103

H.—l

of nine boys and eleven girls who held Junior Scholarships, and of five boys and three girls who held Senior Scholarships, as on the 31st December last. Acting on the report of the examination held in December, the Board awarded six Junior Scholarships (non-resident), and a similar number of resident scholarships tenable for two years. Three non-resident Senior Scholarships, tenable for three years, were also awarded. Having in view the equitable distribution of scholarship funds as between town and country schools, it is intended that for the future the basis of allocation shall, as nearly as possible, be the average attendance at town and country schools respectively; thus will the funds which accrue be allotted to pupils attending the schools in respect of which the capitation is earned. Inspection ov Schools. —The work of the inspection and examination of schools throughout the district has received due attention during the year. The reports (both examination and inspection) of individual schools visited during each month are carefully examined and commented on by the .Reports Committee, and thereafter laid on the Board's table at its regular meeting. By this means the Board is kept fully informed concerning the work of its teachers. Detailed information, statistical and otherwise, of the progress of education generally in the district will be afforded by a perusal of the annual report of the Board's Inspectors. Physical Instruction. —As in past years, the matter of physical instruction in our schools has received attention commensurate with its importance. To this end the services (part time) of Mr. I. G. Galloway, as physical instructor, have been retained. The schools in and around Invercargill are regularly visited, and periodical visits are made to remote centres, on which occasions not the pupils only but the teachers are also instructed. A complete set of physical exercises for use in schools has been prepared, and a printed copy thereof supplied to each school in the district. More detailed reference to this subject will be found in the Inspectors' annual report (E.-Ib.). Training op Teachers. —The annual grant made by the Department for the training of teachers in the subjects of manual and technical instruction has again been judiciously expended. Saturday classes in the subjects of elementary agriculture, elementary geology, elementary physiology, and model, freehand, and brush drawing were organized.at Invercargill and Gore, and were attended by a large proportion of the teachers whose location enabled them to visit these centres and return to their homes on the same day. Considerable interest was manifested in the subjects dealt with by the respective instructors, and there is warrant for believing that the results achieved will amply justify the expenditure incurred. Conveyance op Pupils.—Advantage is now largely taken of the regulations under which children resident at a distance of three miles or more from a public school may be conveyed thereto. In ten school districts arrangements have been made for this service, and for the last quarter of the year eighty-two children were conveyed to school over distances varying from three to eight miles. The cost of this service amounted to £330 14s. for the year, and, though the allowance made (6d. per child per return trip) cannot by any process of reasoning be considered too liberal, still the grants so made materially assisted in bringing the benefits of our education system within the reach of many children living in remote parts, whose parents could not well afford the total cost of conveyance. Teachers' Superannuation Fund. —The teachers and others in this district who were, in terms of the Superannuation Act, eligible to join the fund have, almost without exception, become contributors thereto. There were at the close of the year 142 names on the contributors' list. During the past year four teachers retired from the service on superannuation allowance. Franking Phivileges.—The withdrawal of the franking privileges hitherto enjoyed by Education Boards has involved an expenditure amounting to £104 Bs. for postages and telegrams during the year. This amount would have been largely exceeded but for the material reduction in postal dues brought into operation in January last. This Board considered it an injustice that teachers should be called upon to bear the postage-tax imposed by the new conditions, and made arrangements early in the year whereby a refund, approximate to the actual outlay, of postages on returns and correspondence of a purely official nature might be made. Payment in stamps to the head teacher of each school in the district, aggregating £24, was made in November last, thus anticipating the suggestion made by the Minister in a circular memorandum recently issued by the Department. Buildings.—The substantial balance to credit of the Building Account at the commencement of the year (£6,050) was reduced to £3,834 as a net result of the year's operations. Several works of considerable magnitude, the principal of which was the erection of a new infant-school in brick at Invercargill South, were carried out during the year. For this important work a substantial grant-in-aid was made by the Department. The principal works of minor importance taken in hand were the rebuilding of the schools at Tokonui and Haldane, which had been unfortunately destroyed by fire, the erection of a new school at Dacre, of a new infant-room at Edendale, of small additions to the schools at Riversdale and Balfour, and of residences for the use of the teachers at Moturimu and Brydone. For each of the works mentioned in the preceding paragraph grants in full, or in aid, were made by the Department. The total sum contributed by the Department by way of special grants for new buildings, additions to buildings, furniture, and fittings amounted to £2,899 145., while the grant for ordinary general maintenance of school buildings, appliances, and apparatus amounted to £3,359. The disbursements on the same accounts were £3,775 Is. 4d. and £4,308 18s. Bd. respectively. It should here be noted that the teacher's residence at Myross Bush was destroyed by fire in August last. It was not deemed expedient to re-erect the building in the meantime, a house allowance being granted to the teacher in lieu of a residence. Finance. —The statement of accounts exhibits in a general way this Board's financial position. There stood at the commencement of the year a sum of £2,693 12s. 6d. to the credit of the General Account, and on Building Account a sum of £6,050 7s. sd.—a total of £8,743 19s. lid. On the 31st December last these accounts were still in credit to the amount of £2,953 Is. Bd. and £3,834