SEPT. 18.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2883

Regulations for the Organization, Examination, and Inspection of Public Schools and the Syllabus of Instruction.

LIVERPOOL, Governor-General.

ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government House at Wellington, this fifteenth day of September, 1919.

Present:

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL IN COUNCIL.

IN pursuance and exercise of the powers and authorities vested in him by the Education Act, 1914, and all other powers and authorities enabling him in this behalf, His Excellency the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said Dominion, doth hereby revoke the regulations in force for the organization, examination, and inspection of public schools and the syllabus of instruction, and in lieu thereof doth hereby make the regulations set forth below; and doth prescribe that this Order shall come into force on the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred and twenty

REGULATIONS.

ORGANIZATION.

1. (1.) For purposes of instruction the pupils of every public school shall be divided into four divisions—namely, the Preparatory Division, the Junior Division, the Middle Division, and the Senior Division—and the syllabus of work for the classes in each division shall be as defined in clauses 17 to 23 hereof.

(2.) The Preparatory Division will in general include those children who have been under instruction at school or elsewhere for not more than two years.

(3.) The Preparatory Division may be divided into two or more classes, the lowest being called P1 the next P2, and so on.

(4.) The Junior Division will in general consist of those children who have been under instruction at school or elsewhere for more than two years, but not more than four years. It may be divided into two classes—those of the first year (S1) and those of the second year (S2).

(5.) The Middle Division will in general consist of those children who have been under instruction at school or elsewhere for four years, but not more than six years. It may be divided into two classes—those of the first year (S3) and those of the second year (S4).

(6.) The Senior Division will in general consist of those children who have been under instruction at school or elsewhere for six years or more and have not yet gained a certificate of proficiency. The time spent in the Senior Division will for the average boy or girl be two years, and this division may be subdivided into two classes accordingly, which may be termed S5 and S6.

(7.) Pupils who have gained a certificate of proficiency or have reached the standard of education indicated thereby may be classified as belonging to Class S7.

(8.) Nothing in these regulations shall be so interpreted as to prevent pupils ordinarily classified as S2 and S3, or those in S4 and S5, from being instructed together in a common class, if convenience so dictates, and in a programme of work suitably modified accordingly to meet the circumstances.

2. (1.) The classification of a school shall be made by the head teacher, who shall have full discretion to arrange his pupils in different classes for different subjects according to their ability and proficiency with respect to the several subjects, and to group two or more classes for instruction in one subject. This discretion he must exercise to the satisfaction of the Inspector, who will regard as an element of weakness any undue complexity in the classification of pupils.

(2.) Pupils shall for all purposes of record, but not necessarily of teaching, be classified according to their capacity and attainment in English.

(3.) In general, the classification of a school shall be determined at the beginning of the year; but, if necessary, promotion of individual pupils from class to class may be made at any other time by the head teacher. In the Preparatory Division, especially where it contains three or more classes, it will generally be necessary to make promotions of pupils at other times than at the beginning of the year.

B