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78

Teachers. —At the close of the year there were, including three relieving-teachers, 377 teachers in the Board's service, of whom 167 were men and 210 women. In respect of qualification, 236 of the head and assistant teachers were certificated or held licenses, and 141 were uncertificated. As a number of teachers from the Training College entered the Board's service at the beginning of 1908, and as more will do so from time to time, it is certain that the ratio of uncertificated to certificated teachers will diminish year by year. The Board notes with satisfaction that a large number of teachers successfully sat for higher certificates at the January, 1908, examinations. In the teaching, as in the other branches of the public service, the need of reform is ever present. Improvement in the staffing of the schools and in the salaries of the teachers are the reforms that the well-being of our primary schools demand. The qualifications of the teachers of this district may be set out thus : Al, 3; A2, 1. 81, 4; 82, 2; 83, 2. CI, 9; C2, 5; C3, 5; C4,3; C5, 1. Dl, 23; D2, 30; D3, 41; D4, 14. El, 14; E2, 27; E3, 31 ;-E4, 6. Licensed, 15. Attendance.—At the close of the year the roll-number stood at 13,046, and the attendance averaged 10,973. Compared with last year, there has been a decrease of the average attendance for the year of 131, although the roll increased by 175. The average attendance for the year expressed as a percentage of the mean of the average weekly roll for the year, was 82'9, which is considerably lower than for some years. This result is undoubtedly due to the extraordinary amount of sickness prevailing during the winter months; in some districts measles and other epidemics recurred again and again, and the educational harvest has been considerably impaired by such a state of affairs. Finance.—The Board began the year with a credit balance on the General Account of £201 19s. 3d., and a debit balance on the Building Account of £2,046 9s. Id. At the end of the year the balance on the General Account was, debit," £4,127 Bs., and on the Building Account, debit, £1,004 ss. Taking into consideration the money assets and liabilities, including the balance of maintenance grant, the actual state of the accounts on the 31st December, 1907, was as follows: General Account, credit, £617 10s. 10d.; Building Account, credit, £769 ss. lid. Reference to the statement of receipts and expenditure for the year shows the amounts received and expended under the different headings. Buildings.—During the year new schools were built at Orautoha and Himatangi, and new residences at Kaitoke, Mangamahu, Foxton, and Alton. Additions have been made to Denlair, Mosstown, Kaponga, Eltham, Linton, Sedgebrook, and Taihape Schools, and to Ashhurst and Kimbolton residences; while repairs have been made at Brunswick and Marion Schools and Maxwell and Okoia residences. The demands on the building grant increases year by year, and there are certain desirable, necessary, and even urgent works which, through the inadequacy of this grant, the Board has been unable to face. There are a number of buildings, erected more than twenty vears ago, which, because of their insanitary situation or economical construction, have either to be rebuilt or almost entirely reconstructed ; and these present a problem, not solved by the amount of the maintenance grant, or any theoretical idea about the life of buildings, or the setting-aside of a reconstruction fund. As settlement advances and the standard of living increases, better buildings are required, and a school or residence considered good enough for a backblocks settlement becomes a reproach to a closely populated town. In regard to residences especially, the difficulties are very great. In districts where houses are unobtainable it is generally the case that the cost of building is heavy, while the fact of one room being attached to a school is made a reason why a teacher with a family is not allowed house allowance, and, as no grants have been made by the Department for residences for six months or more, it is impossibe to face the question of building. It may be difficult for the Department to come to a conclusion as to which course to pursue in this matter, but the whole matter is one of urgency, and the health, comfort, and well-being of the teachers necessitate strong representations being made in this matter. Office Accommodation.—The present building is utterly inadequate to the needs of a growing district; so inadequate is it that it is a bar to efficient administration. It is to be hoped that during the next session of Parliament it will be possible to promote successfully a Bill to secure to the Board the site on which the office stands, which is merely an unclassified Government reserve. (In this connection the Board consider that additional office accommodation is as much a charge on the Building Fund as additions to schools.) Tt would then be possible to erect a building suited to present requirements. Scholarships.—The following are the awards for the present year (1908) : Board's Senior : Feilding District High Scnool; Wanganui Collegiate; Wanganui Girls' College: and Nelson College. Board's Junior: Queen's Park, Wanganui; Aramoho: Upokongaro; Wanganui District High School; and Palmerston North High School. Queen's Scholarships : Queen's Park, Wanganui : and Wanganui District High School. Junior National : Queen's Park, Wanganui ; Terrace End, Palmerston North : and Wanganui District High School. Thirteen boys and four girls took scholarships this year. Sixteen of the successful candidates belong to town and one to country schools. One effect of raising the Junior Scholarship age to fourteen will be to place country candidates in a more favourable position than they previously were. An Agricultural Scholarship of the value of £20, the gift of Mr. S. fiibbous, of Marton, in memory of his late father, was awarded to Upper Tutaenui School. A Hawera County Science Scholarship will be awarded at the close of the present year. Training of Teachers. —Saturday classes for the training of teachers were held continuously throughout the year. Science was taken at Palmerston North, Marton, and Wanganui; cookery at Wanganui and Palmerston North ; handwork at Wanganui and Hawera; and dairying at Hawera. Certificates of merit were awarded to the students at the end of the courses of lessons, and there can be no doubt but a ereat deal of excellent work was done. Tn this connection there should be mentioned a highly successful summer school, conducted by Dr. Marshall, of Otago University, who lectured continuously for a week on the physical geography of the district. A winter school, for the benefit of uncertificated teachers and teachers from remote schools, was held in June, and five teachers, selected by the Inspectors, enjoyed the privilege of a three-weeks attendance at the Training College, Wellington.