T.—No. 1.

who signify their intention of boarding at home and that of those who arc to live at the schoolhouses. I think that the efficiency of the schools in every respect depends very much upon the number of boarders. It is impossible to infuse the same esprit de corps and to maintain the same discipline, and to get the same amount of hard work done among day boys. I would suggest, therefore, that exhibitions should be founded, tenable for four years, at the several public schools of the Colony, and that the annual value of the exhibitions should be .£2O; and that an additional allowance of £ 10 should be made when the parents signify their intention of placing their boy as a boarder at one of the school-houses. 3.] I venture to make the following suggestions : — 1. That a permanent Board of Examiners be appointed, consisting— (a.) Of all Head Masters of public schools in the Colony of New Zealand, being graduates of one of the Universities in the British Islands. (b.) Of an equal number of gentlemen not professionally engaged in education, being graduates of one of the Universities in the British Islands. 2. That from the Board thus constituted, two of the class marked (a.) and two of the class marked (b.) be appointed to conduct the examination held in the first year ; and that in the next and all succeeding years one (a.) and one (b.) should retire, their places being filled up by the rest of the Board in rotation. 3. That the examination be carried on at the central towns of the several Provinces by means of questions set on paper, but that the four examiners should meet in Wellington, to consider the results of the examination. lam aware that suggestion 1 (a.) is liable to objection, as coming from a Head Master. I have been induced to make it by the following considerations : —I believe that many men are to be found who —although in all other respects eminently fitted for the post of examiner—have nojustideaof what boys may fairly be expected to know. They measure them by the standard which they suppose themselves to have attained at a like age, rather than by that which average boys are really capable of attaining. The introduction of persons who have daily experience of the capabilities of boys into the Board of Examiners, would serve to check any extravagant notions concerning what boys ought to know, and to fix the standard at an attainable height. 4.] I should much prefer to sec scholarships instituted in connection with the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. These, I think, afford advantages in all respects equal, and in many respects very superior, to those of the other Universities of Great Britain. lam not well acquainted with the systems of Dublin and London, but I believe that at neither of them is residence in the College, or even in the town, compulsory. This non-residence is, in all cases, an evil, for where it is allowed the authorities cannot exercise the supervision, or maintain the discipline which is to be desired; and especially would it be an evil in the case of young men sent from distant parts of the world, since they would probably feel themselves to be under less restraint than those who have friends near at hand. And moreover, in such a state of things, undergraduates lose the constant and necessary intercourse with many others of their own age from all parts of the kingdom, and from a great variety of schools, which tends to complete a University education by teaching a man to take his proper place, and by generally enlarging his mind. I may add, that the generous rivalry which exists between the various Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and between the two Universities themselves, does much towards making men useful members of society, by calling out a large amount of energy and perseverance, and infusing a spirit of hearty interest in the affairs of the community. 5.] I am of opinion, ■ that with a fair amount of economy, the sum of .€2OO would be sufficient to cover all ordinary expenses incidental to the six months of term time at Oxford or Cambridge. The usual charge for private tuition at Oxford is, if I remember rightly, ten guineas per month during term time, and fifteen guineas per month during vacation. 1 think that in most cases an allowance of £50 per annum under this head would be amply sufficient. I may mention that an undergraduate necessarily incurs heavy expenses on first going into residence. For instance, the matriculation fees amount to about £10. A sum varying from £20 to j£2s has to be deposited as caution money to secure the College against any loss. This is, however, in part recoverable on taking your name off the College books. The cost of furnishing rooms, or taking your predecessor's furniture at a valuation, amounts to £20 and upwards. It shoiild moreover be taken into consideration, that cases may occur in which the successful candidate has no private means whatever, and no friends in England to assist him or give him board and lodging during vacation time. Taking all things into consideration, I think that each scholarship should be of the annnal value of at least £250, tenable for four years from the day of election. I would further suggest that it should be taken into serious consideration whether any additional assistance could be given towards defraying the expenses of vacation, when sufficient evidence can be brought to prove that it is absolutely required. G.] I am of opinion that the best plan would be to take the subjects in which men are generally examined in trials for College Scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge, attaching however a greater weight to English Composition, and English, Roman and Grecian History, than is usual in examinations for such scholarships. I venture to suggest that the following Papers should be set at each examination : —

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REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE