23

E.—l

Excluding the expenditure on buildings, which is dealt with separately below. the following summary shows the chief items of expenditure for the past throe year-8 : — L9OB. 1909. 1910. £ E Hoard's administration .. .. .. 39,73 d 42,392 II.3!>»; Incidental expenses of schools .. .. 38,077 40,374 :i7.3(i i Teachers'salaries .. .. .. 489,042 554.011' 582,288 Training colleges .. .. .. 19,949 22,425 27,467 Scholarships and district high schools .. 31,892 32,136 32,811 Manual and technical instruction .. .. 48,212 17.027 56,049 The increase in expenditure on teachers" salaries is due partly to the increase in the number of children under instruction, and partly to the £5 increment in salary provided by section 7 (3) of the Education Amendment Act, 1908 ; that of the training colleges to the fact that in 1910 the colleges had for the first time a full complement of students in training ; while that of manual and technical instruction includes several payments which really fell due in the previous year : this latter explanation also accounts for the decrease in the expenditure for 1909 as compared with that for 1908. The following table shows the proportion of expenditure on adm nistration to the whole expenditure, and the corresponding proportion of the incidental expenses of schools (through the School Committees), the figures for the five years previous being also entered for purposes of comparison : — Boards. Committees. Total. 1905 .. .. .. .. .. ..5-0 5-7 10-7 1906 .. .. .. .. .. ..4-5 4-8 9-3 1907 .. .. .. .. .. ..4-7 4-8 9-5 1908 • .. .. .. .. .. ..4-7 4-5 9-2 1909 4-6 44 9-0 1910 4-5 4-0 8-5 It will be seen, therefore, that the tendency is for the proportion of expenditure on administration by both Boards and School Committees to decrease. As a matter of fact, the actual sums thus expended were greater in 1910 than in 1908, as will readily be seen by reference to the previous table; the chief cause of the decrease in percentage is due to the additional amounts paid by the Government, especially on teachers' salaries. The corresponding percentages for the several Education Boards will be found on page 32. As is to be expected, in the smallest district the percentage is found the highest (8-6), and in the largest lowest (3-9). From Table P it will be seen that the total net bank balances of the Boards increased from £32,943 to £66.712. This improvement is due chiefly to the fact that in 1910 several payments were made by the Government towards the cost of maintenance and rebuilding of schools, the expenditure for which had been incurred in the previous year. At the end of 1909 six Boards had overdrafts ; at the end of 1910 the number had been reduced to one. For convenience the funds granted to the Boards for building purposes and those granted for general purposes may be considered separately, as in former years. Table F6 shows the cash assets and liabilities of the Boards on the general account. These may be summarized thus :— General Account, all Boards, 31st December, 1910. Liabilities. £ \it«U. £ Overdrafts .. . . . . . . 110 Cash .. .. .. .. 34,494 Due to Government . . .. .. 16,835 Due from all sources .. .. .. 27,721 Other liabilities .. .. .. 14,983 Deficits .. .. .. . . 563 Balances .. .. .. .. 30,850 !:<i2,778 £62,778 The General Account of every Education Board, with the exception of one, was in credit at the end of the year 1910 ; the Nelson Education Board had a deficit on its General Account of £563. The total net credit balance on these accounts for the last three years is shown as follows : — Balances. Deficits. Not i Glances. £ E . ..;• £ 1908.. .. .. .. .. .. 29,389 Nil 29,389 1909.. .. .. .. .. .. 28,167 Nil 28,167 1910.. .. .. .. .. .. 31,413 563 30.850