where there was an inherited tradition in favour of theology, but in certain modern universities which were entirely independent of clerical influences, and in more than one case had been founded with a distinct anti-clerical bias —London, Manchester, Wales. Not only has no denominational difficulty arisen, but the collaboration in common studies of eminent scholars belonging to different denominations has had a striking influence in allaying sectarian animosities, and facilitating joint action for social betterment. It has undoubtedly been one of the forces actuating the movement for reunion. We recognize also the force of the plea put forward on the ground of culture. The original literatures which are at the root of all European culture are those of Greece and Judaea, and of these it is generally admitted that it is the latter which has most profoundly affected the English mind and from which English literature has drawn its deepest inspiration. Some knowledge of Hebrew literature is thus essential to any proper study of English history or of English literature, both accepted subjects of university study. Its exclusion, therefore, is a piece of obscurantism, unworthy of any university, and especially of a University which should stand for the best cultural traditions of the English race. That a student can study the ancient Greek religion for his degree but is cebarred from making a special stxidy of the Christian religion is surely a reductio adfabsurdum. The concession asked for, so far as it is confined to the granting of degrees only, need involve no expenditure of public money, as the cost of the examinations could be met by the candidates' fees ; nor would it mean preferential treatment of any denomination or group of denominations. We recommend, accordingly, that the University should be empowered to grant degrees in divinity, as was recommended by the Senate in 1911, and that the degrees should be Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.) and Doctor of Theology (D.Th.). The course for the B.Th. should cover not less than three years' post-graduate study. The Doctorate should be reserved for the recognition of original work and research, as in other Faculties. We make this recommendation on the understanding that the teaching of theological subjects will not be undertaken by the University under its new constitution, but will be provided by the theological colleges. It would, in our opinion, be a great advantage if it could be made a further condition that candidates for the B.Th. should have pursued a course of study approved by the University in associated theological colleges, as in the Universities of Manchester and Wales. This, involving as it would the acceptance by the theological colleges of a standard of staff and equipment satisfying to the University, might present some difficulties, but these might be got over by the formation of

No educational reason for refusal to grant degrees in Divinity.

Degrees in Divinity recommended.

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joint Schools of Divinity, in which two or more theological colleges combined for the purpose of the degree, or by the strengthening of individual colleges. We are, of course, aware that in many countries the question of providing for degrees in divinity has been decided upon grounds other than purely educational ones. We consider that our duty is to give a recommendation based upon educational principle, and, as we have stated above, we believe that no subject of study which is based upon the pursuit of knowledge by free and unfettered inquiry should be banned by a true university. THE STUDENTS IN THEIR RELATION TO THE COLLEGES. We are of opinion that the organization of the University should contain provision for the representation of the students upon the governing body of the colleges, and that provision should be made for the election of one such representative on the Council of each College. In a University where opportunities for student activities abound and are made use of, the students gain from participation in the corporate life of the social club and playing-field, no less than from the intellectual life of the class-room. Student organizations are nowadays recognized as an important, and indeed vital, part of the university organization, and throughout the various university societies teacher and student mingle freely. The Students' Representative Council, which originated in Scotland in 1884 at the tercentenary of the Edinburgh University, has now spread through British and Australian universities. It has a definite standing in the university organization, and is provided for in the university statutes. It is the recognized means of communication between the students and the university authorities. Its chief objects should be to represent the students in matters affecting their interests, to foster their social life, to promote intercourse between the various schools and colleges of the university, and to organize all general gatherings of students at college functions and take such steps as may be necessary to secure good order and seemly behaviour. fn some universities power is given to the Students' Representative Council under the regulations of the university to impose a fine upon students offending at college or university functions. We consider that the member elected to represent the students on the Council of the college, who should be not less than twenty-one years of age, should be elected by the Students' Representative Council of the college. The Students' Representative Council should further have the right to petition the Professorial Board of the college upon any matter affecting the teaching or discipline of the college, and the Board should either deal finally with the matter or refer it for decision to the Council. It should also have the right to petition the Council of the college on any other matter affecting their position as students of the college. Under the system of part-time attendance and of evening lectures which obtains in New Zealand the opportunities for developing the corporate life of the colleges are comparatively few. It is, therefore, very gratifying to find that so much has been done despite the handicaps under which such activities suffer. From our own observation, indeed, it is clear that the colleges possess abundant material for a strong corporate student life. At Dunedin we had, during the Capping Ceremony festivities, striking evidence of the organizing ability of the students' societies and of talent of no mean order ; at Victoria College we were present at a meeting of the Debating Society, which showed both vigour and ability. The erection of the gymnasium, which forms a sort of Students' Union at Victoria College and in which the debate was held, was largely due to the initiative and enterprise of the students, and its use is controlled by them. There was evidence, too, of similar activities at Auckland and Canterbury. The keen desire of the students themselves for a wider and fuller university life was represented to us, with much ability and in a convincing manner, by all the student witnesses who appeared. They laid special stress on the urgent need of hostels, of a Students' Union, and of more adequate playing-fields. Common residence is specially distinctive of the old English university life, but has been less developed on the Continent and in Scotland, where the ideal has been rather

Students' Representative on College Councils.

Students' Representative Council part of University organization.

Privileges accorded to Students' Representative Council.

Student activities in New Zealand.

Urgent need for residental hostels.

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learning than training. In America it lias been largely supplied by the students themselves through the well-known Greek-letter"" societies. There is a growing tendency to recognize its value in the trainingTof citizens, and the Scotch universities are now encouraging the erection of halls'of residence. This view is put with singular force and elegance, if with some exaggeration in a passage quoted from Cardinal Newman by one of the student representatives at Wellington : — If I had to choose between a so-called university which dispensed with residence and tutorial superintendence, and gave its degrees to any person who passed an examination in a wide range ol subjects, and a university which had no professors or examinations at all, but merely brought a number of young men together for three or four years, and then sent them away, as the University of Oxford is said to have done some sixty years since ; if I were asked which of these two methods was the better discipline of the intellect .... was the more successful in training, moulding, enlarging the mind, which sent out men the more fitted for their secular duties, which produced better public men, men of the world, men whose names would descend to posterity, I have no hesitation in giving the preference to that university which did nothing, over that which exacted of its members an acquaintance with every science under the sun. If this be so, if the community life of the students' hostel produces men better adapted for public life, in a word, more capable citizens, its value should be specially great in a new country like New Zealand, which is engaged in building up a social and political system of its own. It seems a true instinct that led the students to put hostels in the forefront of their demand. There is, however, a serious difficulty in the way, the difficulty of finance. A university hostel, however economically it is run, is necessarily more expensive than the ordinary lodginghouse. This is the case even where, as in Rolleston House at Canterbury, there is no Warden appointed by the College, and the management is entirely in the hands of the students. There are makeshifts that are pi tup with in a lodginghouse, which would not be and ought not to be tolerated in a university hostel. To most of the students a few shillings a week is a serious consideration, and, if they are left a free choice, the bulk of these will almost certainly choose the less expensive accommodation. In Wales, where the majority of the students are in narrow circumstances, the University authorities have been forced to recognize that if hostel life is to be developed and the cost to the student therefore reduced to the lodginghouse level, the hostel must be based, partially at least, upon endowment, and their aim is to secure by public grant or private gift a sufficient building fund, so that the element of rent at least may be eliminated from the student's expenses. We cannot think of any form of benefaction directly affecting student life which would have a more wholesome influence than the building and equipment of a Students' Hostel, to be controlled by a wise and inspiring Head. Such a hostel for women, St. Margaret's, has recently been built and endowed at Dunedin by the efforts and generosity of Lady Ross. In this hostel the. cost to the resident student is slightly less than the cost of ordinary lodgings. Experience in Great Britain goes to show that the hostel should be of a certain size, if it is to fulfil its function of educating the student by association with his fellow-students. If the accommodation falls much below fifty, " the right sort of people are not likely to meet each other " ; if it rises above, say, ninety, it is difficult for the Head to keep in personal touch with individuals. Again, " hostels should not be occupied by particular classes of students, or exclusively by those entering with the same training or contemplating the same career." The Students' Union, first started at Oxford, has spread like the Students' Representative Council through the universities of the Empire, and like it has become a centre of the corporate student life. The Union, consists of a commodious building in which provision is made for reading, writing, games, committees, debates, &c. —sometimes for meals. In short, it is the Students' Club, in many cases built by funds raised by " past and present " students, in practically all maintained by their subscriptions, and, subject to the maintenance of university discipline, left by the University authorities to their unfettered control, whether in household management or in the arrangement and conduct of discussions and debates. Modern university life is hardly complete without it. Here again the erection of such a building offers a worthy object for the educational philanthropist.

Hostels cannot be financed out of fees.

A suitable form for benefaction.

Students' Union.

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Along with these should go the provision of fields for all the various games and athletic activities that play such an important role in British university training. This leads to the consideration of the whole question of sites for college and university purposes, of what is called in America the " University Campus." During our visit to the different college centres we took the opportunity of inspecting the college buildings and their environment, and we have been much impressed with the lack of foresight shown in providing sufficient areas of land for future development or even for legitimate present requirements. As we have stated elsewhere, we are of opinion that four separate universities are inevitable in the future. Provision for this eventuality should therefore be made at once, and suitable areas of land reserved for university development. We were very pleased to find that Mr. H. D. Acland, Chairman of the Council of Canterbury College, had inaugurated a far-sighted policy of this kind, and that already a beginning had been made towards its realization by the inclusion within the University College grounds of the buildings and grounds of the Christchurch Boys' High School. The High School is in process of removal to a new building set in ample playing-fields of its own. " All the University colleges," in Mr. Acland's words, " are suffering from a lamentable lack of vision on the part of the founders in that they did not secure sufficient areas of land when establishing the College and when land was cheap." We learn with satisfaction that Auckland University College is likely to acquire 45 acres of land at Orakei, and that 8 acres for playing-fields have also been secured by the Otago Council. University buildings should be dignified structures of real architectural merit, and should be appropriately grouped in beautiful surroundings. The most effective setting for them will be the large open spaces required for the various student activities to which we have already referred. Of all the formative influences that mould an impressionable student during his university life a fine inspiring environment is by no means the least powerful. THE EXEMPTED STUDENT. The exempted student presents a special and difficult problem of university administration. The establishment of the University of New Zealand as an examining body, neither teaching, nor supervising, nor maintaining discipline, nor exercising authority over students, was favourable to the development of a strong section of exempted students. Moreover, the strong feeling which exists throughout the Dominion in favour of giving to all earnest and studious men and women the right to share in university education is a very real factor in the matter. But it is arguable whether such students, under present conditions, do in fact receive a university education, or any training other than can be obtained by a faithful study of text-books. True university education consists, as we have said, in co-operation in study and investigation between students and able teachers. This involves much more than attendance at lectures, and includes discussions with teachers and with fellow-students, related reading in a well-equipped library, the writing of exercises for the criticism of teachers, and so forth. It is evident that the exempted student working by himself often, in a country district, can have none of these advantages. But that he can receive from the training to which he submits himself very real and substantial benefit no one can doubt. Our point is that whatever this benefit is, it is not what a true university training ought to give. The degree of a university should be a certificate of university education up to a definite standard, involving a definite period of study. The system of granting one and the same degree to students who have attended university classes for a number of years, and to those who have not attended at all, has been the subject of much controversy. As a way out, it has been suggested that a special degree should be given to those candidates who pass the necessary examinations, but who have not shared in the life and teaching of the University.

" University Campus."

The problem of exemption from lectures is a vexed one.

Under present conditions exempted students do not get a University education.

A different degree for exempted students.

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The position is very well put by a committee wliicli investigated this subject recently in the Melbourne University. The student who has resided or studied in a university has one educational life and experience ; the student who has not has had another life and experience. Whichever of them is the better* they are, at any rate, different. A common degree can attest only that which they have in common — i.e., that they have passed the same examination. That a university degree should attest merely the passing of an examination is to deprive the imprimatur of the university of all significance in relation to a great part, if not the greater part, of university training. Moreover, examinations ought upon any sound principle to be based upon the actual course of the student and be closely related to the sort of experience, training, and opportunities that he has had. A single examination upon courses so different as those of the internal and the external student must impair the value of the results as a test of the work done in either course, and tends to lower the standard which can properly be exacted from either class of student. The university lecturer is embarrassed both in his teaching and examining by the knowledge that whatever he can do for his students and whatever] they can under his direction do for themselves with such aid of libraries, &c., as the University can put at their service, the standard to be attained is limited by the fact that there will be many candidates who have been unable to carry their studies beyond the reading of a few set books. As the development of the resources of the University enables it to do more for its internal students, these evils are intensified Every provision facilitating actual attendance at the University for a full university course meets the situation by diminishing the proportion of those who have to be dealt with as external students. But it does not, of course, solve the problem altogether, so long as there are both internal and external students. Two plans are open. One of these is the system of separate courses, examinations, and degrees (with distinct scales of fees) for the two classes of students. This plan recognizes frankly the essential differences in conditions of work and enables courses to be laid down with a single regard to the opportunities of each class without embarrassment from the other. But, before so debatable a plan is adopted as the institution of two different degrees in a course, it would be well to consider whether the number of exempted students could not be lessened by providing greater facilities for attendance at the University. The number of exempted students in the Dominion during 1924 was 428, of whom 348 were men and 80 were women students. This number represents exactly 10 per cent, of all students enrolled in the University colleges, a proportion which should be regarded seriously. The courses taken by exempted students are : Arts, 78 per cent. ; Law, 16 per cent. ; Commerce, 6 per cent. We learn, too, that no effective limitation is placed upon the student who wishes to become an exempted student, and that, in fact, some exempted students reside in University centres, but prefer to work with text-books and notes rather than attend University lectures. That this is so may be an indication that some university teaching is not all it should be. If the teaching in a subject consists of lectures to large classes, not supplemented by discussions and tutorials, and if the lectures are repeated year after year from the same material, it cannot be expected either that students will willingly attend, or that exempted students will have any less difficulty in passing the necessary examinations than those who do attend. The whole of the argument against the exempted student assumes that there is a high standard of university teaching, and it is the duty of the university to maintain such a standard in all of its work. Of the exempted students taking the B.A. course the great majority are teachers who began their course when in the training college, and are trying to complete it. We have elsewhere recommended that the facilities for full-time university study for training-college students who are best qualified for this work should be increased. If this recommendation is accepted, a marked diminution in the number of exempted students must ensue, and, moreover, even if students do not complete the course while in the college, they will, it is hoped, have gained a great deal from the method and spirit of University work. Assuming that every effort has been made to reduce the number of exempted 1 students by increased facilities for full-time attendance, what supervision should the 1 University give to them, and what conditions should it impose ? We think that ( exempted students should be enrolled as such in the colleges, and that, so far as practicable, they should participate in the teaching given to the internal students. We hope that, in the near future, as a result of our recommendations, " tutorials " as a supplement to the lectures, will be the rule in such subjects as English, History, Latin. The exempted students should receive from the college guidance as to their reading ; necessary help in the form of notes and suggestions

Difficulty of dealing with the two classes of students.

Can the number of exempted students be lessened ?

A possible cause of " exemption."

Teachers are a great proportion of the exempted students.

The University should recognize its obligations to the exempted student.

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for related reading in works of reference ; and tutorial assistance in the form of exercises to be returned for criticism. There are, of course, obvious dangers in sending out from the college full notes of lectures. The conclusion arrived at by the Melbourne Committee above referred to is, we think, a sound one. The only assistance which willjbe of substantial value to students unable to attend the University must be in the form of tutorial supervision involving advice oil a course of study, followed up in the case of each student by periodical exercises and criticism and advice based upon the work thus done. . . . . It is an essential condition for the success of the scheme that the student should have access not merely to the usual text-books in the subject, but to, at any rate, the principal works of reference used in the course. Without this it will be impossible for him to do the work of a university course or for his exercises to have a character which will give the tutor any sound basis for advice. We feel that the present position in regard to the exempted students calls for early action. They form an important section of the University, and at present nothing is being done for them. All students wishing to attend university classes for part-time, or wishing to be exempted from attendance, should be required to show cause why full attendance could not be given. When a student has been registered as an exempted student he should be required to carry out his work satisfactorily, according to conditions prescribed for exempted students. Thus, for example, no exempted student should in any year be permitted to take more subjects than, having regard to his circumstances, the Faculty is of opinion that he can study to a proper standard. The University colleges should undertake to supply to exempted students the tutorial assistance available for internal students, and should, further, send to each such student an outline of the course in each subject taken, and an indication of the course of reading, together with such further advice and aid as the professor may consider suitable for exempted students. It is desirable that every exempted student ought to spend at least one year in attendance at university classes. These recommendations will involve additional expense, but the gravity of the situation demands this. One-tenth of jthe students to-day are receiving no direct teaching from the University, and such a state of things shall not be allowed to continue. New Zealand provides very liberally for bursaries, which are practically free places for students in University colleges. Indeed, it is open to question whether there are not too many such bursaries. The prevalence of the part-time habit among students raises the question whether the institution of a students' loan fund, which forms part of the administrative system of many universities, would not be equally serviceable in the Dominion. We trust we have made it sufficiently clear throughout this report that, in our opinion, the full benefits of University life and teaching cannot be secured under a system in which the whole of the University practice is dominated by the necessities of evening students. Every effort shall be made to encourage students to devote their whole time and energy to their University education. Where a students' Loan Fund has been established, the University has usually been given an adequate capital sum, which it lends out in varying amounts to worthy students. As a rule, loans are without interest during the undergraduate period, and at a low rate of interest thereafter. The borrower begins to pay back his debt at the end of the first year after his graduation through a system of easy instalments. Experience has shown that bad debts are very rare under such a scheme. It is a method under which a deserving student can be given substantial assistance and yet not feel any loss of self-respect, or that his self-reliance is being undermined. UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. We desire to call attention to the importance of the extra-mural or extension work which has become such a fruitful activity of the modern university. This work has in recent years found new life and acquired a new significance from the union of two movements which had different origins, University Extension and the

Tutorial supervision is essential.

Conditions which should be imposed;

Students Loan Fund.

Development of English university extension.

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Workers' Educational Association, the first aiming at the extension of the cultural influences of university thought in large centres of population among those who had not been able to get to the University, the second also aiming at University culture, but intended more definitely for the hand-workers. The fusion took place in 1907, when, after a conference in Oxford convened by leading university men, a joint committee was established in which the University and the Workers'j|Educational Association (the well-known W.E.A.) were represented Jin equal numbers. The system has grown and developed till it has covered the whole Kingdom. With hardly an exception the universities and University Colleges have formed joint committees on the same model, and conduct extension work on the same lines as those laid down at Oxford, and the results have been so striking that the head of the American University Union in Europe, President George E. Mac Lean, in an official report on " Higher Education in England and Scotland," published in 1917, begins a chapter with these words : " University extension in the sense of the universities carrying higher education to adults has had an unparallelled success in England."* He is especially struck byjthe fact that, instead of declining as in America, the original extension movement in England has steadily grown, and he ascribes this to the sound principle on which it has been organized, that the work should be essentially university work of Honours standard, and should not be allowed to degenerate into mere popular lecturing. With this end in view three strict limitations have been insisted on from thejfirst, viz.,— (1.) The classes be limited to students who join for ja three-years course ; (2.) They should be conducted on the tutorial principle, essays being regularly written by each member; (3.) The number of members attending should be rigorously restricted to (say) twenty-five or thirty. The strict observance of these rules has been greatly facilitated by the wise policy of the Board of Education, which has made their observance a fundamental condition of the maintenance grants which it gives to these " joint tutorial classes," as they are called, and without which it would be difficult, if not impossible, to carry them on. Thoroughness and the avoidance of the superficial are essential characteristics of the movement, and those to which it mainly owes its remarkable vitality. From the evidence laid before us there seems to be some danger that, in the enthusiasm for extending the benefits of university teaching as widely as possible, the importance of such restrictions may be forgotten, or at least underestimated. But we recognize that in a country in the present stage of development of New Zealand there may be insuperable difficulty in complying with all the conditions considered necessary in England. The point we wish to make, however, is that, while some modification may be necessary in the endeavour to get a footing for the classes, there shall be no such relaxation of conditions as will make close and continuous work on the university plane impossible. Popular lectures have a legitimate place in an extension lecture system, but their function is to excite such local interest as may lead to the organization of the classes for intensive study which constitute the real university in partibus, or at least may encourage a habit of reading and reflection on subjects requiring sustained thought. Nor, again, is it sufficient that there should be willingness to devote time and effort over extended periods to the work. Experience shows that to be of real use these classes must be conducted on the Honours plane : that ability is required as well as keenness. True university study requires something more than the average measure of intellectual endowment, whether it is pursued in the college class-room or in the extension lecture-hall. In admitting students to the University colleges this truth has not always been kept in view, and some of the shortcomings to which we draw attention in other parts of our report are undoubtedly due to this defect. But it is no less vital to extension work. Members of tutorial classes have generally the advantage over the ordinary college student in maturity of mind and (in most

Conference of universities and W.E.A., 1907.

Intensive stud}' carried on.

Application to New Zealand.

More than average ability required.

* Official Keport on Higher Education in England and Scotland, 1917, p. 249.

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cases) in desiring knowledge for its own sake and not for its money value ; but, on the other hand, they often lack the school training he has had, and compared with the whole-time student their attention is necessarily distracted by the demands of their vocation. If these principles are properly insisted upon, the university extension class may render the whole community priceless service. " The great function of the universities is to educate the governing classes" ; writes Bishop Gore as quoted by Dr. Mac Lean. "... Everybody who has eyes to see must recognize that the governing classes in England and in other countries include, and that continually in a broader and intenser form, those who work with their hands." The great bulk of the hand-workers in any community have not been, and cannot go, to the university. If, therefore, university training is to touch them, the university must go to them. From this point of view the importance of the university extension movement can hardly be exaggerated. The object of such classes being to train the reflective powers and broaden the student's general outlook on life, the studies most suited for such classes will be rather of the humanistic than of the utilitarian type, and in particular, literature and history. In Denmark, scientific organization of the agricultural industry would probably never have had the amazing results on the national life which astonish all foreign inquirers, if it had not been for the general uplifting and widening influence on the mind of the country population, which the Danish rural adult school (people's high school) has exercised for several generations. In the majority of these schools the curriculum is predominantly humanistic. These classes cannot be conducted by the ordinary college teachers, already overburdened with work ; a special staff will be required. At the same time, if the work is to be maintained at real university level, a close and indeed organic connection must be maintained between the in-college teacher and the extra-mural teacher. There is always a danger, unless great; care be taken, of the extension lecturing coming to be regarded as an inferior though necessary activity of the University, and being entrusted to men not good enough to be considered for ordinary college appointments —a danger which is likely to increase as the extension movement spreads and the demand for additional teachers grows. One of the most useful methods which has been adopted in Great Britain is the appointment of lecturers and assistant lecturers, who work half-time in college and half-time in extension classes, and thus form a most valuable link between the two systems both as regards personnel and standards of work. The development of such a supplementary staff might also help to solve the problem of the " exempted " student, whose present uncared-for condition is discreditable to the university. So long as the university allows the " exempted " student to exist, it ought to accept responsibility for him and do what it can to bring him within the scope of its guidance and training. The suggestion that the extension lecturer might step in and save young men who cannot get to the University Colleges from " the soul-deadening task of studying as exempted students " was made by Mr. Thomas, the headmaster of .Timaru Boys' High School. There seems real promise in such a possible development, though we cannot but think that it would be still better if those who cannot proceed to college should content themselves with such organized university teaching as is available for them. It is indeed likely that many of the " exempted " students would gain more intellectual advantage from well conducted extension classes of the type we described earlier in this section than from a course of private reading for an Arts degree, even when not altogether unguided. The existence of such an additional staff working half-time in college and halftime in the smaller towns might also be made to fit in with the creation of a graded system of junior staff appointments such as we recommend elsewhere. This additional staff will add considerably to the annual expenditure of the colleges, but we are of opinion that it will be money well spent. We strongly urge upon the consideration of the University and the Government the importance of extending the extra-mural activities of the University. It is not overstating the case, we think, to predict that in the near future adult education may become the most productive field of national education. Any system which will give opportunities to mature men and women to engage in the continuous

Value to the community of extension work.

Importance of humanistic studies.

Additional staff required.

Half-time system.

Possible provision for the " exempted " student.

Junior staff appointments.

National importance of extra-mural side of university work.

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and disinterested study of some subject, and thus develop throughout the land a body of clear-thinking students interested in literary and historical or economic and social subjects, must have far-reaching effects for good on the social, intellectual, and even political life of the community. That we are not alone in such an opinion is evident from the following recommendation of the Oxford and Cambridge Commission : " That extra-mural instruction be definitely accepted as an established and essential part of the normal work of a University LIBRARIES. The condition of the college libraries has given us much concern. A good library is essential to effective work whether in Arts, Law, or Science Departments, but on the Arts and Law side it plays the part of the science laboratory as well. At each centre we found the same complaint, that the supply of books is quite inadequate. At Canterbury Professor Wall, speaking of the provision for the Department of English, said : "We have no library ; and the students cannot do a proper thesis." At Dunedin, we were told " A library plays a vital part in the existence of a school. . . . We must have suitable book-stacks and readingrooms, and an assured income for the maintenance of a library staff and for the provision of current journals and new books " (Sir Lindo Ferguson). The report of the Inspector-General of Schools on the University colleges, published in 1912, gives for the total number of volumes in the college libraries at that date the following figures: Auckland, 5,535 ; Victoria, 8,770; Canterbury, 4,378 ; Otago, 5,196 : total, 23,879. There has been a considerable growth since then. No official figures have been published, but from evidence given during our inquiry it would seem that the present total would probably fall between 40,000 and 45,000. At Bangor, the smallest of the three original colleges of the Welsh University, which in number of students is little more than half the size of any of the New Zealand University colleges, the library contains upwards of 60,000 volumes, about half as many again as are found in their four combined libraries. This inferiority is further greatly enhanced by the fact that the 45,000 volumes, being divided amongst four institutions which follow much the same courses of study, must be to a large extent in duplicate, triplicate, or even quadruplicate. It is probably an over-estimate that the number of different volumes in all four libraries may be about 30,000. When in addition it is remembered that there are practically no public reference libraries in New Zealand comparable with the British Museum, the great University collections at Oxford and Cambridge, the Rylands Library at Manchester, and several others which are accessible to students, it will be evident at what a serious disadvantage the New Zealand student who wishes to do good Honours work is placed in comparison with his British compeer. We are glad to note that in the Turnbull Library the Dominion possesses a collection admirably suited for research, which so far as it goes is a model of what a University library should be, particularly in English Literature and in certain branches of History, notably that of New Zealand and the South Seas. We are of opinion that greatly increased provision for libraries is imperatively needed, and that this should take the form of, — (1.) A substantial capital grant for making up to some extent the deficiencies which have been incurred in the past; (2.) A substantial increase in the annual grant to each college for the purchase of new books, so as to keep the collections up to date. The present annual grants for this purpose, should, in our opinion, be at least doubled. We notice that an increased grant, as here suggested, was recommended by a previous inquiry and was incorporated in an Act of Parliament of 1914, which contains this provision: "To the University of New Zealand, one-third" (approximately £4,200) " of such sum in trust, to be distributed to the four colleges or affiliated institutions as occasion may arise and as the Senate shall decide, for the support of libraries, for the establishment of new chairs, schools, or faculties, and in other ways

Present facilities wholly inadequate.

Turnbull Library.

* Royal Commission on Oxford and Cambridge Universities, 1922, sec. 148, p. 123,

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for extending the work or usefulness of such colleges or institutions " ; but, being unfortunately not earmarked exclusively for library purposes. B it^was'applied to other admissible objects which were regarded as more urgent. Rt; We recommend that this grant should be placed in the handsfofjthe University Council, to be spent at its discretion in the purchase of books of reference, in particular, the journals of scientific and learned societies, and that these should not be duplicated except where absolutely necessary, but assigned to the various centres as may seem to the Council most appropriate, viewing the studies carried on in the respective colleges; and, further, that a special catalogue should be compiled of these works of reference, and arrangements made by which works placed in one University college should be made accessible to members of the teaching stafffor senior students connected with other centres. We recommend that a sumfof £10,000, spread over a period of, say, five years, should be expended in this way, and that the annual grants should be sufficient to keep the college libraries up to date. RECOMMENDATIONS. The following is a summary of our recommendations : — I. Changes recommended in the Constitution oe the University. (1.) The University should be reconstituted as a federal teaching university with constituent colleges enjoying a large measure of autonomy in regard to curriculum amd examinations. (2.) The governing body of the University should be the University Council, consisting of twenty-one members, and should be constituted as follows : — {a.) The Principal of the University. (b.) Six members appointed by the Governor-General in Council as being persons of business knowledge, administrative capacity, and interest in higher education ; (c.) Four persons appointed by the Councils of University colleges, one member by each Council; [d.) Five members, not being professors or teachers in the University, elected by postal vote by members of Convocation ; (e.) Three members of the professorial staff nominated by the Academic Board; (/.) The Director of Education ex officio, (g.) One person co-opted by the Council above constituted. (3.) The Council should elect one of its members to be Chancellor for such period as may be prescribed by the statutes. (4.) A Principal of the University should be appointed by the Council, and should be the academic head of the University. The duty of the Principal should be " to keep himself informed of the proceedings of all departments of university work in the constituent colleges, to be a connecting-link between them, to promote their harmonious working, and secure their due co-ordination within the University scheme." The Principal should be a member of 'the Council, Chairman of the Academic Board, and a member of all Faculties of the University. (5.) An Academic Board should be formed to advise the University Council on all academic matters, and should have such administrative duties in regard to academic matters as the Council may from time to time delegate to it. (6.) The Academic Board should consist of twenty persons being professors of the University, to be appointed in the following manner : — (a.) Eight to be elected by the professors of the University ; and. when this is effected, (b.) Twelve to be elected by the members of the Professorial Boards of the constituent colleges, three being elected by the Professorial Board of each college. (7.) The Council or governing body of each constituent college should be formed as prescribed by the University Acts. It is recommended that the Council shall include, among others : — (a.) 'Not more than two representatives of the teaching staff of the college ; (b.) One representative of the undergraduates of the college ; and

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(c.) Representatives of special interests—e.g., agriculture, industry, commerce —especially in those colleges which provide teaching related to these subjects. (8.) Convocation should consist of all graduates of the University who have registered themselves as members of Convocation with the Registrar of the University. (9.) The election of members of the University Council by Convocation and the election of members of College Councils by the District Convocation should be by postal ballot. (10.) The Council of the University should appoint as professors of the University such teachers of the constituent colleges as it thinks fit. (11.) A Professorial Board should be formed in each constituent college to advise the College Council on all academic matters, and should undertake such administrative duties in regard to academic matters as the College Council may from time to time delegate to it. (12.) The senior teaching staff of the constituent colleges should be formed into Faculties as prescribed by regulations of the University Council. Each Faculty should have power, with the approval of the College Council, to co-opt upon the Faculty such persons, having expert knowledge of subjects included within the Faculty, as the University Regulations may prescribe. (13.) Each College Faculty should have the right to submit for the approval of the University Council, through the Professorial Board of the college and the College Council, courses of study in any subjects prescribed for degrees or diplomas of the University. After a report upon such proposed courses has been made by the Academic Board the University Council should approve of or disallow such courses. When approved by the University Council such courses should become university courses qualifying for university degrees and diplomas as prescribed. (14.) The approval of the University Council should be necessary for the establishment of all new Chairs in the constituent colleges, and for the establishment of all new schools or departments within these colleges. (15.) When a vacancy for professor or senior lecturer or academic head of a constituent college is to be filled, an Advisory Committee should be appointed to report upon the applications and to make a recommendation to the College Council, such Advisory Committee to be formed as follows : — (a.) Four persons nominated by the College Council, of whom one should be a member of the teaching staff possessing expert knowledge of the subject in question or of a cognate subject. (b.) Three persons nominated by the University Council, including the Principal of the University, and being persons nominated as possessing expert knowledge of the subject in question or of a cognate subject. IT. Standard of Degrees. (1.) Arts.—The standard of the B.A. degree should be raised by,— (a.) Abolition of the regulation allowing a degree to be gained in six " pass " subjects. (b.) Insistence on the obtaining of at least nine " units," including a satisfactory number taken at the " advanced " stage. (c.) Limitation of the options by grouping the degree subjects appropriately and requiring subjects from certain groups. (2.) B.Sc. Degree. —The conditions for this degree should be improved upon lines similar to those recommended for B.A. degree —i.e., a nine-unit degree, including two advanced courses. (3.) LL.B. Degree.—(See recommendations under Legal Education.) 111. Evening Lecture System. (1.) Every effort should be made to reduce the number of students who devote only part time to university study. (a.) The Education Department should endeavour to so organize the system of training teachers that student teachers may be able to devote full time to university work.

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(6.) The Public Service should set an example to other employers by extending the practice of granting facilities to selected officers to attend university classes. (2.) Before part-time students are enrolled they should be required to show sufficient cause why they cannot devote their whole time to university work. (3.) The College Faculty concerned should determine how many subjects each part-time student shall be allowed to take, and each part-time student should be allowed to present for examination only such subjects as may have been so determined by the Faculty. (4.) The colleges should endeavour to devise schemes for the employment of students during the long summer vacations in order that they may be able to maintain themselves wholly or partially during terms. IV. Exempted Students. Applicants desiring registration as exempted students should be required to show good cause why they cannot attend university courses. The appropriate Faculty should determine how many subjects of a course an exempted student is to be allowed to take. The University colleges should undertake to send to exempted students, from time to time, help and guidance in their work —e.g., an indication of the most appropriate course of reading ; necessary help in the form of notes and suggestions, and such tutorial assistance as may be given to internal students. V. The Teaching Staff. (1.) All professorial appointments should require the approval of the University Council. (2.) Method of filling vacancies. (See recommendation under ] above.) (3.) The appointment of professors might be in the first instance for five years, and after that period there should be a, permanent tenure conditional upon " good behaviour." (4.) Actuarial inquiry should be made as to the alleged unfair incidence of the superannuation scheme. (5.) There should be a definite classification of the sub-professorial staff into, e.g., senior lecturers, lecturers, junior lecturers, demonstrators, tutorial assistants. A suitable maximum and minimum salary should attach to each classification. (6.) A system of " tutorials " to small groups of students should supplement the teaching in those subjects in which at present only lectures are given. Whereever necessary, tutorial assistants should be provided. (7.) Professors should be given facilities, at suitable intervals, for visiting other countries in order to make themselves acquainted with recent developments in their subjects and in university work generally. VI. The University in relation to Secondary Education. (I.) The present Matriculation Examination should be abolished, and two public examinations named the " Intermediate Examination " and the " School Leaving Examination " should be substituted therefor. The Intermediate Examination should be of a standard suited to pupils of sixteen years of age who have been in attendance at a secondary school. The School Leaving Examination should be of a standard suited to pupils of eighteen years of age who have completed a full secondary-school course. (2.) The qualification for matriculation should be gained by passing in a definite, number of subjects in each of the above examinations, including such compulsory subjects as the University may consider necessary. (3.) The methods adopted by the Scottish Education Department for conducting the Intermediate and School Leaving Examinations for Scottish secondary schools should be, so far as practicable, adopted in New Zealand. This includes inspection of certain subjects of the curriculum, not to be examined by a written test, and consideration, by the Examiner, of the school record of the candidate as certified bv the Principal of the school from which he is presented.

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(4.) A Secondary-schools Board should be appointed by the University Council to advise the Council on all matters relating to the examinations for the Intermediate and School Leaving certificates, and to have' such administrative duties in regard to these examinations as the Council may from time to time delegate to it. (5.) The Secondary-schools Board should consist of twenty persons representing the teaching staff of the University, the Secondary-schools Branch of the Education Department, and the secondary-school teachers, including teachers of technical high schools and teachers in secondary schools not aided by the State. (G.) The Secondary-schools Board should issue from time to time courses of study adapted to the work of different types of secondary school, such courses to be suggestive, not mandatory. (7.) The Secondary-schools Board should be given power to appoint Standing Committees for dealing with special subjects, and to appoint to such Standing Committees persons possessing expert knowledge of such subjects, but who are not necessarily members of the Secondary-schools Board. (8.) The examinations in science subjects should be supplemented by periodica! inspection of science-teaching in schools. Such inspection should be carried out for the University either by the secondary-school inspectors of the Education Department, or by teachers of the University selected for that purpose, or both. (9.) The methods of teaching modern languages should be periodically tested by inspecting officers, either by the secondary-school inspectors of the Education Department, or by teachers in the University selected for that purpose, or both. (10.) Junior University Scholarships. —The examination for the school leaving certificate should be held at both pass and honours standards. Junior University Scholarships should be granted upon the examination for the leaving certificate at the honours standard. VII. The University and Technical Education. (i.) A system of examinations for technical schools should be established with the object of granting certificates and diplomas to technical -school students. (2.) Such examinations should be conducted, and such certificates issued by th:j Education Department. (3.) A Technical-schools Board should be appointed to advise the Education Department in all matters relating to courses of study and examinations. Such Board should contain representatives of the Technical Education Branch of the Education Department, of the technical schools, and of the science and applied science schools of the University. The Board should also contain representatives of industries. (4.) The Education Department, on the advice of the Technical-schools Board, should issue suggestive courses of study for the information of technical schools. (5.) The Technical-schools Board should have the power to appoint special Committees, consisting of persons not necessarily members of the Board, to deal with special trade subjects. (6.) When such courses have been adopted, the work of the Engineering Schools in University colleges should be strictly limited to university work, and should not include trade courses in engineering. (7.) As the higher technical work develops in, the technical schools, provision should be made for recognizing approved courses in technical schools as a qualification towards degrees and diplomas of the University. (8.) The work of the University colleges and of the technical schools should be co-ordinated as far as practicable in order to avoid duplication of effort and expenditure. (9.) A course of training for Art teachers, and especially, for Art teachers for technical schools, should be developed at the •Canterbury College School of Art. VIII. The Training op Teachers within -thE|University. (1.) The relationship of the Professors of Education to the training colleges and to thejsystem of training teachers Jshould be defined. (2.) The Regulations for Training Colleges should be amended so as to provide,—

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(a.) A high standard of entrance qualification, involving the completion of a full course of secondary education. (b.) One year's course of professional training. (c.) An extension of the course to two, three, or four years in the case of students specially selected and approved. As a rule, such students should have an entrance qualification equivalent to the leaving certificate with honours standard. 3.) Professional training in the principles and practice of teaching should not be taken by students concurrently with study for degrees, except in so far as it is involved in " practice teaching " during vacations. (4.) A course of training for secondary teachers should be provided at one of the University colleges. This should involve a proper staffing and equipment both of the college department and of a special secondary school to be used as a " practice school." The course of professional training should be taken as a post-graduate course. (5.) Careful supervision should be exercised to ensure that student teachers taking university courses select subjects likely to be of direct use to them as teachers in a secondary school. (6.) Vacation courses should be held at suitable intervals at University colleges by the University colleges and the Education Department in co-operation. TX. University Education in Agriculture. (1.) Two University Schools of Agriculture in the North Island should not be continued, but one school of full University standard should be established, and adequate provision for its development on sound lines should be made. (2.) The School of Agriculture thus established should provide courses for degrees in Agriculture, allowing opportunity for specialization in the main branches of rural industry. It should also provide diploma courses for young farmers. (3.) The university course in agriculture now provided at Lincoln College should be recast and improved, or, failing this, should be discontinued. In that event the work at Lincoln College should be confined to diploma courses for young farmers. (4.) The proposed University School of Agriculture should provide courses in Home Economics and Rural Economics (including the lighter farm industries) for farmers' wives and daughters. (5.) A department for training rural teachers should also be developed in this school. X. Legal Education. (I.) There should be a Council of Legal Education representative of the Judges, the members of the legal profession, and the University. It should be given the powers now vested in the Judges under the Law Practitioners Act. (2.) The Course now prescribed for solicitors should be strengthened, — (a.) By requiring an Entrance Examination at the standard of the Junior University Scholarship Examination, instead of, as now, the Matriculation Examination : (b.) By bringing the number and standard of the law professional subjects into line with the requirements in New South Wales and Victoria : (c.) By providing for a definite period of practical training in a law office. (d.) By abolishing the practice of allowing the entrance qualification to be taken after passing in the professional subjects : (e.) By insisting that part-time students shall take only as many subjects as can be profitably studied in the time which they can devote to them. (3.) The course now prescribed for barristers should be strengthened,— (a.) By requiring that all barristers shall take the subjects of general education now taken for the LL.B. degree —viz., Latin and English or Philosophy: (b.) By bringing the number and standard of the law professional subjects into line with the requirements for barristers in New South Wales and Victoria :

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(c.) By providing for a definite period of practical training in a law office. (4.) The Legislature should be asked to amend the Law Practitioners Act so as to provide, — (a.) For practical training in a law office by means of " articles " or by other suitable method : (b.) For closing the " back-door " entrance to the barrister's profession. (5.) A Law School, properly staffed and equipped with a good law library, should be established at the most suitable University centre. XI. Engineering. (1.) The School of Engineering at Canterbury University College should be maintained and developed as the leading School of Engineering. (2.) The School of Engineering at Auckland University College should be recognized by the University as providing a training for the first and second professional examinations for the B.E. degree in Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering. (3.) The Otago School of Mining should be transferred to Christchurch or to Auckland when opportunity offers. (4.) A clear delimitation of function in engineering education between the University and the technical schools should be determined, and the University schools of engineering should cease to conduct trade classes. XII. The Establishment oe Special Schools. (1.) There should be no duplication of Special Schools unless it is certain that each school can be efficiently staffed, equipped, and maintained, and that graduates trained in the schools can be profitably absorbed by the Dominion. (2.) There should be an expert inquiry into the question of the establishment and location of Special Schools now needed, and likely to be needed, during the ensuing twenty years, and the university policy should be shaped accordingly. The present haphazard method of establishing Special Schools should cease. (3.) Where practicable, the necessities of students living at a great distance from a special school should be met by the approval of a satisfactory course provided at their own university centre, e.g., — (a.) Clinical instruction for final-year medical students should be organized at Auckland. (6.) Engineering courses in the Auckland University College qualifying for the first and second professional examinations should be approved. (c.) The courses of instruction for the Home Science degree should be such that the first year may be taken at any University college. (4.) As recommended in IX above, two University Schools of Agriculture in the North Island should not be continued, but one efficient school should be established and maintained. (5.) Two University Schools of Forestry are unnecessary and should not be continued. In view of the fact that all of the highly developed Special Schools of the Dominion are in the South Island we consider that the School of Forestry should be at Auckland. (6.) The bursary system should be reviewed, and consideration should be given to the desirability of providing special maintenance allowances for selected students approved for courses of professional training necessitating their attendance at a distant University centre. (7.) The finance of the Special Schools should be kept separate and distinct from that of the other schools of the University colleges. XIII. Research. We consider that the most important contribution a busy, teaching university can make is the development of the spirit of inquiry and investigation in the student. A reasonable amount of original work should be expected of all professors.

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(1.) An essential qualification to be demanded of candidates for professorships should be acquaintance with methods of research, and evidence of some approved work therein. (2.) Workers in institutions engaged in research —e.g., the Cawthron Institute, the Department of Agriculture, the Dominion Laboratory —should be invited periodically to lecture to University students. (3.) A University Press should be established in order to facilitate the publication of original work done within the University. (4.) In order to provide greater facilities for historical research, important State papers not available at present for students, and in danger of loss under present conditions of housing, should be placed in suitable State archives and made accessible for study. XIY. The Students in their Relations, to the Colleges. (1.) A Students' Representative Council should be formed under the authority of the statutes of the University. Its duties should be, — (a.) To represent the students in matters affecting their interests : (b.) To promote the social life of the students : (c.) To promote intercourse between the various schools and colleges of the University : (d.) To organize all gatherings of students at college functions, and to take such steps as may be necessary to secure good order and seemly behaviour. (2.) The Students' Representative Council should elect a representative to the College Council. (3.) The Students' Representative Council should have the right to petition the Professorial Board of the college upon any matter affecting discipline or teaching in the college, and the right to petition the College Council on any matter affecting their position as students of the college. (4.) University college hostels should be provided for men and for women students so as to give opportunity for the development of a wider and fuller university life. Each hostel should be under the supervision of a Warden, who should be a man or women of university training. (5.) A Students' Loan Fund should be established, to be administered by the Councils of the constituent colleges, for the benefit of full-time students whose circumstances and university records justify such assistance. XV. Extra-mural Work of the University. (J.) Extra-mural work should be definitely accepted as an essential part of the normal work of the University. (2.) A special staff should be appointed to conduct such extension work as that for the Workers' Educational Association. The qualifications required should be those prescribed for other University teaching appointments. (3.) The system of appointing a staff to work half time in the University college and half time in extra-mural classes should be tried. (4.) " Tutorial classes " under the W.E.A. scheme should not be established unless there is a guarantee that the classes can be worked on tutorial lines, essays being regularly written by each member, and members guaranteeing to attend for a continuous course of sufficient duration to enable work of University standard to be accomplished. XVI. Degrees in Divinity. The University should be empowered to grant degrees in Divinity, provided that the University colleges should not undertake the teaching of the theological subjects included in the degree. CONCLUSION. Before closing, we desire to' express our appreciation of the kindness and courtesy extended to us in each of the University centres. The Registrar of the University, Mr. E. T. Norris, M.A., deserves our thanks for his prompt and willing response to our requests for information relative to the inquiry.

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We should be failing in our duty if we did not place on record a tribute to the work of our secretary, Dr. E. Marsden, Assistant Director of Education. We regard ourselves as singularly fortunate in having had the benefit of his services. Dr. Marsden was formerly Professor of Physics in Victoria University College. His knowledge of University life and work were especially valuable. He has proved himself a most capable secretary, active and energetic in making 5 the necessary arrangements for the meetings of the Commission, and indefatigable in the collection and systematization of the voluminous evidence taken. But for his energy arid forethought it would have been impossible in so short a time to complete the task assigned to us. 111 conclusion, we beg to submit the above report for Your Excellency's consideration. Dated the 24th August, 1925. Harry R. Reich el. E. Marsden. Secretarv. Frank Tate.

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APPENDIX. I. REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS. 1. UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. A candidate is required to attend lectures for at least three years. There are twenty-seven subjects, arranged in four groups, as under : A candidate must take ten courses, selected from at least three groups, and including three from the language subjects (a course consists of ninety lectures). Not more than four courses may be taken in any year. In general, candidates must select either (a) two subjects to be taken for three courses and one to be taken for two courses, or (b) one subject to be taken for three courses and three to be studied for two courses. Group I. —Ancient language and literature : (1) Greek (three courses) ; (2) Latin (three courses). Group II. —Modern language and literature : (1) English (three courses) ; (2) French (three courses) ; (3) German (three courses) ; (4) Japanese (two courses). Group lll.—Historical, mental, legal, and social science : — (a.) Historical : (1) Modern history (three courses) ; (2) Oriental history (one course) ; (3) Military history and science (one course). (b.) Mental: (1) Philosophy (three courses) ; (2) Psychology (three courses) ; (3) Education (one course). (c.) Legal: (1) Roman law (one course) ; (2) Constitutional law (one course) ; (3) Jurisprudence (one course) ; (4) International law (one course). (d) Social: (1) Economics (three courses) ; (2) Economic history (one course). Group IV. —Mathematics and science : — (a.) Mathematics (three courses). (b.) (1) Physics (three courses) ; (2) Chemistry (three courses) ; (3) Geology (three courses) ; (4) Botany (three courses) ; (5) Zoology (three courses) ; (6) Physiology (one course) ; (7) Astronomy (one course) ; (8) Geography (two courses). 2. MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY. A candidate must study for three years and must pass in ten of the following subjects ; he is deemed to be in his first year until he has passed two subjects, and then in his second year until he has passed six subjects. He must pass in (a) two major subjects and one sub-major subject, or (b) in one major subject and three sub-major subjects (" major " = three parts, " sub-major " = two parts of a subject), and must, in general, take a foreign language and one subject from each of the groups 11, 111, IV. Group I. —Languages and literature : Greek, Parts I, 11, III; Latin, Parts I, 11, III; English, Parts I, 11, III; French, Parts I, 11, III; German, Parts I, 11, III; The science of language; Comparative philology. Group II. —History and political science : British history, A, B, C, and D ; Australasian history (new subject, 1926) ; European history, A, B, and C ; Ancient history ; Political economy ; Modern political institutions. Group 111. —Philosophy and pure mathematics : Psychology, logic, and ethics; History of philosophy ; Advanced logic ; Advanced ethics ; Sociology; Metaphysics ; Pure mathematics, Parts I, 11, III; Pure mathematics (principles). Group IV. —Science : Mixed mathematics, Parts I, 11, III; Natural philosophy, Part I; Zoology, Part I; Botany, Part I ; Geology, Part I. 3. UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE. A candidate must pass in twelve units (i.e., courses) from the following subjects. Three units (including Philology or Latin or Greek) must be taken from Group I, two units must be taken from each of the Groups 11, 111, and IV, and not more than four units may be taken from Group IV. A candidate must select either (a) two subjects of three courses each and one subject of two courses, or (b) one subject of three courses and three subjects of two courses each. Group I. —Latin (three courses) ; Greek (three courses) ; Elementary comparative philology (one course) ; German (two courses); French (three courses). Group II. —English language and literature (three courses) ; Modern history (three courses) ; Economics (two courses) ; Economic history (one course). Group 111. —Psychology (one course) ; Ethics (one course) ; Logic (one course) ; Education (one course) ; Philosophy (two courses) ; Jurisprudence (one course) ; Pure mathematics (three courses). Group IV. —Applied mathematics (two courses) ; Pure mathematics (three courses) ; Physics (two courses) ; Chemistry (two courses) ; Geology and mineralogy (two courses) ; Botany (two courses) ; Zoology (two courses) ; Physiology (one course). Group V. —Music,

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n. STATISTICAL APPENDIX. This appendix summarizes information collected from the following sources:— (1.) A questionnaire submitted to all students to secure full information as to their occupations, courses, hours available for lectures, and study, &c. (see Appendix III); their replies in one respect — regarding their non-academic activities at college — were to some extent checked by independent returns of the membership of student clubs. (2.) Returns by professors showing the enrolment and " mortality " in their classes for 1924, and distinguishing between day and evening students, freshmen and non-freshmen, &c. (3.) An examination of the records of the students who graduated in 1925 to ascertain the length of their University course. 1. Number op Students, etc. The total number of students attending lectures at the four University colleges is 3,850, of whom 71 per cent, are men. Only 32 per cent, are full-time students (29 per cent, of the men aud 37 per cent, of the women); while 14 per cent, of the whole are training-college students, and 54 per cent, are engaged in various occupations. Of the students who devote only part time to their university studies, 22 per cent, are training-college students; 23 per cent, are teachers; 15 per cent, are public servants (clerks, &c.) —i.e., 60 per cent, of the part-time students, or 41 per cent, of the total number of students, are State employees; at Victoria College 59 per cent, of the students come within this category. The occupations of the students of each college are summarized as under. Auckland (1,012 students): Full time, 17 per cent.; Training College, 13 per cent.; other employment, 70 per cent. Victoria (804 students) : Full time, 17 per cent. ; Training College, 21 per cent.; other employment, 62 per cent. Canterbury (938 students): Full time, 32 per cent.; Training College, 11 per cent. ; other employment, 57 per cent. Otago (1,096 students): Full time, 56 per cent.; Training College, 14 per cent.; other employment, 30 per cent. The percentages of men and women respectively who devote full time to their university studies are,— Men. Women. Per Cent. Per Cent. Auckland .. ' .. .. .. .. 14 26 Victoria .. .. .. .. 11 32 Canterbury .. .. .. .. 33 28 Otago .. .. .. .. .. 53 58 All colleges .. .. .. 29 37 The actual numbers of full-time students are : Auckland, 171 ; Victoria, 136 ; Canterbury, 295 ; Otago, 611. The Otago University thus has more than one-half of the full-time students in New Zealand. This is, of course, in a large measure due to the fact that her Special Schools (Medical, Dental, Home Science, and Mines) require the full-time attendance of students; these account for 382 of the fulltime students, and the number in other Faculties is 229. In the Arts Faculty the percentage of full-time students is : Auckland, 21 per cent. ; Victoria, 18 per cent. ; Canterbury, 33 per cent. ; Otago, 28 per cent. : all colleges, 24 per cent. It is of some significance to note that of the 1925 freshmen the percentage of full-time students is: Auckland, 27 per cent.; Victoria, 25 per cent.; Canterbury, 30 per cent.; Otago, 44 per cent.: all colleges, 32 per cent. It will be seen that, although in the total the percentage of full-time students among freshmen (32 per cent.) agrees with the percentage of such students among non-freshmen, yet in the separate colleges a considerable disparity occurs. Thus of the freshmen at Auckland 27 per cent, give full time to study (compared with 17 per cent, of whole student body); Victoria has 25 per cent, fulltime freshmen (compared with 17 per cent.); Canterbury has 30 per cent, (compared with 32 per cent.) ; and Otago has 44 per cent, (compared with 56 per cent.). With respect to the two North Island colleges the explanation would appear to be twofold : First, a number of students devote their whole time to study for a year or two, taking up some additional employment before the completion of their course ; secondly, the day-student completes his course in a shorter period than does the evening student. The second factor is of some importance in explaining in part the preponderance of evening students at these colleges ; clearly if only one-half of the entrants were evening students the prolongation of their course would mean that at any given time the evening students would constitute more than half of the college population. If, for example, the average evening student took twice as long as the average day-student to complete his course, then, although half of the students entering the college were day-students, the evening students would outnumber them to the extent of 2 : 1. The converse to this holds at Otago, and to a lesser extent at Canterbury. The day-student's course at the Special Schools is normally longer than the course taken by an evening student, and the longer course produces a somewhat inflated proportion of day-students. The percentage of daystudents among freshmen gives a better index to the extent to which students devote their full-time to study than is given by the percentage of full-time students in the whole college population.

13— E. 7A.

98

E.—7 A.

Courses. —The percentage of students taking the various courses are as under Men. Women. Men. Women. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Arts .. .. 28 67 Engineering .. 5 Science .. 9 5 Law .. .. .. 25* 2 Medical .. .. 15 7 Commerce .. .. 12 2 Dental 1 4 2 Other .. 2 7 Home Science .... 8 1.00 100 Free Tuition. Fifty-eight per cent, of the full-time students, 98 per cent, of the training-college students, and 30 per cent, of the other evening students hold scholarships or bursaries entitling them to free university tuition. The numbers of free students expressed as percentages of the total students taking the various courses are : Arts, 73 per cent. ; Science, 56 per cent. ; Medical, 40 per cent.; Dental, 42 per cent. ; Home Science, 69 per cent. ; Law, 31 per cent.; Commerce, 17 per cent.; Engineering, 33 per cent. Fifty-three per cent, of the men and 37 per cent, of the women receive free tuition. It is to be noted that university bursaries and scholarships are tenable for four years only, and do not cover the whole course for medicine or dentistry. Similarly, the Home Science bursaries are tenable for three years only, whereas the degree course normally extends over three years. Years at University. Thirty-four per cent, of the students are freshmen, and the balance are accounted for as under: — Per Cent. Students in second year .. .. .. .. .. 27 Students in third year.. .. .. .. .. .. ..17 Students in fourth year . . . . . . . . . . ..11 Students in fifth year .. . . . . .. . . .. .. 7 Students in sixth year or later .. . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sixty per cent, of the men and 64 per cent, of the women are in either their first or their second year, and the percentages who have attended for more than three years are 23 per cent, (men) and 17 per cent, (women). There is also a marked difference as between the four colleges, arising principally from the varying periods of years for which students remain at college:— Auckland. Victoria. Canterbury. Otago. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. First year .. .. .. 39 29 38 32 Second year.. .. .. 26 29 29 24 Third year .. .. .. 18 19 16 17 Fourth year.. .. .. ..9 14 9 11 Fifth year .. .. .. ..6 5 6 9 Sixth year or later .. . . 2 4 2 7 100 100 100 100 These figures suggest that the students of Victoria College and the University of Otago remain longer than those at the other colleges. Only 17 per cent, of Auckland's students and the same percentage at Canterbury (compared with Victoria 23 per cent., and Otago 25 per cent.) are in their fourth or later year. 2. Secondary-school Course. (a.) Total Period (New Zealand Totals). —-Seventy-four per cent, of the students attended for at least four years at a secondary school ; 36 per cent, had five years ; 10 per cent, had six years ; and 2 per cent, had seven years. The women students had on the average a longer secondary education than the men, the percentage having four years being 82 per cent, of the women, compared with 71 per cent, of the men. A similar comparison between the full-time students and the evening students shows a marked advantage in the case of the former, 90 per cent, of these having a four-years secondary course, as against 65 per cent, of the evening students ; the percentage having five years at a secondary school are 54 and 26 respectively ; having six years and over, 18 per cent, and 5 per cent, respectively. Auckland: Of the students —68 per cent, had at least four years at a secondary school; 24 per cent, had five years or more ; 3 per cent, had six years or more ; 1 per cent, had seven years or more. Sixty-four per cent, of the men, 77 per cent, of the women, had at least four years. Of the full-time students, 91 per cent, had a four-years course and 45 per cent, had five years, compared with 58 per cent, (four years) and 19 per cent, (five years) for training-college students, and with 62 per cent, (four years) and "19 per cent, (five years) respectively for other evening students. Victoria : Of the students—7B per cent, had four or more years ; 37 per cent, had five or more years ; 9 per cent, had six or more years ; 1 per cent, had seven or more years. Seventy-four per cent, of the men, 85 per cent, of the women, had at least four years. Of the full-time students, 94 per cent, liad four years and 72 per cent, had five years ; of the training-college students the percentages are 67 and 26 respectively ; and. of the other evening students 77 and 35 respectively.

K.—7 A.

Canterbury : Of all the students-—7O per cent had four or more years ; 40 per cent, had five or more years ; 12 per cent, had six or more years ; 2 per cent, had seven or more years, Sixty-six per. cent, of the men, 85 per cent, of the women, had at least four years. Of the fulltime students, 92 per cent, and 59 per cent, respectively had four and five years ; the corresponding percentages of training-college students are 69 (four years) and 40 (five years), and of other evening students 53 (four years) and 26 (five years). Qtago: Of all the students —79 per cent, had four or more years ; 40 per cent, had five or more years ; 13 per cent, had six or more years ; 3 per cent, had seven or more years. Seventy-eight per cent, of the men, 83 per cent, of the women, had at least four years. Of the full-time students, 88 per cent, had four years and 52 per cent, had five years ; of the training-college students the percentages were 69 (four years) and 24 (five years), and of the other evening students the percentages were 61 and 16 respectively. (b.) Post-matriculation Period (New Zealand Totals). —Forty-eight per cent, of the students had at least one year at a secondary school after passing the Matriculation Examination, and L 5 per cent, had a post-matriculation course of two or more years. These figures clearly reflect the influence of the conditions governing the award of University bursaries which require, inter alia, a postmatriculation secondary course of at least one year. The percentage of men students who had at least one year is 44, and of women students 57 ; the percentage having at least two years are 17 (men) and 14 (women). Here, too, the full-time students compare more than favourably with the evening students ; of the former 66 per cent, had one post-matriculation year, and 26 had two such years, the corresponding figures for evening students being 37 and 9 respectively. A considerable proportion of the students had an interval between the termination of their secondary course and the commencement of their university career. Thus 29 per cent, of the students had a " gap " of at least two years between the Matriculation Examination and their enrolment at a University college, while, as stated above, only 15 per cent, of the students had a twoyears post-matriculation course at a secondary school. Auckland: Forty-two per cent, of the students had at least one year at a secondary school after passing the Matriculation Examination, and 8 per cent, had two years. Victoria: Fifty-four per cent, of the students had at least one post-matriculation year at a secondary school, and 12 per cent, had two years. Canterbury: The percentage of students having at least one post-matriculation year was 40, having two or more years 18. Otaqo: The corresponding figures are 52 per cent, (at least one year) and 17 per cent, (two or more years). 3. Age of Students. (a.) Freshmen. —The following classifies all 1925 entrants in percentages according to their age at last birthday : —• Age last Percentage Birthday. of Students. 16 years .. .. .. . . .. .. 4* 17 years .. .. .. .. .. 17 18 years .. .. .. .. .. 32 19 years .. .. .. .. .. 21 20 years .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 21 years and over .. .. .. .. 17 100 * Excluding non-matriculated entrants the percentage is less than 3. Comparing men and women it is found that in both cases 53 per cent, of the students are under the age, of nineteen years, but while 20 per cent, of the men are over the age of twenty-one years only 10 per cent, of the women freshers are over that age. The median age is a little under 18J years ; the strict average is 19 years 7 months for men and 19 years 3 months for women. To a marked extent the full-time extrants are younger than the part-time students, the percentage in each group over the age of twenty-one years being: Day-students, 11 per cent. ; training-college students, 13 per cent; other evening students, 25 per cent. (b.) Students in Second and Subsequent Years. —Excluding freshmen, the students may be classified in age-groups as under:— Age last Percentage Birthday. of Students. 18 years .. . . .. .. .. 10 19 years .. .. .. .. .. 20 20 years .. .. .. .. .. 22 21 years .. .. .. .. .. 16 22 years .. .. .. .. .. 10 23 years .. .. .. .. .. .. 7 24 years .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 25 years and over .. .. .. .. 11 100

99

E.—7 A,

100

It will be noted that 48 per cent, of these students are over the age of twentv-one years ; more than one-half of the men students, and 43 per cent, of the women, are over that age. Naturally enough, the youngest students on the average are those attending training colleges ; these have entered either after two years as a probationer or pupil-teacher, or immediately upon leaving the secondary school, and they cease to be training-college students, four years or two years, as the case may be, after the termination of their secondary course. Only 22 per cent, of these are over twenty-one years of age. The following shows the percentage of students (non-freshmen) over twenty-one years of age at each of the four colleges

4. Number of Subjects. Here, comparisons are made under three headings :• — (a.) Men and Women. —There appears to be no significant difference between the number of subjects taken by men and women respectively. The average is 2-9 in the case of men and 2-5 in the case of women. The slight excess in the case of men can be attributed to the fact that the Law and Commerce degrees, for which many men but only a few women prepare, have a large number of relatively light subjects, so that students frequently take four or five subjects concurrently. As a matter of fact, the statistics show that in the Faculty of Arts the women students do not set themselves a lighter task than do the men, the average number of subjects being 2-3 for men and 2-4 for women. Otherwise expressed, 28 per cent, of the women, as against 25 per cent, of the men, are taking at least three subjects; this, too, must be qualified by reference to the fact that a relatively large proportion of women are full-time students. (b.) Fre.shmen and Non-freshmen. —Forty-nine per cent, of the freshmen are taking three or more subjects, while 55 per cent, of the students in their second or subsequent year are taking at least three subjects. The percentage of freshmen with more than two subjects is : Auckland, 57 ; Victoria, 27 ; Canterbury, 61 ; Otago, 45. (c.) Day and Evening Students. —More significant deductions are to be drawn when students are grouped according to the time available for study, particularly if this be read in conjunction with the later section dealing with the rates of " mortality " amongst the different groups. Thus three or more subjects are taken by —75 per cent, of the day students ; 23 per cent, of the training-college students ; and 47 per cent, of other evening students. Taking the Arts Faculty alone, 64 per cent, of the day-students and 26 per cent, of the evening students take three or more subjects; of training-college students the percentage is 23, and of other evening students 30. The following figures show with respect of each college the percentage of students in each group who are taking more than two subjects for an Arts course : —•

5. Houbs per Week at Lectures and Labobatoey. The following classifies the whole of the students in percentages according to the number of hours per week at university lectures and laboratory. Baivw-k. jaac Up to 5 . . . . . . .. 20 Up to 7 .. .. . . .. .. .. 38 Up to 9 .. .. .. .. .. .. 55 Up to 11 .. .. .. .. .. 64 Up to 13 .. .. . . .. .. .. 71 Up to 15 .. .. .. .. .. .. 75 Up to 17 .. .. .. .. 78 Up to 19 .. .. .. .. 80 Up to 21 .. .. .. .. .. .. 82 22 and over .. .. .. .. .. .. 18

i Dav-students Training-college Other Evening 8tllH . nta Day students. students. Students. All btudents. . Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Auckland .... 34 18 50 41 Victoria .... 41 22 53 45 Canterbury .... 49 19 52 44 Otago ...... 64 27 67 58

I I ! Auckland. Victoria. Canterbury. Otago. All Colleges. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Day-students .. .. 78 57 68 62 64 Training-college students .. 43 14- 37 13 23 Other evening students 33 20 36 3 30

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The most marked difference under this heading naturally occurs between the students who devote their full time to the University and those who are otherwise employed ; of the day-students only 3 per cent, come within the first group, and these are almost without exception students pursuing a post-graduate course, while 52 per cent, of these come within the final group (twenty-two hours and over). On the other hand, 30 per cent, of the evening students come within the first group (one to five hours), and only 1 per cent, come within the final group ; 76 per cent, of the evening students and 12 per cent, of the day-students have lectures and laboratory for less than ten hours weekly. There is no significant difference between the hours of the men and the women, the small excess on an average in the case of the women being reasonably attributable to the fact that they have a relatively large proportion of full-time students. The students of each college are now classified in percentages according to their weekly hours in lectures and laboratory.

The figures bracketed (Otago) represent the percentages corrected by the exclusion of students attached to the Special Schools ; they give on the whole a better basis for comparison with other colleges than is given by the uncorrected figure. The extent to which the hours of day-students exceed those of evening students is indicated by comparing the percentage in the respective groups whose hours come withiu certain broad limits. The percentages are, —

6. Time spent in Study for University Classes. Ninety per cent, of the students offered an estimate of the number of hours per week devoted to study. The following summarizes their estimates TT , Percentage of Hours per Week. Students. Up to 4 ~ ~ ~ ~ .. .. 8 5-9 13 10-14 30 15-19 .. .. .. . ■ .. 20 20-24 .. .. .. .. .. .. 17 25 and over .. .. .. .. .. 12 100

Hours per Week. Auckland. Victoria. Canterbury. Otago. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Up to 5 .. .. .. 24 22 23 14 (28) Up to 7 .. .. .. 48 43 35 26 (50) Up to 9 .. .. .. 67 68 49 36 (66) Up to 11 .. .. .. 76 78 62 42 (77) Up to 13 .. .. .. 81 87 71 47 (86) Up to 15 .. .. .. 84 90 79 49 (90) Up to 17 .. .. .. 86 92 85 50 (91) Up to 19 .. .. .. 88 94 89 52 (93) Up to 21 .. .. .. 89 96 94 54 (94) 22 and over .. .. .. 11 4 6 46 (6)

I I ' i Auckland. Victoria. | Canterbury. Otago. All Colleges. _l j | J I Hours not exceeding seven weekly — Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Day-students .. .. 10 18 7 2 6 Evening students .. .. 59 49 45 65 54 Hours exceeding nine weekly— Day-students .. .. ... 80 66 89 96 88 Evening students .. .. .. 18 25 37 28 24 Hours exceeding fifteen weekly— Day-students .. .. .. j 58 31 63 82 69 Evening students .. .. .. j 4 6 6 0 4

E. — 7 A

Comparison between day and evening students naturally yields much the same result as that made with respect to hours in lectures. The arithmetical average for day-students is twenty-one hours per week, and for evening students twelve hours per week. The median, in hours per week, is 25 for daystudents, 13 for evening students. These figures are preferable to the strict arithmetical average, and in any case it must, of course, be recognized that the time devoted to study is incapable of very accurate calculation. In view, however, of the number of individual estimates, and of their close correspondence in a large proportion of cases to the " normal " for the type of student concerned, the figures are not without significance. Broadly, full-time students estimate their study period at less than 5 hours per day, evening students at less than 3 hours per day. If account be taken of the hours in lectures and laboratory, the total daily period becomes approximately 7§ hours in the case of full-time students and 4| hours in the case of evening students. (Reference will be made below to the relative periods in years taken by day-students and evening students respectively in obtaining certain degrees of the University of New Zealand.) The average at Auckland is 20 (day) and 12 (evening) ; at Victoria, 22 and 13 ; at Canterbury, 24 and 14 ; and at Otago, 20 and 12 respectively. 7. Employment—Hours, etc. In view of the large proportion of University students in New Zealand who are engaged in earning their own living it is of interest to note the hours per week given to their employers. The students returns show that of the evening students, — 50 per cent, are employed for twenty-five hours or less per week, those being principally teachers and training-college students ; 8 'per cent, are employed for weekly hours ranging from twenty-six to thirty-seven ; 22 per cent, are employed for thirty-eight hours, which is the normal week for clerical workers ; and 20 per cent, are employed for more than thirty-eight hours per week. Salaries. —The following table classifies the evening students in percentages according to their weekly earnings Weekly Salary. Per Cent. Under £1 10s. . . . . . . . . .. 19 £1 10s. to £1 19s. .. .. .. .. 27 £2 to £2 9s. .. .. .. .. .. .. 16 £2 10s. to £2 19s. .. .. .. .. .. 6 £3 to £3 9s. .. .. .. .. .. 6 £3 10s. to £3 19s. .. .. .. .. ~ 6 £4 and over .. .. .. .. .. 20 100 Excluding training-college students (who receive allowances ranging from £80 to £115 per annum), 44 per cent, of the men and 53 per cent, of the women are in receipt of salaries of less than £2 per week ; 33 per cent, of the men and 31 per cent, of the women receive at least £3 weekly ; and £4 or more per week is received by 22 per cent, of the men and by 12 per cent, of the women. The only significant difference under this heading occurs between those students who are in Government employment and those who are in private employment. This is particularly noticeable in the case of law students, who constitute the largest single group amongst evening students : here there is no appreciable difference between the ages of the public servants and the clerks in legal offices, but the former receive on the average a salary 100 per cent, higher than that of the law clerks. 8. Place of Residence. Information under this heading is of significance in connection with each college rather than with respect to the Dominion as a whole. It may, however, be noted that— Of all students, 50 per cent, live at home ; 16 per cent, in hostels ; 27 per cent, board or "bach." fOf men students, 59 per cent, live at home ; 13 per cent, in hostels ; 31 per cent, board or J " bach." j Of women students, 56 per cent, live at home ; 25 per cent, in hostels ; 16 per cent, board or " bach." fOf day students, 44 per cent, live at home ; 28 per cent, in hostels ; 28 per cent, board or ' " bach." ] Of training-college students, 41 per cent, live at home ; 23 per cent, in hostels ; 36 per cent. [_ board or " bach." Of evening students, 74 per cent, live at home ; 4 per cent, in hostels ; 22 per cent, board or " bach." The cost of board averages £1 9s. per week, and is approximately 2s. 6d. per week dearer in the case of men students than in the case of women students.

102

103

E.—7 A

The following table shows the percentage of students at each college according to their place of residence :—

In this classification the term " hostel " covers institutions conducted by the Y.M.C.A. and other philanthropic bodies ; neither Auckland nor Victoria College has a university hostel. The actual numbers of students at these colleges living away from home are :— Auckland. —215 men (34 day-students ; 181 evening students). 68 women (16 day-students ; 52 evening students). Victoria— 254 men (25 day-students ; 229 evening students). 98 women (22 day-students ; 76 evening students). A comparison between the cost of board for students living in hostels and those living elsewhere does not produce any conclusive evidence. From the figures supplied by Canterbury College students (men) it appears that the cost of living in a hostel exceeds private board by 3s. per week ; while the figures for Otago University show that residence in a hostel costs a student on an average Is. fid. per week less than private board in the case of men, and Is. less in the case of women. 9. Non-academic Activities. Students were asked to name their college activities, such as sports, student clubs, &c. The replies on this point are necessarily subject to the qualification indicated above in regard to private study—the subject is not readily susceptible to precise tabulation. It is, however, not unreasonable to assume that in the aggregate the replies give a fairly correct indication of the extent to which students fail to participate in such activities. The replies have been grouped under four headings according as to whether they indicate that the student takes part in— (a.) No non-scholastic activities at college. (b.) Athletic activities only. (o.) Intellectual activities (debating, &c.) only. (d.) Both athletic and intellectual activities. Excluding training-college students (who to a large extent will be associated with these activities at their college) it is found that 43 per cent, of the students, on their own statement, take no part in non-scholastic activities at college; that 31 per cent, come within group (b), 10 per cent, within group (c), and 16 per cent, within group (d) —indicating that only 47 per cent, even claim to take part in athletics, and only 26 per cent, in student activities of an intellectual type. The percentage of men whose replies come within group (a)—no activities —is 46 per cent., while the percentage of the women is 32; the percentage coming within (d) —activities of both types —is, men 14 per cent., women 24 per cent. It does not appear that the failure to secure general participation by students in this side of college life is wholly due to the fact that a large proportion are only evening students, for of the fulltime students 28 per cent, in the case of men, 24 per cent, in the case of women, describe themselves as taking no part in student activities, and less than one-fourth of the full-time men and only onehalf of the full-time women include in their replies any student activities of an intellectual type. Moreover, comparison between the various colleges with widely different proportions of full-time students does not support the perhaps reasonable a priori assumption that interest in student activities varies in direct proportion to the number of students free from outside employment during their college days. Thus the percentage of students who indicate that they take part in athletic and in intellectual student activities are, —• (The figure in brackets shows the percentage of full-time students at the college.) Auckland .. .. (17 per cent.); athletic, 25 per cent. ; intellectual, 27 per cent. Victoria .. .. (17 per cent.); athletic, 51 per cent. ; intellectual, 30 per cent. Canterbury .. .. (32 per cent.); athletic, 44 per cent. ; intellectual, 22 per cent. Otago .. .. .. (56 per cent.); athletic, 65 per cent. ; intellectual, 28 per cent. Only 11 per cent. (Auckland), 21 per cent. (Victoria), 13 per cent. (Canterbury), and 19 per cent. (Otago) describe themselves as taking part in activities of both types, while the percentages who show no activities at all are 59, 40, 47, and 26 respectively.

Auckland. Victoria. Canterbury. Otago. ■ ) I ___ Men : — Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. At home ( . .... 70 54 59 44 Board ...... 26 36 26 36 In hostel ...... 4 10 15 20 Women: — At home ...... 77 60 62 42 Board ...... 17 23 16 10 In hostel ...... 6 17 22 48

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104

10. " Mortality " in Examinations. (a.) College Examinations. Returns with respect to 1924 show that of the students who enrolled and actually attended at least some lectures 17 per cent, in the case of the day-students and 30 per cent, in the case of the evening students failed to keep college terms. The following table gives the figures for each subject under review, and also indicates (column (c) the mortality amongst " freshmen ": —

In the returns for four subjects—English, Education, History, and Philosophy —training-college students were distinguished from other evening students, but on the whole no difference in the percentage of failures is disclosed, (b.) University of New Zealand Examinations. The figures immediately preceding show that the college terms requirements exercise a relatively Stern selective influence on freshmen compared with non-freshmen and on evening students compared with day-students. It is perhaps not surprising to find that the results of the degree examinations conducted by the University of New Zealand show no significant difference between these groups. In the degree examinations the failures amount to 13 per cent, of the students who attended college lectures ; the percentage of freshmen is 12 ; of day-students it is 12, and of evening students 13. Allowance, must, of course, be made for the greater elimination of evening students and freshmen in college examinations, but even then there is no appreciable difference between the success of these students and the success of others in the degree examinations. A marked difference does, however, occur as between subjects. The following indicate the number of failures in the University of New Zealand's degree examination, expressed as percentages of the enrolment in the various subjects at the four colleges, 1924 : English, 18 per cent. ; Education, 9 per cent.; History, 4 per cent.; Philosophy, 7 percent.; Latin, 15 per cent.; French, 17 per cent.; Economics, 5 per cent. ; Pure Mathematics, 20 per cent. ; Applied Mathematics, 16 per cent. ; Physics, 7 per cent. ; Chemistry, 11 per cent. ; Botany, 6 per cent. ; Law subjects, 16 per cent. Duration of Course prior to Degrees.—The following shows the average length of the course taken by University students who graduated in 1925 : — Degree. Years in Course. Degree. Years in Course. B.A. .. .. .. 3'9 M.B. or Ch.B. .. .. 6-0 B.Sc 4-1 MA 5-3 LL.B. .. .. .. 5-1 M.Sc. .. .. .. 5-4 The most useful comparison is that between full-time and part-time students, and this is made with respect to the degrees of B.A. and B.Sc. For the former degree the average length of the course was 3-3 years for full-time students, and 4-2 years for part-time students ; for the B.Sc. degree the figures are 3.8 years and 4-9 years respectively. Otherwise expressed : of the 166 students who gained these degrees, 68 were full-time students and 98 were evening students during the greater part of their course, and 70 per cent, of full-time students, compared with 37 per cent, of evening students, completed in 3 years; 88 per cent, of full-time and 64 per cent, of evening students completed within 4 years.

(a.) (6.) (c.) Number enrolled. Percentage failed to keep Terms. Subject. Pai led Full Time. Part Time. Pull Time. Part Time. All Students. freshmen. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. English .. .. .. 156 340 19 31 27 32 Education .. .. .. 60 400 13 11 11 14 History .. .. .. 86 286 4 13 10 18 Philosophy .. .. 72 171 15 25 22 31 Latin .. .. .. 77 218 16 42 35 40 French .. .. .. 149 271 12 32 25 29 Economics .. .. .. 36 265 8 15 15 24 Pure Mathematics .. .. 130 124 24 64 44 40 Applied Mathematics .. 75 46 17 48 29 26 Physics .. .. .. 233 62 22 32 24 26 Chemistry .. .. .. 233 72 21 44 27 28 Botany .. .. .. 88 36 1 8 3 12 Law subjects* .. .. 46 428 43 48 48 50 Totals .. .. 1,441 2,709 17 30 25 31 * Contracts, Property (Part I), Jurisprudence, and Roman Law.

105

E.—7a.

Ill: FORM OF QUESTIONNAIRE SUBMITTED TO STUDENTS. Confidential. ROYAL COMMISSION ON UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, 1925. (To BE FILLED IN BY ALL STUDENTS ATJD RETURNED AT ONCE TO THE REGISTRAR.) University College: Name : [Surname first] Age last birthday : years. Sex : Year of first enrolment in university : 19 Number of years attending lectures : Do you hold a bursary or scholarship ? Course now being taken : Degree or diploma (if any) now studying for : Number of subjects in which you are taking lectures, 1925 : Have you passed the matriculation examination 1 If so, when ? 19 Other university examinations passed : Number of years spent in secondary school : Name of secondary school (or schools): Period at secondary school after passing matriculation : Number of hours per week spent (1925) in— (a.) Lectures : (b.) Laboratory work : (c.) Other study (private) for university classes: (Estimate). Are you giving undivided time to university ? If not, what is your occupation ? [Enter as training college, law office, Government service, cfee.] and what is your salary ? £ Do your employers give you time off for study ? For how many hours per week are you employed ? Do you live at home ? If not, do you live in hostel, board, or " bach " ? and at what cost per week ? Name your non-scholastic activities at college (if any), as sports, student-clubs, &c.: Signature: Date: 1925.

14 E. 7A.

E.—7A

106

INDEX.

PAGE ! PAGE Academic Board .. 08, 70-71 Garrow, Prof. J. M. E. .. .. .. 45 Academic freedom .. . . 25, 59, 02, 09 I Gunson, Dr. E. B. .. .. .. 57 Accrediting .. .. .. .. .. 29, 30 Acland, H. D. .. .. .. .. 82 Adamson, Prof. J. .. .. .. 51 Hansen, M. P. .. .. . . .. 28 Adelaide University : B.A. degree .. .. 21, 96 Harvard University . . .. .. .. 24, 30 Advisory Committee for University appointments Hogben, G. .. . . . . . . .. 9 62, 68-69, 89 Home Science .. .. .. .. 8, 93 Adult education. (See University education.) Hostels .. .. .. 80-81, 94, 102-3 Age of students .. .. . . 25-26, 99 Hours per week, lectures and laboratory .. 101 Agriculture .. .. .. 6, 22, 39 seq., 57, 92, 93 Hunter, Prof. T. A. .. .. .. 4, 13, 53, 55 Algie, Prof. R. M. . . .. . . .. 44, 49 Huxley, T. H. .. .. .. . . 75 Architecture .. .. .. .. 32, 53 Art, teaching of .. .. .. 31-32, 91 Auckland University College .. 7, 8,19, 31, 32, 41, Independent universities .. 7, 58 seq., 66, 67, 77 52,53, 60, 93, 97 Iowa : Agricultural College .. .. .. 42 B.A. degree .. .. .. .. 21,35,89 B.Sc. degree.. .. .. .. ..22,89 Lawson, Prof. R. .. .. .. .. 29 Benson, Prof. W. B. .. .. .. .. 65 Lecturers in University .. .. ... 64, 65 Board of Studies .. .. .. .. 10 Legal education .. .. 44 seq., 55, 92-93 Brown, Prof. Rankine .. .. .. 77 Libraries .. .. .. 51, 77, 87-88 Burbidge, Prof. P. W. .. .. .. 18 Lincoln Agricultural College .. 4,6,8,40,41,92 Bursaries .. .. .. 55, 56, 57, 58, 84, 93, 98 London University .. .. . . .. 12, 13 London University, Commission on 4. 12, 14, 15, 16, 23, • 26, 67, 72, 75, 76 Callan, J. B. .. . . .. 44, 46, 50 Campbell, R. M. .. .. .. .. 4 Mac Donald College (Canada) .. .. .. 42 Canterbury College .. .. .. 5, 31, 97 Mac Donald, Dr. W. M. .. .. .. 57 Chilton, Prof. C. .. .. .. .. 20 Marsden, Dr. E. .. .. .. .. 95 City drift .. .. .. .. .. 43 M.A. and M.Sc. degrees .. .. .. 20-21 Co-option .. .. .. .. .. 8, 70 Matriculation Examination .. .. 22 seq., 35 Convocation.. .. .. .. 73,88,89 McCormick, H. .. .. .. .. 19 Coughtrey, Dr. M. .. .. .. 53 Medical education .. .. 22, 53, 56, 57, 93 Councils of Colleges : Constitution .. 11,73,80, Melbourne University.. .. 27, 29, 39, 48, 78, 83, 84 88-89, 94 Melbourne University: B.A. degree .. .. 21, 96 Council of University : Constitution recommended 72, 88 Melbourne University, Commission on .. .. 48 Mining education .. .. .. 6, 8, 52-53, 54 Morrell, W. J. .. .. .. .. 58 Degrees : Standard .. .. 20 seq., 60, 68, 73, 89 Degrees, years of course for .. .. .. 104 de la Mare, F. A. .. .. .. .. 50, 55 New South Wales .. .. .. .. 32, 46 Denham, Prof. H. G. .. .. 18, 65, 76 N.Z. University : 1879 Commission .. 5, 7-8, 66, 69 Denmark .. .. .. 39, 40, 41, 86 N.Z. University: 1870 Act .. .. .. 5 Divinity, degrees in .. .. .. 78 seq., 94 N.Z. University : 1874 Act .. .. .. 6 N.Z. University : 1875 Act .. .. .. 6 N.Z. University : 1902 Act .. .. .. 8 Education, Professors of .. .. 33, 34,39,91 N.Z. University: 1914 Act .. .. .. 10 Eliot, President C. W. .. .. .. 24, 73 Norris, E. T. .. . . . . .. 94 Engineering .. .. .. 22, 31, 51 seq., 93 Evening-student system .. 7-8, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17-20, 33, 35, 47, 65, 75, 84, 89-90, 97, 100-104 Ontario Agricultural College .. .. .. 42 Examinations .. 11, 12 seq., 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 48, Otago University .. .. 5,13,51,59,97 67, 69, 73, 75, 76, 104 Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Commission on Exchange of Professors ...... 77 15, 17, 75, 87 Exempted students .. .. 8, 35, 47, 82 seq., 90 Park, Prof. J. .. .. .. .. .. 52 Peren, Prof. C. P. .. .. .. .. 41 Faculties .. .. .. 54, 68, 69, 70, 89 Powell, Prof. P. W. .. .. . . .. 18, 31 Federal University .. .. .. 9,61,67 Press, University .. .. .. ..78,94 Federal University not a permanent solution .. 58, 61 Principal of University .. .. 68, 74, 88 Ferguson, Sir Lindo .. .. .. 56, 57, 87 Professors : Appointment, &c... .. .. 62 seq. Finance .. . . .. 10, 58, 59, 87, 93 Professors : Representation on Councils 63, 71, 73 Forestry .. .. .. .. 57, 58, 93 Proxy, voting by .. .. .. .. 8, 72 Furkert, F. W. .. .. .. .. 53 Public servants at University colleges .. 15,20, 90

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PAGE I PAGE Recommendations, summary of .. .. 88-94 I Supplementaiy courses for teachers .. .. 38, 92 Research .. .. .. .. 16, 74 seq., 93 j Sutherland, Dr. I. L. 6. .. .. .. 64 Sydney University : B.A. degree .. .. 21, 96 Sabbatical year .. .. .. 05,77,90 Tailored, H. J. .. .. .. .. 5 Scholefield, Dr. G. H. .. .. .. 77 Teachers, training of .. .. 20, 32 seq., 43, 83, 89 School-leaving certificate .. 23, 24, 28, 90 Teaching, standard of .. .. 14-15, 76, 83 Scotland school-leaving certificate .. .. 28 Technical education .. .. .. 30 seq., 91 Secondary education .. .. 22 seq., 36, 90-91, 98-99 Technical School Board .. .. .. 31, 91 Secondary School Board .. .. 26 seq., 91 Thompson, G. E. .. .. .. .. 6 Secondary-school teachers .. 25, 29, 32, 34, 35, 36, 92 Segar, Prof. H. W. .. .. .. 18 Selection Committee for University appointments University extension .. .. 11, 17, 84 seq., 94 68-69, 89 University Grants Committee .. .. .. 60 Senate: Existing constitution.. .. ..10,11 j University Reform Association .. .. 9 Separate universities. (See Independent universities.) Simmons, F. C. .. .. .. .. 4 Skerrett, C. P. .. .. .. .. 44, 45 Vacation courses .. .. .. 38, 39, 92 South African universities, Commission on 4, 27, 28 Victoria University College .. .. 7, 8, 19, 41, 97 Special Schools .. 8-9, 43, 51, 54 seq., 60, 77, 93 Victoria, State of .. .. 27, 29, 32, 39, 46 Special interests: Representation .. 8, 71, 73, 89 ron Haast, 11. F. .. .. .. .. 47 Sperrin-Johnson, Prof. J. C. .. .. 18 Staffing of University colleges .. 14, 61 seq., 86, 90 Stout, Sir Robert .. .. .. .. 75 Wales, University of .. .. 13,59,66-67,81,87 Studholme, John .. .. .. .. 8 Wales, University of, Commission on .. 4, 67, 72-73 Students' Loan Fund.. .. .. .. 84, 94 Wall, Prof. A. .. .. .. .. 64 Students, number of .. .. 11,12,14,15,16,97 Wells, T. U. .. .. .. •• 18 Students, part-time. (See Evening-student system.) White, E. M. .. .. .. .. 50 Students' Representative Council .. .. 80, 94 Wilson, President .. .. .. .. 16 Students' salaries .. .. .. .. 102 ! Witnesses, number of .. .. .. 4 Students' Union .. .. .. ~ 81 Women: Admission to degrees .. 6 Students : General .. .. 17, 80 seq., 97 seq. Women students .. .. 43-44, 100, 101 Study : Hours per week .. .. 101-102 Workers' Educational Association. (See University Subjects, number of .. .. .. 36, 49, 84, 100 extension.)

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