11

E.—6

Act not being passed until towards the close of the year. It will therefore be possible to get a better idea of how the arrangement will work financially when the figures for one complete year are available. Lower Departments of Secondary Schools. (Table Kll.) Lower departments for pupils who have not passed S6 may be held in connection with secondary schools, provided that no part of the cost of instruction or of the maintenance of the department is met out of income from the endowments of the school or from Government grants. Fourteen secondary schools (including Christ's College, Christchurch) have lower departments attached to them, the total number of pupils in 1920 being 815, as compared with 686 in 1919. The roll number included 454 boys and 361 girls, and the total number of teachers was twenty-nine (nine males and twenty females). A large number of the pupils board at the school hostels, indicating that these departments are used by the children of country residents able to afford to send their children away from home to attend school. The tuition fees charged range in the various schools from £6 15s. to £13 10s. per annum, the boarding-fees ranging from £36 to £59 per annum.

2. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INSPECTORS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS. Sir,— Wellington, Ist July, 1921. Work of the Year. During the earlier portion of the year all the secondary schools in the South Island, together with the Wellington Girls' College, were inspected, from three to five days as a rule being spent in each school. The practice of the preceding year of conferring with individual teachers and with groups of the staff engaged in teaching the same or allied subjects, and of discussing details of organization and methods with the Principal from time to time during the visit, has been in the main adhered to ; in many cases the staff have expressed their appreciation of the opportunities given for such conferences. The Technical High Schools at Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill, the Westport, G-reymouth, and Hokitika District High Schools, and certain registered private secondary schools in Westport, Greymouth, Christchurch, and Dunedin, wore also inspected, several of the latter in company with the District Inspectors. In the latter part of the year all secondary schools in both Islands were visited in connection with the award of senior free places on the Principals' recommendations, and of lower and higher leavingcertificates. In most cases the second-year forms were tested by means of written or oral tests. As a result of these tests and subsequent consultations with the Principals senior free places were awarded under clause 7 (c) to about 1,860 pupils. Some 240 higher and 280 lower leaving-certificates were also issued on the Inspectors' recommendation.