E.—2.

[Appendix D.

be approved by the Minister, each model school being of one of the following types : (i) A rural public school under a sole teacher; (ii) a junior school under one teacher with not more than 45 children of classes P to S2 on the roll; (iii) a class representing the secondary department of a district high school; (iv) a class for backward children; (v) a junior kindergarten. Each training college is required to provide for its students a course in agriculture, and provision for the further training of selected students in this subject has recently been made. Agricultural bursaries may be awarded to such students at the end of their first year, enabling them to complete their training during a one-year or two-years course at a State experimental farm or an agricultural college. Further provision on a wider scale for the training of teachers and others in agriculture is also in contemplation on the lines of the recommendations of the Council of Education, to be carried into effect as soon as circumstances permit. From tables it appears that at the beginning of the two-years course at the training colleges 70 students held Class D certificates, and at the end of the course 6 students held Class B certificates, 112 Class C certificates, and 56 Class D certificates. The amounts paid to Education Boards in 1915-16 and 1916-17 for the training of teachers were as follow : — I. Training colleges— 1915-16. 1916-17. Salaries of staffs (two-fifths charged to public- £ £ £ £ school salaries) ... ... ... ... 12,700 13,268 Students' allowances and University fees ... 25,858 27,541 Special instruction, libraries, and incidentals ... 1,106 1,307 Buildings, sites, and equipment ... ... 6,081 942 11. Other training— 45,745 43,058 Grants for special instruction in certificate subjects, including science, agriculture, and handwork, of teachers other than training-college students ... ... ... ... 2,355 1,595 Railway fares of teachers and instructors ... 5,944 5,374 Sundries ... ... ... ... ... 16 8,315 6,969 £54,060 £50,027 Less recoveries... ... ... 34 Totals ... ... ... £54,026 £50,027 Provision for Uncertificated Teachers. Apart from the provision for training colleges, a grant of £2,800 was approved last year for payment to Education Boards for the maintenance of training classes for teachers. Unexpended balances from previous grants amounting to £1,820 were included in this sum, so that only £980 really constituted the new grant for 1916-17, as compared with £3,275 and £4,000 granted in the two previous years. The purposes for which the grant was applied were— (1.) Central classes for the direct personal tuition of uncertificated teachers (exclusive of pupil-teachers and probationers) in subjects required for the D certificate. (2.) Tuition and training in Class D subjects of uncertificated teachers (exclusive of pupil-teachers and probationers) by means of correspondence classes under the control of Education Boards, in cases in which it is found highly inconvenient to bring teachers to classes. Under this heading, however, no correspondence classes in science subjects are recognized unless the Board makes adequate provision for practical work. (3.) Courses of practical work in physical and natural science, in subjects of manual instruction other than those usually taught by special instructors, in vocal music, and in drawing.

II