Appendix A.]

E.—2

There were 115 appointments of adult teachers made (including four made under the War Legislation Amendment Act). There were eleven male and nineteen female pupil-teachers appointed, and seven male and twenty-two female probationers. Of these, twenty-three had passed the Matriculation Examination, thirty-one had passed the Intermediate or the Public Service Junior Examination, and four had passed the Proficiency Examination. Attendance of Pupils. —The mean of the average roll, average of attendance, and percentage of average attendance for the four quarters of the year were: Average roll, 21,880; average attendance, 20,237; percentage attendance, 924. Both the roll number and the average attendance for each quarter were higher than for the previous year. The mean roll number shows an increase of 110 (or o's per cent.) and the mean average attendance an increase of 221 (or 1 per cent.) over the figures for 1915. The mean average attendance for the year is the highest ever attained in this district. The following table shows for each twenty years since the institution of the Otago Education scheme in 1856 the number of schools, the number of teachers, the number on the rolls, and the average attendance :— Year. Schools, Teachers. On the Roll. ..1 , n j„;J ee 1856-57 ... ... ... ... 5 7 ... 236 1876 ... ... ... ... 165 329 13,537 11,210 1896 ... ... 218 554 22,091 19,502 1916 ... ... ... ... 261 754 21,880 20,237 Junior and Senior National Scholarships. —There were for the Junior Scholarships 264 candidates, of whom, six from schools with not more than one teacher gained between and 62-J- per cent. Twenty-seven candidates reached the ordinary standard of qualification (62| per cent.). There were thus thirty-three Junior Scholarships awarded to pupils in the Otago District. Of the ninety-seven candidates for Senior Scholarships sixteen gained the qualifying percentage of marks. Of the eighty-seven scholarships current at the close of the year, thirty-six were Junior National, eighteen were Senior National, sixteen were Junior Board, and seventeen were Senior Board. Twenty-seven were held by girls and sixty by lads. The Principals of the secondary schools they attended reported that almost without exception the conduct and diligence of these pupils were most exemplary, and their progress was very satisfactory. Finance. —The following statement shows the main items of expenditure compared with the figures for the previous year :— 1915. 1916. £ a. d. .£ s. d. Teachers' salaries and lodging-allowances... 99,567 4 0 104,039 8 0 Payments to School Committees for incidental expenses ... ... ... 6,422 2 7 6,312 6 3 School buildings, purchases of sites, house allowances, manual and technical buildings and apparatus ... ... 15,215 4 6 15,976 14 9 The war bonus paid to teachers in Otago amounted to £6,568 Is. 2d. The expenditure on school buildings included—General maintenance (repairs, alterations, and small additions), £8,123 14s. 4d.; rebuilding, £1,041; new buildings, £5,238 12s. 5d.; purchase of sites, £152 12s. ; house allowances, £1,276 13s. id.; manual and technical purposes, £144 2s. Bd. Ages of the Pupils. —The average ages of the pupils were: Preparatory, 6 years 8 months; Standard I, 8 years 11 months; Standard 11, 9 years 11 months; Standard 111, 11 years; Standard IV, 12 years; Standard V, 12 years 8 months; Standard VI, 13 years 7 months; Standard VII, 15 years. Compared with the previous year the pupils in 1916 were, on the average, younger by one mo-nth in S4, by two months in Class P, S3, S5, and S6, by three months in S2, and by fourteen months in S7; while they were older by three months in SI. Rural Instruction in District High Schools. —[See E.-6, Report on Secondary Education.] Manual and Technical Instruction. —Wool-classing classes for adults were held at Herbert, Maheno, Totara, Duntroon, Cromwell, Clyde, Omakau, Lauder, and Poolburn. Instruction in elementary handwork (paper-work, cardboard, plasticene-modelliug, brushwork, &c.) was imparted in practically all the schools in the district. Cookery and woodwork training was carried on at various centres, thirty-eight schools participating in the instruction in the former subject and thirty-six in the latter. The average attendance was —Cookery, 1,1.08 girls; woodwork, 1,150 boys. Special classes for adults in typewriting, book-keeping, beaten-copper work, and painting were held at Milton. The present trend of agricultural development demands special instruction in agricultural principles and methods. Through the medium of the school-garden an important step is made towards forming a basis for such future instruction by creating a sympathy with rural environment, and establishing correct notions of the elementary principles of agriculture. Instruction with this objective has been carried on in 190 schools under the supervision of the Board's instructors in agriculture. The interest in the school-garden competitions continues to be well sustained. In many cases the products of the school-garden have been disposed of to the material advantage of the local patriotic funds, while the cocksfoot-seed-saving campaign organized among the schools realized £35. This amount was devoted to the purchase of wool for the needlework, of the schools that assisted in collecting the seed. During the year three thousand additional trees and native shrubs were distributed from the Training College students' garden to fifty-two schools. The total number of students receiving instruction at the Dunedin School of Art was 560 including 108 day students, 142 evening students, 123 Training College students. 114 pupilteachers and probationers, and 73 adult teachers,

iii—B, 2 (Ap ( >. a.)

XVII