REPORT OF THE BOARD OF THE EDUCATION DISTRICT OF WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5027, 4 May 1877, Page 6

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF THE EDUCATION DISTRICT OF WELLINGTON.

The following repert having been duly transmitted to the Hon. the Minister of Justice, a copy of it was on Wednesday 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. The first meeting of the Board after the coming into operation of the above-mentioned Act, was held on the 29th November, when the Hon. C. J. Pharazyn was elected chaiijman, and a common seal adopted. '''.;■ BEVENUE. During the past year the receipts of the Board from all sources, including a present bank overdraft "of £3962 18s. 3d., have been £24,062 16s. 7d., of which full parti«ulars 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, 1876, the various tenders were of so trifling an amocsk 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 not. be levied, in consequence of the passing of the Education Boards Act, 1876, which repealed all rates not actually levied at the date of the passing of that Act.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 haying been summoned to meet for the 1 first time until the 30th September of that year, and the necessary preliminary step 9 before striking the rate having caused the delay. 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 having been represented to the Hon. 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 be found in Table 1., the. total amount exclusive of bank overdraft at beginning of the year being £22,708; the present overdraft being £3962 18s. 3d., which is made up by the overdraft of £SOOO inthe old account, less the sum of £1037 Is. 9d. at the credit of the new account lopened iii the name of the "Education fund of the district of Wellington," in terms of the 18th clause of the Act of 1876. ■ The item, "Departmental expenses, £1124 10s. 3d.,'' includes amongst others the salaries of inspector and-secretary, each at the rate of *':S4S3.per annum,' the former • receiving in addition theiaum'of-£1 ??.r diein for travelling expenses when actually travelling 6u the service of the Board. The two above-mentioned officials comprise the.wholeof the departmental staff. The item, "Travelling expenses, £7l 55.," is the amount disbursed to cover the expenses of country ; members coining up to attend the meetings' of the Board. ... ' ; The item, "Wellington Trust and Loan Company, £100," is an amount paid in quarterly instalments as an accumulative fund for insurance purposes, tli« Board electing to be their own assurers. The; total amount at credit of this fund, with accrued interest, is- now £398 2s. 7d. In addition to theabove there is a small i amount—£lo la. 3d.—paid as insurance on school building*, lent to, but not the property of, the Board. Kees* bequest, £47 7s , is the. amount of the taxed costs ordered by the Court to be paid in the preliminary stagos of a suit brought by the Board to recover a h'gaoy left by the late Dr. Eees for educational purposes in Wanganui. This suit has since been decided in favor of the Board, but it is to be regretted that hitherto the Board have buen 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, i 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 this 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 • has closed the Marangai: school from paucity of attendance; at the same time,',it hag 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' therTorty-Mile, Bush, and' at Temii, iWijie Castlepoint district. The schools which are now being.built are six in' number, viz., Karere/Stoney Creek, Motoa, and Halcombe, in the Map'awatu district ; and Opaki and Matarawa, in the Masterton district. In addition to the foregoing, the Board propose erecting. two, large schools on the sites at the Mount Cook Barracks lately handed over : by Government to ;tho Board f°r that purpose, viz.,,. a boys' school, capable of containing 500 pupils, fronting" Taranaki-street, and an infant school to contain 300 pupils, fronting Tory-street. These,

with the existing schools, will suffice for the present requirements of the Te Aro end of the city; but additional school sccommodation 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:

The actual attendance during the last month was 438 S 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 25., 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 the 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 year, as required by the 26th clause of the Act of 1876, and has been duly audited by the Board's auditor, along with the other accounts, in terms of the 42nd 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. 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, estimated at £3250 ; the rent of the reserves, which are or may be 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 1876-7, 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 ate Mr. William Dorset, and since his deceese ; 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 the pupils are individually examined for classification in one or other of the four standards adopted by the Board, and a full and detailed repert 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 also recorded their confidence in the Inspector. On the sth and 6th July last an examination of teachers was held, the examiners being Mr. Kenneth Wilson, the principal of the Wellington College, and the Inspector of Schools, Mr. Kobert Les. The examination was a written one, and was held simultaneously in Wellington, Wanganui, Greytown, Marton, and Eoxton, 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 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 passing for some certificate.

Attached hereto is the report of the examiners, with copy of the various examination papers.

The Board have much pleasure in testifying to 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 work of the [various schools has been chiefly of an elementary character, as comprised within the four Standards, an effort ha 3 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 attending the. Board's schools. It will be purely optional on the part of the pupils, however, whether, they go in for these examinations or not, but 1 much good is anticipated by the increased emulation which will doubtless be excited by these examinations, both among teachers and pupils. The Board would desire to point out that they have experienced no difficulty in their schools with regard to the religious question. In terms of the 46th clause of the Wellington Education Act, 1871, half an hour each day may, at the discretion of the local committee, be devujsd *° religious instruction not of a controversial character, ana "wmcliths children may or may not attend at the discretion of their: parents. Where no such religious instruction is given, the whole time is devoted to ordinary teaching. In several schools advantage of this has been taken without any objection being raised by dissentients, and, on the whole, the Board are perfectly satisfied with the success of the existing system. In conclusion, the Board desire to express their sense of the great improvement . which has 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 of affairs,, feeling assured that the system is working well, and, on the whole, with the approval of the community at large.

Male, female. Certificated Teachers .. 42 7 \ Uncertificated .. ..12 11 I Assistant 4 17 }■ 130 Pupil i 22 I Monitors 2 15 J