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Junior and Senior National Scholarships. —ln the Senior Examination eighteen Otago competitors Were successful in gaining scholarships. Of the 267 Junior Scholarships awarded in the Dominion, Otago candidates gained 11-6 per cent, and of the 140 Senior Scholarships awarded Otago candidates gained 12-9 per cent. Conveyance and Board of Children. —The total cost of the above services was £5,299 ss. 7d. There are now twenty-five special conveyance services. The Department provided the full cost of five contracts, but on the remaining twenty, providing for 262 children, the Board required to find £506 19s. Bd. from its General Fund—a decrease of £137 9s. 3d. compared with last year. Truancy and Irregular Attendance. —Seventy-four notices were served on parents and guardians for the irregular attendance of their children ; 162 cases of irregular attendance were investigated ; seven penalty summonses were issued, and convictions obtained in all cases. Special Schools. —The Moray Place Special School and the Sara Cohen Memorial School continue to fulfil with benefit to the pupils the special types of work for which they were respectively established. The Board is glad to learn that the class for hard-of-hearing children and speech defects will be reopened early next year. 1 Physical Instruction. —In their comments on this subject the Inspectors state that there was too ittle evidence that the lessons on the carriage of the body were being put into practice in the classroom, nor were they being carried into the street, the park, and other public places. They ask teachers to make a special note of this aspect of physical instruction. Medical and Dental Inspection. —Ample evidence of the value of the School Medical Service is to be found in the contents of the monthly report which the School Medical Officer presents personally to the Board. The Board very rarely hears now of a case where a parent objects to the medical inspection of her child. Dental clinics are now in operation at Oamaru, Mosgiel, Green Island, Lawrence, Tapanui, South Dunedin, Kaitangata, and Alexandra, while several other districts are ready to go forward as soon as the services of a dental nurse are available. Teachers' Salaries Regulations. —The Board considers that the regulations relating to teachers' salaries are unnecessarily complex. The Board is strongly of opinion that salary should be attached to the teacher and not to the position. It should be possible to formulate a scheme based on this principle without adding to the present cost of salaries, and the Board suggests that early consideration be given to this. Salaries of Relieving-teachers. —The Board is of opinion that the rate of pay allowed ex-training-college students for relieving-work is too low. The Department's reason for giving the lower salary is that the higher one was an inducement to teachers to stay on the relieving staff and not apply for permanent vacancies. The Board does not agree with this contention. Otago State Primary Schools' Sports Association. —The Board desires to record its appreciation of the large amount of work outside school hours which teachers give to the sports activities of their pupils. Evidence of the enthusiasm and energy of teachers in this direction is to be found in the annual report of the Otago State Primary Schools' Sports Association. School Libraries and Wall Pictures. —Ninety schools applied for subsidy for library books, and forty-six for subsidy for wall pictures, the Board's expenditure on these objects being £.169 13s. and £70 17s. Bd. respectively. ' . Travelling School Libraries. —The Board is pleased to report that the City Council is now able to proceed with the scheme for travelling school libraries within the limits of Greater Dunedin which was initiated in 1917, but held over until better conditions prevailed in respect of the price of books and -the choice of suitable volumes. Libraries for Teachers. —The Board has given its hearty support to the Department's proposal for the establishment of a library for teachers. A sum of £55 (Department £25, Board £25, Otago Branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute £5) is available for the purchase of books, and the Board has agreed to accept responsibility for the care and upkeep of the library. The Educational Institute will also hand over to the Board the books at present in the Institute Library. Duke of York's Visit. —The Royal visit to Otago was made during the period 16th-19th March, and the Board undertook arrangements for the assembly of school-children at Oamaru, Dunedin, Ranfurly, Cromwell, and Gore. School Committees. —Ever since School Committees were deprived of the right to choose teachers there has been evidence of a diminution of interest in School Committee affairs ; but there are now signs in many quarters of a broader and more enlightened view of the really useful work which can be performed by this valuable department of public service. The State provides a district with a site and building, but it is the School Committee's privilege, with the aid of subsidies from the Board and the Government, to convert these bare necessities into something bright and attractive, and by so doing create in the children a spirit of pride in the local school. Department. —Notwithstanding occasional differences of opinion, harmonious relations continue to exist between the Department and the Board. The Board appreciates the periodical visits of the Minister, the Director, and other officers of the Department, as they undoubtedly make for a better understanding of each other's point of view, while they foster that spirit of friendly co-operation which should exist between the Department and the Board in the administration of education. The Board appreciates the attendance of the Senior Inspector at its monthly meetings. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington. J. Wallace, Chairman.