The contrary is the fact. Almost
every country in the world has rejected this system as wholly
pernicious, injurious for the pupil, demoralising for the teacher, and
wasteful for the State. To regard the youth of the Secondary Schools
merely as the geese that lay the golden eggs when the examinations
occur, is to destroy the true aims of education and pervert the
principle of rational development. In fact, payments to Intermediate
Schools ought to depend largely on the results of inspection, and much
less on written examinations, a change which would involve the
appointment of a larger number of inspectors than at present exist. It
is all-important that this alteration should be undertaken without
delay. The mechanical agglomeration of lifeless snippets of information
which characterises the present method is an absurd and antiquated
remnant of the bad old times, and the sooner this part of the system is
hewn down the better it will be for the conscientious discharge of the
teacher's duties and the self-respect of all concerned.
(2) As for any proper official relationship between the Primary and
Secondary systems, it may be said as yet to be practically non-existent.
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