E—s.

86

Statement of Receipts and Expenditure for the Year ending 31st December, 1912, in respect of Classes conducted by the Milton Technical Classes Association. Receipts. £ s. d. I Expenditure. £ s. d. Subsidies on voluntary contributions .. 48 14 7 Salaries of instructors .. .. .. 56 0 0 Fees .. .. .. .. 76 10 0 Office expenses (including salaries, stationVoluntary contributions .. .. .. 91 3 4 cry, e&c.) .. .. .. 36 11 6 Sale of bookß .. .. .. .. 0 16 0 Advertising and printing .. .. .. 8 12 0 Sale of material .. .. .. .. 17 2 Lighting and heating .. .. .. 319 5 Insurance and repairs .. .. .. 0 7 0 Material for class use .. .. .. 213 3 Instructors' expenses .. .. .. 10 4 6 Janitor's salary, cleaning, &c. .. .. 13 5 0 Bank charge .. .. .. .. 0 5 0 Balance at end of year .. .. .. 86 13 5 £218 11 1 £218 11 1 F. G. Henderson, Chairman) ,*. J. R. Laino, Secretary i °

SOUTHLAND. Extract kko.m the Report of the Inspectors of Schools. During the year our agricultural instructor has met with much success in the prosecution of his special work. Approaching local bodies with much tact and discretion, he has been enabled to break down the prejudice against school-gardens which existed in many quarters, and to establish instead a disposition to sympathetic co-operation in the matter. The experimental plot at Gladstone is of great service not only to the Technical College pupils taking an agricultural course, but also to the teachers attending the Saturday classes and to those undertaking schoolgarden work in their own districts. There is some necessity for teachers to remember that, when unseasonable weather puts a stop to garden operations, opportunities still remain for outdoor observation or for experimental work in the schoolroom. We trust that the establishment of school-gardens will lead before long to a general movement for the beautifying of school-grounds. Many of these, at present distinguished from surrounding holdings only by their utterly desolateappearance, could be improved out of recognition by the introduction of one or two groups or belts of ornamental shrubs or trees. The first cost would be inconsiderable, and would be seen in a few years to have been very fully justified. Mr. Moodie, we feel sure, would be delighted to place his expert services at the disposal of any Committee interested in this matter. The success which attended the establishment of the Technical College proved abundantly the need for such an institution. Under the able direction of Dr. Hansen it will, we believe, still more firmly establish itself in the good opinion of the public. The vast majority of parents are now convinced of the value of the instruction given at the manual-training centres throughout the district. A great deal was accomplished towards this end during the year by inviting parents to come to the various centres where woodwork and cookery are taught, to see for themselves the operation of the scheme. We feel sure that in this way prejudice against manual training was largely replaced by warm appreciation of its advantages. Extract from the Report of the Director of Technical Instruction. The year has been a fruitful one in many respects. The introductory and consolidating work of past years reached its climax when at the beginning of the period' under review a fully equipped and staffed day Technical College was opened with an attendance considerably in advance of expectations. There w : ere enrolled no fewer than 140 pupils, of whom seventy-three were boys and sixty-seven girls, and these distributed themselves over the four courses of instruction for which provision has been made as under: Commercial, 88; trades, 25; domestic, 17; agricultural, 10. The attendance was well maintained throughout, the College closing at the end of the year with 119 students on the roll. The total number of free pupils was 118, while more than 50 per cent, of the students were drawn from outside Invercargill. Owing to the fact that the accommodation and equipment were inadequate for the large numbers presenting themselves, the Principal found his work somewhat hampered and restricted. A grant, however, from the Education Department has been obtained for the purpose of erecting and equipping an engineeringroom, and it is also confidently anticipated that another grant will shortly be obtained with which to erect, for the use of primary-school children, a new No. 2 woodwork and cookery centre in Don Street. Meanwhile both No. 1 and No. 2 centres are attached to the College, and the buildings and grounds are overcrowded. When the projected removal takes place, the two rooms presently used for woodwork and cookery will be transformed into class-rooms for domestic science. With these and the engineering-room added, the College for many years will be fully equipped to deal effectively with all the students wdio may seek admission. The Principal and every member of the staff have done their utmost to make each course as complete and educationally effective as possible. Especially has this been the case with the agricultural course. A considerable area of ground at Gladstone has been fenced off, and there the students are given practical instruction in all the necessary operations of agriculture, horticulture, and fruitgrowing, in addition to the laboratory practice at the College in chemistry, land-measuring, veterinary science, wool-classing, and woodwork. The College from its initiation has established itself as a permanent and valued institution in our midst, and great expectations are entertained respecting its educational value to the young people of our town and district.