FREE PLACES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4532, 26 February 1923, Page 3

FREE PLACES.

OVER-AGE PUPILS. The first proviso to clause 3 of the free place .regulations states that “ any pupil who has obtained a certificate of proficiency, but who by reason of age is': not qualified for a free place in a high school if he has been recommended, theirefor by a senior inspector of. schools and takes a course of instruction which meets with the approval of the director.” NEW METHODS. Principals of secondary schools have now been asked to refer all such cases to the senior inspectors, who are requested to inform the Department whether in their opinion a suitable course of instruction has been chosen in each case. A general indication has been given to principals of high schools regarding the policy they should, adopt in dealing with these applications. PRACTICAL COURSES. “As a rule,” the Department state-.-in a circular just issued, “a child who is late in passing standard. VI has neither sufficient, ability nor sufficient time to benefit by a purely secondary course of instruction. The talents of such children probably lie more In the direction of practical affairs, and consequently it would, be a, waste of time for them to embark on a literary course of instruction. In general, therefore, it would, seem wise to- approve only such practical courses as the school is able to provide, vi?., commercial, agricultural, or domestic. If practicable it would indeed be better for such pupils to enter a technical school or a technical high school. In exceptional cases, where pupils have distinct literary ability, but were late in passing standard VI owing to their; living in°an isolated district or for some similar reason, a literary course, including Latin and French, might oe approved.”