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for 1905 says : " During the past year the question of restricting the multiplication of small schools by thejconveyance of pupils to existing schools has been kept in view. So far the system has been brought into operation in thirteen localities, and in the large majority of these has given general satisfaction to the parents concerned. As has been the case in other countries where this method of meeting the needs of sparsely settled areas has been adopted, considerable local prejudice against the system has to be overcome. The opposition rests partly on the desire of a small detached settlement for its own school, however small it may be, and partly on the objection (not always openly expressed) to taking the children away from home employment at an hour that will enable them to catch the school conveyance. The advantages that accrue from the concentration of educational work in country districts are such that the Department is called upon to persist in the endeavour to carry it out. Educational facilities, both in buildings and equipment, can be provided in a consolidated central school to an extent financially impossible in a group of very small schools. Moreover a better teachirg-staff is rendered possible, and by a more complete classification which the larger school makes practicable, the instruction is better graded, and a higher range of instruction can be imparted. These advantages are recognised in several localities where the scheme is in operation, the residents now cordially supporting it, though at first inclined to oppose it." The repo/t referred to contains reproductions of photographs showing the types of conveyance used. In one case two drags, each capable of carrying sixteen to twenty children, are waiting outside a school. On another page there is shown a well-equipped motor launch which daily collects and carries some twenty to thirty children to the Bayview Public School. The Inspector for the Mudgee District expresses himself so forcibly on this subject that we are again tempted to quote. He says, " When the central-school system comes to be favourably viewed, several of these small schools will be closed, to the advantage of all concerned. At present, most people do not take kindly to the idea. They hold out that they are ' entitled to a school of their own,' and profess to be better pleased to send their children to a provisional school, under a raw and inexperienced teacher, than to a larger and more efficient school four or five miles away. ... In the two instances where the system is at work the parents are not merely satisfied, but actually enthusiastic. They say that the children are not fatigued, and that there is a marked saving in clothes. Two or three live spirits in a community can make this system a reality ; but when it is suggested to the average small-school applicant he gets his back against the nearest fence, puts his hands in his pockets, simply says, ' It cannot be done here,' and makes no further effort. The large number of languishing small schools in this district makes an officer cautious about bringing more into existence, as well as increasing expenditure." The District of North Canterbury offers exceptional facilities for centralising schools ; and, if reliance may be placed upon opinion gleaned in the course of conversation with parents and others taking an enlightened interest in education, there is already in some localities now served by small schools a disposition to regard with favour any scheme conducive to efficiency in working and economy in administration. The statistical sections of this report present no new features of special importance. Some decrease is noted in the enrolment of Standard VII pupils, there is a slight increase in those presented in Standard VI, and a rising tendency is observed in the average ages for the three lowest standards. While indisposed to magnify the importance of the last item we think it well to remind teachers that unfriendly critics might take advantage of the fact, and indeed it may frankly be admitted that we do regard nine years as a regrettably mature age for First Standard. Of 1,468 pupils enrolled in Standard VI, 810 qualified for certificates of proficiency, the competency certificate was awarded to 442, and 178 failed to obtain either certificate.

Summary of Results for the Whole District.

In the following paragraphs we propose, in compliance with the terms of Regulation 12, to discuss the work done in the several prescribed subjects of instruction. Reading.—As far as fluency and expression are concerned, the teaching of reading may be regarded as satisfactory, with notable strength in the case of some of the better schools of the district. During the past year more frequent use has been made of previously unseen reading-tests, with the more satisfactory results in the case of those pupils who had covered a wider course of reading than the minimum prescribed by the regulations, and who had availed themselves of the facilities afforded by school or district libraries. We are glad to note a disposition to add to the number of reading-books used by

Classes. Number on Boll. Present Average Age of at Inspector's Pupils in Annual Visit. each Class. Standard VII VI V IV III II I Preparatory 359 1,468 1,904 2,362 2,474 2,300 2,260 6,493 329 1,430 1,834 2,295 2,404 2,246 2,191 5,888 Yrs. mos. 14 9 13 9 13 0 12 1 11 1 10 1 9 0 7 0 Totals • •• 19,620 18,617 11 4* * Mean of averagi age.