E.—lb

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has been done—that a grant even more liberal than what we asked for has been made. But we pleaded not merely for Standard VII. pupils in district high schools, on whose account the grant has been made, but for Standard VII. pupils and Standard VII. teachers irrespective of the class of school. In the district high schools an average attendance of twelve Standard VII. pupils will secure, on account of the secondary work, a grant sufficient to maintain an extra teacher. To city and suburban schools with even a larger attendance of Standard VII. pupils, and to the ordinary country schools, no grant is made, although in many of them secondary work is well done. In 1899, on the district high schools staff there were six teachers classed C and upwards, on the primary schools staff there were sixty-five so classed, and many of the D certificated teachers have shown themselves capable of teaching up to the Civil Service and Matriculation standards. In the largest schools the head-teacher is not directly responsible for the work of a standard class, and with the aid of an advanced pupil-teacher or an assistant teacher he does the work of Standard VII. within school hours ; but in schools with one or two teachers much of Standard VII. instruction is given in overtime. During the school hours the pupils are directed in their studies, and for the time and attention they receive they in many cases give a full equivalent in the shape of monitorial work. It has been said that the introduction of secondary subjects into small primary schools would place the primary subjects at a disadvantage. It has not done so in this district. The presence of Standard VII. pupils places a higher ideal before parents and pupils, and tends to prolong school attendance, and to improve school tone and discipline. We do not see how, in equity, a grant for secondary subjects efficiently taught can be withheld from any schools having teachers capable of teaching, and pupils willing to be taught. Nor do we see how, in a sparsely peopled country like New Zealand, adequate provision is to be made for the higher teaching of the thousands of children who live remote from district high schools, and are dependent upon the local schools for whatever measure of higher education they may desire to obtain, except by making provision for the teaching of advanced work in every school in the land. In no other way can the needs of country settlement be met. The grants for secondary subjects in the district high schools practically make secondary education in these schools free. We have advocated the extension of the boon to all schools, whether town or country; but where high schools already provide for secondary education an equivalent provision might well be made for pupils desirious of following other lines of study. Under the district high schools memorandum of Bth January, and the manual and technical regulations of 18th January, it now seems possible to gather Standard VII. pupils into a central school, with a liberal curriculum giving scope to the personality of teacher, and a discipline, physical, intellectual, and moral, bearing directly on the life-work of the pupil. The centralisation of Standard VII. pupils, besides placing them under highly advantageous working-conditions, would set head-teachers free for the important duties of supervision and classification imposed upon them by the new regulations. The beginning of 1900 saw the introduction to our schools of freedom of classification, the beginning of 1901 has seen the introduction of special grants for special subjects ; the latter, especially in connection with manual and technical instruction, we consider of no less importance than the former. From the day the child enters the school till the day he leaves it he will be led through a course of manuul exercises devised to foster habits of industry, to cultivate artistic taste, and to train hand and eye accurately to obey the direction of the will. To the exercises specially designed to develop manual dexterity may be added, in the higher standards, subjects which make for domestic comfort, the maintenance of health, and the saving of life. The cost of the necessary buildings, furniture, apparatus, and to a certain extent materials will be borne by the department. In some subjects the cost of special teachers may be met by the grants, but the greater part of the work must be done by the ordinary school staff. Such subjects as laundrywork, dairy-work, cookery, and the higher woodwork and work in iron must at first be taught by specialists, but to make manual exercises thoroughly educative they must be conducted by the trained teacher. As comparatively few of our teachers are prepared for even the simplest of the exercises, manual and technical training classes for them should be established —evening classes for pupil-teachers and teachers in city and suburbs, Saturday classes for those near railway-lines, summer-holiday classes for those who cannot avail themselves of the others. In conclusion, we would say that in many cases we have been dissatisfied with the attention given to the regulations concerning such matters as time-tables, supervision of playground, holidays, and preservation of buildings, records, &c. We have, &c, P. Goyen, j W. S. FitzgeealdJ j , , C. R. Riciiabdson, [ " The Secretary, Otago Education Board. C. R. Bossence, j

SOUTHLAND. Sir, — Education Office, Invercargill, Bth March, 1901. We have the honour to present our report for the year ended 31st December, 1900. All the schools were examined except Te Oneroa, and all except a very few were inspected. So far as we have been able to judge, the teachers, almost without exception, have been entirely concientious in the discharge of their duties, and, taking the impressions gathered during our visits to the schools as a gauge, we find ourselves in a position to say that during the year solid progress has been made in the work of primary education in this district.