SCHOOL CERTIFICATE HISTORY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 446, 9 January 1948, Page 5

SCHOOL CERTIFICATE HISTORY

Sir,-Impressed as they must have been by the wails of the Latin enthusiasts over the softness of Social Studies, New Zealand parents will be relieved to discover that the school system still errs on the side of toughness. But there is something very illogical in the disposition, given such prominence in your recent issue, to judge a school test in a complicated and specialised subject, such as History as if it were merely a general knowledge quiz for people whose main interests are elsewhere. The tendency of some educationists to look for detailed knowledge too soon, and for too much of it, may be regrettable enough; but School Certificate is an examination, and History an optional subject, for High School pupils who have had four years’ preparation towards it. And the standard ‘required is that of a world which needs an extension of brain power in the social sciences, and needs it badly. Your advertising manager rightly demands that education should be related to real life; but his ground is rather shaky when he appears, to imply that reality is what he himself knows about." No one seriously interested in History should find it hard to link most of the questions to current reality; and surely, in an age of crossword puzzles,’ some knowledge for its own sake may still be allowed for. Last ‘year I saw a School Certificate Biology paper in which I could answer no questions at all. Granted that I may be rather,a dumb

cluck, compared with versatile members of your staff, it is still true that Biology has as much to do with real life as History has. The odd thing is that hundreds of youngsters passed that examination, and it is still possible, isn’t it, that more than a few will average the necessary 50 per cent. on this year’s ordeal? Particularly if they happen to have done the work set down in the syllabus. The directions to candidates are omitted from your article. No one was asked to answer "all this,’ nor even the half of it, although you certainly have led your readers to believe that they were. The fact that as many as 11 of the 16 questions could be left alone puts a very different complexion on_ the merits of the paper. It is a fair criticism that the directions were not prominent enough. I am sure that you will avoid the evils of small type when you amend your otherwise welcome article-wel-core because a good deal of the recent excitement is due to ignorance of what eoes on in a modern school. and why.

ERLE

ROSE

(Southbridge).

(We should certainly have made it clear that no one was asked to answer every question. But every question given by us was asked, which means that someone was expected to know the answer.-Ed.)

Sir,-I was interested in reading in the latest number of The Listener an article on, and _ publication of, the Schdol Certificate paper in History. Permit me to state that the comment was cleverly written, so much so that I suggest that you find space to publish the School Certificate in English. What I am particularly interested to know is if any of your staff could coolly, calmly and collectedly, read the paper in the 10 minutes allowed for that purpose. If so, they are in a world class. Apart from that I am convinced that the publication of the English paper, together with the, "Round Table Conference" would be’ of even greater interest to your readers. F

E. T.

LAYBURN

(Christchurch).

(We had intended to print the English as well as the History paper, but came to the end of our space, We regret that we still can’t find room for it.-Ed.)