7

1.—140

£ ( 90 at £30 ) 4. Clause 1 ... ... ... ... -j 30 at £60 [ £5,460, but say 4,000 1 120 at £8 j £ Clause 2 ... ... ... ... 40 at £18 ... 720 With sixteen scholarships, as for first year ... ... ... 480 Total, second year ... ... ... ... ... 5,200 Total, two years ... ... ... ... ... £11,860 The Committee recommend that this report be referred to the favourable consideration of the Government. (For evidence, vide 1.-14 a.) 25th October, 1' 04.

Public-school Teachers' Salaries Amendment Bill. The Education Committee, having given careful consideration to the provisions of the Public-school Teachers' Salaries Amendment Bill referred to them by your honourable House, have now the honour to report that they recommend that the said Bill be allowed to proceed, subject, however, to the amendments shown on a copy of the Bill attached hereto. 25th October, 1904.

No. 684. —Petition of Annie Gill, Nightcaps, Wallace, and 59 Others. Petitioners represent how important it is for the State to secure the services of teachers during the best period of their lives, and the best only ; also that teachers should be enabled to retire when they are no longer able to render effective service in the education of the young. They therefore pray that your honourable House will pass a Superannuation Bill at as early a period as practicable. The Education Committee, having given careful consideration to the matter embodied in the petition of Annie Gill and others, now recommend that the said petition be referred to the Government for favourable consideration. 25th October, 1904.

Superannuation Scheme for Teachers. The Education Committee have the honour to report that, having given consideration to the subject of a superannuation scheme for teachers, they have arrived at the following resolution : namely, That in the opinion of this Committee the efficiency and permanence of our primary system of education is contingent on the improvement of the conditions under which our teachers labour, and they regard a superannuation scheme as the means best calculated to insure at once encouragement to teachers and a vigorous staff to carry on this important work. 25th October, 1904.

No. 735.—Petition of Alexander Charles Blake, Schoolmaster, Wellington. Petitioner represents that under " The Public-school Teachers' Salaries Act, 1901," his position as a teacher was fixed at £15 less per annum than the salary of a first assistant in a mixed school of even smaller size ; that the Wellington Education Board and its Inspectors have recommended that his salary be at the same rate as for a mixed school; and that the increase of salary so recommended should date from the time the Act came into force. He prays that the Act be so amended as to enable effect to be given to the recommendation of the Wellington Board. The Education Committee have the honour to report upon the petition of Alexander Charles Blake that they have no recommendation to make. 26th October, 1904.

No. 683. —Petition of D. McNeill and Others, Teachers in Public Schools. Petitioners represent, generally, the inadequacy of the remuneration paid to teachers in the schools of the colony, and the evils resulting to the State in consequence. They pray that consideration be given to the circumstances of teachers in schools having an average attendance of forty, of assistants in schools of the group having an average attendance of from 150 to 200, and of all male assistants lower than the first in schools where such assistants are employed. The Education Committee, having fully considered the matter embodied in this petition when dealing with the Public-school Teachers' Salaries Amendment Bill, have the honour to report that they have no recommendation to make. 26th October, 1904.

Nos. 398, 426, 427, 472, 473, and 550.—Petitions of Elizabeth Tulloch and Others, Kate Baldwin and Others, S. L. Robinson and Others, A. W. Spence and Others, G. E. Wilson and Others, and M. Grant and Others. Petitioners are female teachers employed in the schools of the State, and they pray that your honourable House will devise a scale of graduated increase in salaries so as to reward teachers adequately for increased ability and experience. They ask that the minimum salary of a fully certified teacher be fixed at £100 per annum, and that every satisfactory year of service be rewarded by an increase of salary up to a maximum of £180 in the case of assistant mistresses, and to £300 in the case of headmistresses. The Education Committee, having fully considered the question embodied in these petitions when with the Public-school Teachers' Salaries Amendment Bill, have the honour to report that they have now no recommendation to make. 26th October, 1904,