E.—l

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and an infant-school at 'Masterton ; aided schools at Mangaone and Bideford. These two aided schools did not outlast the year. New schoolhouses have been erected at Eketahuna, Mauriceville, Porirua, and Johnsonville; the last three to replace buildings quite worn out. Large additions were made to the schools at Masterton, Petone, and Newtown. Eesidences have been provided at Pahiatua and Waihakeke, and additions made to those at Karori and Eketahuna. During the year the new Training College and Terrace School building was completed. The limited sum available for new works forces the Board, in its desire to deal fairly with the district as a whole, to erect such buildings as will satisfy urgent requirements only; no provision can, therefore, be made to meet the future wants of growing localities. This cannot prove the most economical plan, in the end the additions entailing a much greater expenditure than the increased accommodation would have cost had the whole work been put in hand at the one time ; but the Board, having a proper regard to its income, cannot do this unless some portion of its district suffers meanwhile. The continued drain upon the Maintenance Fund for temporary accommodation is keenly felt; but unless some provision can be made whereby the Board is enabled to acquire the freehold of the Willis Street property, and provide suitable buildings in place of these rented rooms, no alteration can be made in this direction. In the city the want of another large school is urgently felt; but the cost of a suitable site and the erection of a building cannot be undertaken out of the limited funds available while the vote is administered upon the basis of population and attendance. The Board would urge upon the Government the fairness of placing all districts on an equal footing as regards accommodation. If this were done, the distribution according to attendance would be an equitable one ; but at the present time it appears that the want of buildings is far more pressing in some districts than in others. The schools opened at the beginning of the year with 6,822 children on the books; the number at the close of the year was 8,039 : with a working average attendance of 6,289, as against 5,678 at the end of last year. The increase in the numbers shows the steady growth of the district, and must be considered fairly gratifying when the limited provision is fully considered. If the Committees in the large centres were to enforce the compulsory clauses, it would be impossible for the Board to meet the increased demand for space. The following figures indicate the growth of the attendance for the past decade : — 1876 ... ... ... ... 2,838 ... 2,298 1877 ... ... ... ... 3,009 ... 2,285 1878 ... ... ... ... 4,645 ... 3,374 1879 ... ... ... ... 5,633 ... 4,402 . 1880 ... ... ... ... 6,082 ... 4,685 1881 ... ... ... ... 6,147 ... 4,876 1882 ... ... " ... ... 6,271 ... 4,617 1883 ... ... ... ... 6,840 ... 5,344 1884 ... ... ... ... 7,395 ... 5,678 1885 ... ... ... ... 8,039 ... 6,289 The classification of the pupils on the books of the schools at the close of the year was—Five and under seven years of age, 1,915; seven and under ten years of age, 3,260; ten and under thirteen years of age, 2,078 ; thirteen and under fifteen years of age, 672 ; and fifteen years, 114 : with a staff of forty-six male head teachers, twenty male assistants, eleven male pupil-teachers, sixteen female head teachers, forty-four female assistants, sixty-seven female pupil-teachers, and thirteen sewing-teachers. The sixty-two schools are classified as follows:— Attendance: Under 15 children, 1; 15 to 20, 5 ; 20 to 25, 7 ; 25 to 50, 21; 50 to 75, 6; 75 to 100, 6; 100 to 150, 3 ; 150 to 300, 6 ; 300 to 500, 7. Finance.—Of the £36,323 ss. 2d. expended during the year the salaries and allowances paid to teachers absorb £20,918 Bs. Id., and the grant to Committees, £2,150 7s. Towards the latter sum the Board received a special capitation allowance amounting to £1,510 9s. The expenditure on buildings, amounting to £8,886 lls. 7d., is made up as follows : New buildings, £5,356 35.; improvements, £2,547 19s. 9d.; furniture, £507 4s. 7d.; site, £100 ; plans, _&c, £375 4s. 3d. Scholaeships.—The term of the nine oldest scholarships held last year expired in December. At the annual examination held in December sixty candidates entered, and fifty-eight presented themselves for examination—thirty-seven from the city schools, seven from the schools in the country districts, and fifteen from Wairarapa. The majority of the candidates failed to reach the standard of requirements of the examiners, the result as a whole being below their expectations. The examination was conducted by the Eev. W. H. West, 8.A., LL.B., and K. Wilson, M.A. Seven scholarships were awarded—one of £30, to Lois McGregor, of the Fernridge School, Wairarapa, who has since elected to become a pupil-teacher ; and the other six to—Michael Myers, £30; Martha Myers, £20; Charles H. Gell, £20 ; Bessie Eiddick, £20; David F. Skinner, £20; and Ida Hawk, £20. The whole of these prizes fell to pupils from the Thorndon School, who now attend either the Wellington College or the Girls' High School. All scholarship holders, with one exception, now attend one or the other of these institutions ; and past experience has shown that they are well able to maintain their position in the secondary school, their work being mostly of a meritorious character. In many instances, pupils from the primary schools who enter for higher education as scholarship winners meet with well-earned special mention. Deawing.—ln the month of June an examination in freehand and geometrical drawing was held. The papers were set by the Inspector of Schools, who was assisted in the examination of the work by C. D. Barraud, Esq., in freehand, and the then drawing-teacher, Mr. E. T. Holmes, in practical geometry. The result of the freehand examination was deemed to be satisfactory, 128 passes being made by representatives from nineteen different schools. In practical geometry the results surpassed all expectation, 105 passes being made by candidates from ten different schools, The examiners speak very highly of the character of the work done in the latter subject.