E.— 6

10

compared with £16,064 in 1918. The receipts for capitation show a corresponding large increase of £32,341 compared with the previous year. The payments on account of buildings, sites, and equipment, amounting to £53,990, were much greater than in recent years, owing to extensive building operations taking place in connection with several schools and the hostels attached to them. It will be observed that the direct Government grants towards this expenditure amounted to £23,347, the Government's expenditure on this account for the year ending March, 1920, being £42,948, as compared with £5,057 in the year 1918-19. The total receipts on account of lower departments exceeded the payments, but in one or two instances these departments were not self-supporting, and controlling authorities are warned of the illegality of such a position, and of their possible liability to make good any shortage. The combined Hostels Accounts show an excess of receipts over payments of £1,304. As several of the hostels are only in an initial stage, and there have been considerable payments on account of furniture, utensils, &c, larger profits from these establishments may be looked for in the future, although the object of their establishment is not profit-making, but the provision of good accommodation for country pupils at as reasonable a figure as possible. Taking into account the monetary assets and liabilities of twenty of the twenty-two Boards of public secondary schools in operation (the returns from two Boards being outstanding), it appears that the total debit balance at the end of 1919 was £58,543, eleven Boards having a debit and nine 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 debit of £29,000 on account of recent large purchases of land, and another school for over £14,000 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. £ Liabilities. £ Bank balances .. .. .. 32,975 Overdrafts and loans .. .. 63,494 Other assets .. .. .. 26,947 Other liabilities .. .. .. 54,972 £59,922 £118,466 Debit balance .. .. £58,544 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. Lower Departments of Secondary Schools. (Table IQ0.) The Education Act as amended in 1919 provides that pupils who have not obtained at least a certificate of competency in the subjects of Standard VI of the public-school 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 cost of their instruction or of the maintenance of the department is met out of the income from the school's endowments or out of any moneys granted by the Government. Previous to the Amendment Act of 1919 pupils could enter the secondary school on passing Standard V ; it is now necessary for them to be provided for in the lower department until they pass Standard VI. There were lower departments in fourteen secondary schools in 1919, the total number of pupils being 686 —392 boys and 294 girls, and the total number of teachers twentyfive. The great majority of the pupils are classified in the upper standards, and as more than a third of them board at the school hostels, it appears that these departments are largely used by country residents who can afford to send their children away to obtain their primary education. The tuition fees charged range from £7 10s. to £13 10s. per annum, and the boarding-fees from £36 to £51 per annum.