UNIVERSITY STANDARDS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 615, 18 September 1909, Page 10

UNIVERSITY STANDARDS.

Sir, —After tho omphalic statements of your threo professor .carrcspdiidcnb,' and your own footnote, thereto,-it would be idle to labour tho ipoint as to tho gap which' separates tho New Zealand honours standards from thoso of tho older,universities. I can only,gay that in tho branches with which I was 'myself moro specially occupied the gap no less wide than in tho scientific subjects. jiut is not tho. whoio of tho matter. Tho' vital question is, not whether tho ( honours standards of tho New Zealand University aro as high as they could be made, but whether they aro not aa high ay tho conditions and circuinstanccs- of this country will bear. II wo'were"to raiso 'our honours requirements to tho level of those of Oxford and Cambridge (to' mention theso only), wo should soon have no honours caudi-' dates, and this would bo a very serious loss. The best of oiir students would bo deprived of tlio stimulus and opportunity of devoting themselves .specially to some branch of study ' which ' suited their tastes • and faculties.. Moreover, it seems to- •me very much qpen to question whether tho stage'of development at which Now Zealand has arrived is such as to demand or afford profithigh degree of specialisation. A university must cousider facts as well as ideals. . A jery.-' showy currioulum on paper might be quite, ineffective, and quito out of haftnony; with .the circumstances of those for whom ic was provided. . Qur;';hohours students aro. not all .Rutherfords, or llaclaurins,.. or Robertsons.: They are. young men and women of average abilities, who,- for. various reasons, practical and otherwise, wish,to press on-fur-ther wi,th some pqbject or group-of subject! and to obtain soma .recognition of this special work'in ,the form'.of a higher degrep, ; Tho standard should bo such as to demand'from them strenuous- and -protracted effort; but it must at the samo-timo bo fairly; within their capacity. •, This discussion might bo elaborated to any extent. But two or . three points should be kept clearly in view., -In tha'first place; a university, if it'is-to be an /effective agency for good, must lcoep a steady eye on its human material, . In the next place,-the absence - of libraries and appliances for advanced research in this country would render a highly specialised curriculum " a mockery. . In the '.third place, tho industries hnd activities of this country afford no outlet' or scope for highly specialised attainments. But what we do, we should do well; and, if any one of our courses is bad, wo should* at once 'see;' about',mending! it; —In' tMs process the University Senate has always sought the^adyioe, l of th,e.experts of tha'affiliated colleges. Much- might bo said'on the subject.of . our. .pass .degrees,.:about'.which. I havo.' read a good-'dcal of-nonsense -in Tnß DosrmipK, ,as well aa other-'papers; but 'that would be'a long story.—l am,, etc., J W. JOYNT, . Registrar, ■ University of New Zealand. '