§ MR. DIXONsaid, he wished to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, Whether he has received numerous complaints from the teachers regarding the science examinations in May last; and, whether these complaints have just foundation?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERSir, out of about 930 science teachers whose classes were examined this year, I have received about eight written complaints. I believe some dissatisfaction has also been expressed verbally. The complaints relate almost entirely to two subjects—practical geometry and building construction, and I cannot find that they are based on just grounds. We do not believe that the examination papers were too difficult, and, in fact, the 1520 standard of marks in building construction was specially lowered this year. We had, however, found that the pupils were prepared to meet a purely drawing examination rather than one requiring a scientific knowledge, and we therefore made a change in the form of examination, of which full notice was given in the syllabus. At the same time, the teachers were enabled to obtain payments for their students under the Art grants for the purely drawing portion of their instruction.