Appendix A.j

E.—2.

Maintenance. —The total expenditure on primary salaries for the year 1917, including £3,510 12s. lid. house allowances, £734 4s. for relieving teachers, and £4,633 6s. sd. (halfyearly instalment) war bonuses, was £165,430 12s. lid. The salaries paid to teachers in secondary departments amounted to £6,565 Bs. sd. The following table shows the .expenditure on salaries and incidentals for each year mentioned :—

School Staffs. —There were 996 teachers in the Board's service at the end of 1917. Of these, 379 (161 males and 218 females) were head teachers or in sole charge, 491 (81 males and 410 females) were assistants, and 126 (27 males and 99 females) were pupil-teachers. There were in addition 77 (5 males and 72 females) probationers, and 28 sewing mistresses in small schools in charge of male teachers. Organizing Teachers. —A committee of the Board was set up to consider the advisability of the appointment of travelling Inspectors or teachers to assist in organizing the work of the smaller schools, especially those in charge of uncertificated teachers. In accordance with the recommendation of this committee the Board made application to the Department for the salary of an organizing teacher. In its reply the Department stated that there was no authority for the appointment of such teachers, but that as soon as the necessary amendment could be made steps would be taken to provide assistance for sole-charge schools. War legislation Amendment Act, 1917. —Under this Act regulations were issued providing for the reduction in the staff of a school at the end of any quarter should the attendance for the preceding quarters have fallen to certain stated numbers. In some grades of schools the action of the earlier regulations was rather drastic, and it is pleasing to note that, after representations had been made to the Department by the Board, the regulations were amended in the direction asked. Conveyance and Board of Children. —The expenditure for the conveyance of children to school and board of children living a long distance from school was £3,257. Conveyance allowance was paid in respect of 735 children, and boarding-allowance for forty-six children. The Board is of opinion that the allowance for conveyance should be increased, and that children riding horses and bicycles should not be excluded. Incidental Expenses of Schools. —ln the last report reference was made to the insufficiency of the incidental allowances paid to School Committees, particularly in view of the present high prices of labour, material, fuel, &o. The Board is glad to know that Parliament realized the urgent need of giving some help to Committees, and made a special grant equivalent to approximately Is. per pupil in average attendance. Scholarships. —The number of candidates for Junior National Scholarships was 507— girls, 231; boys, 276. Of these, forty-three qualified—twenty girls and twenty-three boys. Three successful candidates had been attending sole-charge schools, fifteen had been attending large primary schools, and twenty-live had been attending district high schools and secondary schools. For the Senior Scholarships there were 113 candidates —girls, 55; boys, 58. Of these, eighteen qualified—eight girls and ten boys. For the two Gammack Scholarships there were nineteen candidates. Irregular Attendance. —The Truant Officer reports that during the year notices were sent out to 2,551 parents and guardians regarding irregular attendance of their children at school. In 106 cases summonses were issued, and in sixty-two cases fines were inflicted. Owing to the absence of serious epidemics the attendance has been better than during the previous two years. Training College. —Fifty-four students were admitted at the beginning of the year, making the total enrolment 110, of whom fifty-six were second-year students. Owing, however, to enlistments for active service, and to the retirement of three women students, the total number in attendance at the end of year was reduced to 100. Towards the close of the year Mr. T. S. Foster was compelled, owing to illness, to temporarily relinquish his duties as Principal of the Training College. During Mr. Foster's absence Mr. C. T. Aschman, headmaster, will act as Principal, while Mr. J. E. Purchase, assistant lecturer, will take the lectures on education at Canterbury College. The Board has so repeatedly stressed the need of a new training college that it seems scarcely necefssary to again refer to a matter the urgency of which the Minister himself has already recognized. Manual and Technical Instruction. —The Board has devoted a good deal of attention during the year to classes for manual and technical instruction, and, generally speaking, the work has received a big impetus, although it will take some time before this large and newly constituted district can be brought into one harmonious whole. Owing to war conditions, some difficulty was experienced in providing the material and apparatus required for schools taking elementary handwork, but the best was done under the circumstances, and the smaller schools in the remoter parts of the district were as liberally treated as those in the larger centres. Elementary handwork

XIII

Year. Salaries. Incidental K xpenses. Totals. Aver ago Attendanc Averago Attendance, 1880 1900 1916 1917 £ s. d. 55,318 17 8 70,978 18 7 166,651 3 0 165,430 12 11 £ s. d. 8,071 12 2 8,064 13 10 11,074 16 4 11,682 3 4 £ s. d. 63,390 9 10 79,043 12 5 177,725 19 4 177,112 16 3 16,412 23,806 29,728 30,061