E.—l

77

Statement of Assets and Liabilities on 31st December, 1883. A. Exclusive of Building Fund. Assets £ s. d. Liabilities. £ s. d. Cash in bank on this account, 31st Decern- Due to teachers 820 1 bor 1883 1,471 3 11 Due to officers of Board M ij> « Due from members of Board of School Com- Due on account of scholarships oi Ob missioners 6 5 0 Due for rent of school * « U Due from Government for scholarships 51 5J3 Credit balance to next year U £1,528 _13_ 11 B: Building Fund only £ s. cl. £ s - °- Cash in bank on this account, 31st Decern- ' Due by votes to Committees 672 1 2 W IRfiR "10 19 0 Balance of purchase-money for site of Balance " • • 407 2 2 Haven Boad School, and interest 452 0 0 £1,124 1 2 £1.12* 1 2

NOBTH CANTEEBUEY glB _ Christchurch, 31st March, 1884. In accordance with the provisions of the Education Act tho Education Board of the District of North Canterbury has the honour to present the following report ot its proceedings lor the year ended the 31st December, 1883. ,'„,-,,, ,„» , r m -, The Board —The members who retired by rotation on the 31st March, 1883, were Mr iancrod, Mr Webb, and Mr Cunningham, of whom Mr Tancred did not offer himself for re-election. At the election hold on the Ist March, Mr Cunningham, Mr Webb, and Mr Edward James Lee were returned. At a meeting held on the sth April, Mr John Inglis was re-elected Chairman An extraordinary vacancy occurred in the month of December through the lamented death of Mr li J Lee in whom the Board has lost an esteemed colleague, whoso services, had his life been prolonged' would have been of high value to the cause of education. The Board held twenty-four meetings during the year twenty-throe ordinary and one special. The average attendance ot members was 625. . „ , New Districts and Buildings.—Four new districts were formed during the year—at Uurnliam, Sefton, Summerhill, and Waiau. Of those, Burnham and Waiau are entirely new. What is now tho District of Sefton was formerly included in the districts of Mount Grey Downs, Saltwater Creek, and Ashley , and Summerhill is formed by a division of the District oi Oust; Nov? school buildings were erected at Darfield, Lauriston, South Malvern, Winslow, and Taumutu (the last-named being a second school in the Lakeside District, half the cost of which was defrayed by Government m consideration of its being partly intended for tho benefit of the Maoris residing on tho Native reserves in that locality) " schoolrooms at Waiau and Eotherham (the latter being at present an aided school), and at Mandeville Plains masters' houses at Summerhill, German .Bay (side), Hinds, Kirwee, Listaore, and Methven and considerable additions or improvements ma<le at Afford I orest, Amberley Phillipstown, Christchurch West, Cust, Heathcote Lower Hororata, Killmchy, New Brighton, North Eoad, Prebbleton, Springburn, Springston, View Hill, West Melton, Woodend and improvements to the grounds, &c, at Lyttelton, St. Alban's, and the normal school. Ihe total expenditure in school buildings was £16,685 4s. sd. A detailed return, showing trie amount spent in e*ach school district, is' given in Table No. 7 Maintenance op Schools.—The total expenditure during the year 1883 lor the maintenance of schools, including -teachers' salaries and allowances, and all incidental expenses amounted to £48 331 15s. 7d., and the expenditure upon salaries and allowances only to £42,240 19s. KM. Ihe average attendance for the year was 12,753. The cost per head for maintenance, including all expenses was at the rate of £3 15s. 9*d. per head of the average attendance, and t >f instruction only at the rate of £3 6s. 2fd. Tho following table shows the amount expended under the heads of salaries and incidentals for each year from 1878, inclusive :— Salaries. Incidental. '.'• £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 1878 31,919 0 0 6,276 6 9 38,195 b 9 1879 34,417 14 6 5,856 9 8 40,274 4 2 1880 38.136 17 8 5,856 2 1 43,992 19 9 1881 36,683 4 11 5,591 15 6 42,275 0 5 1882 39,418 13 11 5,901 18 1 45,320 12 0 1883 42,240 19 10 6,090 15 9 48,331 15 7 Attendance.—At the end of 1883 there wore 123 school districts in North Canterbury and 143 schools, including the practising department of the normal school. Four of these—viz. Kowai Bush, Little Port Cooper, Manuka Town, and Eotherham—wore aided but, at the date of this report Kowai Bush has been restored to its position as a district school, the attendance having increased beyond the minimum required by the Board's regulations. Full particulars as to the ages of the children, and numbers receiving instruction in each standard and in each subject, will be found in the appended return, No. 2.* ~.,', ~ ~ -, The following table shows the number of schools, and the number oi children on the rolls and in averago attendance, for each year since est; ilished by fcb ion Act of 1877 came into operation :—

* Not reprinted here, the information being given elsewhere in the Minister's report and its appendix.