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teacher admits his fault when he complains that the instruction in his school is not thorough, since he should put into his scheme of work only as much matter as can be taught thoroughly and well. Even where the syllabus gives a definite outline of the work for a class, this limit is frequently exceeded by teachers, especially in the lowest classes. There is no doubt that in some cases Inspectors are to blame, either for exacting too great a quantity of work in a given subject or for permitting a teacher to overload his scheme of work. Directions to teachers and Inspectors have already been issued which partly deal with these difficulties, and further direction will be given in the completely revised regulations shortly to be issued. The changes made this year in the preliminary revision of the syllabus were generally for the purpose of giving directions to teachers and Inspectors in order to secure attention to such matters as writing, English, mental arithmetic, swimming, domestic science, temperance instruction; to stimulate interest in the development of school libraries, and to encourage by more specific directions the practice of forming school parties to visit museums, wharves, factories, parks, art galleries, &c, as a means of bringing the more formal school instruction into closer touch with the activities of everyday life. As another temporary means of overcoming the difficulties experienced in handling the syllabus it is intended to issue model schemes of work for the use of inexperienced teachers, and to arrange that Inspectors may be able to give a greater part of their attention to schools and to teachers where help is most needed. It is hoped soon, when the supply of paper permits, to publish a monthly Educational Gazette by means of which regular and co-ordinated assistance and guidance will be given to teachers. It is also intended to organize by means of this Gazette a system of regular discussions between teachers and Inspectors on selected topics relating to school work, so that united and definite efforts will be made to secure progress. It is anticipated that by the means outlined above the two important factors concerned in primary education —viz., the teacher and the Inspector-— will be brought into more effective co-operation, so that the course of instruction outlined in the syllabus may be used as a medium for the fullest development of the lives of the children entrusted to their guidance. To this chief end there are many means which, though subsidiary, are indispensable. Unless we have, inter alia, more trained teachers and smaller classes, adequate staffs for infant-rooms, more Inspectors and quicker means of travelling, better accommodation, better heating and shelter for children, fewer small inefficient schools, a wiser distribution of our teaching staff, and adequate means for conserving the health and physique of young children, any ideas we may embody in a syllabus or in an educational system will be to a large extent discounted. Medical Inspection and Physical Instruction. Cecil Rhodes emphasized the necessity of training men to develop not only the intellect and the character, but also the bodily powers, so that there would be the physical dynamic, without which the other developments would be largely handicapped and prematurely interrupted. The importance of such a view has been emphasized by an extension of the work of School Medical Inspectors, by the establishment of the School Nurse system so as to form a link between the school and the home, and by the formation of corrective physical classes. These are referred to elsewhere in this report, and a special and valuable joint report by the Medical Inspectors will be published herewith. It will therefore be sufficient here to impress, in the strongest possible manner, on parents, teachers, and on the public generally the fact that from no single reform initiated by this Department is there likely to be derived such widespread, fruitful, and permanent benefits as will result from the proper development of the medical and physical branches of the Department's work. Only a beginning has been made, but it is a most successful beginning, and it is confidently expected that Parliament will grant and that the public will utilize much wider facilities for this important national work of building up from the foundation a healthy and to that extent a happy race.