Public examinations and matriculation policy in Western Australia are studied during four periods of development: (a) an establishment phase (1890 to 1919), (b) a stage of entrenchment (1920 to 1939), (c) a decade of abortive reform movements (1940 to 1950), and (d) a final phase of major changes during the 1960's.
The article examines events in the context of shifting relationships between interest groups and personalities involved, movements in the purposes and emphases of secondary and higher education, and other background factors. Of special importance is the role of matriculation policy at the University of Western Australia, which from 1913 to 1961 was Australia's only “free” university.
References
1.
WhiteM. A.Public examinations in Western Australia—reflections on their establishment. ANZHES Journal, 1974, 3, 41–51.
2.
For more detailed examination of the establishment stage (1913–1919).
3.
Enrolment and examination statistics used in the present article have been taken from the Statistical Register of Western Australia. Perth: Gov. Printer, and from U.W.A., Manual of Public Examinations, 1915-.
4.
WhiteM. A. The specific and interrelated tasks of institutions of higher education in Western Australia. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Western Australia, 1968, 60–70; 86–100.
5.
During the 1920's, the State Education Department on the advice of Peter Board from New South Wales, initiated a new system of in-service promotion and certification examinations. Teachers could earn exemption from various of these upon passing Leaving Certificate and other (university degree) subject examinations.
6.
HornerV.The influence of the State School Teachers' Union on the policies of the State Education Department of Western Australia, 1898–1960. M.Ed. Thesis, University of Western Australia, 1961.
7.
Western Australian Teachers' Journal for the period 1929–34 carries considerable comment on public examinations. Particularly useful, however, are: 1929, XIX, 8, 178; 1930, XX, 6, 142; 1930, XX, 6, 144; 1933, XXIII, 6, 90; 1934, XXIV, 7, 160.
8.
University of Western Australia. Manual of Public Examinations for the Year 1928, 13, and U.W.A. Minutes of Public Examinations Board, 29th July and 23rd September, 1927.
9.
Western Australian Teachers' Journal, 1936, XXVI, 8, 197.
10.
U.W.A., Minutes of Professorial Board, 30th October, 1935.
11.
White (1968), op. cit., 76–85.
12.
U.W.A., Minutes of Professorial Board, 2nd March, 1938, and Minutes of Public Examinations Board, 24th March, 1939. See also Western Australian Teachers' Journal, 1939, XXIX, 6, 130–132.
13.
WhiteM. A.Institutional purpose, interrelationship and control in tertiary education —The Western Australian experience. The Australian University, 1970, 8, 193–199.
14.
U.W.A. Minutes of Professorial Board, 4th September, 1919.
15.
See SandersC.Psychological and Educational Bases of Academic Performance. Melbourne: ACER, 1961, 1–3.
16.
U.W.A. Minutes of Academic Board, 7th October, 1932, 12th December, 1933; Minutes of Convocation, 21st November, 1934, 26th-27th February, 1935.
17.
U.W.A. Minutes of Public Examinations Board, 1st June, 1934.
18.
U.W.A. 1940 Supplement to Calendar 1939, 27–30.
19.
See earlier, U.W.A. 1935 Supplement to Calendar 1933, 12 and Calendar1937, 123.
20.
Report of the Royal Commissioner the Hon. Mr. Justice Wolff on the Administration of the University of Western Australia. Perth: Government Printer, 1942, 26–29.
21.
See SandersC.The new secondary education in Western Australia. The Australian Journal of Education, 1957, 1, 41–44.
22.
U.W.A. Minutes of Professorial Board, 1st November, 1944.
23.
Perth Technical College. Minutes of Council of Studies, 28th November, 1952.
24.
Sanders (1957), op. cit..
25.
Report on Secondary Education in Western Australia Inquiry 1962–63. Western Australia: Government Printer, [1963]; Education Department of Western Australia. The Secondary School Curriculum: A Review of Developments in Western Australia 1958–1964, with Proposals for the Future. Western Australia: Government Printer, [1965].
26.
RossA. D.Science in Western Australian schools. Western Australian Teachers' Journal, 1953, XLII, 3, 41–42.
27.
U.W.A. Minutes of Professorial Board, 2nd May, 1951.
28.
U.W.A. Minutes of Public Examinations Board, 27th July, 1956.
29.
U.W.A., File 1081 contains correspondence and reports relating to the matriculation issues. An attempt to define the “aims and objectives of the University” culminated in a Report of a Committee on University Education, 14th September, 1961.
30.
Tertiary Education in Western Australia. (The Jackson Report.) Perth: Government Printer, 1967, 5–10.
31.
Report on the Public Examination System in Western Australia. Perth: Government Printer, 1964.
32.
Secondary Education in Western Australia. Report of the Committee on Secondary Education appointed by the Minister for Education in Western Australia under the Chairmanship of Mr. H. W. Dettman, Perth, February, 1969. Perth: The Education Department of Western Australia, 1969.
Western Australian Tertiary Education Commission. Proposed Tertiary Admissions Examination (adopted 5th December, 1972). Positions were advertised in 1974.
36.
DuftyN. F.Entrance to tertiary education in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Higher Education, December, 1972, 4, 235–252.
37.
Open Tertiary Education. Draft Report of the Committee on Open University to the Australian Universities Commission. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, April 1974, 6–8, 14–16.
