REPORT OF THE BOARD OF THE EDUCATION DISTRICT OF WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5026, 3 May 1877, Page 3

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF THE EDUCATION DISTRICT OF WELLINGTON.

! The ; following report having been duly tranS; mitted to the Hon. .the Minister of Justice,' a copy of it was yesterday placed at our disposal by Mr. C. C. Graham;— ' . Education Board, Wellington, April 25, 1877, > The Board of the, Education District of Wellington, in compliance with the terms of the Education Boards Act, 1876, beg to present to the Hon. the Minister of Justice, acting as Minister of Education, a report of 'their proceedings for the twelve months ending 31st March, 1877. , ' -V *' The first meeting of the Board after .the coming into operation of the above-meUtiohJd Act, was held on the 29th November, when the Hon. C. J. Pharazyn was elected chairman, and a common seal adopted. . . : • revenue. During the past year the receipts of the Board from all sources, including a present bank overdraft of £8962- 18s. 3d,, have been £24,062 16s. 7d„ of which full particulars will be found in Table I. herewith. ’ ■ The amount received for rents of education reserves is only £199 Is; lOd.; and, although tenders have been invited for the leasing of 22,000 acres still unlet, in terms,of the 23rd clause of the Education Boards Act, ’ 187,6, the various tenders were of /so trifling an amount, and on such low terms, that the Board declined to accept any,- feeling that they would not be justified in locking up their'reserves for any length of time for so small a consideration. : The amount of £2048 6s. Id. for education rates is the balance of all outstanding rates to 30th June, 1876, since which date there has been no rate levied. . , ‘ The rate for the twelve months commencing Ist'July, 1876,'could hot' be levied, in consequence of the passing of the Education Boards! Act, 1876, which repealed all rateshot actually levied at the date of the passing of that Act, By the 32nd clause of the Wellington Education Act, 1871 ” (provincial)—which provides that the rate shall be struck as nearly as may be on . the same day in each year—this ; rate ought to have been struck,on or about the 13th. December* 1876, seeing that-the original rate for the year 1872-3 was only struck on the 13th December, 1872, in-consequence of-the Board not; having been > summoned- to meet for the first time until the 30tb September of that year, and the: necessary preliminary steps before-striking the rate having caused thedelay. - - Prior to the passing of the Education Boards Act of 1876, the Board: had obtained a bank overdraft of £SOOO, in anticipation of the rate for 1876-7; and these facts-haying-been repre-r seuted to the Hoh. the Minister of Justice, the Board was led to understand that Government Would be prepared to make good to the Board the loss sustained by the repeal of the power of-levying a rate. The total amount received for the education rate for the year 1875-6, was' £8258 15s. /. ' ' .-. : ■ EXPENDITURE. ’ '/ ~//// Details of the expenditure for the past year/ will also befound in Table 1., the total anjounf exclusive of bank overdraft at beginning of the' year /being; £22,705; the present .overdraft, being £3962 18s. 3d., which is made up by the overdraft of £.5000 in the old account,. less the |sum ; bf,£lo37 la/9d! at the credit of; the, new •account opened in the name of the “ Education fund of the district of W e bington;” in terms of the 18th clause of the Act of 1876.

| The item,. “Departmental expenses, £1124 ;10s. 3d.,’’.inclndes amongst others the salaries of iihpe'ct'orlahd_secretacy,-each-at-the - rate-0f-•£40.0, per-annum; the formerlreceiving ih addl-; tion the sum of £1 per diem for travelling ex-' penses, when actually travelling on the- serviceof the Board. The two above-mentioned officials comprise the whole, of the departmental staff.

' i The item,‘.‘.Travelling expenses, £7l 55.,”b the amount dbbursed to cover the expenses of jeountry members coming; up to attend the meetings of the Board. - j The litem,. “ Wellington! Trust and’ T.oan r Company, £100,” b an. amount paid in quar--1 terly instalments as an, accumulative fund for* insurance purposes, the Board'electing to be their own:asaurera.' The total amount at credit* 'of thb fund, with accrued interest, is now, £398 2a. 7d. In addition to, the above there is a j small amount—i£lo Is. 3d.—paid as insurance on school buildings,, lent .to,.but,not she. property of, the Boar A ... |Bees’ bequest, £4Zi7s.;.b the amount of the .tajxed costs ordered by the Court to be paid in the preliminary stages of a suit brought by the Board' to' .recover a legacy left by the late Dr. Rees for educational purposes in Wanganui. Thb suit has since been decided in favor of the Board, but it b to be regretted that hitherto the Board have been unable to arrive at a settlement with the trustees of the property, .or even ascertain the probable amount of money which will be available, in spite of repeated applications’ to the solicitors of the various parties interested. The Board’s solicitor ; has been instructed to take the most stringent measures for bringing the matter to an issue." . - ; '■ ... SCHOOL DETAILS. '. In Table. 11. will be found a list of all schools'at, present.established by the Board, together with the names of the teachers; their : classification and salaries, and the actual and average' daily attendance as per last'returns received to date; and in Table 111. a summary of. the ;same. From thb it will be seen that there are seventy schools now open, being an increase of.four over last year, and other eight which are. now either only -in- course of erection,’ or are temporarily closed. During the year ,the .Board has severed its'connection with ..the .three Roman Catholic Schools in Wellington and Wanganui, which has had a considerable influence on the total returns, and hah closed the Marangai school from paucity of attendance; at the same time, it has opened six new schools, viz,, the affiliated schools of Kohi and Waitohi,' Kaipaitangata and Waterson’s, and schools at Mauriceville, in the Scandinavian Settlement in the Forty-Mile Bush, and 'at Teniii, in the Caatlepoint district. The schools which are now being built are six in number, viz., Karere, Stoney Creek, Motoa, and Halcombe, in the Manawatu district ; and Opaki and Matarawa, ia the Masterton district. In addition to the foregoing, the Board propose erecting two large schoob on the sites at the Mount Cook Barracks lately handed over by Government to the Boafd~for that, purpose, viz., a boys’ school; capable of ~ containing 500 pupils, fronting Taranaki-street, and an infant school to contain JSOO pupils, .fronting Tory-street. These, with the existing schoob, will suffice for the present requirements of the Te Aro end of the city; but additional school accommodation is urgently required at the Thorndon end, the difficulty of obtaining ’ a site being the chief obstacle against which the Board have to contend, though they are in hopes, when: the whole of the, reclamation of the foreshore has been completed, that a suitable site out of it may be granted for the purpose. , ■ ■ The present teaching staff, numbering 136, also shows an increase of 20 over that of last year, and may be divided as follows;

Male, female. - Certificated Teachers .. 42 7 V l , TTncertificated .. ..12 11 I Assistant 4 17 ) 130 Pupil 4 22 j Monitors .. ■ .. .. 3 15 J The actual attendance during the last month was 4388 of both sexes, while the average daily attendance was 3552, showing an increase over the last year’s numbers of 6 per cent, and 9 per cent, respectively, but these numbers will be considerably increased as soon as the additional school accommodation about to be provided is available. Table IV. shows a summary of expenditure in school buildings and teachers’ residences in the various education districts to date, by which it appears that the total expenditure on this account since the Board took office, in September, 1872, has been only £20,093 2s„ during which time thirty-five new schools have been erected, and very large additions made to old buildings; fourteen teachers’ residences have been built or enlarged ; and nearly all the other schools have been furnished, and tho properties put in order {vide Inspector’s report, p. 2). Table V. is a statement of the revenue received from educational reserves during the

. -past -y earyae Tequind by tliu2oMl ilAUSevr-Uii, ■ Act of 1876, and hasb«» rduly. wdite>* / by. : ,thp. Board’ tor, alongTwithtHe.otlieraccoiuitd/ in terms of , the 42ncl clause of the Wellington ■Education Act of 1871. ■ Detailed accounts have been forwarded to the auditor appointed by the Governor in Council, but his report has not yet been received.- / 1 . Table VI. shows an estimate of the probable : requirements of: the Board for the.next twelve months; to meet which the only available funds of the Board: are the school fees, esti--mated at £8260 ; the rent of the reserves, which are or maybe leased, and which; will probably not; exceed the sum of £200; and.the amount to be recouped by Government for the ; loss of the education rates for the year.lß76-7, estimated at £8258 15s. .How.the deficiency is to be met, the Board do not .consider it within their province to suggest. - ■All--the books!and accounts of the Board have been audited'by the l late Air, William Dorset, and since his decease, by his son Mr. Arthur Dorset, copy of whose certificate is forwarded herewith.: INSPECTION. The whole of the ' Board’s schools are thoroughly and systematically inspected, at least twice in each year, at one of which inspections the whole of this pupils are'individually examined for classification in one or other of the four standards adopted by ; the Board, and a full and detailed report of‘the State of efficiency of each* school will be'found in the Inspector’s' report, dated 31st'December, 1876, copy; of which is forwarded Herewith. ; Taken; as. a’whole, the'Board consider the report highly satisfactory,; and while expressing their approval generally of the report, they have alsq recorded , their confidence inthe Inspector. ; Oh tho sth and 6th July last an examination of teachers was 1 held, the examiners being Air, Kenneth Wils/n, the principal of the Wellington College,and the Inspector of Robert Les. The examination was a written, one, and was held pimultaneously in Welling-' ton, ' Wanganui, Greytown,, ; Marten, and, Foxton, gentlemen of .position in these respective places, acting' as supervisors. Eightynine candidates came,up, of whom. 33 were candidates for. pupil teachers' certificates, 17, were pupil teachers, .26 candidates for 3rd class certificates or " classification as assistant teachers,' and 13 candidates for higher' certificates. Of these //- 5' passed for Ist class certificates,; 5 .passed, for .2nd class certificates ; 6 passed for 3rd class certificates ; 9 passed,‘for assistants ; ,32 passed for pupil teachers of various, years 57 Candidates pas-, sing for some,certificate. ' ~,/ ~ K , : Attached hereto is the report of 'the ex- ; aminere, with copy of the various examination papers. ’ " " . , ' The Board Have much pleasure'in teStifyingto the'efficiency of the teaching staff‘as a whole, as evinced by the results of the recent examination by the Inspector, of which minute statistical details are given in his report. ’ / ! ; Although hitherto the schools has-been"'cKiefly — of ah elementary ; character, as comprised within the Tour Stand-; ' airds, an effort has been'made to encourage the' study of higher branches by the institution of honor certificates, to" be granted,to the successful 'candidates ;at /an annual; examination in certain’given' subjects, open to pupils attend-, ing the Board’s schools, It will be .purely optional on the part of the pupils, however, whether they go ini for these examinations or not, but, much good/isanticspate"d by the increased emulation which will doubtless heekoited by these examinations,-.both among teachers and pupils. /".:,-/ V ‘''-7: ... f. .. t. i . i The Board would desire to ‘ point out that they have experienced. nb_diffichlty_ in. their, schools with regard to, .the. religious: question. Jn terms of ( the 46th clause: of'the Wellington* 'Education Act, 1871, half an hour each day may, at the discretion pf. the looal .committee, be devoted to-religious-instruction- not-of a'controversial character, 1 and which the children, may or may not attend at the discretion Of' their, iparehts.! Where'! no. such - religious' atruotion is given', 'the whole tirhe'is devoted -to ordinary''teaching.-- -In -several:! schools advantage of this has i heemtaken without any objection being raised by dissentients,' and,'olV the 'whole, the' Board .are : perfectly satisfiedwjth the-suebfess of' thb’existing system. /' / , . i In-conclusion; the-Board 1 deAire to express' their'sense' of the'greSt rimprove'ment' which hds taken place in educational'matters within the provincial district since'the present system 'was inaugurated,' four and a - half years ago, and at the same time, to state their satisfaction' with the present/state, 1 feeling. osfaired'that' is''w6¥Kihg well, and,. oh tile whole,' with the approval of tho corn-, munity At large.