Mr. Fraser and Examinations.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 331, 12 January 1937, Page 4

Mr. Fraser and Examinations.

The Minister of Education, Hon. P. Fraser, said in Invercargill yesterday that the legislation which he, as Minister, had so far introduced had been of relatively minor importance, except that involving the abolition of proficiency. “We cannot,’’ he said, “have the education opportunities of our children based upon the results of examinations.’’

While we agree with Mr. Fraser on the value of his reforms, we can hardly agree that the day of the examination system has passed. Properly-conducted examinations are a definite test of a child’s ability “to learn,’’ and despite all the new-fangled notions which have smitten certain educationists and almost all politicians in recent years, “learning” is still an important aspect of the tramof any child.

Reversion to an older order is heretical in these modern times, but when the world is in a state of flux as at present, a little stability might have a beneficial effect. 1 here are few directions in which reform could be so easily applied as in education. Such reform should, therefore, be of <t. stabilising character. Let the many changes of the past few ■'" > ars be consolidated before nvhing off in another direction. That would bring about stability of our educational system, and stability of thought in the mind of the nation’s growing man and womanhood. Learning is not a spent force, and examinations as i test of learning should still have their place in our educational plan.