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year, as compared with five full-time technical high schools (1,318 students) and 678 classes (nearly 7,000 students) at thirty centres in the case of Technical School Boards. Further, the funds of the classes conducted by Education Boards are augmented annually to a lesser extent by voluntary contributions and the Government subsidy of £1 for £1 thereon than arc the funds of classes conducted by Technical School Boards. Voluntary contributions and subsidies in 1916 totalled £2,149 in the case of the former and £5,239 in the case of the latter. The following is a summary of the expenditure by the Government on technical instruction during the financial year ended the 31st March, 1917 : — £ £ Capitation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 64,856 Subsidies on voluntary contributions ... ... ... 4,206 Home science bursaries ... ... ... ... 1,180 Grants in aid of material for class use ... ... ... 3,187 8,573 Grants for buildings and equipment ... ... ... ..: 6,614 Conveyance of — Instructors ... ... ... ... ... 790 Students ... ... ... ... ... 235 Fiee pupils ... ... ... ... ... 2,361 — 3,386 Examinations ... ... ... ... ... ... 449 Inspectors'salaries and travelling-expenses ... ... ... 1,226 85,104 Less recoveries (examination fees, &c.) ... ... ... 173 £84,931 The expenditure was at the rate of £4-3 per student, as compared with £3-5 for the previous year. Included in the total is £2,424 from nationalendowment revenue. SPECIAL SCHOOLS. [See also B. I—Report on Hpe.-.ial Schools and Infant Life Protection.] Work of the Special Schools Section. The special-schools section of the work of the Education Department includes (1) the care of destitute, uncontrollable, or deliquent children committed to receiving-homes or industrial schools, and all juvenile offenders transferred from gaols to industrial schools; (2) the education and care of deaf, blind, or feeble-minded children over the age of six years; (3) the supervision of all children under the age of six years who are— (a) maintained apart from their parents or guardians, (b) adopted with premium. Industrial Schools. At the 31st December, 1916, there were nine institutions, officially known as industrial schools, directly under the control of the Education Department. Of these, three are devoted to the training of girls and three to the training of boys. The remaining three are receiving-homes which deal with children (boys and girls) who are fit to be boarded out in country homes, or who, if over the age of fourteen years, are capable of taking situations. There are also thirty-six industrial schools under private control to which children may be committed under the Industrial Schools Act, and which are subject to inspection by the Education Department. The number of children brought for the first time under the operation of the Industrial Schools Act during 1916 was 436; the number whose names were written off during the year was 317, and the total roll number at the end of the year was 3,284. Of these, 1,970 were boys and 1,314 girls.