PRIZE-GIVING AT OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3429, 18 December 1879, Page 2

PRIZE-GIVING AT OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

(To the Editor of the Kreniog BUr.) Sib, —I, with a good many others, eon* sidor prize-giving; at our public sehio^l a bane and a deterrent to the general run of acholurs, and my reasons for saying so I will endeavor to explain in as short a space as posiible,—and I thmk I wilt be able to show that my remarks are aotwncalled .for, —and will be endorsed ,by many of the parents of the* children whoso views are not obscured by prejudice or ia> tercHt, but who simply wish to tee fair play to all. It is a belief by many that prisegiving at our public schools is like kissing—it goes by faror. The : MiNiw operandi is as fol lows: Afteraaout seven or eight months off the forming of a elan of

boys or girls—say, for instoqe*, 3rd<aod 4th classes—* good nuj bfttie 3rd etas* will be working assiduously and really progressing, hoping to shine at the exim* nation and take a prise, when—lo ltd behold .'—some favorite in, the 4th class is not so clever for thai clsss, and ii inebsfo* » iieuMy shifted back to No. 3 so that he may get» prise, add of ooursrtotfcotfis* may and chagrin of the little rooki* in that ehss, who see all their chances sgjis ( a«4 the interloper from No. 4 carries the'priso, whereat had, he remained in T hii fersajst class his chance would have beea mii.) ; .,l aay if a boy it good eDOVghjo be shifted to a higher clasa he ought, to .reania there—at any rate it' he is shifted back he ought to be disqualified from prisetaking, and'not be allowed to tone 'm. and burke the efforts of the smaller fry. . I say if prizes are to be givsa as/awards of excellence, let it be "weight fat age "—and not let a boy or girl of 11 bftv* to tussle with otfe of 13 or'l4H 'Tbi present system is -not by any TiiiJit x generally applauded by those most interested, and if dunderhead 4 ft mtAe^vo appear smart and intelligent by a shore from behind., I say again let prise givinf be done away kith, and if needs' bf, j:Wi| Ineat and elegint Certificate of MeritW, awarded in all the dames stating the) peculiar branch of l^arainf Jskwh^sl they excel, and I think the plan #ill meet With the general appro.batto* ofi4feDtt'jss<»tt concerned, that is, the. parents, who then at a glance can see how their children tr« progressing, and avoid jealousy and listlessDest in ~ the scholars tbeniselTafl. Hoping my remarks may not, hare ex* ceeded the bounds of your valuable space, —Ism, Ac, - .