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1880. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION. THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTER OE EDUCATION. [In continuation of H.-2, Sess. 1., 1879.] Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency. Office of the Department of Education, Sib, — Wellington, sth June, 1880. I have the honor, in accordance with the provisions of " The Education Act, 1877," to submit to your Excellency the following report upon the progress and condition of public education in New Zealand during the year ending the 31st day of December, 1879. I have, &c, Wm. Rolleston, His Excellency Sir Hercules G. R. Robinson, Q-.C.M.G., &c, Governor of New Zealand.

REPORT. The system of public-school education established by the Act of 1877 came into operation upon the Ist day of January, 1878, but as the Act rendered necessary several important changes in the constitution of the Education Boards and in the number and limits of the education districts in the course of the year 1878, this is the first report in which it has been possible to present in a complete form for an entire year the statistical and other information relating to the progress and condition of public-school education throughout the colony. Education Distbicts and Boards. The numerous changes made by the Act in the extent and boundaries of the education districts are fully described in last year's report. The following are the districts constituted by the Act: Auckland, Taranaki, Wanganui, Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, North Canterbury, South Canterbury, Westland, Otago, and Southland. The Education Boards constituted by the Act have been in operation during the whole of the past year, and their several reports and statements of accounts for the year are appended. These reports furnish much valuable and interesting information respecting the progress and condition of public-school education in the different districts, and merit careful consideration. Number oe Schools. The number of public schools reported as having been in operation during the whole or a portion of the year is 817. A return of the schools in the several education districts, with a statement of the expenditure on each for the year, and of the names, status, and rates of emolument of the teachers employed in them during the last quarter of the year, is appended (Table No. 7). The following summary furnishes information respecting the number of schools in the several education districts :— I—IL la.