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lias been successfully implemented in only a small proportion of tlie schools. The system cannot be learned from the book ; it can be applied only by one who by personal experience is thoroughly familiar with it. It must be said, however, that the training colleges are now pouring forth a stream of qualified teachers whose influence should become more and more apparent. In all these subjects —music, arts and crafts, and physical education—the colleges cannot be expected to bring students to such a state of efficiency as will make them expert teachers unless the students have previously had consistent instruction in these subjects in both their primary and post-primary school course. Much valuable work was done during the year by the lecture staff of the temporarily closed training colleges who went on tour through the schools of the Dominion holding refresher courses in various centres and demonstrating in many schools the most modern methods of schoolroom practice. The benefit was not entirely to the schools ; these lecturers and their Principals who, as mentioned above, acted for the same period as Inspectors of Schools, through seeing in what degree their exstudents were implementing in the schools the training received in the training colleges, will naturally resume their college duties with a clearer insight into the essentials of teacher-training. The innovation was welcomed by the Education Boards throughout New Zealand ; their co-operation made the scheme possible, and many of them have asked that the experiment be repeated in more or less modified form. It was also possible to release for investigation abroad the Principal of the Auckland Training College (Mr. D. M. Rae), who, with the assistance of the Carnegie Corporation, was enabled to obtain at first hand much useful information relative to the training of teachers. Intermediate Schools and Departments. There were in operation in 1934 five separate intermediate schools and eleven intermediate departments, the former being independent schools containing Forms I and 11, and the latter departments attached to secondary, technical high, and district high schools. Two intermediate schools were established during the at Shirley in Canterbury and at Albany Street, Dunedin. In these schools the girls and boys of Forms I and II receive a more complete education than is possible if they remain as part of an ordinary primary school. And, what is of almost equal importance, their separation from the younger pupils makes possible a discipline more suited to their mental and physical development, which at this stage of life undergoes some profound changes. A greater degree of specialization among the staff and a more detailed classification of the pupils enable the aptitudes of the pupils to be more readily discovered and developed. When financial conditions improve the value of these schools could be still further enhanced by a greater development of the arts and crafts courses. The course is for two years and is intermediate between the primary school and the secondary or technical high schools ; but in order to meet the needs of those pupils who do not wish to enter a post-primary school a concession was made this year whereby such pupils could remain in the intermediate school for a third year. This extension of the course serves a valuable purpose in that it provides a profitable occupation for the boy or girl who otherwise would have left school and entered, perhaps, the ranks of the unemployed. In New Zealand at present 9 per cent, of all pupils in Forms I and II (Standards V and YI) are in these new schools and departments ; in England the percentage is over fifty. District High Schools. District high schools with their secondary departments continue to provide country pupils with good opportunities for post-primary education. The demand for the establishment of these schools steadily increases. Roll numbers show an increase over 1933. Two factors have recently given inspiration to this work : the institution of the School Certificate Examination as an alternative to the University Entrance Examination has, without lowering the standard of education, given the pupils a much wider range of subjects from which to choose their curriculum, and thus has allowed pupils to select those subjects most suited to their natural aptitudes ; and the formulation by the Department of suitable courses has proved a much appreciated guide to parents and teachers. It is, however, only to be expected that the narrower University Entrance Examination will, by mere force of tradition, continue for a time to determine unduly the pupils' choice. The new system is already influencing the courses of those pupils whose aim is to benefit as much as possible by post-primary education without any particular examination in view. This is seen especially in the development of arts and crafts, and in the increased adaptation of the manual courses to the domestic and agricultural life of the district. In one district, Reefton, a successful attempt has been made to fit the courses to the needs of the mining industry. In increasing degree these schools are encouraging and accepting the co-operation of the farmers, the farmers associations, and the woman's institutes both for advice and for practical assistance in instruction. These schools will no doubt achieve their highest purpose the more they cease to be a thing apart and the more they become an integral part of community life. Progress is impeded in some degree by the relative smallness of these secondary departments, with consequent lack of specialized staff. The inclusion in the secondary department of Forms I and II (Standards Y and VI) of the primary schools in the immediate vicinity would m some measure overcome this difficulty. Special Classes. The special classes established for mentally retarded pupils are functioning well and the pupils are receiving an education which will materially aid the majority of them in being ultimately self-supporting. In a number of cases parents of such children have refused to avail themselves of the services of these

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