E.—s

15

As indicated in my last report, shortly after my arrival in the colony it was decided to utilise as a temporary technical school the building in Rutland Street, and to obtain the use of two large rooms in the Wellesley Street Public School. A four years' course of instruction was drawn up in connection with the most important trades of the city, and the first year's portion of each course was provided for. The total number of individual students enrolled was 322, and the number of class entries 763. The work of each department is briefly dealt with below. Commercial Department. The subjects taken up in the first year were commercial arithmetic, commercial geography, English composition, including correspondence and precis writing, French, typewriting, and shorthand. Of these, the first three were compulsory for students who intended to take up the four-years course and thus obtain the diploma in commerce, whilst the last three were optional. Twenty-two students took up the full course, but only two were successful in obtaining the full first-year certificate, one of these taking all the optional subjects. In addition to the above subjects, book-keeping was taken as a special subject for those students who wished to obtain a knowledge of it without taking up other commercial subjects. Commercial Arithmetic. —Twenty-nine students were enrolled. Many of the pupils had a very poor knowledge of elementary arithmetic, with the result that very little work of an advanced nature could be dealt with during the session. English Composition, &c, and Commercial Geography. —Many of those who joined the English classes were not only weak in composition but also in spelling, whilst the writing generally was of a very low standard. Under these circumstances only work of an elementary nature could be attempted. In commercial geography a considerable amount of enthusiasm was shown by the older students of the class, whilst many of the younger ones, whose fees had been paid by their parents, evinced little interest in their work. French. —The work in this class was generally satisfactory, the majority of the students having reached the " age of discretion." Shorthand, Typewriting, and Book-keeping. —The pupils atending the typewriting and shorthand classes were for the most part quite young, and were not as serious in their studies as could have been desired. In book-keeping, very satisfactory work was done by the more serious students, but, generally speaking, a lack of knowledge both of ordinary penmanship and arithmetic was shown. Domestic Department. The subjects dealt with in this department last session were plain cookery, and the principles and practice of dressmaking. Plain Cookery. —Considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining a teacher for this subject, and the class would have fallen through had not Mrs. George consented to act as honorary instructor until the arrival from England of the teachers appointed by the Board to take charge of the cookery in the new manual-training schools. In Dressmaking the system taught was the Anglo-Parisian. The students attending this class were most regular, and some very satisfactory work was done. Mechanical Engineering Department. The subjects taken in the first year's course of this department were as follows : Practical mathematics, practical geometry, machine construction and drawing, and applied mechanics. Practical Mathematics. —Owing to the lack of groundwork in ordinary arithmetic displayed by the pupils, a considerable portion of the session had to be devoted to this subject, so that comparatively little could be done with algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. Machine Construction and Drawing. —The number of students enrolled for this subject was twentyone. As in other subjects, there was evidence of a lack of early training in freehand and geometrical drawing. Although fifteen entered for the complete first year's course in mechanical engineering, only two were successful in obtaining a full certificate. Electrical Engineering Department. The subjects of the first year's course were the following : Magnetism and electricity (theory and practice), practical mathematics, machine construction and drawing. Magnetism and Electricity. —Thirty-five students were enrolled in this subject. Lack of knowledge of arithmetic and English composition was very noticeable amongst the students, and considerable difficulty was experienced in getting them to see the necessity of writing up an account of the experiments they had performed in the laboratory. Practical Mathematics, and Machine Construction and Drawing. —The same remarks apply to these subjects as in the case of the work done in the mechanical engineering department. For the full first year's course in electrical engineering twenty-two students were enrolled, but only two were successful in obtaining the complete certificate. Cabinetmaking Department. The subjects dealt with in the first year's course were as follows : Theory and practice of cabinetmaking, freehand, model, and geometrical drawing, and arithmetic and mensuration. Theory and Practice of Cabinetmaking. —ln addition to the practical work, lectures were given on timber, furniture, veneering, brasswork, tools, &c.