E.—l

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Buildings.—This fund at the end of 1885 had a small credit balance of £34 9s. 7d. We have received from Government Buildings Vote, £930 10s. 3d.: we have spent on new buildings, £298 155.; on improvements, £231 9s. sd. ; on sites, furniture, and plans, £225 12s. 9d. : making a total expenditure of £755 17s. 2d.; leaving a balance to the credit of this fund of £209 2s. Bd. General Expenditure.—We began the year with a credit balance of £561 19s. lid., and we received for maintenance £5,318 15s. 4d., giving a total sum of £5,880 15s. 3d. ; our expenditure on this account was £5,075 12s. : leaving a credit balance of £805 3s. 3d., which, together with that from the Building Fund, gave us a credit on both accounts of £1,014 ss. lid. to begin the year 1887. We desire to make special reference to a circular issued by the department instructing us not to expend any of the Building Fund upon either painting or repairs of our buildings, and to point out that if the terms of that circular are insisted on our present buildings will most assuredly fall rapidly into decay. Owing to the large number of small and comparatively costly schools our Board has to maintain, our ordinary revenue cannot be charged with the cost of these repairs, and we bee most respectfully to point out that it is surely better by timely repairs to maintain in good order buildings which, neglected in these particulars, would soon require new ones to replace them. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington. A. P. Seymour, Chairman.

General Statement of Receipts and Expenditure for the Year ending 31st December, 1886. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. £ s. d. To Balance at beginning of year— By Office staff, salaries .. .. .. 112 10 0 On Building Account .. .. 34 9 7 Clerical assistance .. .. 26 0 0 On General Account .. .. 561 19 11 Departmental contingencies .. 68 19 1 Government grant for buildings .. 930 10 3 Inspector's salary .. .. .. 125 0 0 Government statutory capitation (£3 Inspector's travelling expenses 95 4 5 15s-) •• ■• ■• .. 4,569 6 3 Examination of pupil-teachers .. 3 3 0 Special capitation (55.) .. .. 299 7 1 Teachers' salaries and allowances (inScholarship grant (Is. 6d.) .. .. 70 0 0 eluding rent, bonus, &o.) .. 4,025 11 8 Inspection subsidy .. .. .. 200 0 0 Incidental expenses of schools .. 526 11 10 Bayments by School Commissioners— Scholarships For primary education .. .. 148 1 0 Paid to scholars .. .. .. 80 0 0 For secondary education .. .. 32 1 0 Examination expenses .. .. 12 12 0 School buildings— New buildings .. .. .. 298 15 0 Improvements of buildings .. .. 231 9 5 Furniture and appliances .. .. 46 10 0 Sites .. .. .. .. 149 5 8 Plans, supervision, and fees .. 29 17 1 Balance at end of year— On Building Account .. .. 209 2 8 On General Account .. .. 805 3 3 £6,845 15 1 £6,845 15 1 A. P. Seymour, Chairman. John T. Robinson, Secretary.

TARANAKI. Sir, — Taranaki Education Board, New Plymouth, April, 1887. In the terms of " The Education Act, 1877," I have the honour to transmit the report of the Education Board of the District of Taranaki for the year ending the 31st December, 1886. The Board.—At the annual election in March Mr. John Andrews was re-elected, and Mrs. Emma Richmond and Miss Heywood were elected to fill the vacancies caused by the retirement of Messrs. Lawrence and Elliot. The Board then consisted of the following members : viz.—Mr. J. Andrews, Mr. R. G. Bauchope, Mr. F. Bluck, Mr. H. Faull, Mr. R. H. Gibson, Miss Heywood, Mr. T. Kelly, Mrs. H. R. Richmond, and Mr. J. Wade. Mr. T. Kelly was re-elected as Chairman. The Board held twenty-four ordinary meetings and two special meetings. The following are the attendances of each member :J. Andrews, 26 ; R. G. Bauchope, 22 ; F. Bluck, 20; H. Faull, 26 ; R. H. Gibson, 19 ; Miss Heywood, 19 ; T. Kelly, 26 ; Mrs. H. R. Richmond, 17; J. Wade,* Schools. —The number of schools open during the year was thirty-five, being an increase of one over that of last year. The average of children per school for the year was only sixty-eight, compared with Hawke's Bay of 130 for thirty-nine schools. The difficulty of providing efficient teaching in this district is shown by this comparison : Thirty-nine schools provide for the teaching of 5,052 children in the Hawke's Bay District, while thirty-five schools are required in this district to teach 2,368. The attendances at these schools being necessarily small, the salaries are consequently inadequate to attract the best teaching power. The same Board and staff could, with little additional expense, administer the affairs of a larger district, and, as railway communication is nowavailable, the educational district might with advantage be enlarged, and the work more fairly adjusted by taking some of the pressure off a neighbouring district. Teachers.—The number of teachers on the staff at the end of the year was sixty-four, classified as follows : Head teachers—22 males, 13 females : assistant teachers—l male, 9 females ; pupil-teachers—2 males, 17 females. Considering the comparatively small salaries which the Board is able to offer teachers, the staff is increasing in efficiency, as is shown by the present result as compared with that of a few years ago. The majority of the schools, however, are so small that

* During the month of November Mr. Wade was disabled by a serious accident from attending the meetings of the Board.