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for such'purpose would permit; but it was thought advisable to further postpone the date of the scholarships examination till June, 1886. The reasons which actuated the Board in thus deciding were—first, that the date of the scholarship examination might not interfere with that oi the teachers, which is now held in December ; second, that their Inspector might be at liberty to take full advantage of the summer months in carrying on his work of examining country schools. Pupil-teachees' Examination.—For reasons similar to those given in the preceding paragraph the Board decided to alter the date of the pupil-teachers1 examination also to the month ofJune m each year. This alteration will give the pupil-teachers eighteen instead of twelve months m which to prepare for their next examination. ■ .. , Teachees— At the close of the year there were 165 teachers, reckoning all grades, m the service of the Board, as compared with 147 at the end of 1884. These were classified as follows : Males: head teachers, 76; assistants, 6; pupil-teachers, 11. Females: head teachers 24; assistants, 5 ; pupil-teachers, 31; sowing-teachers, 12. Total, 165. These figures indicate an increase of 18 during the year. ... ~ . ._« Teachees' Quarterly Eetuens.—These returns are in a largo majority of cases neatly and correctly made out, and sent in with commendable promptitude. In a few instances, however, teachers are neither so careful nor so prompt in the discharge of this important part ol their duty as they ought and are expected to bo. Delay in forwarding the summary of attendances required by the department is frequently caused by the negligence of one or two teachers who may tail to forward'jtheir returns within the prescribed time. . Buildings, Schools, and Eesidences.—The principal works undertaken by the Board and successfully carried out during the year have been the erection of new school-buildings at Cnarltou, Otara, Oteramika, Pahia, Gibbston, and Mimihau ; while extensive additions have been made to the Dipton, Waihopai, North Invercargill, Mataura, and Invercargill South Schools. Ihe new schools and additions to existing school-buildings above enumerated will provide accommodation, according to the Board's rules, for 875 additional pupils. A teacher's residence was erected at Waikaia, and additions made to the residences at Invercargill South and Upper Shotover. Ihe former work (Waikaia) was rendered absolutely essential, owing to the fact that the dwelling rented and occupied by the teacher was destroyed by fire, and that another suitable house could not be obtained in the district. In addition to the foregoing works, much has been done in theway of fencing school-grounds, repairing buildings, erecting shelter-sheds, &c The proportion of the buildine erant allotted to this Board has been found to be altogether inadequate to provide for the claims made upon it, and in many outlying districts the applications for new schools have had to be refused or their consideration indefinitely postponed, simply for the want of funds wherewith to provide the necessary buildings. This state of affairs entails a very great hardship on many sparsely-populated localities, in which the children are, educationally speaking, wholly neglected. Teachers'residences are also very urgently required in at least a dozen of our school districts The want of these acts very detrimentally on the education of the districts interested. Married teachers—who are, other things being equal, more suited to the requirements of many ot our schoolswill not accept appointments if there are no residences provided for their families. 1 his circumstance restricts the Board very much in its choice of teachers. In many instances rent allowances to the teachers of schools to which there are no dwelling-houses attached are made; but, to keep the Maintenance Fund in a healthy state, it is utterly impossible to makc> this a general rule. On the 11th March last the Board found it necessary to issue a circular to School Committees, informing them that the means at the command of the Board were much below the wants ot the district for school-buildings, &c, and that all future grants for such works as the erection of coaland shelter-sheds, ornamental fencing, and the gravelling of school-grounds, should be made on the principle of a subsidy equal in amount to that locally raised for such purposes. The terms of this circular have been very generally complied with in all grants for such works made since that date, and such compliance appears to involve no great hardship on the Committees which have taken advantage of its provisions. . , ~,,.• Compulsory Clause.—From only one district (Mataura) has intimation been received that the Committee had brought into force the compulsory clause of the Act ; ... ~ Hvlf-time ScHOOLS.-In this district there are only two half-time schools _in operation— viz at Oteramika. It was thought advisable to erect another school-building m this district, such to be worked in connection with the one previously in existence there as a halt-time school. The teacher now performs duty in each school on alternate days. Inspectoe's Eepoet.—Detailed and exhaustive information in reference to the condition of the schools and the progress of education generally throughout this district will be found in the Inspector's report, a copy of which is sent herewith. . Disteict High School.—There is only one district high school m this educational district— viz that at Eiverton. Full information as to extra subjects taught, state of efficiency, &c, will be found in the Inspector's report, referred to in the preceding paragraph. Financial —The following summary [not printed here] of the abstracts of accounts, as forwarded by the various School Committees, and duly audited by competent persons appointed by the Board shows the amounts received and expended by the School Committees of this district, he sources whence the receipts were obtained, and the manner in which the money so received was expended Committees, as a rule, kept their accounts in a careful and methodical manner., in only'two instances was it necessary for the auditors to report irregularities in the accounts. Ihe treasurer reports that the amount of capitation grant received during the year was £11,020 18s. 9d., which, along with the sum allocated to the Board by the Schools Commissioners of Otago-viz., £0 794 is 3d —and making a total of £20,315, formed the Maintenance Fund of the Board. The amount paid to teachers as salaries, bonuses on classification, and for instructing pupil-teachers, „. pi 7 002 7s 6d As a rule, each head teacher is provided with a comfortable residence, and when such is not provided a rent allowance is generally made of from £20 a year and upwards.