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nockburn, and that the Duke of Wellington was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. It is hardly creditable to the parents of children attending so large and important a school as the Greymouth School that it possesses no school library. The Act permits the payment by the Board of pound for pound subscribed for that purpose ; and to the examiner only is given the melancholy privilege of seeing how necessary some such provision is for awakening the interest and intelligence of the children. I must render my thanks to the Committees for the hearty manner in which they have seconded any suggestions I have made for the improvement of the schools, and it is with regret that I find myself compelled in the case of one school especially to speak unfavourably of the work of the past year; for, while the distribution of praise to deserving teachers furnishes absolute enjoyment, the exercise of the reverse duty is anything but an agreeable necessity. I have, &c, The Chairman, Education Board, Greymouth. E. T. Eobinson, Inspector.

WBSTLAND. Sib, — Hokitika, 15th January, 1887. I have the honour to present my twelfth annual report on the state of elementary education in this district. The number of schools now in operation in the Wostland District is twenty-three, one small aided school having been established during the past year at Hende's Ferry, on the Okarito Eoad. All these have been examined except that at Hende's Ferry, which had not been opened at the time of my visit to that part of the district. Separate visits of inspection were also made to all the schools excepting those in the extreme southern part of the district, and reports of these visits were furnished to your Board and to the Committees in the manner and form prescribed by the new regulations. In order to enable me to finish the examination and furnish teachers with the results before the commencement of the Christmas vacation, I commenced this part of my work two months earlier than last year; consequently the results, excepting a few cases to be hereafter referred to, represent the work of ten months, instead of twelve, a fact that must be borne in mind when comparing the returns of this year with those of former years or of other districts. The changes introduced by the new regulations in the method of recording the percentage of passes is likely to cause considerable misapprehension in. this district, the percentage being calculated upon the roll number, instead of the number actually examined in standards. This would be a matter of little moment were it not for the mischievous and growing tendency on the part of Committees, teachers, and parents to attach an undue importance to this percentage of passes as an indication of the efficiency of a school. If the children of a school are quiet and orderly in their conduct, neat and methodical in the execution of their work, and if that work is thorough as far as it goes—if the behaviour and language of the children in the playground and on their way to and from school are free from violence, rudeness, or any other impropriety—if the condition of the school grounds, buildings, and furniture shows a regard on the part of the scholars for the preservation of the property placed to some extent at their mercy—if on the examination day the work goes on smoothly, without giving reason for any suspicion of unfair practice—if, in a word, there is evidently a healthy moral tone inside the school and influencing the lives of the scholars beyond its walls, the teacher of such a school has a far higher claim upon the gratitude of his district than if he annually passed 100 per cent, of " educated larrikins." lam happy to believe that the district is not without teachers of this kind, and I have a melancholy satisfaction in being able to mention one now beyond the reach of praise or blame or flattery, who during his long period of service under this Board might justly have been classed among them. I allude, I need scarcely say, to the late Mr. William Charles Kelsey. Having in view the growing tendency referred to above, I think it is a question worthy of consideration whether it is not advisable to discontinue altogether the publication of such statistics, seeing that there is not only the danger of many teachers'efforts being almost exclusively directed towards the attainment at all cost of a "good percentage," but that to estimate the merits of a school solely upon its percentage of passes must often lead to erroneous and unjust conclusions, and must have an injurious effect, whether they gain or lose by the comparison, upon the schools so compared. There can be very little doubt that this portion of the report is too frequently regarded by Committees and the public generally as the sole criterion of a teacher's fitness for his position. Such being the case, it is at least desirable that the liability to error should be reduced to a minimum; and this can scarcely be claimed for a method of recording the percentage of passes by which a small and comparatively poorly-taught school, having few or no children below Standard 1., can gain as high a percentage as a highly efficient and well-organized school having a considerable number in the preparatory classes. It is true that the "percentage of failures " gives the initiated a clue to the true state of the case ; but the majority of the skimmers of reports of this kind seldom trouble themselves to bestow more than a glance at any other portion than that from which they have been accustomed to form their opinions as to the merits of the schools in which they are more immediately interested. I have therefore but little hope that much notice will be taken of the statement I am now about to make ■ —namely, that the percentage of failures subtracted from 100 will give the percentage of passes aa this last term has been hitherto understood in this district. To correct the erroneous impressions likely to be conveyed by the new percentage, I have given on Table 4 the percentage of passes calculated on the roll number of each standard class. This table, however, is no more reliable a guide by itself than any of the others : the mean average of " pass " and " class " subjects, as well as the additional marks, must be taken into account if it should be thought necessary to compare the performances of similar schools. The number of absentees should also bo considered, as they tend to reduce the percentage of passes. In fact, a lengthened experience of the manner in which,