SOME INTERESTTNG COMMENTS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14976, 25 May 1914, Page 2

SOME INTERESTTNG COMMENTS.

The Zealand Times" of Saturday prints tho following lengthy summary of the examiners' reports: — "MORE FAILURES." In regard to Latin, Professor E. A. Son-aenchin says : — "I ara to * _ c ablo to report at the close of my period of -office as examiner that better work is on the whole 6hown up by candidates than five years ago. The number of pass candidates who have completely broken down in either paper is this year small, and many candidates show that they have attained a very respectable level of knowledge. It is truo that the percentage of failures is higher than usual this year (about 38 per cent.), but the reason for this is that the rule of the Senate has come into operation to the effect that in order to pass a candidate must satisfy the examiner in at least one passage of Latin composition and ono passage r.f translation. The passages set in 1913 were more difficult than in the previous year.

•-AMENTABLE GUESSWORK." Professor W. Macneil Dixon exammer m English Literature and' Language, i-ays that in these subject- the was tfiroughout better than last, but whether tht* result should be ascribed wholly to more careful preparation on tho part of the candidates, or, m part at least to greater familiarity with the methods of the examiner, it would be difficult to say. It cannot be denied, however, that good, conscientious work was dow) by many of the students. The r£i * I c _ ea .« h ers-evidently leaves little to be desired, hut their pupils are too often content to take advantage of ite thoroughness, and to avoid uidependent reading fa investigation. The examination -resulte are therefore in some measure misleading, and however gratifying to parents and educational -tuthorities, suggest a higher standard of attainment on the part of the candidates than that actually reached One must, perhaps, regard this as in-■emta-Ie m a system under which colleges compete against each other. In.

language, though there were signs of improvement in method, they were still tentative and uncertain. The greatest weakness was still grammatical. Very few candidates did the general questions well, and there was a lamentab'e amount of guesswork. French is dealt with by Professor H. A. Strong, who says that as usual all candidates did not attend sufficiently to the indications given, andttheer c was no lack of carelessness or over-hurry. On the whole, the translations into English wore satisfactory; but whereas very few candidates failed to see the drift of the passages set, the majority were satisfied with the mere English equivalents to the French terms anu really excellent versions composed m Idiomatic English were rare. Though still faulty, the translations into French marked an improvement upon those of past years, and certain essays displayei ability to uso the language in a satisfactory manner. "MOST REGRETTABLE SHRINKAGE." "The impression obtained from reading the papers submitted by the candidates for the various decrees in Gorman," says Herr Karl Breul, « was very much the same as that produced in previous years. The general impression as to the results obtained was decidedly favourable. It was evident that most candidates had been taught carefully and had worked with genuine interest. The percentage of failures was small. A most regrettable fact was the shrinkage of candidates for degrees in German, which points to a very serious decline of the higher study of German in the University of New" Zealand—never had their numbers fallen so alarmingly low as last year. If this shrinkage continues but a few more years, it is to be feared that the higher study of German will become extinct in the University ot New Zealand, the supply of duly qualified teachers cut off, and thus the influence of German thought and culture will inevitably in time cease to

mafco itself felt." NO IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY. Th© first feature that called for notice in economics, says the report, is the increase in the number of candidates, but, unfortunately, this growth was not aocompanied by any improvement in quality. It was evident that the candidates had been prepared on the lines of the more modern

economic work, especially in connexion with the theory of money and banking The more fundamental points of the theory of value were also familiar to most of the candidates. Speaking from a long experience, the examiner 'Professor C. X. Bastable) said that the preparation of the New Zealand canoidates and the general capacity shown by them would both compare favourably with those of candidates for similar examinations in the United Kingdom. _» Regarding history, Professor W. S. Holds-worth, says:—"Of the ten candidates who offered history as a subject this year, I can recommend that nine may be considered to have p_stj_d the required test, though three of these to whom I have given the 111. Class mark aro only just up to an honour standard, and have not, indeeflr done such good work, either in fullness of knowledge or in literary style, as the best of the candidates for the pass B.A. degree. However, it would perhaps be nard to refuse them their 111. Class, as they all show a considerable store of information, though they cannot make the best use of it." The same examiner says in connexion with the constitutional history that the papers, on the whole, maintained a very fairly high average level. One or two were very well done. Candidates -howed a good knowledge of history, and also of the present state of the law. There are two points to which he called attention —(1) Some of the candi-

---dates were ignorant of the chronological order of important events in constitutional history. (2' In some cases

there was a tendency to write off th< point. On the whole, the question! which turned upon the knowledge o history were better done than tho& which turned upon a knowledge of th actual condition of the constitution a the present day. In some cases, th details of the important constitntiona statutes seem to have been _____ ciently understood. INDEPENDENT THOUGHT LACKING. The jurisprudence papers maii\taino* a very fairly good level. There wen comparatively lew failures; but, on thi other hand, very few attained a higl standard of merit. The candidateshowed some facility in reproducing th< subject matter of lectures and texl books—they showed that they had beei carefully taught, and that they understood what they had learnt; but "there were very few signs that they had used any independent thought upon the theories which they reproduced.' The work in philosophy was, on the whole, very satisfactory, and it was pleasant to find so many law and science students taking up this subject. In education there had been a gratifying -improvement, not so much, if at aIL in. the best papers, but in the general standard. On the whole, the electrical engineering results were satisfactory, * since there were -_y two failures among seven candidates. One good feature was their industry and proficiency in machine drawing, and in this respect they were better than the English students. Where they fell short of the English standard was in application of original thought and common-sense when attempting to solve practical problems. The examiner, however, did not think the syllabus covered tho ground as properly as it was made to appear, judging by the papers. GEOLOGY PAPERS. m "Good attention is given to questions of local stratigraphy and geological " structure, and the influence of modern geographical teaching is often pleasantly apparent," _ays the q__-_-

iner in regard to geology. "The fundamental conceptions and facts of mineralogy are, however, very poorly grasped. Though there is no university examination in mineralogy, this makes it all the more necessary, in a mining country, to pay attention to common minerals as part of the geological study of the earth's crust. The rock-forming minerals this year fare no better, and I have some .doubts if a practical examination on the determination of these minerals in rockmasses would have given results wel-1 come to the examiner. The four candidates who took the honours papere wero not so strong in palaeontological matters as is usually tho case in this ; examination. Tho general outlook '. happily now regards New Zealand as a I fundamental basis for demonstrating the principles of geology." i