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Financial.—The total amount due by the Department to the Education Boards for the salaries and incidental expenses for the year 1928 was approximately £69,874, made up as follows : — Salaries — £ £ Full-time assistants .. .. .. .. 42,984 Full-time student teachers ... .. .. .. 164 Overtime .. .. .. .. .. .. 74 Capitation for part-time teachers (including commercial instructors in district high schools) .. .. . . 1,283 44,505 Incidental allowances .. .. .. .. .. .. 10,189 Capitation grants .. . . . . .. . . . . . . 15,180 Total ~ .. .. .. .. .. .. £69,874 In addition, the Department provided handwork materials for use in 1928 costing some £9,065, and also refunded to Education Boards the actual receiving and distributing charges, amounting approximately to £1,346, involving a total expenditure of £10,411. The above figures exclude salaries and incidental allowances payable in respect of manual-training classes conducted by Technical School Boards. TECHNICAL EDUCATION. General. Number of Schools.—The number of technical high, schools open during 1928 was fourteen, in addition to which there were seven organized technical or art schools offering full-day courses. Erom 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 eighteen other centres, the total number of centres being thirty-nine. Attendance. —The following table shows the numbers in attendance at technical schools and classes in 1928 : —

In the technical high schools and technical day schools the total enrolments increased from 7,193 in 1927 to 7,817 in 1928, an increase of nearly 9 per cent. In the evening and part-time day classes the apparent reduction in numbers as compared with the previous year is probably due mainly to the fact that the numbers for 1928 are those on the rolls of the schools at the 30th June, whereas in previous years the total enrolments for the whole year were included.

——- ■ Free. Other. Total. f ' Total number of pupils on the roll of technical high and technical day 6,992 222 7,214 schools at 30th June, 1928 Total number of students in attendance at other technical classes (i.e., 5,286 5,677 10,963 part-time and evening classes) during 1928 Grand total .. .. .. .. •• 12,278 5,899 18,177