of the subject master or even the individual boy. The existence of full-time teacher librarians seems to be necessary. These people would further develop these centres and would instruct pupils to make full use of the facilities available. It is apparent that the "private" schools studied are well geared to provide for the indivi dual attention required by any developing child. Each child is, however, unique with his own varying aptitudes, abilities and interests. We therefore turn now to a broad definition of the curriculum and attempt to assess the effectiveness of the school in this regard. THE CURRICULUM. A definitiofn the curriculum favoured by some educationists today is:"a formal system oflearning experiences organised for the purpose ofintegrating the growing child into adult society". This definition extends the meaning of the term to include extra mural activities, but confines them tothose which are deliberately provided for by those in authority. Accepting this definition let us for convenience sake divide the curriculum into extra-classtime and calsstime activities. EXTRA-CLASSTIME ACTIVITIES. Sport plays an important part in this group of schools. Of a total enrolment of 1657 boys approximately 1100 receive rugby coaching and 1000, cricket coaching. All the schools offer a number of other organised sports. The main intention of these activities is to assist with character building. There is an abundance of clubs and societies to cater for particular interests. It was found that on average each boy participated in more than two clubs. A feature ofthe organization of these activities is that, although each activity is usually supervised by a member of staff, much ofthe responsibility is left to the boys. Consequently exercise in administration and leadership is provided to the considerable number of boys who are chairmen, secretaries or committee members.Attempts are made at all four schools to widen the boys'horizons by providing orga nized tours and excursions to places of interest. The excursions are not only of informative educative value,butgenerally try to foster an understanding of people and to develop selfconfi dence and independence. In the extra-classtime activities the private school appears to fulfil the needs of the child. CLASSTIME CURRICULUM. The curriculum offerings within the class room are most important if individual abilities, aptitudes and interests are to be developed to enable every child to fulfil his role in society successfully. Three significant trends emerge when surveying the curriculum offerings in high schools in France, U.S.A.,England and Wales. They are; 1. A move towards a general education for the first three to four years at high school. 2. A widening of subject choices in the higher standards. 3. An increased emphasis on practical, technical and vocational subjects. In respect of the first trend listed the selected schools were shown to provide for a general education for the first two or three years. However at this stage little attention was devoted to technical, practical and vocational subjects. With regard to the second trend the curriculum ofthe private schools may be said to be in the academic tradition. The schools are therefore not fully comprehensive in respect of their offerings,because even wherethe choices offered are wide the additional subjects are sciences or languages. As academic institutions these schools have had a marked degree ofsuccess as the follow ing facts will show Forthe period 1964to 1967,579pupils wrotethe NatalSenior Certificate"A"gradeexami nations and 426 wrote the Joint Matriculation Senior Certificate. Approximately 62% of entrants to the former examination and 66% to the latter obtained matriculation exemption passes. This is particularly commendable since 1967 records show that all four schools cater for a wide ability range (i.e. I.Q.'s of80+ to 140+). Atthe other end ofthe scale,74ofthese579 "A"grade entrants for the Natal Senior Certificate failed to gain"A"grade passes.23 ofthese candidates were,however,awarded"O"grade passes.In the J.M.B.,70out of426 boys failed. Of the failures 51 boys, while failing to satisfy subject requirements, did obtain the required pass aggregate. As we turn to the last ofthe three trends mentioned (viz. the increased emphasis on practi cal, technical and vocational subjects), one sees a gap, which if filled, may well see success achieved by the less academically gifted. In the comprehensive High Schools ofthe U.S.A.and U.K.,vocational preparation is often provided in the form of academic,technical commercial and general tracks. The Headmasters of the four schools moreover, when interviewed, felt it desirable that vocational subjects be introduced for certain of the pupils. The high cost of education today presents a problem when contemplating a move along these lines. The Provincial Departments throughout the country are financing educational develop ment which includes an expanded high school curriculum along the lines ofthe modern trends 55
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