The Globe. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1874

Globe, Volume I, Issue 14, 16 June 1874, Page 2

The Globe. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1874

That no less than seventy-four aspirants for the Government scholarships, and those given by Mr Gould should have come forward in competition for these prizes must be taken as highly creditable to the province, even with the remarks attached by the examiners “ that as on former occasions several ■“ candidates have presented themselves “ who were altogether unprepared for “ such an examination,” It is hard to fancy by what stretch of prejudice a parent or teacher can imagine that any youth who cannot obtain at least onethird of a possible maximum of marks, can have a chance of being elected to receive one of these coveted rewards. It will be seen by reference to the published tables of marks attained, that the successful competitors in class A obtained 420 out of a possible 550, or rather more than three-quarters of the whole numbers, and though the number of marks in the three other classes does not reach so high an average, yet it may be taken that the head boys in each division obtained two-thirds of the possible number. We should be inclined to fancy that there must be great truth in the remarks of Messrs Habens and Veel that some of the competitors were entered by the parents against the wish of their masters.

There can be no doubt that the general notion that “ each person’s “ geese are swans,” must prevail to a large extent among those people who send lads up for examination, who can barely be credited with a tenth of the marks that they might possibly obtain, and this course is, we are quite certain, more likely to discourage the boy on a future occasion, than to give him confidence in himself. Any youth who sees himself gazetted in the public prints as “wooden spoon,” (to use an old Cambridge term) in the examination we refer to, will not we think be anxious to face the ordeal, he has unwisely been compelled to go through, again. "Would it not be possible to avoid the publication of the names of any candidates, who have not been able to reach a certain standard, and let the victorious boys and their friends have the publicity of the paper to themselves ; or are we to suppose that the scholarships in question being given by Government makes it necessary to publish a full list ?