E.—l.

SOUTH CANTERBURY. Sir, — Education Office, Timaru, Ist March, 1904. In accordance with the provisions of " The Education Act, 1877," we have the honour to submit the report of the Education Board of the District of South Canterbury for the year ending the 31st December, 1903. The Board.—At the beginning of the year the Board was composed of the following members : Messrs. John Campbell, Sandham Gillingham, W. B. Howell, J.P., John Jackson, J.P., Daniel McCaskill, W. S. Maslin, J.P., John S. Rutherford, John Talbot, J.P., and the Rev. George Barclay, J.P. Messrs. Maslin, Rutherford, and Talbot retired during the year, and the election to fill the vacancies resulted in the re-election of Messrs. Rutherford and Talbot, and the election of Mr. W. M. Hamilton, of Waimate. In August Mr. Howell was elected Chairman of the Board for the eighth time in succession. The Board held twelve meetings during the year, the average attendance of members being 7'3. In April, Major Bamfield, after holding office for twenty years, resigned the post of Chief Secretary to the Board, and Mr. A. Bell was appointed to succeed him. The Schools. —At the beginning of the year there were seventy-one schools in operation in the district. During the year the school at Carrington was closed, and a new school was opened at Kohika, so that the number of schools at the end of the year was seventy-one. Teachers.—At the end of the year there were in the service of the Board 121 adult teachers— fifty-three males and sixty-eight females. Of these, thirteen were uncertificated—an unusually large number, but owing to the difficulty of getting teachers for its small schools, the Board has no option but to employ uncertificated teachers. Pupil-teachers.—At the end of the year there were in the service of the Board twenty-three pupil-teachers, classified as follows : First year—male 1, female 3, total 4 ; second year—male 2, female 5, total 7 ; third year—male 1, female 7, total 8 ; fourth year—male 2, female 0, total 2 ; fifth year—male 1, female 1, total 2 : totals—male 7, female 16, total 23. The annual examination of pupil-teachers took place in July, when ten pupil-teachers and six candidates were examined, and eight of the former and four of the latter passed. During the year the Board revised its pupil-teacher regulations, one of the more important changes having regard to the system of appointment. In future candidates for pupil-teacherships, unless they have passed the Matriculation Examination, must present themselves for an entrance examination in December each year, and, other things being equal, appointments will be given to those applicants who do best at the entrance examination. At the first entrance examination twenty candidates were examined and thirteen passed. It is very.satisfactory to the Board to learn that the Government is establishing training-colleges which are to be open to pupil-teachers from all the education districts of the colony after they have completed their pupil-teacher course, for nothing is more calculated to improve the teaching in our schools than the thorough training of our teachers. Scholarships.—The annual scholarship examination was held in December, when the number of candidates was thirty-five, being twenty-five less than in 1902. This decrease is due largely to the granting of free places in secondary schools under the Government scheme of free secondary education. There is not now the same competition for the Board's scholarships, because education at the high schools is now available to the cleverer children of our primary schools without their requiring to undergo the ordeal of a scholarship examination. During the year the National Scholarship Act was passed, making provision for junior and senior scholarships in addition to those given by Education Boards. The first junior scholarship assigned to South Canterbury was won by a pupil of the Temuka District High School. Attendance.—The average attendance for the year (4,280) is the lowest since 1893, and 175 less than that of the previous year, while the roll-number at the end of the year was 133 less than it was in 1902. The decrease in average attendance is largely due to decrease in the roll-number, but in no year in the history of education in the district was the attendance more affected by epidemics of one kind and another. The average attendance expressed as a percentage of the mean of the average weekly rolls for the four quarters was 84-7 —that is to say, that on the average over 15 per cent, of the children were absent on every school-day throughout the year. Truancy.—During the year the Board adopted a new truancy system. Formerly the schools were divided into seven truancy districts, each under a Truant Officer, whose duty was to visit the schools at regular intervals, and deal with cases of irregular attendance. This system has been abolished, and there has been appointed for the whole district one Truant Officer, to whom the head teachers report cases of irregular attendance ; and it is for the Truant Officer to take proceedings in each case by written notice, warning, or summons, as he deems most advisable. The new system is less expensive than the old, and has proved effective when head teachers do their duty by promptly reporting cases of default. Manual and Technical Instruction.—The number of school classes in manual instruction continues to increase. Twenty-one of our schools earned capitation during the year, and as many more made attempts to introduce the subjects, though the lessons were not given with sufficient regularity to entitle the schools to grants from the Government. Seventeen schools taught by male teachers took advantage of the grants for needlework. The average salary of the sewingmistress was only £5 14s. 4d., a sum which does not compare well with the £12 paid in the district before the passing of the Teachers' Salaries Act. The "associated classes" at Timaru and Waimate were continued during the year with an increasing number of pupils, and similar classes were established at Temuka. The managers have hitherto found a difficulty in providing suitable accommodation for these classes, but during the year buildings for technical schools at Waimate and Timaru were begun and are now nearing completion, and tenders have been received for a building at Temuka. The estimated cost of these buildings is £2,800. Classes for the training of teachers in brush-drawing, modelling, and woodwork were held from May to October, The attendance

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