B—4a,

1151. The matter is one of considerable importance to the public, as a reduction in cost of the school-books should involve a saving of a considerable sum annually to parents throughout the Dominion. General. 1152. We now deal with some other aspects of education expenditure not touched upon in our interim report. Inspectorial Staff. 1153. At present there is a clear line of demarcation between the inspectorial staffs of the Department. 1154. There is a staff of forty Inspectors of Primary Schools, under a Chief Inspector stationed in Wellington. The Inspectors are distributed among the nine Education Board districts in proportion to the number of schools in each district. There is a Senior Inspector in each district, who also acts in an advisory capacity to Education Boards. 1155. There are four Secondary School Inspectors, whose headquarters are in Wellington, and these also are under a Chief Inspector. 1156. There are three Inspectors of Technical Education, also located in Wellington, and working under the direction of the Superintendent of Technical Education. 1157. The maintenance of three staffs occasions a certain amount of overlapping, and unification of control would tend to economy. We therefore recommend the reorganization of the inspectorial staffs and the establishment of one corps of Inspectors under the control of one Chief Inspector responsible to the Director of Education. Child Welfare. 1158. The expenditure in connection with this Branch of the Department has increased since 1914. The table included in our interim report showed the cost of child welfare in 1914 as £42,355 and the estimated cost for 1931-32 as £129,272, while the cost of schools for feeble-minded was £3,765 in 1914 as against £11,456 in 1931-32. 1159. The fees charged to parents and guardians of children under the control of the Department should be reviewed with the object of increasing the collections and thus affording much-needed relief to the Consolidated Fund. 1160. The entire control of feeble-minded children should, in our opinion, be transferred to the Mental Hospitals Department, which has all the administrative machinery, highly specialized, to deal with this branch of work. Scale of Staffing in Secondary Schools. 1161. There is a more liberal scale of staffing in the secondary and technical schools than obtains in the junior and district high schools or in the primary schools, and some savings in salaries should be possible by a readjustment of the staffing scale. We suggest that the possibilities of effecting economy in this way be fully explored. The reduction in the number of pupils at secondary schools which would automatically follow our recommendations under the heading of "Free Post-primary Education " in our interim report (paragraphs 267 to 274) would provide an opportunity for a review of the position, and a reduction in the staffing scales could then be considered. A reduction in the number of pupils must necessarily result in a reduction in the number of teachers, and a uniform scale should be adopted for all comparable schools. Appointment and Grading of Teachers. 1162. The regrading of teachers annually does not appear to be necessary. In the Public Service regrading is carried out only once in every five years. The present system is most complicated, and the true position in so far as teachers' emoluments are concerned is difficult to ascertain. We refer specially to the system of grading allowances, country allowances, house allowances, over-scale allowances, &c. Teachers' emoluments should be on an all-inclusive basis, and the system of granting allowances of various kinds should cease. The granting of house allowances or free houses in addition to salary is undesirable, and, apart from appointments in remote localities, we see no reason why houses should be supplied free for any special section of the Public Service. Except in localities where there is a housing shortage, it would, possibly, be more economical for the houses to be disposed of and an increased salary paid to the teachers who at present have the use of them. Where it is considered desirable to retain the residence, it should be a condition of appointment that the teacher be required to reside in it and pay an adequate rental based on the capital value of the house and grounds. In any ease, we recommend that the system be abolished as far as practicable. 1163. Regarding the appointment and grading of teachers, the methods are unnecessarily complicated, and contribute towards the high cost of education. We recommend that the teaching service be subject to the same control as the Public Service —viz., by the Public Service Commissioner —and also that the Public Service Act be extended to embrace the teaching service. This would automatically give the Public Service Commissioner control of the grading and classification of teachers. Capital Expenditure on Buildings. 1164. The amount provided on the Public Works appropriations for 1931-32 for this purpose was £350,000. The expenditure has not always been provided' from the Public Works Fund, but for some years up to the 31st March, 1930, it was provided from a special account funded from loan-

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