JE.—l

6

The majority of the secondary and technical school building-work was carried out by the Architectural Branch of the Public Works Department. The following table shows for the year ended 31st March, 1927, the amount expended by the Department on new buildings, additions, sites, and teachers' residences : — £ Primary schools .. .. .. .. .. 238,286 Secondary schools .. .. .. .. 129,925 Technical schools . . .. .. .. .. 37,314 Training colleges .. .. .. .. .. 9,938 Universities .. .. .. .. .. 67,068 Native schools .. .. .. .. .. 8,999 Special schools .. .. .. .. .. 9,684 Free kindergartens .. .. . . . . 78 501,292 PRIMARY EDUCATION. Number of Public Schools. The number of public schools open at the end of 1926 was 2,601, or 21 more than in the previous year. In the following table the schools are classified according to their grade, and the yearly average attendance and the number of children per teacher are shown.

Average Number of Children Average Attendance. per Teacher in Primary Number Department. Grade of School. of - ; — Schools. Primary Secondary Total Excluding Including Department. Department. ' Probationers. Probationers. 0 (1-8) .. 228 1,359 .. 1,359 6 6 1 (9-20) .. 770 10,772 .. 10,772 14 14 II (21-35) .. 534 13,970 .. 13,970 25 25 IIIA (36-50) .. 305 12,745 21 12,766 22 22 IIIB (51-80) 268 16,042 36 16,078 30 28 Illo (81-120) .. 135 12,708 171 12,879 31 30 IVa (121-160) .. 62 8,326 123 8,449 "] IVB (161-200) .. 32 5,574 191 5,765 35 29 IYc (201-240) .. 40 8,700 587 9,287 J VA (241-280) .. 25 6,336 399 6,735 ] VB (281-320) .. 19 5,671 .. 5,671 y 41 34 Vc (321-360) .. 28 9,474 430 9,904 j VIA (361-400) .. 24 9,082 400 9,482 VIB (401-440) .. 26 10,858 249 11,107 !> 41 34 Vic (441-480) .. 11 5,034 62 5,096 J VIIA (481-520) .. 13 7,887 147 8,034 VIIB (521-560) .. 19 8,495 .. 8,495 VIIc (561-600) .. 14 10,504 97 10,601 VIID (601-640) .. 18 9,840 90 9,930 VIIE (641-680) .. 12 7,109 217 7,326 VIIf (681-720) .. 4 2,816 .. 2,816 ! . VIIg (721-760) .. 4 2,232 .. 2,232 f VIIH (761-800) .. 6 3,832 .. 3,832 VIIi (801-840) .. 2 "1,428 .. 1,428 VIIj (841-880) .. 1 864 .. 864 VIIk (881-920) VIIL (921-960) 1 930 .. 930 _ Totals, 1926 .. 2,601 192,588 3,220 195,808 31 28 Totals, 1925 .. 2,580 194,741 3,155 j 197,896 32 29 Difference .. +21 2,153 + 65 — 2,088 — 1 — 1 i 1