E.—s

80

the Secretary were sent to Wellington to interview the Minister of Education in support of the application for a further grant. They were favourably received, and within a few days the amount was promised. The building was at once begun and the machinery ordered, with the result that we have now special rooms for the engineering department, including a well-equipped machinery room. A number of our students sat for the examination held in connection with the City and Guilds of London Institute, and the successes attained show that the school still maintains a very creditable position among those of the Dominion. The results in cookery, electricity, engineering, and mechanical engineering were particularly good. To meet a felt want, afternoon classes have now been carried on for the past two years. These have been attended chiefly by students from the country (from-Clinton in the south to Moeraki in the north), but only isolated subjects and no definite courses have so far been followed. However, provision is now being made for definite courses of work for such students. Tt will be possible to arrange only for afternoon classes during the incoming session, but it is intended to next year have a definite series of day classes covering all the principal departments of the Association's work. The attendance of those pupils who, by virtue of holding proficiency certificates, are entitled to free places has not been altogether satisfactory in the past. The grant receivable by the Board is contingent upon their regular and punctual attendance, and the necessity of securing this led to a legal opinion on the matter being taken. In future, parents or" guardians of the pupils will have to sign a bond holding themselves responsible in case of Government allowances being lost through failure of pupils to attend regularly. This Board has long been desirous of coming to some agreement with the Education Board as to the technical instruction given at the School of Art, so as to insure efficiency of work and avoidance of overlap. With this object conferences were held between the two Boards, and an agreement was practically arrived at by which the School of Art was to be brought under the control of the Board of Management of the Technical School, special provision being made for art subjects and for teachers' classes. Unfortunately, the Education Board at the last meeting in 1908 failed to ratify this agreement. The question of working out a full technical course and appointing a Director to control the whole was postponed till these conferences had been held, but as nothing resulted from them the Technical Board decided to appoint a Director of its own. Mr. Marshall, the former Superintendent, having sent in his resignation at the beginning of the year, applications for the position of Director at a salary of £500 per annum were invited from New Zealand, Sydney, and Melbourne, and in response forty were received. After full consideration of these applications, our former Superintendent (Mr. Angus Marshall) was appointed Director. Finances : The balance-sheet appended herewith shows a credit balance of £517 10s. 6d., and a substantial amount has since come to hand. There are still, however, accounts outstanding against buildings and machinery which will probably exceed by £250 the amount granted by the Government. Professors Black, Shand, and Gilray continue to grant free places to our leading students in chemistry, physics, and English respectively, and in recognition of this generous action they are recommended for life-membership. The Board, the teaching staff, and the students are all alike under obligation to those ladies and gentlemen who give their services as examiners. The names of these friends of the Association are in themselves a guarantee of the work done in the various classes. Extract from the Report of the Director of the Dunedin Technical School. At the beginning of each year there are generally several changes in the teaching staff, and this year was no exception. Mr. T. B. Hamilton, M.A., M.Sc, handed over the chtmistry class to Dr. Don ; Mr. G. D. Ross having accepted a position in a commercial college, Miss A. M. Robertson became teacher of typewriting ; Mr. R. Menzies was appointed teacher of shorthand in place of Mr. Norris Falla (resigned) ; Misses M. E. Crawley and I. Gibson were added to the staff as assistant teachers of cookery. During-the session Mr. G. F. Booth, 8.A., having been promoted to the rectorship of the Port Chalmers School, resigned his position as teacher of the Latin classes, and was succeeded by Mr. J. G. Paterson, M.A. At the beginning of the second term Mr. D. Thomson asked to be relieved, and Mr. H. Halliday thereafter acted as assistant to Dr. Don. The staff throughout the session consisted of thirty-eight teachers. During the year eighty-six separate classes recognised by the Education Department were conducted by the Association. Seven of these, attended by a total of ninety-three students, were held at country centres (Balclutha, Kaitangata, and Seacliff). The 79 classes at Dunedin were registered as follows : Continuation, 17 ; commercial, 27 ; technical, 35. The total number of individual pupils enrolled at Dunedin was 994, the figures for the previous year being 966. Quite a number of those applying for free places, having had two years free tuition at the high schools, were ineligible, and their applications had to be refused. The number of such places granted and actually entered upon was 347, the figures being practically identical with those for 1907. Partial or total remission of fees was granted to twenty-nine other students. The attendance at the afternoon classes was not so great as last year, the proportion of country scholars being less. The suggestion is again made that better provision should be made to meet the requirements of this special class. It here seems a fitting place to direct attention to the unsuitability of the railway time-table for evening pupils travelling by the Port Chalmers train. The school closes just after 9 o'clock, and students for Ravensbourne and Port Chalmers require to wait at the Dunedin Railway-station till a quarter past 10. Owing to the poor support accorded the class for tailors' cutting and fitting, it was considered inadvisable to continue, and the class was therefore abandoned. There were several other classes at which the attendance, especially during the second quarter, could hardly be regarded as satisfactory. Those for painters' work, carpentry, practical electricity, and physiology showed the greatest falling off. Students of plumbing have still a strong aversion to instruction in the theory of the subject, and are more often