E.—Ta.

1904. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: ANNUAL EXAMINATIONS. [In continuation of E.—1a, 1903.]

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency:

The Inspector-General of Schools to the Hon. the Minister of Education. Sib, — Education Department, Wellington, Ist June, 1904. I have the honour to report upon the annual examinations for teachers' certificates, and for admission to or promotion in the Civil Service. The examinations were held in January, between the sth and the 16th days of the month, at the thirteen towns which are the seats of Education Boards, and also at Whangarei, Thames, Tauranga, Gisborne, Palmerston North, Masterton, Westport, Oamaru, and Lawrence. The number of candidates was 1,407, and of entries 1,427, made up as follows : For the Civil Service Junior Examination, 533; for the Civil Service Senior Examination, 140; for certificate examinations, 748; for drawing only (2 certificated teachers and 4 pupil-teachers), 6. Of the 533 candidates for the Junior Examination 18 entered for the Senior Examination as well, and 1 for certificate examinations; and 1 candidate for the Senior Examination entered for, Class Das well. The number of candidates absent from examination was 90. The expenses of the examinations amounted to £1,218 4s. Id., and the fees paid by candidates to £1,142 13s. Printing and clerical work are not included in the account of expenses. The results of the Civil Service Senior Examination were made known on the Bth February, those of the JuniorExaminationon the 22nd, and those of the teachers' examinations on the 29th! Of the 140 Civil Service Senior candidates 54 came up to complete examinations in which they had already been partially successful. In all 38 passed the whole examination, and there were 70 whose work in certain subjects of the examination was accepted by the Department. The names of 267 of the Civil Service Junior candidates were published in the order of their marks in the Gazette, and 266 failed to reach the minimum required, which was 40 per cent, of the possible total. Of the 4 pupil-teachers who entered under the regulation which allows them to come up for one division of drawing at a time, 3 satisfied the examiners. At the teachers' examination, 5 were candidates for Class C (University examinations being taken into account), 230 were candidates for the whole examination for Class D, and 157, having been credited with " partial success" for Class D, came up to complete their examination; 226 were candidates for the whole examination for Class E, and 129 came up to complete the examination for that class, and 2 certificated teachers entered for further examination in drawing. There were 145 candidates who had already passed for Class E, and were seeking promotion to°Class D; and of those who had not so passed 285 were teachers in the service of the Boards, 218 were pupil-teachers, and 52 were normal-school students in training; while 14 were persons who had ceased to be teachers, pupil-teachers, or normal-school students, and 34 had never sustained any such relation to the public schools. Of the whole number of 748 candidates, 190 have "passed" (2 for C, 103 for D, and 85 for E), and 185 have achieved "partial success" (2 for C, 71 for D, and 107 for E), while 389, including 64 absentees, have failed to improve their status. As the result of the examination' 114 new certificates have been issued (2 for Class C, 50 for Class D, and 62 for Class E), and 33 certificates of Class E have been raised to Class D. The examinations for Junior National Scholarships and for Free Places in Secondary Schools were held concurrently with the above-named examinations at the same centres and at eleven other places. _ Papers were set in English, Arithmetic, Geography, and Drawing, besides a General Paper containing questions in elementary science and history and questions intended to test the candidates' general knowledge, their intelligence, and their powers of observation. The highest percentages of marks gained in the several papers were as follows: English, 85; Arithmetic, 91; Geography, 80 ; Drawing, 98 ; General Paper, 86. The highest percentage obtained by any one candidate on the whole examination was 82. The number of candidates for Junior National Scholarships and Free Places was 435, and there were also 126 candidates for Free Places only. The total number of candidates that qualified was 276. The numbers of candidates that qualified in the several Education Districts were as follows : Auckland, 103 • Taranaki, 4; Wanganui, 10; Wellington, 34; Hawke's Bay, 18; Marlborough, 6; Nelson, 5Grey, 1; Westland, 4; North Canterbury, 21 ; South Canterbury. 7: Otaso. 36: Southland 97

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