TEACHERS’ EXAMINATION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4792, 1 August 1876, Page 2

TEACHERS’ EXAMINATION.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Snt, —In ■ reference to the recent examination of teachers under the Board of Education, I am informed that there are many,complaints about the great number of questions set in moat of the subjects, rendering it almost impossible to treat a paper properly in the time allotted; and having seen the papers, I must say I consider these complaints reasonable, bavin" had some experience of examinations in my time. Every candidate should be allowed a fair margin of time to think over each paper, and this should be granted for the accommodation of the most deliberate, as well as for that of the most rapid thinker. It by no means follows that the latter is the better scholar. I also learn that although the Board notified last year an intention to increase the percentage of marks required to pass a candidate in the higher classes, no intimation was given that the papers would also be more difficult, as many of them certainly are; while their extreme length may also be considered an important element of difficulty. I commend the matter to the board of examiners, and trust that due allowance will be made for these circumstances. For it would certainly appear unfair that a candidate should be plucked who might make from 30 to 50 per cent, more marks than were . made by a successful candidate last year, considering that the latter has at least the advantage of seniority over the most successful of his class this year. I would suggest that these examinations should be hold in the summer. It is very un-

pleasant for candidates, some of them young ladies, to travel long distances at this time of year, sometimes over bad and dangerous roads, as is the case in this district.—-I am, &c., Not a Teacher. July 27. ■