84

E.—l

The increase in the averago attendance for the year was 620, and m the number uhat attended at ail during the year 810. The increase indicated by these figures, although slightly in advance ot that of the previous year, is still under what, under favourable conditions, might have been expected The prevalence of sickness in the district during a large part of the year no doubt seriously reduced the attendance. . , -„, , ~ , „„„ Finance —Appended hereto is a certified copy of the income and expenditure for the past year. A statement of the amounts contributed by the Board to each school for teachers' salaries (including bonuses on classification and bonuses for instructing pupil-teachers), and for allowances to Committees in aid of School Fund, and of the amount paid for the erection and improvement of school buildings is given. Tho sum paid by the Board for teachers' salaries, &c, was £56,401 0s 9d. Early in the year, the Board decided to employ, when practicable, female head-teachers in schools having an average attendance of less than thirty-five pupils, at salaries considerably under those paid to male teachers. It has been found, however, after nearly a year s trial, that Jie alteration does not work well in all cases, as schools of the class referred to are often situated m remote districts, which offer few attractions and comforts to young women. School Committee Accounts.—An abstract of the income and expenditure of the accounts of the several Committees is appended.* It will be seen that the Board contributed £5,511 13s. 5d while the Committees raised locally the sum of £1,445 os. sd. The recent Order in Council altering the mode of auditing the accounts of School Committees, and empowering Boards to appoint an auditor, is a step in the right direction. The Board appointed its_ chief clerk as auditor for the district and arranged that the School Committees should forward their books, accounts, &c, to the Board's office It is pleasing to report that the Committees, with one or two exceptions, willingly fell in with the new order of things, and rendered the auditor every assistance m carrying out his work The report of the auditor is, on the whole, satisfactory, and shows that a large majority ot the Committees in this district are expending the moneys placed at their disposal m an economical and useful manner. The total balance to the credit of the Committees was £1,622 7s. Id., being £90 6s 6d under that of last year It is necessary to explain, however, that a great many Committees had not paid the accounts owing by them when their books wore made up for the year, and that a considerable part of this balance would have to be paid away early m January Pupil-teachers' Eegulations.—Early in the year the regulations respecting the employment, education, and examination of pupil-teachers were reconsidered, and changes were made which have the effect of somewhat lightening the course of study, and of more nearly equalizing the remuneration of male and female pupil-teachers. _ Inspection.—During the year one or more visits of inspection were made to 14b schools, eight others were found closed when the Inspector was in the district, and five wore not visited. The 159 schools that have been in operation during the year were all examined in accordance with the regulations of the Education Department. A few of the schools were examined twice—once at the beginning of the year, and again at the end. The results of the examinations held during the year are summarized in the following tables : —

Table I.

Table II : showing the Percentage gained in the several Subjects of Examination for the Years 1882 and 1883. Subject. 5§rt&. SubieCt wSTlSe. Beading 84 83 Grammar 73 72 Spelling 86 86 Geography 82 77 Writing 91 93 History 80 73 Arithmetic 68 67 Table III. showing the Percentage of Passes in Subjects gained by each Standard, and the Average Percentage of Passes in Subjects gained by all the Standards, for the Years 1882 and 1883. Percentage. Percentage. 1882. 1883. 1882. 1883. Standard I. 92 89 Standard IV 75 78 Standard II. 81 81 Standard V 80 76 Standard III. 78 76 Standard VI. .. 89 87 Average percentage, 1882, 81, 1883, 80. * Not reprinted here.

Number present. Number passed. Number absent. Percentage of Passes. Number of Schools. Standard I. Standard II. Standard III. Standard IV Standard V Standard VI. 2,407 2,653 2,453 1,858 1,074 488 2,226 2,034 1,471 1,149 627 402 70 104 95 71 33 14 92 77 60 62 58 82 150 158 157 151 130 79 Totals ... 7,909 387 72 10,933