E.—2.

the race may be aware of its wonderful capacity for creative work, an awareness that has been forced beneath the threshold of consciousness in this age of machine-made goods, demands that a school be so equipped that every pupil will have opportunities daily for expressing himself through his hands. For some years past the policy in England has been to equip every fair-sized school with a craft-room in charge of a teacher whose professional status is on a level with that of his fellow-teachers in the same school. Suggestions concerning lines of future development have been published in the Education Gazette. It is not at present considered advisable to amend the existing syllabus, which has always been merely suggestive, nor has it been decided whether a new syllabus should be issued at all. It might be advisable to adopt the policy of the Board of Education (England), which issues an excellent Handbook of Suggestions for Teachers. Meanwhile, during this period of transition, it is probably better to allow head teachers and their staffs to discuss the matter among themselves and with the Inspectorate and the Training Colleges, and proceed accordingly. Libraries. Libraries are a very essential part of school equipment. Without them the pupils cannot learn the art of reading for information, nor can the teachers use their time to the best advantage unless they treat subjects of discussion in such a way as will stimulate the pupils to resort to books to supplement the knowledge already gained. If the pupil is to continue his education in after-school days he must while at school have opportunities for experiencing the delight a well-stocked library can give. Books in the mass must fascinate rather than repel him. It is sometimes said that we should train our children to think, rather than teach them facts. But this is one problem and not two : thinking must be based on information, and this information must be as full and accurate as possible. The trouble is not so much that people do not think but rather that they have insufficient facts to enable them to reach accurate conclusions. This, however, does not prevent them from reaching conclusions of a kind. A good library can give many points of view, and, as every writer is in a sense a teacher, a well-stocked library properly used increases greatly the teaching strength of any school. The sum of £5,000 was granted for libraries last year and distributed to Education Boards pro rata to school population. The distribution of the grants was left to the discretion of the Boards. In some cases direct grants were made to schools, in some voluntary contributions were subsidized, while in others grants were made to central libraries which circulated books through the schools. The flood of interesting books pouring from the printing press of the Empire is amazing in variety, cheapness, and suitability : never before has it been so easy to form a library, given the will and the means. When the time is opportune to increase the grants, care should be taken to see that full value is obtained ; the general practice whereby each school built up its own library resulted as a rule in many books becoming stale ; it is with pleasure, therefore, that one hears of central libraries being formed from which constant supplies of books are kept circulating through the schools. Some of these libraries are further stimulated by subscriptions from the schools enjoying their service. Training Colleges. The four Training Colleges have done excellent work, with a total enrolment of 1,350 students. An innovation in the selection of students was the formation in each centre of a Selection Committee of three persons comprising the Senior Inspector of Schools and two other persons nominated by the Education Board of the district. Formerly the onus of interviewing candidates and recommending them was on the Senior Inspector alone. Generally speaking, it was difficult for the North Island districts to find a sufficient number of students with the requisite academic, physical, or personality qualifications to fill their quota. The South Island was, however, more than able to make good the deficiency. As the North Island has twice the population of the South, but only the same number of Training Colleges, difficulties of accommodating the students arise when, as at present, we are training an unusual number of students. Unless the North Island colleges are to be unduly overcrowded, it becomes jiecessary to send some of the North Island students to the South Island and to transfer some Canterbury students to Dunedin. When the Wellington Training College is rebuilt, it will be necessary to pay particular attention to this problem of accommodation. With the return of better times it is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable accommodation for those students who have to live away from home. The question of hostel accommodation is being investigated. , An essential part of student-training is adequate practice in handling classes, and the problem of finding such classes within convenient reach of the Colleges becomes more acute the greater the number of students, lo each college a Normal School is attached for this purpose; but these schools were established when the number in training was only a fraction of that at present. As most of the students leaving college will take charge of small schools of many classes, or act as assistants in two-teacher schools, a pressing need is the provision in the vicinity of the Training Colleges of a number of so-called " Model " Schools—that is, single-room schools in which are brought together pupils from Primers to Form II (Standard VI) or pupils from Primers to Standard 11. It is practice in schools of this kind that is so necessary for the young teacher. The problem is under investigation. The Training College is in much more intimate touch with the schools than formerly ; not only do the lecturers see their students at work in the practising schools of the city in which the college

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