Table of attendance, staff, and fees.

Financial diffischools °f B°me

Eecommendatio to grant power t

S.—l

Expenditure — £ s. d. Salaries ... ... ... ... ... 1,573 12 10 Kent of premises ... ... ... ... 200 0 0 Contingencies ... ... ... ... 241 14 3 Total ... ... ... ... £2,015 7 1 There is thus a deficiency of £416 Bs. 9d. in the ordinary working of the school. In 1879 there was a further expenditure of £755 ss. Bd. on buildings and furniture. The total deficit thus produced was partly met by a sum of £105 13s. 4d., received out of the proceeds of the reserves for secondary education, and partly by the capitation allowance above referred to, which amounted to £888 2s. 6d. The salaries have since been increased to £2,030. The highest number of pupils on the roll for 1879 was 245. The number of teachers on the general staff is nine, and there are visiting teachers for Erench, German, drawing, and fancy work. The following table contains a summary of information respecting the attendance, staff, and fees of the several schools to which we have referred.

From the account which we have given of the state of these schools, it will be seen that several of them are to a greater or less extent in a condition of financial embarrassment. The income of the Auckland College and Grammar School is fairly adequate. Nelson College and Christ's College Grammar School are also independent of external aid: but in the former school too small a staff is maintained, and inadequate salaries are paid to the junior masters; while the latter has found it necessary to increase its income by raising the fees. The Auckland Girls' High School may anticipate some difficulties from the withdrawal of the aid which it has hitherto received from the Education Board; and the Girls' School at Christchurch, which last year had a deficit of £819, will be placed in a straitened position by the necessary diminution of the grants from the School Commissioners. The accounts of the Wellington College and the Otago High Schools show yearly deficits of about £1,200 and £1,800 respectively ; and hitherto these schools have been largely maintained out of annual votes. a We think that the practice of meeting the continually-recurring deficiencies 0 in the income of the schools by special votes of the Assembly, although necessary in some cases as a temporary measure, is eminently unsatisfactory; more especially as we are persuaded that in several instances the resources of the schools would be sufficient for their requirements, if power were given to the governors to deal with their endowments to the best advantage. We therefore recommend that the governing bodies of secondary schools be empowered, subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, to dispose of their rural reserves, which bring in comparatively little revenue, placing the jxroceeds on mortgage, or investing them in approved securities. In cases where the capital value of the reserves is sufficient to warrant such a course, a portion of the proceeds should be applied to extinguish

* Jnoludiag elsrai girls in special classes. t Four of tJaees are teachers of music.

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1879. School. Staff. Scale of Fees per Annum. Regular. Visiting. Luckland College and Grammar School Wellington College kelson College Christ's College Dunedin Boys' High School 210 *109 134 187 188 7 4 4 8 2 2 1 3 £ s. d. ... 8 8 0 (Upper School ... 10 4 0 (Lower School ... 8 12 6 ... 12 10 0 f Upper School ... 15 15 0 {Lower School ... 12 12 0 ... 8 10 0 (Upper School ... 10 0 0 [Lower School ... 8 0 0 (Above 12 years 12 12 0 ( Under 12 years 9 9 0 (Upper School ... 8 0 0 (Lower School ... 6 0 0 6 4 Dunedin Girls' High School 144 6 ts Girls' High School 89 5 te Auckland Girls' High School 245 9 4