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3. No application for examination will be received unless it be accompanied by a certificate, signed by a Public School Inspector, and setting forth that the candidate has passed before such Inspector a satisfactory examination in reading, spelling, dictation, and writing ; but this regulation shall not apply to candidates who already hold certifiates granted to them by the Minister of Education, nor to candidates who present themselves in those subjects only in which at a former examination they were unsuccessful.

V. Inspection of Schools and Standards of Education. — Dated 16th June, 1885.

1. Once in every year every public school shall be both inspected and examined by a Public School Inspector. If possible, there shall be an interval of time between the inspection and the examination. As soon as possible after the inspection the Inspector shall present an "inspection report," and as soon as possible after the examination an •' examination report." In these regulations a year means a year counted from the Ist of January. 2. The inspection report shall relate to such topics as the following:— I. List of standard classes and teachers ; 11. Remarks on the organization, as shown under Topic I.; 111. Suitability of time-tables ; IV. Remarks on the methods and quality of the instruction in general or in detail; V. Order and discipline, and the tone of the school with respect to diligence, alacrity, and obedience; VI. Supervision in recess; VII. Manners and general behaviour of the pupils; VIII. State of buildings, ground, and fences; IX. Sufficiency of school accommodation; X. Cleanliness and tidiness of rooms and premises, including outside offices ; ventilation and warming; XL, &c. Other topics. The report shall be divided into sections, and the section relating to any topic in the foregoing list shall bear the number assigned to that topic in the list. The omission of any number shall be sufficient to indicate that the Inspector does not deem it necessary to report on the topic corresponding to that number. Section I. shall in no case be omitted from the report: it shall show what " standard classes" within the meaning of Regulation 4 there are in the school, whether the standard classes are grouped in classes for instruction, and, if so, how they are grouped, and by what teacher each class is taught, describing each teacher by his position in the school as " sole teacher," " head master," " first assistant," " third-year pupil-teacher," or as the case may be. Any section except Section I. may, if the Inspector so choose, consist of the appropriate number and of a single word, such as " satisfactory." 3. The examination report shall show the number of pupils presented in each standard class, the number of " passes " in each standard, of failures in each class, of " exceptions" in each class, and. of pupils absent from each class, the "percentage of passes," the "percentage on class-subjects," the ■" additional marks," and the character of the work done in classes P and S7. The terms used in this regulation shall be used in the examination report in the sense in which they are used in these regulations. 4. For the purposes of inspection and examination, but not necessarily for purposes of instruction, the pupils of every public school shall be divided into standard classes, as follows: The preparatory class shall include all pupils below Class 1., and may be called class P. Class I. shall include all the children preparing for or presented for Standard 1., and may be called SI ; Class 11. shall include all the children preparing for or presented for Standard 11., and may be called S2; and so on to Class VI. Class VII. shall include all pupils that have passed the Sixth Standard, and may be called S7. If necessary, Class P may be divided, the lower part being called PI, and the next P2. Every pupil in the school must be considered to belong to one of the classes as here defined. 5. At every standard examination the head-teacher shall present all the pupils on the school roll, by giving the Inspector a list for each standard class, containing the names of all the pupils belonging to the class, and a schedule showing that the sum of the numbers of names in all the lists is identical with the number of the pupils on the school roll. Against the name of every pupil who has already passed a standard the head-teacher shall enter in the class list,the number of the highest standard which the pupil has passed. 6. Against the name of any pupil who, during the three quarters preceding the quarter in which the examination takes place, has been present at the school less than half the number of times of assembling of the school, the headteacher may write the number of the attendances of such pupil during the three quarters; and, if such pupil do not pass for the standard for which he is presented, the pupil ■shall not be deemed to have failed, but shall be considered " excepted," and shall be included by the Inspector in the number of " exceptions " reported.

7. In order to obtain a pass, a pupil must be present in class during the examination in the class-subjects for a standard which he has not already passed, and must satisfy the Inspector in all the pass-subjects for the same standard ; except that failure in one subject (unless very serious) may be overlooked if in the judgment of the Inspector it is due to some individual peculiarity, and is not the result of the pupil's negligence or of ineffective teaching. 8. As soon as possible after the examination of a school the head-teacher shall be furnished with the names of the pupils who have passed the several standards, and shall record the passes in the Admission Register, and issue to every pupil who has passed a standard a certificate of pass in that standard ; and every pupil removing from one public school to another shall be required on entering to exhibit his latest certificate to the head-teacher, who shall make a record of the certificate in the Admission Register, and shall not present such pupil for examination for the standard to which such certificate relates. 9. The " percentage of passes " at every examination shall be ascertained by dividing the total number of passes by the number of pupils on the school roll, and multiplying by 100. 10. The " percentage of failures " at every examination shall be ascertained by dividing the number of failures by the number of passes and failures taken together and multiplying by 100. 11. The Inspector shall ascertain " the percentage on class-subjects " by assigning marks for each class-subject, according to a scale ranging from 0 to 100, to express his judgment upon the quality of work done in that subject, and then calculating for all the class-subjects the mean of the marks so assigned. For the purpose of this regulation, elementary science, together with object-lessons and lessons in natural history, manufactures, and common things, shall be counted as one subject; history as one subject; geography, so far as it is a class-subject, as one subject; and drawing, so far and so long as it is a classsubject, as one. In assigning marks for any class-subject, the Inspector shall consider whether the subject is attended to in all the classes for which it is prescribed, and also whether it is efficiently treated. 12. The " additional marks" shall be ascertained by the Inspector, by assigning marks on a scale ranging from 0 to 20, to express his judgment of the value of the work done by the school in each of the " additional subjects," and in needlework and drill, and then adding together the marks so assigned. For the purposes of this regulation, repetition and recitation shall be reckoned as one subject, disciplinary exercises and drill as one, singing as one, needlework as one, knowledge of the subject-matter of readingbooks as one, and extra drawing as one. In assigning marks for any " additional subject" the Inspector shall consider whether the subject is attended to in all the classes for which it is prescribed, and also whether it is efficiently treated. 13. Each Inspector shall make an annual return, showing with respect to each public school subject to his inspection the number of pupils presented, the number passed, the percentage of passes, the percentage of failures, the percentage on class-subjects, and the additional marks, and stating in brief, with respect to each school, its condition as to order and discipline, and as to the manners of the pupils. The Inspector shall at the same time make a return relating to the same schools and the same pupils, showing the total number of pupils presented in each of the standard classes as defined in Regulation 4, the total number passed in each standard, the total number of failures in each standard, and the total number of exceptions for each standard. If possible, the return shall include a statement of the average age of the pupils on passing each standard. 14. The standard syllabus shall not be understood to prescribe to the teacher the precise order in which the different parts of any subject shall be taught, nor to prohibit the teacher from giving instruction not prescribed by the syllabus, but shall be taken to represent only the attainments of which the Inspector may expect full proof at the several stagos of a pupil's progress; also it is to be understood that the examination report and inspection report, taken together,