SOME MISCONCEPTION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 125, 19 February 1940, Page 8

SOME MISCONCEPTION

SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION EXPLANATION OF SYSTEM As much misconception regarding this examination exists in the public mind a few notes may be of value to parents and others interested. The examination was brought into operation by regulations gazetted on sth April, 1934. Educational authorities considered that some other certificate besides Matriculation was needed to indicate that a pupil had completed a course at a Secondary school. A large number of pupils do not wish to enter a profession. Most of these do not desire to study a foreign language which is compulsory for Matriculation. More courses are being provided in our post-primary schools to cater for those pupils who are eligible to sit for the School Certificate.. In all, a candidate has a choice of 31 subjects. This includes all the Matriculation subjects and such others as Book-keeping, Shorthand and typing, Housecraft, Technical Electricity, Applied Mechanics and Physiology and Hygiene. To pass a candidate must qualify in English and in at least four other subjects. Constituting a Pass. The examination is held in conjunction with the Matriculation examination.. Where the subjects coincide the same papers are set and all pupils who sit for Matriculation are automatically considered as candidates for School Certificates without extra fee.. Papers in those subjects which are not in the matriculation syllabus are set separately. The decision as to what constitutes a pass is somewhat different from that adopted for Matriculation. In the latter examination a candidate j must obtain at least 40 per cent in English. In other subjects he is allowed to go as low as 30 per cent 1 , but the aggregate marks for the whole examination must not be less than 45 per centy In this examination strength in some subjects may balance weakness in others. Different Procedure. Such is not the case for the School Certificate. Each year a qualifying mark is set, usually about 40 per cent, and candidates must reach this in all subjects. Hence it Is quite possible, though uncommon, for a pupil to pass matriculation and fail for school certificate. The reverse is quite common. Then, again, no Partial Pass is allowed for Matriculation, whereas for the School Certificate one is allowed to those pupils who have qualified in all but one subject. The candidate may complete by passing in this single subject in a subsequent year. Higher Standard. On the whole the Matriculation Examination is considered to lie of a somewhat higher standard than the School Certificate. No recognition is given by the University to the latter—Matriculation, now called the University Entrance Examination, is essential before the pupil can take up University work for a Degree. However, the School Certificate is recognised as an equivalent to Matriculation in the Public Service and by many business houses. A pupil at a Secondary School may take a Higher Leaving Certificate from it and enter the teaching profession, Apparently it has a most useful function in the educational scheme and is likely to increase in public estimation as the years go by. Results in Whakatane. At the examinations held at. Whakatane last year in this subject the following are the results:— Pass: Betty G-ow, Thelma Henry, Alison Hill, Gwen Ferguson. Partial Pass: Butler Keepa, Phyllis Carter, Hctly Shapley. These were all the candidates who entered from the Whakatane District High School.

His Father's Holster! When Lieutenant C. N. Armstrong. \v3io is in camp at Tr was being equipped for active service he was asked to select a leather pistol holster from a fairlj' large pilcof holsters made ready by the if ter-master. Looking at the fit's! holster he picked up, lie found aa name written on the back of it-— "N. G. Armstrong, Highland Rifles."" It was ascertained later that theholster had been used by his father, Mr N. G. Armstrong,, of Wanganui, in the Wanganui Highland RiflesRegiment away back in 1904. Mr NG. Armstrong was an officer in thafc regiment and handed tlie holster in? about 1908.