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appended. As a number of teachers held office for a portion of the year only, the sums entered as income in such cases are for less than the whole year. A reference to the last column of the table will show the length of time for which the salaries set down were paid. The following is an abstract of the attendance at the Dunedin district schools, and the other elementary schools of Otago, from the institution of the Otago education scheme, in the year 1856, to the present time : —

The figures for the year 1877 show that, taking all the schools under tho Board's management into account, the average number of attendances made by every child that attended at all during the year amouuts to 62 per cent, of the possible attendances. In the Dunedin schools this average was as high as 67 per cent., while for all the other schools in the Board's district taken together it did not rise above 60 per cent. The Board believes that the above average number of attendances for every pupil at school at all would have been considerably higher but for the prevalence, in many districts, during the year of epidemic scarlet fever. Ages of Pupils. The following is an abstract of the ages of the pupils who attended the elementary schools during the last quarter of 1877: — Ages. Boys. Girls. Totals. Under five years ... ... ... 16S 153 321 Over five and under ten years ... ... 4,254 3,636 7,890 Over ten and under fifteen years ... ... 3,420 2,893 6,313 Over fifteen years ... ... ... 131 116 247 These figures show that, of the pupils in attendance for the last quarter, rather moro than 2 per cent, were under five years of age ; 53 per cent, were between the ages of five and ten years ; 43 per cent, between ten and fifteen ; and nearly 2 per cent, over fifteen. It is remarkable that, under each of the above heads, the number of boys considerably exceeds the number of girls. Finance. Appended hereto is an abstract of the income and expenditure of the Board for the year 1877, certified by the Auditor appointed by the Governor. A table showing the respective amounts contributed towards the current expenses of the district schools for the year by the Board aud the several School Committees is hereunto appended (see Appendix B). The sum contributed by the Board towards district and grammar schools for salaries, pupil-teachers, poor scholars, rents, &c, exclusive of buildings and repairs, was £27,294 17s. Id., while the aggregate amount raised by the districts from school fees and voluntary contributions, including the sum of £1,411 35., fees of the practising department of the JSormal School, was £22,239 6s. 2d. Inspection. The reports of Messrs. Petrie and Taylor—the Board's Inspectors of Schools—are appended. These reports deal only with the nine months from Ist April to 31st December, 1877 ; and as the three months thus left out of account are almost wholly devoted to continuous examination of schools for results, the number of schools so examined is much smaller than usual. There are several points brought out in these reports which the Board canuot but regard with great satisfaction. It will bq

m E i J i E H c 6 to No. of at ii Pupils who attended 11 in the Course of the Year. Average Daily Attendance for the Year. Attendance at the of the Year. Close § a OB Yeab. B A -_ _ a _ - 8 _.a -r; G_ ■ Q o a _ fi _ S ___ W 1 O H a ■3 - a a fi u 34 ■ -_ _. o 1856-57 1857-58 1858-59 1859-60 1860-61 1861-62 1862-63 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876-77 1877 5 9 13 17 18 20 23 38 46 51 56 68 77 97 116 127 140 154 157 165 173 7 11 15 19 20 22 30 51 65 71 85 103 119 150 175 190 219 266 288 329 356 220 228 1,024 1,418 1,295 1,193 1,216 1,262 1,431 1,423 1.647 1,631 1,762 2,176 2,620 3,094 3,191 744 1,021 1,366 2,148 2,416 2,754 3.151 3,622 4,017 5,496 7,015 8,197 9,688 11,505 13,477' 15,256 16,422 964 1,249 2,330 3,566 3,711 3,947 4.367 4,884 5,448 6,919 8,662 9,828 11,451 13,681 16,097 18,350 19,613 115 128 114 127 125 129 653 771 918 888 897 953 1,085 1,151 1,257 1,315 1,393 1,467 1,710 2,067 2,176 121 195 333 456 486 632 758 1,148 1,415 1,680 2,045 2,325 2,472 3,529 4,449 5,:S76 6,032 6,886 8,112 9,143 9,573 236 323 447 583 611 810 1,411 1,919 2,333 2,568 2,942 3,278 3,557 4,680 5,706 6,691 7.425 8,853 9,822 11,210 11,749 205 734 996 1,046 934 919 1,047 1,149 1,215 1,355 1,309 1,495 1,592 2,001 2,378 2,585 705 907 1,500 1,747 2,136 2,436 2,763 3,206 4,416 5,391 6,448 7,676 8,073 10,107 11,159 11,943 910 1,641 2,496 2,793 3,070 3,355 3,810 4,355 5,631 6,746 7,757 9,171 10,665 12,096 13,537 14,528