G. HOGBEN.]

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of Art, and that there is now a surplus of £1,000, so that 9d. appears to be too much. No other school gets so much. It seems to be more than the schools require for their maintenance. Mr. HerdmanSmith wished it to be retained at 9d., and I promised to bring the matter before the Minister, and at the same time told him what I should say to the Minister. There were one or two other points mentioned during the discussion, but they expressed themselves as being satisfied in every respect. One point was in regard to secondary education and the effect of the admission of free pupils to all secondary schools. That does not affect any Christchurch schools, because it only differs from the existing law in this, that it would bring into the free-place system the only school not now in. All the secondary schools except one have come in. The Christchurch schools have come in. It does not affect theni at all. I gave them an assurance that it was not contemplated that an alteration would be made in the regulations at the present time, but, of course, I could not speak as to the future.

George Divorty Braik, Chief Inspector, Wanganui Education District, made a statement and was examined. (No. 21.) Witness : I have been asked by the Wanganui Board to offer evidence to your Committee. Owing to an unfortunate accident the Chairman of the Board, who very much desired to appear in person, has been unable to do so. He more particularly desired to appear as he happened to be a member of the last Royal Commission on Education. To expedite matters we have had printed, somewhat hurriedly, certain evidence that it is proposed should be given. It is as follows :— An Examination of the Education Bill, with Suggestions for its Betterment. Clause 2, interpretation.: " By-laws "—how are they to be made ? —" Urban school district."— It seems unfair to give an urban school district two members of the Education Board, and an urban district a small share of two. Besides, it may not be advisable to place all the schools in a city of sixty thousand under one Committee if the residents prefer a Committee for each school. The proposals of the Commission for School Boards (which an attempt has been made to copy under another name) provided for the system of " co-opting." Town districts adjoining, as well as suburban boroughs, should be included in an urban school district. Clause 6 (i.) : There should be provision for a grant to Education Boards to pay teachers' expenses of transfer, especially as old Grade V has been reduced by £10, so far as head teachers are concerned, (ii.) There should be provision for the payment of Board scholarships which are current, (iii.) The abolition of the grant of £250 to each Board places the smaller Boards in a relatively worse position than at present. The reduction of the capitation to lis., and the imposition of an extra grant of 6d. per pupil for Committees and 3d. per pupil for school libraries, the heavier travelling-expenses of members, the extra expense of rearranging districts (especially in the case of Wanganui), the alteration of its name, the greater burden of payment of agricultural, woodwork, cookery, and drawing instructors (owing to the management of technical schools being taken out of the hands of the Board), the payment of audit fees, the cost of advertising all appointments, the increased cost of relieving teachers, additional expense of election of Board members, &c, will reduce the amount available in the General Fund by at least £500 in the case of the present Wanganui Board. Clause 8. Council of Education : While expressing no opinion as to the prospects of usefulness of a body like this with purely advisory powers, the Board believes that the composition of the Council is defective in that, while the teachers have six representatives, the Inspectors and School Committees have no voice at all, and the Boards have only four representatives altogether. A much better proposal would be—Director of Education (or in his absence the Assistant Director) ; two members by the Education Boards of the South Island and three by the Education Boards of the North Island ; one member elected by the inspectorate ; the President of the New Zealand Educational Institute ; one member elected by the women teachers in the primary schools ; one member elected by the male secondary-school teachers ; one member elected by the technical-school teachers ; one woman elected by the female secondary-school and technical-school teachers ; one member appointed by the Senate ; one member elected by the members of registered employees' unions ; one member elected by the registered employers' associations ; one member appointed by the Minister to represent agricultural interests ; one woman appointed by the Minister. Clause 11, District Councils : It is difficult to reconcile the Inspector-General's description of the District Council's membership, " consisting chiefly of the members of the General Council belonging to the district," with this clause, for of five members the only one—the Senior Inspector—would belong to the district, as no education district is directly represented on the General Council, and the senior Inspector is an officer of the Department. There are to be three or more members directly appointed by the Minister, or really the Department, to act as censors to veto the recommendations of an Education Board, and the other »two members are necessarily in a hopeless minority. If an impartial tribunal is wanted, why not provide for one or leave the matter entirely in the hands of the Department ? Considerable expense will be incurred in connection with the Councils, and in most cases the effect will be to militate against the efficient working of the education system by unnecessarily retarding progress. For instance, amongst the duties cast on it are—ln clause 51, subsection (2), the Council is to advise the Minister as to whether it should direct an Education Board to arrange for the conveyance of children to and from an existing school; subclause (3) empowers it to advise the Minister to close a school, and, despite the objection of the Education Board, such school is to be closed and no further grants are payable in connection with it; subclause (5) empowers the Minister, on the advice of the Council, to provide conveyances for pupils to attend school, and to deduct the cost from general grants payable to the Board. Clause 84, subclause (1), a secondary, district, high, or technical

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