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Summary of School Fund Accounts for the Year ending 31st December, 1879. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. £ s. d. To Balances in Bank and in hand on"l st Jan., By Cleaning (allowances and requisites) .. 101 10 4 1879.. .. .. .. 107 3 0 Fuel .. .. .. .. 87 5 2 Eeceipts from Education Board— Books, maps, stationery, and furniture for Ordinary grants .. .. 566 0 0 general school use .. .. 33 15 7 Donations, subscriptions, &c, from others Eepairs not paid for directly by Board .. 106 13 9 than Education Board .. .. 40 1 6 Clerks' salaries and office expenses .. 16 14 11 Prizes.. .. .. .. 132 1 9 School fetes or treats .. ... 1470 Beading books or text books supplied free to scholars .. .. .. 3 16 Paper, pens, ink, &c, supplied free to schools .. .. .. 61 5 11 Sundries .. .. .. 38 15 10 Balances .. .. .. 117 12 9 £713 4 6 £713 4 6

NORTH CANTERBURY. Sir,— Christchurch, March 31, 1880. I have the honor, in accordance with section 102 of the Education Act, to submit the following report of the proceedings of the Education Board of the district of North Canterbury during the year ended December 31, 1879. The Board. —The constitution of the Board has undergone no change during the year. No extraordinary vacancy occurred, and the three members who retired on March 31—Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Bowen —were re-elected by a unanimous vote, no one else being nominated. The Board held twenty-two ordinary and three special meetings. The smallest number of members who attended any meeting was four, and the average attendance throughout the year very nearly six (5*96). At a meeting held on December 18, it was determined by ballot that Mr. Tancred, Mr. Webb, and Mr. Saunders should be the members to retire on March 31, 1880. New Districts and School Buildings.—During the year 1879 only one new district, that of Cambridge, near Ashburton, was formed. The preliminary steps were taken towards the establishment of Flemington, Kirwee, Elgin, and Mason's Flat: but as in each case some part of an adjoining district was included, the actual formation of the new district had to be deferred till the beginning of the next school year. The limited funds at the disposal of the Board have been applied rather to the completion of school buildings in the districts formed in the previous year, and to providing increased accommodation, either by the erection of new school buildings or by the enlargement of the old, in the many localities in which the existing accommodation was found insufficient. Ten schools were opened during tfie year in the districts of Chertsey, Governor's Bay South, Malvern South, Tinwald, Cust, Kyle, Irwell, Dunsandel; an entirely new school room was built at Fernside ; new school rooms and masters' houses were contracted for at Aylesbury, Cambridge, Heathcote Lower, and Wakanui, (all of which are finished, and the schools, with the exception of Aylesbury, in operation, at the date of this report) ; and in fifteen other districts substantial additions were made to the school buildings. The total expenditure on buildings during the year was £24,034 10s. sd. A detailed account, shewing the exact sum spent in each school district, is given in table No. 1. But much remains to be done. Thirteen proposals for new districts are now before the Board, besides numerous applications for the enlargement of school rooms, all of which call for immediate attention. It is evident that, great as has been the expenditure on school buildings for the last seven years, the requirements of the public have far outstripped the supply, and that, in addition to the large outlay now demanded, there will be a very considerable annual sum needed for buildings, if anything like adequate provision is to be made for the wants of the growing population. Maintenance of Schools. —The expenditure on the maintenance of schools, including all incidental expenses, but not departmental expenditure or the cost of inspection, was £40,274 4s. 2d. ; on salaries alone it was £34,417 14s. 6d. The following table shows the amount expended in the North Canterbury District during the years 1878 and 1879 respectively on salaries and incidental expenses : — Salaries. Incidental. Total. 1878 ... £31,916 os. Od. ... £6,276 6s. 9d. ... £38,195 6s. 9d. 1879 ... £34,417 14s. 6d. ... £5,856 9s. Bd. ... £40,274 4s. 2d. Under the head of salaries are included the bonuses paid to teachers according to the value of their certificates, and the allowances for the instruction of pupil teachers, and for teaching music. The average attendance for the year 1879 was 10,568. The schools were thus maintained at a cost of £3 16s. 2|-d. per child, and the cost of instruction only was at the rate of £3 ss. lid. These figures show in each case an improvement on those for the year 1878, for which the rate of the cost of maintenance was nearly £3 19s. 3d., and of instruction only nearly £3 6s. 3d. Table No. 1 appended to the report gives the exact amount spent in each school district for salaries and for incidental expenses, and also the names of the teachers employed in each school, with the salaries and allowances paid to them. The number of teachers employed at the close of the December quarter was 351 (230 adults and 121 pupil teachers), besides 33 sewing mistresses ; giving an average of 32.42 children to each teacher. A new scale, regulating the number of teachers to be employed in each school, and their salaries in proportion to the average attendance, has been adopted, and is being brought into force throughout the district. It is modelled on the scale prepared in 1877, from which it differs chiefly in making special provision for mistresses of infant schools, and in allowing a higher rate of salary to female teachers in schools with an average of less than 70. The scheme of augmentation allowances has also been revised so as to adapt it to the present system of classification.