E.—s

TECHNICAL EDUCATION. General. ; .' ■,-■;.;. : Number of Schools. —The number of technical high schools open during 1927 was fourteen, in addition to which there were seven organized technical or art schools offering full-day courses. From the Ist May, 1926, the Hastings Technical High School was constituted a high school, and from the Ist January, 1927, the, New Plymouth. Technical Day School was amalgamated with the New Plymouth High Schools and the statistics as far as the full-time pupils are concerned are included in the secondary schools report. Technical classes were conducted, at twenty of the twenty-one centres referred to above, and also at twenty-one other centres, the total number of centres being forty-two. Attendance. —The following table shows the numbers in attendance at technical schools and classes in 1927 : —

In the technical high schools arid technical day schools, excluding Hastings and New Plymouth, the total enrolments increased from 6,559 in 1926 to 7,193 in 1927, an increase of nearly 10 per cent. In. the evening and part-time day classes there was an apparent decrease in the attendance, due to some extent to the cessation of classes at small country centres, particularly in the Canterbury District. The main reason for the apparent reduction, however, is that in 1926 444 pupils attending the Christchurch Technical School for instruction in manual training classes were inadvertently included in the statistical returns submitted by the Board. The total of 12,681 for 1926 should have been 12,237, so that in reality there was a slight increase in the total number of pupils enrolled in 1927 at evening or part-time day classes. Staffing. —On the 30th June, 1927, there were 295 full-time assistant teachers on the staffs of technical schools, besides a large number of part-time teachers. There were also twenty-nine full-time student teachers, thirteen being males and sixteen females. The following table shows the classification of the 295 full-time assistant teachers, Class VII being the highest :—

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Free. Other. Total. Total number of pupils on the roll of technical high and technical day schools at 30th June, 1927 Total number of students in attendance at other technical classes (ie., part-time and evening classes) during 1927 6,455 265- 6,720 I 5,699 6,709 12,408 Grand total 12,154 6,974 I 19,128

Divisi ion I, Divisi ion II. Glass. 1 i Totals. Men. Women. Men. Women. m 71 7 .V II I I • • I i " 5 20 28 26 15 17 1 4 8 8 13 7 12 6 15 11 21 9 4 5 6 18 18 6 6 I 6 6 21 61 65 66 37 39 Totals at 30th June, 1927 111 53 66 65 295 Totals at 31st December, 102 48 58 69 277