‘PURPOSE LOST’

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31094, 24 June 1966, Page 12

‘PURPOSE LOST’

School Cert. Exam.

Employers and parents had lost the original purpost of school certificate, the headmaster of Papanui High School (Mr E. Fancy) told a meeting of the board of governors yesterday.

Mr Fancy said school certificate was now viewed as a general leaving certificate. A leaving certificate was needed for pupils who had completed a satisfactory course of instruction, leaving school certificate 'to be acquired by pupils in the higher ability group. A leaving certificate would have to be known and accepted by the public and not ignored as the present certificate'of education.

Unit subject passes had some merit but could present some difficulties in the administration of schools.

Mr Fancy said that he would like to see some system of accrediting where the more able pupils j would bypass the examination. Other pupils would then have a more reasonable chance of passing the examination and higher ability pupils would be free to concentrate on working for higher qualifications.

If a proportion of candidates was accredited the problem of marking would be simplified, Mr Fancy said.

Another reason for the adoption of the two-level structure was the need for an incentive within reach of pupils. The board adopted Mr Fancy’s views.