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remembered, however, that the classes have not yet been brought into close touch with the bulk of the Board's teachers, or in reach of the majority of the schools in this district. At Leeston, in addition to instruction in woodwork, cookery classes have been established, which promise good results, as also do those started with the same object at Amberley by local effort. So far the Board's applications to the Government for the means to establish technical schools at the several centres have failed to obtain that favourable consideration which was expected to result from the action of the House of Representatives when, at the close of the 1897 session, it passed such a substantial vote for the purposes of technical instruction. The following table shows the number of teachers and boys that attended at the Normal School for manual instruction during each quarter, with the number of classes :— Quarter or Term commencing »■»£* *£££ Total - February ... ... ... 8 40 78 118 May 8 25 87 112 July ... 5 ... 92 92 October ... ... ... ... 7 17 84 101 The Principal of the Normal School reports as follows : — " We have attempted this year to carry on further our endeavours to give the students some practical training in the so-called ' varied occupations ' which are considered as belonging to kindergarten work, but there is still much to be desired in this direction. As I pointed out last year, the difficulty is to find time for these new subjects. But I feel there is a strong probability that some kindergarten work will be demanded for our schools in the near future, and I cannot but think that we ought at least to give our students opportunities to make a beginning in the practical part of the work. Mrs. Bullock, head-mistress of the Infants' Department, who has had charge of this part of the work with the students, has taken very great interest in the subject, and it was especially gratifying to me to find that at the end of the year she was to some extent rewarded for her trouble by the success that attended her exhibition of kindergarten work done in her department. " In the Girls' School a noteworthy feature has been the attendance for the last six months of about forty girls at a weekly class in cookery at the School of Domestic Instruction. The usual fate of classes in subjects outside of the school course is for them to dwindle down and cease. This particular class has, however, so far escaped this fate, owing largely to the interest the girls feel in the subject. But another contributory cause has been the fact that the time for this class has been taken from the ordinary school day. The time that has been thus given up could ill be spared from the preparation for the work of the standard syllabus, but the subject is one of such immense practical value that the opportunity of sending the girls to these classes could not be lost. In cases like this, where facilities exist for attendance at valuable classes of any kind, I cannot but think it would encourage teachers and children alike to take advantage of them if in the assessment of the work done in the standard subjects some allowance could be made for this diminution in the time available for those subjects." Otago. The total number of students who attended the School of Art and Design during the past session was 402. This total includes ninety-four teachers and pupil-teachers, forty-one Training College students, 105 students who attended the day classes, and 162 who attended the evening classes. The Board desires to direct your special attention to the good work done at the School of Art and Design. The number of students is now larger than it has ever been, and the proportion of certificates gained at the examinations in connection with the South Kensington Science and Art Department is noteworthy. The cost of the school for the year was—Salaries, £708 6s. Bd. ; incidental expenses, £59 18s. 7d.: total, £768 ss. 3d. Less fees (three quarters only), £258 15s. 9d.; Government grant under Manual and Technical .Elementary Instruction Act, £198 13s. 7d.—£457 9s. 4d. Net cost, £310 15s. lid. The Board thinks it desirable to lay stress on the good work done by the Dunedin Technical School, the rent of which is partly paid by the Board. The following is a summary of the passes of Dunedin candidates at the examination of the City and Guilds of London Institute, held in 1898 : Plumber's work (ordinary)— First class, 3 ; plumber's work (honours) —First class, 1; carpentry and joinery (ordinary)— First class, 1; carpentry and joinery (honours)— First class, 1; photography (ordinary)— Second class, 1; metal-plate work (ordinary)— First class, 1; bookbinding (ordinary) — First class, 2; mechanical engineering (ordinary)— First class, 1, marked as deserving of a prize; second class, 1. Last year 731 students attended the classes of the Technical School, and 402 attended the School of Art. Deducting those who attended both institutions— viz., twenty-nine—we have the large number of 1,104 attending technical classes in the City of Dunedin, a state of affairs which speaks well for the primary system of education, for those who are teaching in the continuation schools, and specially well for the young men and women who are devoting their leisure hours to self-improvement. With regard to the Normal School, the report of the Principal contains the following : " The course in science includes —(1) Lectures on mechanics, physics, chemistry, and physiology, as prescribed by the department, and (2) practical laboratory work in these subjects. In the laboratory students perform experiments, and make their own notes of the method in which they are conducted and of the results. Seventy-six, experiments were carried out in this way last year. In some instances, besides actually working the experiment, the students have to make, fit up, and get ready the necessary apparatus. In this way practice is obtained not only in working experiments, but also in preparing such apparatus as is required in the class-teaching of the subjects in the course of science required by the Board.'.'