SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 



353 



select one, whilst if five subjects are offered they must be selected from not less than 

 four groups, the regulations for the School-leaving Certificate allow for the selection 

 of the six subjects offered by the candidates from four groups. But whilst there is 

 no specific regulation against a candidate offering Geography as one of his subjects, he 

 can do so only if he omits one of the important subjects mentioned in the typical 

 curricula above. Under the New Regulations for the School-leaving Certificate 

 examination, History and Geography combined appears as a compulsory subject, and 

 it IS not Hkely that Geography would be chosen by a candidate in addition. 



The Junior and Senior Certificate examinations of the Cape Province, and the 

 Transvaal Secondary School Certificate examination, stages I and II, are provincial 

 examinations held in two parts. The regulations have been approved by the Joint 

 Matriculation Board and the question-papers are moderated by the same moderators 

 as the papers for the Matriculation examination. The regulations for the Transvaal 

 examination are identical with those for the Matriculation examination, but the Cape 

 examination differs in some important respects so that increased opportunities are 

 provided for the selection of Geography as an examination subject, but this is made 

 possible chiefly because Mathematics is an optional subject. As Mathematics is an 

 exceedingly valuable subject to the serious student of Geography, the advantages of 

 this scheme to the furtherance of geographical teaching are not real. 



The following observations on the teaching of Geography in post-primary schools 

 are based, in part, upon information readily given by the Directors of Education in 

 the various Provinces, to whom I am very greatly indebted. 



Usually in those schools where provision is made for advanced teaching in 

 Geography, the enrolment is such as to permit of parallel courses and classes to be 

 conducted. In such schools, scholars selecting Geography generally drop either 

 History or Afrikaans or Drawing from their curricula. The relative importance of 

 these subjects is indicated in the table giving the number of candidates taking the 

 Transvaal Secondary School Certificate examination : — 



The table shows that a negligible number of candidates in the Transvaal take 

 Geography up to Matriculation standard. Only three schools out of forty in the 

 Transvaal provided for the teaching of Geography up to Matriculation standard in 

 1928. As a general rule, it may be stated that instruction in Geography stops at 

 Standard VI in the Orange Free State. 



The chief causes for the dearth of geographical teaching in the Union of South Africa 

 appear to be : — 



1. Lack of opportunity and encouragement to pupils to take Geography as a 

 Matriculation subject. 



2. It is the last subject to be placed in the Secondary School curriculum, and it 

 suffers from a lack of systematisationof syllabus and of textbooks. 



3. No provision is made for Geography to be taken on the higher grade in any 

 Matriculation examination. 



4. In the present overcrowded curriculum it can only be taken as alternative to 

 History or Afrikaans. Custom and sentiment seem to prefer History to Geography. 



5. Modern Geography teaching has made tremendous strides, and teachers of the 

 ' old school ' appear to be quite unable to judge its merits. Thus, this subject has to 

 contend against a deadweight of prejudice. 



6. More equipment and materials are necessary for the proper teaching of Geography 

 than for History or Afrikaans, and many schools do not attempt to provide higher 

 instruction in Geography on the ground of expen.se. 



7. Due to the demand for economy and to the dearth of specialist Geography 

 teachers in the past, scarcely any schools have even one teacher specially interested in 

 Geography. 



8. The prevailing system of education, dominated as it is by examinations, tends 

 to narrow down the lessons given in schools to such as will be directly profitable in 



1929 



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