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NELSON. Sir,— Education Office, Nelson. We have the honour to present our annual report on the schools of the Nelson Educational District for the year 1906. One hundred and eight schools were at work during the last quarter of the year—one, Newton Flat, being temporarily closed till a competent teacher could be procured. Oparara, Anatoki, and Shaggery have been removed from last year's list, as the children are now being conveyed to or are able to attend at a larger achool in the neighbourhood. Gibbs' Town and three small household schoola— Golden Downa, Hope Valley, and Pakawau —have alao, through lack of pupila, been closed during the year. Eaatern and Western Infants have been formed into side-schools to the Nelson Boys' Central and Toi Toi Valley respectively. Globe and Matiri are again being treated as separate schools, and new household schools have been established at Messra. O'Rourke's and Drummond's, whilst Hilldan has been re-established as West Takaka School. Pangatotara has been formed into a side-school to Whakarewa, the control of which has recently been undertaken by the Board, a change which effects no alteration in the number on the list, which stands at 110, or five lower than that of last year. The children of two of the smaller schools failed to attend for examination, and Maitai Valley, which has since been closed, was among those examined by us, the total number of which was 107. The following schools, not under the control of the Board, have also been examined this year : Miss Hooper's, Nelson (nine pupils); St. Canice's, Westport (160) ; Sacred Heart, Reefton (ninety-six); Whakarewa Home, Motueka (thirty-eight); the Preparatory Divisions of Nelson College (thirty-three), and Nelson Girls' College (twenty-seven); St. Mary's, Nelson (146); and Cabragh House, Nelson (nine). The total number of the scholars was 522, of whom 507 were present. The number of certificates gained was : Standard VI : proficiency, 26 ; competency, 29 ; Standard V : competency, 18. Theae achools, in accordance with the general character of the work presented, were classified as follows : one good, one satisfactory to good, four satisfactory, one fair to satisfactory, and one fair. Four special examinations have also been held at different times. Forty candidates presented themselves, and the following certificates were gained : Standard VI: proficiency, 25 ; competency, 9. One hundred and one public and seven private schools were also inspected by us during the first half of the school year. The average weekly number on the rolls for September quarter was 5,595, or thirty-eight lower than for the corresponding quarter of last year. At the time of our examinations the number on the rolls was exactly the same (5,595), and of these, 5,335 were present. The average attendance for the year has been 4,838 (4,827 in 1905), or 864 per cent, of the average weekly number on the rolls (5,592). It is very gratifying to find the attendance still improving, the percentage now standing at a higher figure than any previously attained, yet in spite of the continuous improvement of the last four years the district is barely keeping pace with the rest of the colony, the colonial average for last year being 86 - 9. Our percentages for the March, September, and December quarters of this year, 84-6, 88*3, and 86-4 per cent, respectively, are considerably higher than those for the corresponding quarters of any previous year. The proportion of uncertificated teachers is, we regret to say, rather increasing than diminishing, though they are almost entirely confined to assistantships or to very small schools. The scholarship and personnel of our pupil-teachers have improved, but unfortunately their numbers are too few to enable them to sufficiently recruit our teaching-staff, which in our smallest schools is deteriorating. It is here that the weakness of our system lies. On this account we last year pointed out the advisability of having as few amall schoola aa possible. But in the interests of settlers in the backblocks, who are at least as much entitled to consideration and to their share of the education vote as the dwellers in populous centres, some such schools must exist, for conveyance to a centre is not practicable in all caaea. The difficulty of providing competent teachers for small schools of Grade 0 will still exist —that is, if the interests of the few as well as those of the many are to be considered — and we should be able to boast that no children in this favoured land of ours are neglected, but that every one has the opportunity provided for acquiring the rudiments of an elementary education; none who are capable should be allowed to grow up without learning to read and write. Instead then of attaching no value to a teacher's experience in such a school, it should be estimated as at least on the same footing with that of a pupil-teacher, and every encouragement given to promising teachers who have suffered the personal disadvantages and discomfort of having to spend their time in lonely parts. After two years of good work a promising candidate for the profession should, on the recommendation of an Inspector, be eligible for, say, a third-year pupil-teachership (at assistant's salary), and on completion of a year's such service for the training college course. Without depreciating in any way the value of the theoretical training in the making of teachers, it must be admitted that many endowed with intellectual capacity and sympathetic nature have learnt more from experience, and that some without other special training than that of experience have deservedly acquired such reputation as teachers that they are even regarded as geniuses. An amalgamation of two low-grade schools into a main and side-school could often, be more readily effected if the distance-limit between them were extended to, say, five miles, half an hour's bicycle ride. If the combined school at a minimum of thirtyone average attendance, instead of the present forty-one, were allowed a teacher and an assistant, without the addition of a pupil-teacher, both schools would benefit in staffing, and the side-school become a better training-ground.