E.—i

38

named was £115,546, it will be seen that, talcing all the schools together, tire conditions of the Act were complied with. A few of the Boards, however, did not carry out this condition—owing in most cases to the impossibility of obtaining the required number of suitable teachers—and in all such cases refunds will be made to the Department. Taking into account the monetary assets and liabilities of the twenty-two Boards of public secondary schools in operation it appears that the total debit balance at the end of 1918 was £37,239, ten Boards having a debit and twelve a credit balance. The debit balances are for the most part due to loans raised or* overdrafts incurred on account of the erection of necessary buildings ; one school alone is responsible for* a liability of £24,000 on account of recent large purchases ol land, and another school for over £15,000 in connection with extensive building operations. The following is a summary of the monetary assets and liabilities at the end of the year : — Monetary Assets. ii Liabilities. £ Bank balances .. .. .. 42,055 I Overdrafts and loans .. .. 65,626 Other assets .. .. .. 22,229 ; Other liabilities .. .. .. 35,8 £64,284 £101,523 Debit balance .. .. £37,239 It should be pointed out that the Boards' assets in the way of buildings and sites are not included in these figures ; otherwise all Boards would show large credit balances. Further details of the income and expenditure of individual secondary schools will be found in Tables K5-K8 in E.-6. Secondary Education Reserves Revenue. The total amount received by High School Boards from this fund amounted in 1918 to £8,313. Details of the distribution are shown in Table X.9 in E.-6. Lower Departments of Secondary Schools. (Tabic KlO in E.-0.) The Education Act provides that pupils who have not obtained a certificate of competency in the subjects of Standard V or* a higher* standard of the publicschool syllabus may be admitted to a lower department of a secondary school if they are taught in a separate building or class-room, and if no part of the actual cost of their instruction or of the maintenance of the department is met out of the endowments of the secondary school or out of any moneys granted by the Government. There were lower departments in fourteen secondary schools during 1918, the total number of pupils in these departments (which increases each year) was 665 —-397 boys and 268 girls. The total payments on account of the" salaries of teachers and incidental expenses were £4,658, and the total receipts from fees, &c, were £4,626. Taken as a whole these departments were therefore practically self-supporting ; in two cases still, however, the payments exceeded the receipts, and controlling authorities are warned against the illegality of using secondaryschool funds for the upkeep of such institutions. TECHNICAL EDUCATION. (See also E.-5, Roport on Technical Education.) General. The work of the technical schools and classes has been generally satisfactory, and has proceeded on the lines of previous years. A slight decrease in the number of students attending classes has, however, to be recorded. This decrease is due generally to the abnormal conditions, and particularly to a diminution in attendances in certain country districts at special classes, which for a few years were very popular. Viewed as a whole both the attendances and work of the students are most gratifying. That a lad after a day's hard work should, for the purpose of mental improvement or of gaining a knowledge of the principles underlying his