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tion Board to maintain a comparatively large number of strong schools within its district, the existence of so many small schools throughout the colony cannot but be regarded as a very satisfactory feature in the administration of educational affairs, since it affords evidence of a desire on the part of the Boards to extend the benefits of school instruction to remote and sparsely-peopled localities. During the past year advantage seems to have been taken to a larger extent than formerly of the provision of section 88 of the Act which authorizes Boards to assist small schools " started by private enterprise in outlying districts, which it would be premature or inconvenient to constitute school districts." Most of these "aided schools " are " full-time," but some of them are " half-time " schools. As a rule, the latter class of schools are regarded with much disfavour by the parents, the feeling being that their children receive only half of what is their due. Some of the Boards in their reports refer to the efforts made by them on behalf of the children in the outlying districts, and the difficulties they have to contend with in making provision for them. Such efforts are deserving of encouragement; for, with the means at their disposal, Education Boards are naturally reluctant to multiply the number of small schools, and yet there is the strongest obligation under a national system to place the means of a good school education within the reach of the largest possible number of the youth of the colony. Number of Teachers. The number of teachers employed on the ordinary staff in the public schools during the last quarter of 1879 is returned at 1,773, being 162 in excess of the number engaged during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. They have been classified as follows : Masters, 659 ; assistant-masters, 113 ; male pupilteachers, 113; mistresses, 278; assistant-mistresses, 265; and female pupilteachers, 345. Besides the teachers on the literary staff there were 110 teachers of sewing, whose duties are confined to the giving of lessons in sewing and knitting to girls during a portion of the school time. They are employed almost solely in the smaller schools which have not an attendance sufficient to warrant the employment of a fully-qualified mistress in addition to a master. Table No. 7 of the Appendix contains a return of the teachers employed in the several schools during the last quarter of 1879. The following summary furnishes information respecting the number of teachers employed in the schools of the different education districts during the same period. The classification has been made from the Boards' returns : —

TABLE B— Number of Teachers. Number of Teachers employed in the Last Quarter of 1879.

8. 9. 10. Teachers of Sewing not included in the preceding columns. -Education District. Males. Females. Average Attendance for Last Quarter of 1879. Average 3S umber of Pupils per Teacher. l. Head Teachers. 2. Assistants. 3. PupilTeachers. 4. 6. TeS, Assistants. 6. PupilTeachers. 7. Totals. Auckland Taranaki Wanganui Wellington ... Hawke's Bay... Marlborough,,. Nelson North Canterbury South Canterbury Westland Otago Southland 153 15 37 30 23 12 34 109 29 26 137 54 23 3 9 2 1 2 20 6 6 37 4 1 3 3 4 2 1 40 6 13 36 4 38 11 14 12 11 5 23 74 8 9 62 11 111 6 15 22 6 5 31 33 9 4 20 3 61 4 16 47 19 1 80 19 18 67 13 387 39 88 124 63 25 90 356 77 76 359 89 10,688 979 2,850 4,402 2,020 834 2,935 11,380 2,324 2,232 14,637 3,448 27*6 25*1 32*4 35-5 32-4 334 32-6 320 30-2 29-4 40-8 38*8 44 1 "l 5 "34 5 16 4 Totals for 1879 ... Totals for 1878 ... 659 625 113 82 113 118 278 219 265 235 345 331 1,773 1,611 58,729 50,639 331 31*4 110 80 Increase 162 8,090 1*7 30 84 31 -5 59 30 14 Totals for 1877 577 71 82 213 236 221 1,400 41,773 29-8 8:3