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The school might be open in the mornings from 9 to 12.30 for boys and girls conjointly, during which time a series of classes would be held in drawing, some branches of science, shorthand, bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic, commercial correspondence, and geography, with some further English study. The afternoon would be devoted to practice in woodwork, laboratory practice, cooking, laundrywork, &c. In the evenings the school would provide facilities for continuation classes for those engaged elsewhere during the day. For the country districts similar facilities might be afforded in three or four centres by attaching an upper department with a technical bias to the ordinary primary school. In the value and ultimate success of the central school we have a firm belief. In the country districts the development on these lines would be a more doubtful experiment, and, in the financial entanglements of a grant system not favourable to experiments, would haply, without special local resources, enjoy fewer prospects of a long and prosperous life. We have, &c, L. B. Wood, M.A., \ W. J. Andbbson, LL.D., [inspectors. Thos. Ritchie, 8.A., J The Chairman, Education Board, Christchurch.

Summary of Results for the District.

SOUTH CANTERBUEY. Sir,— Education Office, Timaru, 6th March, 1902. We have the honour to present the following report for the year 1901: — At the close of the year seventy schools were in operation, being three more than in the previous year. Two of the new schools were not examined, as they were opened after the examinations of the neighbouring schools, from which they drew most of their scholars, had been concluded. The sixty-eight schools which were in operation throughout the year were examined, and visits of inspection were paid to nearly all. In May we examined the five Roman Catholic schools, which, with a roll-number of 682, had 454 examined in standards, of whom 394 passed. The annual examination of pupil-teachers was carried out in the middle of the year, and the scholarship examination was held, as usual, in the month of December. The following is a summary of examination results for the whole district: —

Classes. Presented. Present. Passed. Average Age of those that passed. Yrs. mos. Above Standard VI. ... Standard VI. V. IV. III. II. I. Preparatory... 317 1,483 2,201 2,577 2,693 2,364 2,150 6,057 193 1,412 2,069 2,414 2,578 2,288 2,092 5,305 1,161 1,622 1,946 2,129 2,096 2,022 13 9 12 10 11 11 10 11 9 9 8 8 Totals ... 19,842 18,351 10,976 11 4* * Mean of a . 'erage age.

Classes. Presented. Present. Passed. Average Age of Pupils in each Glass. Yrs. mos. Above Standard VI. ... Standard VI. V. IV. III. II. I: Preparatory 153 436 595 681 628 570 567 1,394 416 568 668 614 558 562 291 457 559 541 523 537 13 8 12 10 11 8 10 8 9 8 8 9 Totals ... 5,024 3,386 2,908 11 2* * Mean of average ai ;e.