E.—l.

The Board's Representatives. —At its meeting on the Ist April, 1903, the Board elected Mr. R. Latter member of the Akaroa High School Board, Mr. A. Orr and the Rev. G. B. Inglis members of the Ashburton High School Board, and Mr. A. S. Bruce member of the Rangiora High School Board. Mr. Buddo continued to represent the Board as a Commissioner of Education Reserves. Buildings.—The total expenditure on buildings during the year, including repairs and renovations was £5,754 13s. 3d. No new schools were built, but substantial additions were made to the schools at Darfield, New Brighton, Highbank, Spotswood, and Spreydon. A house was erected for the master at Springston South ; at Waiau considerable expenditure was incurred on additions and alterations in the same direction; and at Waltham a caretaker's house was provided. In many districts substantial repairs and improvements have been effected, notably at Akaroa, Ashburton, Barry's Bay, Christchurch East, Christchurch West, Fendalton, Halswell, Kowai Pass, Lyttelton, Lyttelton West, Sydenham, Wainui, West Melton, Woolston, and at the Normal School. At Kaiapoi and St. Albans new brick closets have been built, at a cost much in excess of that in cases where provision of a less.permanent character has been made. The teacher's house at Saltwater Creek has been removed to a more suitable site, out of the reach of floods. In regard to the distribution of the building vote, the change decided on by the Government marks an important departure from the course hitherto followed. In future the ordinary grant will be for the purposes of general maintenance, renewals, and rebuilding; it will not be available for additions, for which special application must be made from time to time as the necessity arises. Against this course the Board strongly protests, believing that it is in a much better position to know local wants than the central Department can be. The number of schools in operation at the end of the year, including twenty-two aided schools, was 205. Maintenance.—The expenditure on teachers' salaries and allowances (exclusive of payments to secondary assistants) amounted to £56,748 2s. 10d.,' and grants to School Committees, with other incidental expenses, to £5,922 10s. 7d., making a total of £62,670 13s. sd. The average attendances on which payment of salaries and incidentals was made (subject to slight modifications and adjustments; were 16,742 and 16,188 respectively, so that the cost per head of teachers' salaries was about £3 7s. 9id., and that of incidental expenses 7s. 3fd., making a total of £3 15s. l£d. per head. Adding the lis. 3d. general capitation and the annual grant of £250 to the sum expended on teachers' salaries, the total cost of primary instruction during the year was £66,208 7s. lOd. or £3 19s. for each child in average attendance, exclusive of expenditure on buildings. The total number of teachers in the Board's service at the end of 1903 was 515. Of these, 206 (125 males and 81 females) were heads of schools or departments, or in sole charge; 205 (41 males and 164 females) were assistants; and 104 (24 males and 80 females) were pupilteachers. The difficulty experienced of late years in procuring teachers for small country schools has continued ; the Board regrets that this should have been so, seeing that the number of teachers available for and willing to take positions near the larger centres, or in localities adjacent to the railway, has been in excess of the number of vacancies. It is safe to assume that the chief reason for this arises from the fact that the salaries of junior assistants cannot fall below £80, whereas the remuneration of sole-charge teachers is entirely dependent upon the average attendance, and, owing to the removal of families from the district, whose members, perhaps, go to make up half the roll-number, may for the succeeding year fall much below what is considered a living wage. As compared with the year 1902, the roll-number on the 31st December last shows a slight increase, which is satisfactory, seeing that since 1895 each succeeding year has disclosed a decrease as compared with the previous year. Normal School.—lnformation as to the work of the training department, and as to the number of students admitted during the year, is given in the report of the principal.* At the commencement of the year, in order to make up the number of students to the number regarded as sufficient for the school's requirements, as well as to afford matriculated candidates practice in teaching, the Board decided to admit a limited number of matriculated University students for a two-years' course of training, the remuneration to be £20 per annum, with an allowance of £10 if obliged to live away from home. Nine students were admitted under these conditions; their salaries and allowances have been paid by the Department. At the date of this report arrangements to meet, as far as practicable, the conditions of the new scheme for the training of teachers are well forward; detailed reference to this matter may well be reserved for inclusion in the report for the present year. Inspection.—The Inspector's annual report gives the number of children present at examination, the number that passed, and the average age of the pupils in each class. Of the 19,607 children whose names were contained in the examination lists, 17,761 only were present at the time of the Inspector's visit, as compared with 18,430 for the year 1902, and 18,351 for 1901. This reduction was doubtless due to sickness among the children, which, while prevalent more or less during the whole year, was particularly noticeable during the winter and early spring. In the absence of Dr. Anderson, to whom the Board granted six months' leave of absence, as from the Ist June, Mr. T. Hughes, 8.A., headmaster of the Waltham School, was appointed Acting-Inspector. Mr. Hughes has discharged the arduous duties of the position in a conscientious and efficient manner, and to the Board's entire satisfaction. The Board has recently had under consideration a renewed request for the examination of the Roman Catholic schools in the North Canterbury Education District. On previous occasions the Board has refused similar applications on the ground that all private schools should be subject to annual inspection and examination by the State, which expression of opinion was embodied in

* This will be found in a separate paper (E.-1e) on training of teachers.—Secbetaey fob Education.

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