b;—s

Table B.—Students in Technical Classes: Numbers attending from certain Groups of Occupations.

11. TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOLS AND TECHNICAL DAY SCHOOLS. Attendance. The enrolment at technical high schools and technical day schools of full-time pupils taking courses under the Regulations for Manual and Technical Instruction was 7,536 at the 30th June, 1929, as compared with 7,214 at the corresponding date in the previous year. The enrolment of 7,536 consisted of 4,136 boys and 3,400 girls. Of the boys 2,097 took industrial courses, 408 agriculture, 821 commercial work, 704 a general course, and 106 an art course, an increase in each case over the number for the previous year of 3-1 per cent, in the industrial course, 13-6 per cent, in the agricultural course, 8-2 per cent, in the commercial course, 4-3 per cent, in the general course, and 4 per cent, in the art course. Of the girls 1,070 took the domestic course, 1,828 the commerical, 237 the general, and 265 the art course, higher numbers than in the previous year, except in the general course, in which the numbers were almost the same in the two years. Buildings and Equipment. Buildings and equipment have been maintained in good order and condition throughout the year, and some necessary additions to buildings have been made. A certain amount of damage was done to two technical high schools by the severe earthquake of June, 1929. Examination, however, has proved that these two schools are structurally sound, and that the damage was confined to relatively unimportant structural elements. The defects were promptly repaired, and these two schools are now apparently none the worse for the severe shaking they have received. The question of accommodation in the four larger centres continues to give anxiety. Not only do the rolls of the technical high schools show increases amounting to 4 per cent, over those of the previous year, but the evening schools, attended for the most part by trade learners and apprentices, have great difficulty in accommodating all students desiring instruction. In practically all of such schools, every workshop, laboratory, and classroom is engaged for five nights a week during the session, and the decreased flexibility of the accommodation thus brought about renders the task of organization very difficult. Character and Quality of the Instruction. The work for the most part has proceeded upon lines which have been well tried, and have proved to be no less successful than in the past. While in the theoretical treatment of various subjects in the curriculum a certain degree of versatility is often to be seen, in practical work in the laboratories and workshops undue conservatism is often shown. In laboratory work, for instance, the students for the most part work in pairs or even larger groups. It is true that some experimental work really requires more than one student to make the necessary observations, but in most cases far better training can be obtained by individual work, and, indeed, it is only by such individual work that any training worthy of the name can really be obtained. To do that involves the restriction of the numbers in any class to about twenty students as a maximum, yet one constantly sees classes of nearly double this number

8

Commercial, &c. I Engineering and Building. a - — "aS dS no. „• I" J I S |.S' Y ® a r. *g 2| « s'S 1 ! I 3 I § ■3 a £ 1~ «3 S Total. gj j3s i g g-2 Total. wg ■- I oj ll-d'' SI ■& S I SS,; _.-a $ s ga« =H | §w | |s8 § !&? |o i O OQ ft , H ; , fi p | W H &< I [5 H, H F4 , j j j ' I I 1913 .. 1,752 1,144 230 84 151 j 3,361 638 238 j 601 535 162 2,174 5,535 2,880 1914 .. 1,874 1,187 267 118 170 3,616 644 228; 622 521 136 2,151 5,767 2,820 1915 .. 1,996 1,307 241 100 176 I 3,820 699 214 ! 441 454 126 1,934 5,754 3,285 1916 .. j 2,207 { 1,422 262 127 147 4,165 745 248 377 ' 384 117 1,871 6,036 2,382 1917 .. 2,382 1,373 249 102 176 4,282 784 261 I 351 315 124 1,835 6,117 3,294 1918 .. 2,173 1,295 227 68 151 3,914 826 316 j 290 289 101 1,822 5,736 2,684 1919 .. 1,911 | 1,295 227 102 130 3,665 961 278 362 346 109 2,056 5,721 2,754 1920 .. 2,146 | 1,300 I 245 85 ! 119 3,895 876 | 476) 546 506 79 2,483 6,278 2,997 1921 .. [2,214 1,042 240 131 130 3,757 900 j 408 577 j 539 107 j 2,531 6,288 1,134 1922 .. 1,957 1,203 j 264 86 79 3,589 701 359 j 611 428 186 2,185 5,774 872 1923 .. I 1,972 858 j 135 83 83 3,131 754 420 634 519 69 2,396 5,527 1,002 1924 .. | 2,209 | 966 j 168 81 110 3,534 757 446 ! 667 713 103 2,686 6,220 1,187 1925 .. j 2,183 928 125 78 125 3,439 757 428 [ 847 827 155 3,014 6,453 ! 858 1926 .. 2,513 1,016 197 147 3,873 812 488 ! 811 905 190 3,206 7,079 800 1927 .. 2,573 1,063 198 188 4,022 979 444 { 828 971 193 3,415 7,437 676 1928 .. 2,253 1,090 154 175 3,672 912 375 ! 740 825 218 3,070 6,742 I 650 1929 .. 2.303 1,165 j 194 | 131 3,793 885 302 j 826 762 246 3,021 6,814 625 I I I i ' ! ! I Note. —The 1928 and 1929 figures show roll at the 30th June in each year ; not total enrolments, as for previous years.