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6. Report of the Inspector-General of Schools to the Hon. the Minister op Education. Napier Boys' High School (24th September, 1886). —The school has increased considerably in numbers since last year, and is doing good work. The mathematical part of the work is, perhaps, the most thoroughly satisfactory. The preparatory class has now a separate room, and I was much pleased with the good discipline and with the instruction in that department. The arrangements for teaching French in the lower part of the school are not quite perfect. I think I have never before seen the»school on the whole in as good a condition as it is in now. Napier Girls' High School (23rd September, 1886). —The work done in this school is not yet of a very advanced order; but what is done appears to bo done very methodically, and, for the most part, thoroughly. The programme contains the names of a larger number of sciences than one would expect to find there. I made some inquiry as to the reason, and found that the plan approved by the school authorities contemplates the broadening of the view by means of a simple introduction to several sciences rather than a discipline in precision by a more thorough course in one subject. There seems to be a healthy tone in the school, good manners and diligent attention to work being conspicuously noticeable.

GISBORNE HIGH SCHOOL. Sir,' — I have to report that the Gisborne High School Board was duly constituted in 1885, and held its first meeting on the 9th December, 1885. It was at once recognised that the Gisborne High School Act of 1885 gave the Board no power, for the only revenues absolutely vested in it were revenues to arise from the leasing of the Marunga Block when that property could be utilised. The revenues arising from the reserves named in the First Schedule to the Act, under the 21st section, do not appear to be payable to the Board until a school is established at Gisborne, or elsewhere in the County of Cook. These last revenues, if available, would not maintain a school if one were actually built, and no buildin'g fund is provided; and there is no immediate prospect of the Board's revenues increasing, as they arise in all cases from leases of the reserves in the First Schedule, the rentals of which are fixed for several years to come, The exact revenue derived from these reserves will no doubt be dealt with by the School Commissioners, who receive the rentals and invest them. Under these circumstances the Board speedily came to the conclusion that it could give no assistance to secondary education. The Marunga Block has been let in terms of the High Schools Reserves Act, and the highest of several tenders has been accepted. The rental payable by the lessee will be £35 per annum for the first seven years, £75 per annum for the second seven years, and £165 per annum for the third seven years. The first rental will be payable on the 11th of April, 1887. The following liabilities have been incurred : Marunga Block, county rates, £10 15s. 6d.; advertising High School Bill, £1 16s. ; advertising Marunga Block for lease, £2 3s. ; stationery and account-books, 14s. 6d.: total, £15 9s. There have been no receipts, no disbursements, and no audit. An Amendment Act has been prepared with the approval of the Governors, and will be introduced as a local Bill in the next ensuing session of Parliament. Power will be asked for to enable the School Commissioners to pay to the Governors revenue from time to time accruing from the reserves set apart by the principal Act. It will also be proposed to empower the Governors, until such time as a secondary school can be established under the Act, to give a grant-in-aid to the district school not exceeding £150 per year, provided such school is maintained as a district high school under " The Education Act, 1877." The Governors hope this very necessary provision will be sanctioned, as Gisborne, from its isolated position, is entirely cut off from secondary schools, except in the case of parents who can defray the large expense of maintaining children from home at Napier, Nelson, Wellington, Auckland, Wanganui, or Christchurch. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister of Education. W. L. Williams, Chairman.

NELSON COLLEGE. 1. Report of the Governors for the Year ending 31st December, 1886. The Governors present the usual accounts for the year just ended, and they have only to say in reference to them that, although there has been some loss incurred in the working of each of the colleges, the deficiencies are not more than might reasonably be expected in the present depressed condition of this district in common with the rest of the colony. The most important event of. the year as regards the Boys' College has been the retirement of the late Principal, the Rev. J. C. Andrew, and the appointment in his place of Mr. W. J. Ford, M.A. Cantab. For many reasons the Governors regret the loss of the services of Mr. Andrew, whose high personal character, added to his well-known classical attainments, have tended greatly to maintain the recognised position of the college in all parts of the colony. The selection of Mr. Ford was made by one of the Governors, the Hon. J. C. Richmond, who happened to be in Europe at the time, on the advice of Dr. Bright, Master of University College, Oxford, and Dr. Percival, President of Trinity College, Oxford (now Headmaster of Rugby, one of the highest scholastic positions in England); and after six months' experience of Mr. Ford's services the Governors see every reason to believe that the selection was a most judicious one, and that the appointment will be of much value to the college. In addition to the experience in teaching which Mr Ford has had as assistant master for many years in Marlborough College, England, he takes a