EDUCATION BOARD'S REPORT.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1668, 25 June 1879, Page 3

EDUCATION BOARD'S REPORT.

The report of the North Canterbury Education Board for the year ending December 31 at, 1878, is just issued. The following are extracts;— _ • During the year 1878 Dine new school districts were constituted, namely, Hunter, Kyle, Totara Valley, Seafield, Makikihi Tinwald, Aylesbury, Loburn North. Of these, Hunter, Totara Valley, and Makikihi, are in the southern part of the provincial district now forming the education district of South Canterbury. The boundaries of Ashburton and South Ashburton wore altered by the inclusion of a part of each in the new district of Tinwald, and the name of the Sontb Ashburton district changed to Willowby. In the constitution ®f several of tho abovonamed districts considerable difficulty was found to arise from tho operation of section 3G of the Education Act; according to which, as tho Board is advised, if the boundaries of a new school district arc so arranged ns to include any part of a district already existing, tho proceedings take no effect till the commencement of the next school year, i.e., till the next Ist January. The Board has received applications for the constitution of pew districts in no less than eleven localities : six in Ashburton county, two in the county of Selwyn, and throe in tho county of Ashloy. Since the Ist January, 1879, one of these districts has been formed, and the preliminary steps taken towards tho formation of several others. Within the last few weeks tenders have been accepted for the erection of school buildings in Dunsandol and Irwell districts, and a site acquired for a side school in the district of West Christchurch. Tbese demands have exhausted the means at the disposal of tho Board, and it has _ been found necessary to leave many applications to bo dealt with during the next financial year. The rapid growth of settlement renders it evident that a large expenditure will annually bo required to provide in any satisfactory manner for the wants of the increasing population. The total expenditure on buildings during the year amounted to .£20,774 5s 3d; of which ,£1439 3s 6d was spent tiring tho first four months in tho southern part of the district now forming South Canterbury. A detailed statement of tho expenditure, showing tho exact amount spent in each school district, is given in Table No. 1. The system of allowances to school committees in force during the latter half of the year has involved tho Board in considerable difficulty. The sum granted is, in the aggregate, not sufficient for tho committees’ requirements. The total amount received from the Government under this head for tho six months ended December 31st, 1878, was .£2365 12a 6d, or at the rate of <£ 1731 5a for the year. But the expenditure during tho year amounted ta .£6741 18a 6d. Deducting £BOO for insurauce—a practice which the insufficiency of funds under the new arrangement has obliged the Board to discontinue—and £IOO paid during the first four months of the year to committees of districts south of tho Eangitata, now under the Board of South Canterbury, there still remains an expenditure of £554118s 6d as against an allowance of £ 1731 ss. For this year tho Board was able to supply the deficiency, as, in addition to the grant of £3 15s per head of the average attendance, it received £ll7l as arrears of rates levied under the Provincial Ordinance of 1875. But this source of income was of an entirely incidental character, and cannot recur. In another year tho Board will have no resource beyond tha statutory allowance of £3 15s, which is absorbed by tho cost of the maintenance and inspection of schools and other general expenses, leaving no margin available for supplementing the grants to committees. In another respect, too, the difficulty will bo much increased. For tho allowance made by the Government is at the rate of 10s per annum per head of tho total average attendance throughout the district; but in tho distribution the smaller schools are necessarily paid in a higher proportion to their attendance than tho larger ones, the scale ranging from 7a 4d per head to upwards of 20s. During the year 1879 at least twelve new schools will be opened, probably more. In the majority of these the attend ance may be expected to be for some time cornuaratively small. Each of them will therefore represent a considerable extra charge upon the Board, which will bo required to pay their committees at the rate of 35s or 16s per head of the attendance, while receiving from the Government on account of them at the rate of only 10s. Several committees have made urgent representation of their inability to meet their necessary current expenses under the present system of distribution. The Board therefore trusts that the Government will place it in such a position as will enable it to make provision for tho reasonable requirements of all the schools under its charge, Tho total expenditure daring the year 18/8 on the maintenance of schools, exclusive of office expenses, inspection, and drill instruction, was £33,850 18s 6d; of which £1931 18s 6d was spent in South Canterbury. The expenditure in North Canterbury district was £31,919. The following table shows tke amount expended in North and South Canterbury respectively in salaries and incidental expenses ;

The average attendance for the year 1878, in the schools of North Canterbury, was 9611; so that the entire cost of maintaining the schools, with all incidental expenses, was at the rate of nearly £3 19s 3d per child, and the cost of instruction only at the rate of nearly £3 6s 3d. It will bo observed that a comparison of the reports from 1876 inclusive to the present year shows a progressive diminution in the average expense. The cost of instruction for the period ended March 31st, 1876, was .£3 12s 9Jd for each child in average attendance. For the year 1877 it was .£3 9s ; and for the year covered by the present report it was -83 6s 3d. This is in each case exclusive of all incidental and general expenditure. Table 1., appended to this report, shows under separate beads the exact sums spent for salaries and incidental expenses in each school district of North Canterbury. It also gives a nominal return of the teachers employed in each school, with the sa'ary and allowances payable to each teacher. The total number of teachers employed under the Board at the close of the year (besides thirty sewing mistresses) was 331, of whom 168 were pupil teachers. The average attendance for the December quarier was 10,076, giving an average of 30.1 to each teacher. The Board is of opinion that provision should bo made for aged teachers. Several applications for retiring allowances have been received, but at present there are no regulations under whic'i such cases can be dealt with. The establishment of some system which will ensure to teachers the means of support when disqualified by age or infirmity from the active duties of their profession is a subject which the Board desires to commend to the Government as deserving of their best cons s deration. At the end of the March quarter, 1878, there were under the control of the Education Board of Canterbury 119 schools, including the Normal School and three aided schools at German Bay, Glentui, and Westerfield, The school at Glentui has since been closed. The number of children on the rolls was 15,107, and the average attendance (working average) 10,964. On the 30th April, the change effected by the Education Act, 1877—deferred for one month by an Order in Council made under the aithority conferred by section 18 of tbo Act camo into operation. Tbo South Canterbury Board then succeeded to the charge of sixteen of the above schools, the Board of North Canterbury retaining 103, and also having allotted to it to two schools established in the county of Kaikoura, and an aided school at Waiau. The number of children on tbo rolls of schools in tho North Canterbury district was, on April 30th, about 12,167, with an average attendance of about 9323. The.o figures are not absolutely correct, as tho Board had no return for the March quarter from tho Kaikoura schools, tho attendance at which is estimated from tho Inspector’s reports; but any error arising from this cause must be but very small. At the end of the year tho number of schools was 110; the number of children on the rolls 13,359 ; and the average attendance, 10,076. It has been usual in former reports to draw up a tabular comparison of tho number of schools and of tho attendance year by year, beginning from tho first establishment of the Pro vincial Board of Education in 1863. Such a statement cannot be presented in this report. As has already been explained, the boundaries of tho district are materially altered. Under these circumstances no comparison can be drawn with tho past years, and it is only possible to supply such data as will, from a fresh starling point, form a basis of comparison for tho future. It is meanwhile satisfactory to note that tho average attendance

aa already so increased as to have made up a considerable part of the numerical los3 sustained by the division of the district, ?-nd it may be anticipated that in another twelvemonth the numbers will fully equal those which two years previously had belonged to the whole area of North and South Canterbury. The Normal School exhibits a rata of progress equal to that of other branches of the work of the Board. The number of students, which at the end of the year 1877 was 53, had incieised by the end of 1878 to 63, and at one time during the year had reached 71. A large number of tho students have completed their course of training? and are going in for the certificate examinations. An important addition was ma .c in the lattor part of the year to the plan of the institution by the establishment of a Kindergarten school, under tho superintendence of Mrs Crowley, a lady of great skill and exporience in the principles and methods of Kindergarten teaching, who has been specially engaged by the Board for tho management of this department. It is intended to proceed at once with the building of the Kindergarten school—a most necessary work, the plans for which have been for some time in preparation. The Bo <rd is not yet in a position to make any definite report as to the effect of the compulsory clauses of the Education Act._ It must be observed that these clauses come into operation only hy resolution of a school committee, and then only within the district under the supervision of such committee. There is nothing in the Act to require a committee to report to the Board the fact of its having passed such a resolution; but it is believed that few of the committees have decided on adopting tie clauses. The Board is aware of only one instance in which they have actually been pnt in force. Possibly, in some cases, a sense of a certain degree of unpopularity likely to attend a stringent enforcement of the law may not be without its influence, and many of the committees are disposed to view these clauses as a ÜBeful instrument in terrorcm, and prefer to trust to their indirect efficacy, rather than to attempt to overcome indifference or hostility by direct compulsion. But the principal reason for allowing these clauses to remain inoperative is a consideration of the expense. The Board has no funds available for the purpose, and any costs incurred by a committee in using the power vested in it by law must be defrayed from tie incidental allowance, which is already insufficient for its ordinary expenditure. Tho Board regrets its inability to afford the needful assistance, and trusts that Government will recognise the importance of supplying such means as are required t» enable the committees to discharge the duties which the Legislature has entrusted to them.

Periods. Salaries. Incidental, Total. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ 3. d. North Cant e r b n r y (Jan. 1 to 38,195 6 9 Dec. 31) ... 31,910 0 0 6.276 6 9 South Cantorbary (Jan. 1 to April 30) ... 1,931 18 C 405 11 9 2,397 10 3 Total... 33,850 18 G 6,741 18 6 ■10,592 17 0