FREE PLACE SYSTEM

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 303, 17 August 1932, Page 7

FREE PLACE SYSTEM

NO ACCREDI TING THIS YEAR'S UXAMINATION CHIEFLY DESiGNED AS CHECK. TEST NOT MORE STRINGENT. I11 view of the deeision of the Minister of Education, the Hon. R. Masters, to limit ihe accrediting system for the senior free place in secondary and technical schools this year to a minimum, revised regulations have been prepared for the intermediate examination which must be taken by practieally all pupils. Particulars of the new regulations were puhlished in the latest Gazette. It is stated that the intention of th'e Minister is to conduct the. examination this year chiefly for the ptlrpose of cheeking the acereditiiig system thronghout the schools where accrediting for the senior free place has been in operation for a considerable time. The dep'artment is stated to be of the opinion th'at the accrediting system, like any other, reqiiires occasional checking, and that there is no desire to make the test more stringent. Actually, an arrangement has been made whereby a pupil will he able to make the most of his hest subjects. At the end of this year's school conrse, a general examination will he carried out at post-primary schools for the senior free place. Previously there has heen no complete uniformity in accrediting, and pupils who have not heen recommended have taken the examination. It has been found that about 15 per cent. of those not aceredited have passed the examination. j Uniformity of Tests. On account of the wide variety- of courses and the diffieulty in having | general examinations, th'e method in technical schools has heen to take the ] result of the internal tests of the j schools together with the recommen- 1 dations of the principals. This is, to | all intents and pnrpuses, a form of ac- | crediting. The new examination will provide a more or less nniform test for all schools. In view of th'e wide variety of courses, the number of subjects has heen enlai'ged, and arrangements have . heen made whereby subjects not on the list can be taken hy pupils in specialised classes such as those in some technical schools for boys entering the printing or engineering trade or taking up an art career. The exami- : nation papers will he set by general examiners who will be mostly drawn from the staff of departmental inspectors, hut the actual examinations will he supervised for th'e most part in the schools by the teachers. Teachers will mark the papers and ] forward them to the department, where they will he cheeked hy inspectors. It is hoped that the results will he available by early in January, the examinations being held in Novemher or December, whichever- is more suitable for the schools coneerned. Non-State schools will sencl their candidates in the ordinary way to the examination centres. Senior Free Place Only. Under the new arrangement the Puhlic Service entrance examination is done away with. This examination has not been used to any great extent by the Puhlic Service Commissioner in recent years owing to the number of candidates who have qualified by the university entrance examination. The senior national scholarship examination has also heen abolished in accordance with a recent deeision, and the new intermediate examination will serve as a test for the senior free place only where in the past the two examinations mentioned were conducted contemporaneously. Certain alterations have been made in the compulsory subjects and the values in marking attached to them, in order to make conditions as equal as possihle for all candidates. There will in future be no subject in which a candidate must pass, although there are subjects which must be taken, and the result in judging a pass will depend npon the average number of marks gained. English maximum marks have heen reduced from 500 to 400. There is now an alternative to handwriting, lettering heing admissible in order to suit those entering printing, engineering and other trades, while practical mathematics is now an alternative to arithmetic. In order to pass the examination a candidate must gain not less than 40 per cent. of the total assignahle marks under the new regulations.