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ViewFrom*9* $ * i #16mOther SideJulie Pollardlt;»e Pollard is a Rotary I nternational exchange student from New Zealand.Graduation day is here at last. This is one thing we don’t have in New Zealand high schools.In NZ there is no real graduation time, or ceremony. We do have prize-giving at the end of each school year. This is a lot like the awards assembly you have there, but more formal. Many of you could say its a hybrid of theitinnATiii /mnuotwo because there are speeches by the principal and valedictorian (which we call dux’) as well as singing and awards.But as for graduating...You can leave high school at 15 with no exam qualifications, if you want to. This means that you can’t go to college until you’re 21 and that you’ll be competing against high school students who have passed state exams for jobs.You can stay another year and sit (take) the exam, ‘School Certificate’. This is a state exam which all students in the country who are at the fifth form level (about 16 years old) sit at the same time (usually starts about November 20) each year. A pass in this means you’re eligible to go on to the sixth form and to sit University Entrance, another state exam.If you decide to leave school at this point, it means that your chances of getting a good job (or even a job!) are reasonable.In the sixth form, there are two ways you can ‘get U. E.’ If you do good work all year and your class and internal exam (two of them) marks are up to the required standard, you may be accredited U. E. If they are not, you have to sit the examination.If you pass U. E., you can go to College or stay another year and go for Bursary. (You can alsoleave and get a job.)If you pass the Bursary exam,you get a grant for college. The seventh form year also prepares you for university work.Whether you call it graduation or the Prize-Giving, it's a big day the world around.
Newspaper Details
Fort Stockton Pioneer
Fort Stockton, Texas, US
Thu, May 28, 1981
Page 4
Full Page
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Anonymous
NZ 13 Aug 2020
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