SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— L. 403 



Examinations are imperfect instruments, but it is submitted in the light of past 

 history and in view of the numbers involved, that an examination to which all the 

 elementary school children of the area have access is the only practicable means of 

 making a reasonably juat selection and one which public opinion will consider fair. 



A typical Area examination is described and certain debatable questions posed 

 for discussion. 



Should the examination he compulsory or voluntary ? The present practice 

 embraces both, with a tendency toward compulsion. 



What is the appropriate age ? Eleven plus is now very generally chosen. 



What should the subjects of the examination be ? Usually they are English 

 (including essay writing and a dictation test) and arithmetic (including" a speed test). 

 The assessment of essaj'S presents special difficulties. 



To what extent should the teachers co-operate ? Practice varies. Examination 

 is itself an art calling for skill of a kind which is not necessarily developed in the 

 classroom. 



In what way can account be taken of the previous work of the candidates ? A 

 plea is here made for a school record. 



Should the candidates be examined orally or only in writing ? Oral tests, as at 

 present conducted, present many difficulties. 



The use of Intelligence Tests. 



Area examinations are not yet universal, but they are likely to multiply during 

 the next few years. The age of eleven plus will soon be the critical age in the child's 

 school career. Local authorities, guided by the Hadow Report, are re-organising 

 their elementary schools into junior and senior schools, the dividing line being drawn 

 at that age. When this is finished there will be a triple selection to make, namely, 

 for the secondary school, the selective central school (which used to be known as the 

 higher elementary school) and for the senior school. Children whose parents can 

 afford to pay fees will also have to prove their fitness to profit by secondary instruction. 

 It is safe to predict that the Area examination will be used to decide all these issues. 

 Our educational history, both elementary and secondary, is full of warnings of the 

 mischief done by iU-conceived examinations. Administrators, teachers and examiners, 

 must, therefore, keep these new examinations under perpetual review ; they must not 

 be allowed to become stereotyped and conventional. 



(b) Mr. E. R. Thomas. — Examinations in, and at the end of, the Secondary 



School Course. 



External examinations useful and necessary, but much in need of reform as to : — 



(a) their conduct, 



(b) the appreciation of the value of the residts. 

 Suggestions for improvement : — 



(a) (i) Increased co-operation of teachers — an instance quoted in detail. 



(ii) Closer contact between examiner and pupil — an example given. 

 (6) (i) Results must not be used for invidious comparisons between schools. 



(ii) Examinations provide indirect measurements of results, and are indifiEer- 

 ently conscious of the process by which those results have been obtained. 



(c) Dr. J. F. Burger. — Examinations in the Secondary Schools, loith special 



reference to South Africa. 



1 . Clarity as to the aims of the secondary school necessary before the examinations 

 can be discussed. 



2. In South Africa the aim of our whole sj^stem of education was (until quite 

 recently) to train an intellectual eUte — which meant ' those possessing knowledge,' 

 and not necessarily ' those able to make use of it.' 



3. Our system was thus a long educational ladder with the ' infant ' classes at the 

 bottom and the matriculation examination at the top. This examination was the 

 goal of all educational effort in our schools. 



4. Realisation of the enormous intellectual waste and the evil effects of such a 

 system has led to reforms in recent years. These reforms, however, are far from 

 complete, and a total reorganisation of our secondary education is imperative, with a 

 corresponding reorganisation of our examination system. 



5. This reorganisation must rest on an insight into the demands of modern South 



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