Favours Unit Pass Tn School Cert.

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31092, 22 June 1966, Page 6

Favours Unit Pass Tn School Cert.

There was probably no school m the country which did not use the School Certificate examination either as a stick or a carrot. Parents and pupils thought of it as the Everest of attainment, and the importance attached to it was out of all proportion to its worth or standard, the headmaster of Aranui High School (Mr W. J. A. Brittenden), told the school’s board of governors yesterday.

“Personally I have felt, and said so for five or six years, that the solution is the unit pass system,” he said. This would eliminate the present system of 50 in, 50 out, said Mr Brittenden. In scholarship examinations, the hundreds sitting knew 110 scholarships were being awarded; for University Entrance, pupils knew the number accredited varied with the quality of the form —the school accredited those of a suitable standard and not just 50 per cent Another advantage was that the unit pass would be the reintroduction of the partialpass system. For pupils and those who had left school, whose academic peak had been School Certificate, it would be an encouragement to increase their passes and qualify in several subjects. “We, I think wrongly, believe that because we speak a form of English, all pupils should be able to pass an English examination,” said Mr Brittenden. “A pupil with undoubted talents in other fields is precluded at present from qualifying for the examination if his English is below standard.”

most citizens did not know of its existence and many teachers were quite vague about it It was often regarded as a sort of “failed School Certificate.” There would be problems associated with the unit-pass system, but accrediting would bring its own difficulties and disadvantages, said Mr Brittenden. One would be the lack of an outside examination. Accrediting might appeal to the theorists, but the regular teacher would prefer some form of examination. Tile chairman (Dr. B. R. Penfold) said it seemed to be generally agreed by the board that a unit-pass system was desirable and would be worth while. Whatever the system, it would inevitably have to fulfil a variety of functions.

“Alternative Unsatisfactory” It had been said that the present system “worked all right,” but that did mean it could not be improved, said Mr Brittenden. Also, it had been said that the Certificate of Education was a satisfactory alternative for the pupil who was not up to School Certificate standard. He could not agree with this. The Certificate of Education had not been accepted,