E.—l

76

attendance, have not, at present, been reopened. In addition to the schools previously referred to, the new infant school at Woolston, authorised in November, 1894, was put in hand during the year and completed. Additions were also made to the school at Fendalton, and extensive improvements or repairs to the school buildings at Ashburton, Balcairn, Broadfield, Christehurch West, Flaxton, Lyttelton, Newland, Prebbleton, Sumner, and Waikuku. At the date of this report several schools and teachers' houses, as well as many substantial repairs, are in progress. By the end of April, 1895, the money granted for buildings was all spent, and, in order that some authorised repairs which were absolutely necessary should be completed before the winter set in, it became imperative to apply to the Government for an advance on account of the Board's share of the vote for school buildings. The amount received in response to this application enabled the Board to have some of the most urgent of these repairs attended to; but later on in the year, owing to the lack of the necessary funds, it was found impossible to administer to the wants of the various districts, and building operations were therefore practically suspended for the time being. On the remainder of the Board's share of the buildings vote being received, it was decided to proceed with some of those schools, additions, and repairs which were of the most urgent nature, and to defer the remaining applications till it could be seen how far funds might be available. Only by exercising the greatest care and forethought in the expending of the buildings grant can the Board hope to carry on till within a measurable distance of the Government grant for 1896; and it is beyond doubt that many of the schoolhouses, additions to schools, and repairs applied for by the different School Committees must be further deferred for want of funds. Applications for small schools in the country continue to be made, and though in many cases there can be no question that the wants of the settlers are based on genuine grounds, yet the Board, for want of sufficient building funds, is powerless in the matter. The demands made upon the Board in consequence of the annually increasing repairs required to its schools and teachers' houses, which absorb a large proportion of the building fund, prevent the Board from erecting schools in newly-settled districts, however clearly such schools may be called for under the provisions of the Education Act. The total expenditure on buildings during 1895 was £5,260 lis. 4d. Maintenance.—The expenditure on teachers' salaries and allowances during the year 1895 amounted to £55,109, and the grants to School Committees, with other incidental expenses, to £7,039 14s. 7d.; making a total of £62,148 14s. 7d. The working average for the year was 17,928; but the average of the four quarters beginning with the December quarter of 1894, on which payments were actually made, was 17,923. The cost per head of teachers' salaries was therefore £3 Is. 6d., and the total cost of maintenance, including all incidental expenditure, was £3 9s. 4d. per head. The following table shows the expenditure in salaries and incidentals for each year from 1878 inclusive [not all reprinted]:— v Salaries. Incidentals. Totals. r ' £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. 6. 1878 ... ... ... 31,919 0 6 6,276 6 9 38,195 6 9 1888 ... ... ... 50,749 14 6 6,400 7 5 57,150 6 3 1894 ... ... ... 56,346 11 6 6,958 1 2 63,304 12 8 1895 ... ... ... 55,109 0 0 7,039 14 7 62,148 14 7 Table No. 7 gives a return of the amount spent in each school for salaries and incidentals, with the names and salaries of the teachers employed in each school. The new arrangements resulting from the revision of the Board's regulations as to the scale of staff and salaries have now been in operation since October, 1894. Although the Maintenance Account has not recovered the loss occasioned by the payments under the previous scale, and the reduced attendance during the measles epidemic, yet the ordinary expenditure is gradually being brought more nearly into touch with the Board's income; and the reductions made in the early part of the year on the fees of the normal-school students attending Canterbury College and on the salaries paid to the inspection and office staffs, together with the economy effected by the rearrangement of the latter, will sensibly assist in strengthening the Board's financial position. Teachers. —The total number of teachers in the Board's service at the end of the year (besides thirty-seven sewing-mistresses) was 539 —viz., heads of schools or departments, or in sole charge, 149 males, 66 females ; assistants, 35 males, 132 females ; pupil-teachers, 41 males, 116 females. As compared with the number in 1894, there were fifteen more certificated teachers and twenty-four fewer pupil-teachers. The disparity in the number of male and female pupil-teachers continues to be a noticeable feature of this department of the Board's service; and although for some years the supply of masters to fill the ordinary vacancies is assured, still the question of encouraging the entrance into the teaching profession of a larger number of male pupil-teachers is one that may require the Board's consideration at no distant date. Attendance. —The following table shows the classification of the schools according to their average attendance: Under 15 pupils, eleven; 15 and under 20 pupils, thirteen; 20 and under 25 pupils, twenty-six ; 25 and under 50 pupils, fifty-seven; 50 and under 75 pupils, twenty-four ; 75 and under 100 pupils, fifteen; 100 and under 150 pupils, fifteen; 150 and under 300 pupils, twelve; 300 and under 500 pupils, nine ; 500 and upwards, five. Returns of the numbers and ages of the children, and of the number receiving instruction in each subject, are appended. The following table gives the total number of children on the rolls, the number in average attendance, and the percentage of attendance at the close of each year since the Education Act came into operation [not all reprinted] :■ — Quarter ended District Aided Total of n „ „ Average p ov „.„ f „„ 0 31st December. Schools. Schools. Schools. Un aou " Attendance. reroenra S e * 1878 ... ... 106 4 110 13,647 10,076 73*83 1888 ... ... 155 1 156 20,388 16,395 80*42 1894 ... ... 176 6 182 21,314 17,950 84*21 1895 ... ... 180 7 187 21,368 17,969 84*09