BLUNT CRITICISM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26630, 28 November 1947, Page 4

BLUNT CRITICISM

SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION DIFFICULT REQUIREMENTS DUNEDIN TEACHERS' VIEWS Principals and history teachers of Dunedin secondary schools were all strong in their criticism of the history paper set in the school certificate examination when they were approached by the Daily Times yesterday. The general/ opinion was that the manner tn which the questions had been set out —not so much the contents of the paper—constituted too great. a hurdle for fifth form rninds. One teacher held the view that stating facts, as set out in the syllabus for the examination, was quite enough for gin_ and boys of that age group, withou. being asked to venture on to ground dealing with trends and opinions. “Our*main complaint is about, the way the paper was set and not so much with the contents,” commented Mr H. P. Kidson, rector of the Otago Boys’ High School. He said he had seldom found cause to complain about school examinations. “The scope of the questions was too wide,” he said, “and the wording too indefinite for candidates of the age concerned.. .The pupils’ minds are immature and the wording of the questions should give a clear and helpful lead as to what is required in the answer.” Mr Kidson’s criticism was supported by a history teacher at one of Dunedin’s girls’ colleges, who described the questions in the paper as much too involved.” The teacher’s main criticism was directed at the manner m which the questions were set out, rather than at the contents of the paper itself. “A paper for girls of that standard should have been much more straigtforward,’’ she declared. “It was expecting too much of the judgment of children of that age.” One of the Questions Referring to one of the questions in the paper—asking the candidate to follow her ideas, on Britain’s social legislation, giving a “brief” comparison of Sir William Beveridge’s plan for social reform in Brftain with New Zealand’s social security scheme—the teacher said that sort of thing was beyond the scope of a pupil of that age. She stated that modern subjects, like the one, covered in that question, were not adequately dealt with in the textbooks available to the pupils, and they would have to be dependent on r *what the teachers had covered. “We cannot give to the candidates .material simple enough to prepare them for questions like that,” said the history teacher, who added that she strongly disapproved of the. way in which the questions had been worded. The principal of Golumba College, Miss Winifred McQuilkan, said that she had studied the history paper. “ It seems to be unreasonable,” she said. “The questions are formulated in a manner beyond the full comprehension of the average school certificate candidate.” Although she had not looked at the examination paper, the principal of the Otago Girls’ High School, Miss M. 'S. Fitzgerald, said she was concerned at the type of paper, generally, being set for school certificate examination. The amount of material with which the candidate was expected to cope in a given time was unreasonable. “ Broadly speaking, I would say that the papier was concerned too much with opinions rather than facts, which is not desirable for fifth form pupils,” commented the history master of a Dunedin secondary school. Some of the questions were outside the scope of the syllabus- and* to answer them would require a great variety of outside reading, which could hardly be expected from pupils covering the wide range of the syllabus. Stressing again the desirability of facts rather than trends in examination papers for fifth formers, the master expressed the opinion that the syllabus for fifth' form history .was becoming too broad and could stand considerable curtailment.